Beckett

John David Washington (Tenet, BlacKkKlansman) stars in this new summer headed thriller headed to Netflix. With Ferdinando Cito Filomarino directing, celebrated English singer and songwriter Dev Hynes—also known as Blood Orange—is a key collaborator, and unsurprising then that his music figures heavily in this first trailer.

The song, “Born to Be”, notably makes its premiere in this trailer. In this case, it can be seen as much as an artistic choice as it is a cross-promotional tactic, with undoubtedly at least some cross-section of audioviewers watching this trailer specifically for a preview of new music by Hynes. Unreleased snippets of music from well-known artists, while not definitively a trend, aren’t unheard of in trailers, with a relatively recent example being last year’s Tom and Jerry trailer and its inclusion of a new track by Flo Rida. Still, in this case, it’s a more overt collaboration. Hynes’ track is heavily and exclusively used throughout the Beckett trailer, with the addition of some nigh-requisite epic music tropes (the single piano note, martial percussion, blaring synths, and so on).

As for the narrative proper, Beckett is an American tourist in Greece who finds himself at the centre of a worldwide manhunt and must find his way across the country to seek refuge at the American embassy. Confusion and action ensue as we watch Beckett become embroiled in the scheme.

The first twenty seconds offers multiple layers in the soundtrack to establish much—we hear Beckett and his partner, April, in dialogue. Hynes’ somewhat ethereal voice (with lyrics, perhaps effectively, a bit difficult to suss out), and the additional layer of trailerized sounds, such as the low synth accompanying the visual of the car accident, that offers another layers and reinforces selected visual shots. Each of these layers coalesces to accomplish much in the short timeframe that a trailer of course demands.

Hynes’ distinctive voice continues under the dialogue. Notice at 0:42 the perfect synch between the on-screen gunshots and the music, as well. Just a moment later at 0:46, we get a sort of call-and-response: “It’s just a misunderstanding”, the agent says, and the song almost seems to respond, with the lyric “no soul will take my place”. The music enters full tilt at this point, under a monologue by Beckett. Notice again at 1:15 how the train door shutting synchs with a change in the music. Further, the “no soul will take my place” line repeats throughout, becoming a musical motif. Yet another synch point occurs at 1:44; it’s not overt or even fully obvious when this happens, as these points are judiciously placed mostly between sections of the score rather than at every possibly opportunity, but nevertheless they are pointed and present.

In this case, Hynes’ music truly drives the trailer throughout. His voice is almost elevated to that of a co-equal to the dialogue, and especially so in that call and response moment. This is also true when it makes its presence known beneath Beckett’s lines, and also in its persistence as a musical motif later in the trailer. Elements of Hynes’ song are most likely mixed judiciously with sonic elements more germane to the world of modern film trailers. This is done in order to achieve the expected sense of elevated drama that they provide, while also giving a firm sense—albeit, not a complete one—of what this unreleased song sounds like. Lastly, again, it acts as a co-promotional vehicle for Hynes’ song as much as the film, but also one with artistic sensibility given the song will be used in the film itself. One could argue there is greater honesty, or at least cohesion, in the sense that the music offers an accurate preview of the film as well, in this case.

Beckett premieres August 13th on Netflix.

— Curtis Perry