The IT: CHAPTER TWO Trailer is Pure Brilliance
Yesterday, the long-awaited trailer for It: Chapter Two came out and, without trying to sound too hyperbolic, it is masterful. The sequel to 2017’s massive box office hit and the highest grossing horror film of all time (not accounting for inflation), It: Chapter Two follows the Loser’s Club 27 years after the events that brought them together. Now adults, they return to Derry, Maine to finish what they started and defeat the evil entity that loves presenting as Pennywise the Dancing Clown.
What makes the trailer so great is that it has no problem using patience and tension during its near-3 minute length. Normally, a trailer that long could, and very often would, spoil the entire film. But this trailer opts instead to devote more than two minutes to highlight one particular scene: Beverly’s return to her childhood home.
Let’s remember that It had a runtime of 135 minutes. Horror movies, typically, aim for the 90-minute mark, so they took that standard and added an additional 50% to it, allowing the story to expand greatly. We spent more time with the children. We ventured through the streets of Derry. We saw the world they lived in and we became familiar with it.
There is no reason to suggest that It: Chapter Two won’t run as long, if not longer. The first film proved that longer running horror films can draw audiences (as evidenced by a $700+ million global box office take for It) who are invested and ready to dedicate the time. Furthermore, Stephen King’s novel upon which these two films are based is the second longest book he’s written, with The Stand being the first. At over 1,100 pages, it’d be impossible to adapt everything within its pages to the big screen. Normally, one page of a script is one page of screen time. Hence, 1,100 pages would be 1,100 minutes, or well over 18 hours. No way that’s gonna happen.
Coming full circle, the It: Chapter Two trailer shows that there is no interest in giving us a crammed sequel. Rather, methodical patience is the main ingredient and it allows us to remember what we saw and felt with part one of director Andy Muschietti’s adaptation.
In It, no adult was really there to protect the children, with nearly every single one being “off” in their own way. The librarian didn’t want Ben to hang around there. Eddie’s mother is willing to lie and manipulate her son to establish parental control. Stanley’s father shows nothing but disappointment in the little we see of him. Mike’s father pushes his son to slaughter animals, something he clearly doesn’t want to do. Henry Bowers’ father doesn’t discipline his son, instead opting to berate and admonish him. There isn’t a single adult who feels like they give a damn about the children.
And then there’s Beverly. A father who abuses her regularly and a pharmacist who openly leers and ogles her. A provider and a caregiver, both using their positions of power to treat her like an object, like someone who isn’t deserving of the least bit of respect. It’s heartbreaking, no matter which way you cut it, and Beverly’s story may very well be the most painful of all the Loser’s Club.
That’s why it’s so fascinating that the scene the trailer focuses on the most is of her returning to her childhood home, a place where she endured so much misery. She tries to sit with a grandmotherly old woman, Mrs. Kersh, offered tea and cookies after being warmly invited in. What could’ve been a picturesque sequence turns more and more sour as the seconds pass. The soft, gentle piano music quite literally spirals down into discordance. The old woman moves like an insect with Beverly completely unaware, lost in the memory of a poem that never left her heart. An afternoon tea session is soiled by flies, unsettling pauses, morose conversations, and open, oozing sores. The reveal of Bob Gray, Pennywise, is quickly overshadowed by the pounding steps of Mrs. Kersh stomping towards Beverly, the first major scare the trailer offers.
For Beverly, those opening minutes in her childhood home were the first time she’d ever experienced genuine warmth and affection within those walls. She didn’t have to wear a mask. She didn’t have to have her guard up. She didn’t have to live in constant fear. Except she does. Pennywise poisoned that moment, playing against her deep-seated fears by building her up only to viciously bring her back down. He knew her sore spot and he maniacally pushed it with evil glee. That’s what he does and he does it incredibly well.
From there, the teaser takes on a more standard approach, giving us quick clips and scenes from the rest of the film. Red balloons float in the thousands. Pennywise soars above the Paul Bunyan statue. Georgie’s arms beckon towards Mike from a sewer drain. We catch a glimpse of the cistern where Pennywise’s wagon once resided, only now it’s nearly empty, the pile of clothing and toys barely there. And culminating the whole experience is Pennywise, welcoming us back for another round of terror, his mocking laugh the final sound we hear.
When a film is 90 minutes, spending two minutes of a teaser trailer on one scene is playing a very dangerous and risky game. When a film is well over two hours, it’s a potential stroke of genius. It: Chapter Two is the most anticipated horror film of the year for many people and this teaser proves why.
2019 may have Chucky, Brahms, the Tethered, and Godzilla but make no mistake: this year belongs to Pennywise.
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