Is there something in the air at the moment? A few weeks back, we reported that Steve Martin, Owen Wilson and Jack Black were signed on to the birdwatching comedy “The Big Year,” and only a few days ago came the news of Ben Kingsley and Bryan Cranston in the coming-of-age drama “A Birder’s Guide To Everything,” about a teenager searching for a rare duck. But there’s already one ornithology-themed film that’s already in the can, and looks set to beat the two films above into theaters.
“Pelican Blood,” based on the cult British novel by Cris Freddi, follows Nikko, a young “twitcher,” or birdwatcher, in the midst of a complicated relationship with a girl, Stevie, he met on a suicide chatroom. It toplines rising star Harry Treadaway (“Fish Tank”) as Nikko, with Australian actress Emma Booth (“The Boys Are Back”) as Stevie, with a supporting cast featuring Arthur Darville (“Doctor Who”), Oona Chaplin (“Quantum of Solace”) and George Newton (“This Is England”).
The trailer’s certainly intriguing, even if the wall-to-wall soundtrack featuring The Smiths, Portishead, Late of the Pier and the awesome MSTRKRFT remix of Metric’s ‘Monster Hospital’ feels a little self-conscious in its attempt to do for birdwatching what “Trainspotting” did for heroin (the film’s soundtrack is also set to include songs by Crystal Castles, The Do and The Specials, among others). But there’s some nice visuals in there, and it’s much darker than you might expect from a film with this subject matter. It’s set for release in the UK through Icon later in the year, although its original April release date has been delayed. You can find the trailer below; just be warned, it’s a little NSFW.