Who's in the mood for a horrific true crime story about children, a brutal stabbing and a faceless nightmare monster from the internet – all based in Wisconsin?
No?
Well, at least you'll have some time to get ready, as HBO announced (after a surprisingly long wait since its SXSW debut last March) that "Beware the Slenderman," Irene Taylor Brodsky's documentary about the 2014 Slenderman stabbing case in Waukesha, will premiere on Jan. 23.
As a bonus, HBO also finally released a trailer for the upcoming doc, which tries to unpack the power of the Internet and the Slenderman phenomenon – all while also following the families of the two then-12-year-old assailants as they trying to cope and fathom their childrens' unfathomable acts. I caught the movie when it showed at this year's Milwaukee Film Festival, and it's a lot to tackle – maybe too much for a single two-hour-and-change documentary – but there's no denying it's a compelling and fascinating story.
Stay tuned for more thoughts as the HBO premiere gets closer – and in the meantime, check out my recent interview with the director.
As much as it is a gigantic cliché to say that one has always had a passion for film, Matt Mueller has always had a passion for film. Whether it was bringing in the latest movie reviews for his first grade show-and-tell or writing film reviews for the St. Norbert College Times as a high school student, Matt is way too obsessed with movies for his own good.
When he's not writing about the latest blockbuster or talking much too glowingly about "Piranha 3D," Matt can probably be found watching literally any sport (minus cricket) or working at - get this - a local movie theater. Or watching a movie. Yeah, he's probably watching a movie.
