An early trailer for the dark dystopian fantasy film Franklyn has shown up online. The first feature film by writer/director Gerald McMorrow, Franklyn is a “split narrative set simultaneously in contemporary London and in a future metropolis ruled by religious fervor.” Sounds pretty crazy right? Well it gets even weirder. “It’s the story of four lost souls, divided by two parallel worlds, on course for an explosive collision when a single bullet will decide all their fates.”

Ryan Phillippe plays a masked vigilante detective named Preest, who is searching for his nemesis on the streets of Meanwhile City, a monolithic fantasy metropolis ruthlessly governed by faith and religious fervor. Bernhard Hill plays Esser, a broken man who is searching for his wayward son amongst the rough streets of London’s homeless. Sam Riley plays a heartbroken guy named Milo, who is desperately trying to find a way back to “the purity of first love.” And Eva Green plays an art student named Emilia whose suicidal artwork is “becoming increasingly more complex and deadly.”

The futuristic London city sounds like it almost ripped from the pages of The Golden Compass. But I must admit, the film has caught my interest even though the trailer is very poorly taped together. I’m pretty sure this is a temp trailer as it features the score from Darren Aronofsky’s The Fountain. The concept of a trailer using the score from Requiem or The Fountain has almost a cliché. Why does every trailer editor choose to cut to Clint Mansell? I mean, I love his music too, but you would think it would get old at some point. As always, tell me what you think of the trailer in the comments below. Thanks to /Film reader Christopher M for passing along the photos.

Franklyn will hit theaters in the UK on January 30th 2009. No word on domestic distribution or release dates.

source: evagreenweb