Slender Man

Slender Man Information

Slender Man is a 2018 American supernatural horror film directed by Sylvain White and written by David Birke, based on the character of the same name. The film stars Joey King, Julia Goldani Telles, Jaz Sinclair and Annalise Basso, with Javier Botet as the titular creature.

The film was announced in May 2016, and much of the cast signed on a year later. Filming took place in Ayer, Massachusetts in June and July of 2017. Slender Man was released in the United States on August 10, 2018, by Screen Gems, and received a largely negative reception from critics and audiences alike, being called "boring" and "derivative".

Plot

One night, four friends, Wren, Hallie, Chloe and Katie, summon the Slender Man. A week later, Katie disappears and the other three girls go to her house to investigate for clues. The three discover that Katie had been involved in the occult, and that she wanted to be taken by the Slender Man. However, the three girls decide to make contact with the Slender Man, in the hopes that they can get Katie back in exchange for something else. Wren, who has been researching the Slender Man mythology, warns Hallie and Chloe not to open their eyes while the three are making contact with the Slender Man, because seeing the Slender Man will result in death or madness. However, Chloe panics and opens her eyes and comes face to face with the Slender Man. Some time later, the Slender Man drives her insane.

Wren, suffering from frightening hallucinations, searches for a solution to their predicament while Hallie unsuccessfully attempts to move on. A short while later, Hallie's younger sister suffers a major panic attack and is sent to the hospital and sedated. Hallie discovers that Wren had attempted to come into contact with the Slender Man again, with the help of Hallie's sister. After confronting Wren about her sister, Wren tells Hallie that the Slender Man only wants them. Wren is then taken by the Slender Man. Hallie realizes that the only way to save her sister is to give herself to the Slender Man, which she does. Hallie's sister is able to recover and she reflects on the situation that resulted in the death of her sister and her friends.

Cast

Joey King as Wren
Julia Goldani Telles as Hallie
Jaz Sinclair as Chloe
Annalise Basso as Katie Jensen
Taylor Richardson as Lizzie, Hallie's sister
Alex Fitzalan as Tom, Hallie's boyfriend
Kevin Chapman as Mr. Jensen, Katie's father
Javier Botet as the Slender Man

Production

In May 2016, it was reported that Sony Pictures had started developing Slender Man based on the supernatural mythical character created by Eric Knudsen, with the screenplay to be written by David Birke. Sony's Screen Gems was in talks with Mythology Entertainment, Madhouse Entertainment, and It Is No Dream Entertainment to produce and distribute the film.

In January 2017, Sylvain White was hired to direct the film, while producers on the film would be Mythology's Brad Fischer, James Vanderbilt, and William Sherak, Madhouse's Robyn Meisinger, and No Dream's Sarah Snow. In May 2017, Joey King, Julia Goldani Telles, Jaz Sinclair, Annalise Basso, Talitha Bateman (who would later be replaced by Taylor Richardson) and Alex Fitzalan joined the cast. In July 2017, Kevin Chapman joined the cast as an emotionally defeated, alcoholic father.

Filming

Principal photography on the film began on June 19, 2017, in Boston and concluded on July 28, 2017.

Marketing

On January 2, 2018, the first teaser poster was revealed, with the teaser trailer announced to release the following day. Then on January 3, 2018, the first teaser trailer was released. Reactions were mixed, with some online publications describing the trailer as taking a "traditional, low-budget horror route". Other publications noted the film's release coming four years after the Slender Man stabbing in Waukesha County, Wisconsin in 2014. After the trailer's online debut, Bill Weier, the father of Anissa Weier (who committed the stabbing alongside Morgan Geyser), stated that the film's production and release is "extremely distasteful", and advised local theaters to not screen the film. A second trailer was released on July 26, 2018.

Release

Slender Man was released by Screen Gems on August 10, 2018. It was previously slated for May 18, 2018 and August 24, 2018 releases. Prior to the release, Screen Gems shopped the film around to other distributors following disagreements between the studio and producers, regarding the release.

Marcus Theaters decided not to screen the film in their theaters in Waukesha and Milwaukee Counties in Wisconsin, out of consideration and respect for those impacted by the real-life events.

Reception

Box office

In the United States and Canada, Slender Man was released alongside The Meg and BlacKkKlansman, and is projected to gross $8-12 million from 2,109 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $4.9 million on its first day, including $1 million from Thursday night previews.

Critical response

On Rotten Tomatoes, Slender Man holds an approval rating of 15% based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 3.6/10. On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 28 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "D-" on an A+ to F scale, while PostTrak reported filmgoers gave it an "awful" 38% positive score.

David Ehrlich, of IndieWire, gave the film a D, calling it "a tasteless and inedibly undercooked serving of the internet's stalest creepypasta, Slender Man aspires to be for the YouTube era what The Ring was to the last gasps of the VHS generation. But... there's one fundamental difference that sets the two movies apart: The Ring is good, and Slender Man is terrible."