Is Pride and Prejudice and Zombies supposed to be a tongue-in-cheek twist on the Jane Austen classic? Or are we meant to take it completely seriously?
That's the question you'll be asking yourself after watching the brand new, full-length trailer for the film. The first teaser trailer seemed to suggest a more irony-driven approach, but this one paints a very different picture, one that's much more mature than the first.
"I shall never relinquish my sword for a ring," says actress Lily James as heroine Elizabeth Bennet.
"For the right man, you would," points out sister Jane (Bella Heathcote).
"The right man wouldn't ask me to," replies Elizabeth. And there's not a trace of a wink in her voice.
One thing's for certain: the world is going to hell. As Elizabeth explains in a voiceover at the trailer's outset, a zombie apocalypse was brought on by the Black Plague, causing the dead to rise and walk. Next we see visuals of major cities swallowed in flames before returning to the rolling countryside and proper estates where Elizabeth and her suitor Mr. Darcy (Sam Riley) mingle.
It's an interesting juxtaposition: the nightmarish scenario of a zombie apocalypse in which "everyone must fight," as the trailer says, with the strictures of polite society. The film appears to take the approach that the two can coexist, with the art of war being one of the disciplines a woman should have "a thorough knowledge" of, according to Mr. Darcy. But balancing these two worlds in a realistic, serious way is a tightrope that could so easily tip over into silliness.
What do you think? Awesome or bonkers?
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, based on the novel by Seth Grahame-Smith and also starring Game of Thrones' Lena Headey and Charles Dance, and Doctor Who's Matt Smith, is coming to theaters on Feb. 5, 2016.
Be sure to follow T-Lounge on Twitter and visit our Facebook page.
