Andrew Garfield investigates a gory murder in Under The Banner Of Heaven teaser
The FX mini-series dives into the world of LDS fundamentalism with the tick, tick...BOOM! actor as an LDS elder on the case
Aux News Under the Banner of Heaven
Andrew Garfield has been keeping himself busy the last few months. From his current nomination for tick, tick…BOOM! to his beloved re-suiting as snarky, fluffy-haired Peter Parker in Spider-Man: No Way Home, this winter could be re-named ‘The Garfield Solstice.’ Yet, hibernation doesn’t seem apparent for Garfield just yet. The recently released teaser for FX and Hulu’s upcoming mini-series Under The Banner Of Heaven shows Garfield will be appearing on our TV screens, too.
Based on the best-selling true crime novel by Jon Krakauer, the series follows Detective Pyre (Garfield), a devout LDS elder who begins to question some of the church’s teachings after a vicious murder appears “to be connected to an esteemed Utah family’s fall into LDS fundamentalism.”
The teaser begins with Garfield’s Detective Pyre coming across a puddle of blood as he first enters the house of a double-murder case. Talking to an unknown person, Pyre sounds unsettled as he relates that the root of the murder wasn’t from an outside source, but from “things and beliefs that I’ve only ever heard whisperings about.”
Scenes depicting domesticity and seemingly normal small-town America appear in flashes throughout the teaser, but the underlining sense of dread hides in shots of eyes behind curtains and shadowy woods. Furthering this skin-crawling wrongness is the ticking of the score, with violins screeching faster before abruptly halting after a violent altercation knocks out an unseen person.
Starring alongside Garfield is Daisy Edgar-Jones as Brenda, a young faithful Mormon who is the victim in the murder case. The rest of the ensemble includes Sam Worthington, Denise Gough, Wyatt Russell, Billy Howle, Gil Birmingham, Adelaide Clemens, Rory Culkin, Seth Numrich, Chloe Pirrie, Sandra Seacat and Christopher Heyerdahl.
Under The Banner Of Heaven is being directed by David Mackenzie, Isabel Sandoval, and Thomas Schlamme. Academy Award-winner Dustin Lance Black is the series creator and serves as an executive producer along with Brian Grazer, Ron Howard, Anna Culp, Jason Bateman, Michael Costigan, and Gillian Berrie.
Catch the mini-series on Hulu later this year.
25 Comments
This looks like I would have loved it about 10 years ago, but I guess I’ve had my fill of grim investigations into the seedy underbelly of America.
Have you read the book? It is fascinating — it is isn’t just a
“seedy underbelly” story but a history of the Mormons explaining their unusual beliefs and practices from the start and how while the mainstream LDS decided to abandon things like polygamy and child marriage (supposedly as a result of a “vision” to their elders but more practically because they thought Utah couldn’t really get statehood if they kept up that stuff) but a minority of Mormons even to this day practice the original form created by Joseph Smith and his protege Brigham Young.
This will never equal the book – no way, no how.
I haven’t read that book, but in William Stuntz “The Collapse of American Criminal Justice” he discusses the federal governments crackdown on Mormon polygamy as a precursor to Prohibition and War on Drugs. Of course, he thinks the last one was the worst in terms of its corrosive effects on the law.
Co-sign. I’d call it Krakauer’s best work.At least at the time of its writing, there were entire counties where all government officials were LDS members who refused to investigate…well, pretty much anything. Plus many of the people in question weren’t exactly living off the grid in poverty, there was a lot of quiet money supporting practitioners of fundamentalist Mormanism. Not to mention Utah is a very big place, with a lot of sparsely populated areas to set up shop. Just an absolutely fascinating read.
what do you want – an underbelly with no seeds???
No seeds, no stems. just an underbelly of buds.
+1 for you
could I get an “everything” underbelly? actually skip the poppy seeds, never know when you might have to pass a drug test LOL
I prefer an everything underbelly, with a nice shmear of cream cheese.
This ad makes it seem like a True Detectives/noir type tv show. The book and the story was anything but that. I’m very curious where it leans.
looks pretty electric.
Missive on Mormon Murder Makes Massive Milestone for Mystery Maniacs!
Subheadline:Vicious Violins Vindicate Viewers Vacuous Vacations
The book was pretty fantastic, so this will be worth checking out!
I remain amused by the American habit of casting English actors (Andrew Garfield, Daisy Edgar-Jones) in American roles. They’re great! But where’s the homegrown talent??
americans don’t look like how americans see themselves.
Waiting to be discovered at a Banana Republic.
What counts as homegrown? Andrew Garfield was born in LA.
“grown” is the operative word here.
So uh… does the movie also follow the second major storyline of the book, which is a grimly detailed account of how the founding of Mormonism was just as bloody and crazy?
Grew up in Utah in the LDS “Church” and I’m wondering about this series now. Too bad I don’t have FX or Hulu, but there are ways..
About to start the book. I grew up in the mormon cult, so it’s been on my list for years, and I guess I can’t put it off any longer.
Probably no one will see this because I think I’m stuck in the gray, but if you do, the book is a work of investigative nonfiction, not a novel
Spoiler: the victim actually died after walking into a Halloween in January store without a floor.