Nearly three years have gone by since we heard that Ben McKenzie (Gotham) and Bojana Novakovic (Beyond Skyline) were the stars of the Japanese horror film Bloat, which had already started filming at that time. Now, Bloat is finally ready to make its way out into the world, as it’s set to receive a theatrical, on demand, and digital release on March 7th. Although with the release date announcement comes the unveiling of a trailer, which can be seen in the embed above.

Written and directed by Tokyo-based filmmaker Pablo Absento, Bloat is a co-production between Timur Bekmambetov‘s company Bazelevs, the Russian streaming service Okko, French production and sales company Pulsar Content, and Japanese production company flag Co., Ltd. Filming took place in New York and Japan. Bloat does indeed use Bekmambetov’s Screenlife filmmaking technique, “in which the story unfolds on the screens of the devices used by the movie’s characters.” So this is something along the lines of Unfriended, Searching, etc.

Bloat tells the story of a military officer stationed in Turkey while his wife is vacationing in Japan with their kids. During the stay, their younger son almost drowns in a lake. Soon after the accident, the parents realize that something is wrong with their boy. Sawyer Jones (Antlers) and Malcolm Fuller (New Amsterdam) are also in the cast.

McKenzie and Absento produced the film with Bekmambetov, Maria Zatulovskaya, and Anna Shalashina of Bazelevs; Gilles Sousa and Marie Garrett of Pulsar Content; Hiroko Oda of flag Co., Ltd; and Dzhanik Fayziev of Okko. The Fantasia Film Festival’s artistic director Mitch Davis and Aleksandr Fomin serve as associate producers.

Bloat earned an R rating from the Motion Picture Association for language and some violent content.

This marks the feature directorial debut of Absento, who previously directed the short films Call My Name, Shi, and Slit. Variety noted that she has also directed several episodes of SMA Horror (Smartphone Horror), a series produced by Takashi Shimizu, the creator of the Ju-on / Grudge franchise.

What did you think of the Bloat trailer? Will you be watching this movie in March? Let us know by leaving a comment below.

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