Art imitates life and life imitates art, as the saying goes, but unfortunately, absolute horror finds a way to inject itself into that obligatory cycle. One of the most tragic recent examples of the dark side of this aphorism is the case of the attempted murder of a 12-year-old girl by two other 12-year-old girls who were inspired by the internet creation known as the Slenderman. Now, roughly three years after that incident, we have our first glimpse at the HBO documentary surrounding the attempted murder in this new chilling trailer.
The documentary, which is titled Beware the Slenderman and is directed by filmmaker Irene Taylor Brodsky (Hear and Now, The Final Inch), focuses on the trial of the two Wisconsin girls responsible for the attempted murder, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier. The two young girls reportedly stabbed the victim 19 times because they believed that if they didn’t, there would be repercussions from the Slenderman.
Brodsky told Buzzfeed that the documentary will “not revolve around guilt or innocence… but instead the court’s deliberation whether the girls should be tried as adults or children.” Brodsky added that “Above all, it is the anguish and astonishing honesty of the girls’ parents that anchors the film’s narrative to its tragic core.”
For those unfamiliar with the Slenderman, he is a fictional character that was created by Eric Knudsen, and began as an internet meme on the comedy site Something Awful. Slenderman, who is usually depicted as a very tall, thin man in a suit, without a face, has supernatural abilities that change depending upon the storyteller, although his motives are always sinister. He inspired many works of related fiction, video games, and of course, some real-life acts of violence including the attempted murder involving Geyser and Weier.
The documentary, which first debuted at this year’s South by Southwest, is set to premiere on HBO on January 23, 2017.
What do you think about HBO’s documentary based on the Slenderman-inspired attempted murder? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Images: HBODocs
