A24’s First The Green Knight Teaser Promises a Dark and Mesmerizing Medieval Epic

The first teaser trailer for A24’s David Lowery-directed medieval epic The Green Knight has been revealed, offering a fascinating first look at the writer-director’s new take on the classic Arthurian legend of Sir Gawain, starring Dev Patel and “an A24 Bingo card cast,” as the studio puts it. A24 has also confirmed The Green Knight’s release date: May 29.

The teaser opens in appropriately portentous fashion, with Gothic script reading, “In a time when honor was everything … when courage made kings”—cue Patel’s head bursting into flames. The ensuing preview is rife with meticulously framed tableaus and an ominous score, like if Wes Anderson made a horror movie. Sir Gawain steps into “a tale of [himself],” taking up his sword and embarking on a quest for greatness, but this is no by-the-book hero’s journey: A bound Gawain comes face-to-face with a corpse, a brutal Joel Edgerton sends a gout of blood spurting, inhuman creatures reveal themselves (including the titular “tester of men”) and all the while, a puppet show foretells Gawain’s grim fate.

Patel and Edgerton are joined in The Green Knight’s quietly stellar cast by Oscar winner Alicia Vikander, Sarita Choudhury, Sean Harris, Kate Dickie, Barry Keoghan and Ralph Ineson. Lowery directs from his own script.

See the film’s first teaser and complete synopsis below, and revisit everything we know about the film so far here.

An epic fantasy adventure based on the timeless Arthurian legend, THE GREEN KNIGHT tells the story of Sir Gawain (Dev Patel), King Arthur’s reckless and headstrong nephew, who embarks on a daring quest to confront the eponymous Green Knight, a gigantic emerald-skinned stranger and tester of men. Gawain contends with ghosts, giants, thieves, and schemers in what becomes a deeper journey to define his character and prove his worth in the eyes of his family and kingdom by facing the ultimate challenger. From visionary filmmaker David Lowery comes a fresh and bold spin on a classic tale from the knights of the round table.