The 5th Wave U.S. Trailer: You Can’t Trust Anyone Anymore

Looking at the recent blockbusters that have ruled the box office over the last few years, it’s clear dystopian YA novel adaptations are still very much in style. The Hunger Games, The Maze Runner, and Divergent all serve to emphasize that audiences love watching attractive teenagers struggle to survive in a harsh and unforgiving future. The latest feature film to try and tap into this phenomenon is The 5th Wave, which stars Chloë Grace Moretz (Kick-Ass 1 & 2), and paints and equally bleak picture of the future. Moretz stars as Cassie Sullivan, an ordinary teenage girl whose life and family are torn apart when an alien invasion descends upon the Earth, destroying most of the planet. The invaders quickly get to work either killing humans or invading their bodies. The trailer (above) explains the different waves of attack that led to the extermination of humankind. And it looks as though the film will center around humanity’s final fight to survive, as well as Cassie’s quest to find her little brother – who was taken by “the Others.“ This film, directed by J Blakeson, who directed 2009’s The Disappearance of Alice Creed (in addition to a handful of short films), is packed with acting talent. Ron Livingston (The Conjuring), Liev Schreiber (Ray Donovan, X-Men Origins: Wolverine), Maika Monroe (It Follows), and Nick Robinson (Jurassic World) are all on board to help round out the impressive cast. Meanwhile, the screenplay is by Susanna Grant, the writer of a number of high-profile projects including Erin Brockovich, Catch and Release and A Gifted Man. Unfortunately, much like The 5th Wave’s first trailer, this preview does not do much to distinguish itself in a market already packed with similar fare. At best, it comes across as a sort of The Road/The Hunger Games hybrid, which if done well could be a tense, action-packed thriller. However it could also easily resemble something more like 2013’s similarly plotted but forgettable The Host, an adequate, if significantly flawed film that didn’t quite meet the expectations of being adapted from Stephanie Meyer’s follow-up to Twilight. Still, the talent involved may be reason enough to be optimistic, as perhaps the cast will serve to elevate the film and put a fresh spin on the apocalypse. Depending on how it performs at the box office we could be looking at the next major franchise, as the film is based on Rick Yancey’s novel trilogy bearing the same name. The 5th Wave is set to open in U.S. theaters on January 15, 2016.