Zack Snyder’s New Action-Thriller Sets Release Date With Grisly First Trailer

Zack Snyder posted the first trailer for his upcoming film The Last Photograph, and it’s probably not what you would expect from the director. The nearly three-minute teaser focuses on sensory details instead of superpowered heroics: a man rubs his hand over a bar table while another lies shirtless in a boat as it glides down a river. Yes, there is still plenty of violence and killing, but it appears more melancholic than gung-ho, seemingly borrowing from Heart of Darkness and its adaptation Apocalypse Now.

What is The Last Photograph about?

Here is the film’s official synopsis:

An ex-DEA operative must return to the mountains of South America in an effort to find his missing niece and nephew, following the brutal murders of their diplomat parents. Enlisting the help of a washed-up junkie war photographer, the only person to have seen the face of the killers, he sets out, determined to find the children and the truth, but soon learns he must also face the ghosts of his past. Their journey into the unknown takes them further and further away from civilization, bringing into question everything they believe, while slowly eroding the distinction between real and surreal.

The Last Photograph stars Stuart Martin as Ethan Black, a revenge-seeking ex-DEA operative, and Fra Fee as a photographer. Snyder directed and shot the film. He also wrote the story. Frequent Snyder collaborator Kurt Johnstad (300, Rebel Moon) handled the screenplay. Hans Zimmer, Omer Benyamin, and Steven Doar composed the music. The Stone Quarry, which was co-founded by Zack and his wife Deborah, produced the picture alongside Hollywood Gang Productions and Telecinco Cinema.

The Last Photograph is debuting at the Toronto International Film Festival on Sept. 13. Snyder has reportedly been working on the movie for years: In 2016, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that he first had the idea in the mid-2000s.

Zack Snyder is perhaps best known for 300, Watchmen, and DC superhero films like Man of Steel and Justice League. It recently leaked that he’s writing and directing an Escape from New York reboot. Given how over-the-top and comic-inspired his filmography has been, The Last Photograph seems like a significant stylistic departure from his previous work. We’ll see how the approach pans out next month.