Lupita Nyong’o’s Horror-Comedy Little Monsters Gets First Trailer

Fresh off her memorable turn in Us, Lupita Nyong’o has another horror movie coming out — and Altitude Pictures has just released the first trailer for Little Monsters, a zombie comedy that sees Nyong’o as a young teacher who takes a group of children on a field trip, only to have their destination overrun by the undead. As opposed to Jim Jarmusch’s The Dead Don’t Die, which hit theaters with a large, star-studded cast earlier this year, Little Monsters will apparently play up the “heartwarming” elements of the story, and features Nyong’o’s character moving between a romantic subplot and her earnest desire to protect the kids on the trip.

You can see the trailer — which is a red-band trailer, so expect some language and gore — above. The film also stars Alexander England, Josh Gad, and Diesel La Torraca. From the look of the film, it takes place almost entirely within a fairly small, country location, which means that, like The Dead Don’t Die, it was likely very cheap to make, especially for a genre film. It debuted earlier this year at Sundance earlier this year to ecstatic response and stoked a bidding war for its distribution rights in the U.S.

Little Monsters follows Dave (Alexander England), a washed-up musician who volunteers to chaperone his nephew’s kindergarten class field trip after taking a serious liking to the fearless schoolteacher, Miss Caroline (Lupita Nyong’o). Dave’s intentions are complicated by the presence of the world’s most famous kids’ show personality and competition for Miss Caroline’s affections, Teddy McGiggle (Josh Gad). One thing none of them bargained for, however, is a sudden zombie outbreak. Will Dave rise to the occasion and have a chance at Miss Caroline’s heart, or will the zombies get there first?

Little Monsters will be in theaters in the UK and Ireland on November 15. There is no official date yet for Little Monsters in the U.S., although it may be an abbreviated or select theatrical release here, as Hulu teamed with NEON to purchase the distribution rights. The details are fuzzy but the most likely scenario seems to be a theatrical release to help build awareness and momentum, before the film heads to Hulu for a long-term stay.