'Freaks' Trailer: Emile Hirsch Is An Overly Protective Father In This Thriller

Emile Hirsch takes "overprotective father" to the next level in Freaks, a curious sci-fi thriller that reveals very little in its first trailer. Locking his 7-year-old daughter (Lexy Kolker) in their house and boarding up the windows, Hirsch seems to be protecting her from something — but we are kept in the dark about what that is. Watch the first Freaks trailer below.

Emile Hirsch stars in Freaks as a father protecting his daughter Chloe (Lexy Kolker) from what he claims is the dangerous world around her. But he takes "protection" too far, forbidding her from interacting with the outside world and even locking her in a darkened room when she dares to look outside. It seems harsh, and it's meant to be; soon, Chloe rebels and begins to venture outside. But the world isn't the apocalyptic wasteland we're left to believe either — in the glimpses we see of the outside, it all seems perfectly normal, with the exception of a creepy Bruce Dern luring children into his ice cream truck.

But all is not as it seems, and we're probably getting into spoiler territory if we reveal any more. But here's a hint: reviews of Freaks have compared it to an "independent X-Men movie."

Kim Possible directors Adam Stein and Zach Lipovsky helm this sci-fi thriller, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival last year and finally hits theaters this summer. Dern, Amanda Crew and Grace Park also star in Freaks.

Here is the official synopsis for Freaks:

Kept locked inside the house by her father, 7-year-old Chloe lives in fear and fascination of the outside world, where Abnormals create a constant threat – or so she believes. When a mysterious stranger offers her a glimpse of what's really happening outside, Chloe soon finds that while the truth isn't so simple, the danger is very real.

Freaks opens in theaters on August 23, 2019.