Sofia Coppola's "The Beguiled" Takes Gorgeous Vengeance in the First Trailer

Scene from The Beguiled

In a time of remake culture, it would have to take a pretty good filmmaker to turn old text into something new and inspired. Leave it to director Sofia Coppola to take The Beguiled and find a spin on the Clint Eastwood original. With the release of the first trailer, it presents a cryptic look into the world of the film. With a great female cast (and Colin Farrell), it looks to present a reversal on the damsel in distress story by pitting a man against some vengeful women. While there's little offered beyond a vengeful slur, it's still great to have Coppola back, and producing a film that looks really good.

It has been four years since Coppola last directed a movie. The Bling Ring was a unique movie in that it explored the vapidness of 21st century celebrity culture. It may have been dull, sometimes hollow for mainstream audiences, but presented one of the most fulfilling gazes into a culture that is pretty horrifying on an unseen level. After dropping out of the proposed The Little Mermaid remake, she has decided to return to the world of female introspection with The Beguiled. Along with its striking title, it has an unnerving quality that suggests that maybe Coppola will be adding a little bit of horror this time around.

Check out the trailer below:

It looks very good. Here's the plot description according to IMDb:

While imprisoned in a Confederate girls' boarding school, an injured Union soldier cons his way into each of the lonely women's hearts, causing them to turn on each other, and eventually, on him.

If nothing else, it sounds like perfect fodder for a Coppola movie. The quest to better understand the female psyche looks to be getting an inspired twist. The only question now is how well she will pull it off. For now, the trailer looks gorgeous and the cast looks very promising. One can only imagine how interesting it will be with a more feminine approach to the story. Maybe it will be better, or present a side of Coppola that we haven't seen before. Whatever the case may be, it's great to have her back.