She plays the fearless manipulator Margaery Tyrell in HBO’s Game of Thrones, but in Natalie Dormer’s upcoming film The Forest, the British actress finds herself with a lot to be scared of in the woods of Aokigihara Forest.
Gramercy Pictures has released the first trailer for the upcoming horror film that casts Dormer as a woman in search of her twin sister, who has disappeared in the notorious forest. What she finds there is, of course, the stuff of hylophobic nightmares.
Filmed on location in Tokyo and around the infamous Aokigahara Forest located there, The Forest is the feature-length directorial debut of Jason Zada and is based on a script by Nick Antosca (Hannibal), Sarah Cornwell, Ben Katai (30 Days of Night: Dark Days), and David S. Goyer (The Dark Knight, Man of Steel). Along with Dormer, the film stars Taylor Kinney (Chicago Fire), Yukiyoshi Ozawa (The Hidden Blade), and Eoin Macken (The Night Shift).
Located at the base of Mount Fuji, Aokigahara Forest has become infamous as a popular destination for people looking to commit suicide. More than 100 people reportedly attempt to kill themselves in the forest each year, prompting it to earn the nickname “Suicide Forest.” The frequency with which suicides are attempted in the forest has led the Japanese government to post signs at each entrance to the forest urging people to think about their families and seek help, and organized searches for bodies are conducted every year by the authorities.
In the upcoming film, Dormer plays a woman who travels to Aokigahara Forest in search of her missing twin sister.
The Forest is one of two films involving Aokigahara Forest this year, with Gus Van Sant’s The Sea of Trees also set there. That film starred Matthew McConaughey and Ken Watanabe as a pair of men trying to find their way out of the forest, but after being released in France back in May, the film still hasn’t been given a U.S. release date.
While the trailer for The Forest has arrived just in time for Halloween, the film won’t hit theaters until Jan. 8, 2016.
