There are, to be clear, no wizards or elves in the trailer for Bookworm. But there is a hobbit. Elijah Wood is once again stomping across beautiful New Zealand landscapes in this film, which has one of the most charming trailers I’ve seen in a minute.
Mildred (Nell Fisher) is an alarmingly precocious child who enjoys books, hunting, fishing, and the other things that go into adventures. School is heaven, or so she says. She is assertive and clever, and not at all impressed when her absent father (Wood) reappears in her life. At least not until he says he’ll take her on an adventure to find proof of a mythical panther’s existence.
Wood’s character is an illusionist, a wearer of all black and goofy hats, and whoever costumed this character has absolutely nailed the look of a certain kind of man-child who is desperately trying to hold on to his youthful edge (if he ever had such a thing). But it’s Elijah Wood, so you still want the best for him, even as he is entirely outmatched by his own child.
Bookworm is directed and co-written by Ant Timpson, who worked with Toby Harvard on the screenplay. Timpson, Harvard, and Wood all worked together on Come to Daddy, which also features a father/child reunion but looks about as tonally different from Bookworm as it’s possible for two films to be.
Bookworm is out in New Zealand in August, but doesn’t yet have a U.S. release date.
