Focus Features released the first trailer for Werwulf on Sunday, Robert Eggers' follow-up to Nosferatu, which, according to Deadline, earned four Academy Award nominations and grossed approximately $181 million worldwide. The teaser sets the tone immediately: rain-soaked countryside, a body horror transformation, and the film's tagline: "a harrowing tale of devotion, damnation, and the devil within."
Aaron Taylor-Johnson stars as a farmer traveling with his wife and three children to a remote village in 13th-century England. Lily-Rose Depp plays his wife, while Willem Dafoe and Ralph Ineson round out the ensemble. Eggers co-wrote the script with Icelandic poet Sjón, his collaborator on Nosferatu, and Jarin Blaschke returns as cinematographer. The film was shot on location across the U.K. throughout 2025.
"I feel very fortunate that I'm at an age now where I've been in the industry long enough that...I'm getting the opportunity to work with the same directors again for a second time," Taylor-Johnson told IndieWire.
Werwulf is presented in a classical aspect ratio with some black-and-white sequences, consistent with Eggers' formal approach to period horror. With The Witch, The Lighthouse, The Northman, and Nosferatu, the director has built an unbroken run of films that double as formal experiments in historical dread. Chris and Eleanor Columbus serve as executive producers. Werwulf opens December 25, 2026 from Focus Features.
