Just how far would you go to save a loved one in peril? That’s the question asked by today’s brand new trailer for Colonia, thrusting Emma Watson’s Lufthansa flight attendant Lena into the Chilean military coup of 1973 – a political cauldron if there ever was one – in search of her wayward significant other.
Based loosely on real events, Florian Gallenberger’s period drama is situated during a time in which Salvador Allende governed the South American country with an iron fist, sparking an uprising to oust him from power. Rallying the freedom fighters is Daniel Brühl’s artist and activist, who becomes one of the many dissidents to be captured and ordered to Colonia Dignidad by General Augusto Pinochet.
It is here that Watson’s determined lead hopes to salvage a plan to help rescue Brühl’s rebel, but the only way to do so is to enlist in a dark and seedy cult. Led by minister Paul Schäfer (Michael Nyqvist of The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo fame), it isn’t long before our protagonist unearths the camp’s Nazi roots, discovering that the sect doubles as a torture prison for the aforementioned general.
Florian Gallenberger’s historical period drama will receive a limited theatrical release on April 15, when Colonia will also premiere on select VOD services.
Chile, 1973. Lufthansa flight attendant Lena (Watson) is in Santiago to visit her boyfriend, Daniel (Brühl), a talented graphic artist creating images in support of embattled President Salvador Allende. When Allende is violently ousted, General Augusto Pinochet’s forces begin rounding up dissidents. Daniel is taken to the remote stronghold of Colonia Dignidad (“Dignity Colony”), home to a secret agricultural commune and crypto-fascist sect led by sinister minister Paul Schäfer (Michael Nyqvist). Daniel is interrogated and tortured, but feigns severe mental deterioration to stay alive. Valiant and wily, Lena travels to Colonia and offers herself up to Schäfer as a follower. She is determined to find and free Daniel — but first she must ensure that she herself can survive Schäfer’s crushingly oppressive, viciously misogynistic practices.