The DEAR DAVID Trailer: A Viral Twitter Thread Becomes A Horror Movie

From the director of ANNA AND THE APOCALYPSE, no less!

By FANGORIA Staff · July 19, 2023, 11:10 AM EDT
dear-david-header-1

You might recall, all the way back in 2017, an ongoing, viral Twitter thread from Buzzfeed's Adam Ellis, who discovered that his apartment might contain an unwanted roommate in the form of David, the ghost of a young boy who may or may not have died under mysterious circumstances. Well, that Twitter thread has become a feature film, and now - roughly six years later! - we're finally getting a look at the trailer for that adaptation.

Premiered earlier today by the good folks at Collider, John McPhail's Dear David seems to really lean into the horror of Ellis' predicament (which, to be fair, unfolded with no small amount of good humor), resulting in something that looks like an effectively chilling tale of the macabre for the social media age.

Let's take a look...

Collider's also got the official plot synopsis, via Lionsgate:

Shortly after comic artist Adam (Augustus Prew) responds to Internet trolls, he begins experiencing sleep paralysis — while an empty rocking chair moves in the corner of his apartment. As he chronicles increasingly malevolent occurrences in a series of tweets, Adam begins to believe he is being haunted by the ghost of a dead child named David. Encouraged by his boss to continue the “Dear David” thread, Adam starts to lose his grip on what is online…and what is real. Based on the viral Twitter thread by BuzzFeed comic artist Adam Ellis.

Starring August Prew, Andrea Bang, Rene Escobar Jr., Cameron Nicoll, and Justin Long, Dear David is the latest film from John McPhail, who some of you may know as the director of 2017's excellent Anna and the Apocalypse (if you have not seen that zombie musical, do yourself a favor and seek it out immediately). We'll keep you informed should any further updates arrive for this one between now and its October 13th arrival in theaters.

Stay tuned, folks!