The Big Door Prize is a compelling new indie film that just released its first trailer and it looks like it will do one thing extremely well: captivate its audience.
The film follows three estranged sisters, played by familiar faces Cynthia Erivo, Jon Bernthal, and Mackenzie Davis, and their respective tumultuous relationships. As the trailer hints, something is stirring beneath the surface for each of them; it could be suppressed feelings, ambitions, or decisions that threaten to change the course of their lives.
Visually and musically, the trailer for The Big Door Prize does an excellent job of immediately evoking the characters and stories that will be told within the film. Erivo’s throaty vocal performance of Leadbelly’s “Reuben’s Train” distracts us from the impossible decisions that the characters face. In that moment, the audience connects to them in a way not typically seen before in a trailer.
Throughout the course of the two-minute trailer, the audience is thrust into a conflict between the sisters, the want or the need to be a part of something culturally relevant, and the battle of stepping out of the stereotypical life they were brought up in. As the camera circles their family reunion, the audience is struck with a sense of familiarity: the characters are in a situation we can relate to, at times wishing that some of the moments we have in life could stand still.
The Big Door Prize has already promised to evoke a unique depth of emotion, and the first trailer did exactly that. With its subtlety, complexity, and consistent tension, the trailer held the audience’s attention from beginning to end, leaving the viewer wanting to know the resolution of each individual’s dilemma.
It looks like The Big Door Prize will do one thing extremely well—create an air of suspense that will leave its audience captivated to the very end.
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