‘River' Trailer: Jane Levy and Jessica Rothe Are Hunted by a Masked Killer in Blumhouse's $10M TIFF Slasher

Universal has dropped the first trailer for "River," the Joshua Giuliano slasher that became TIFF 2026's biggesr sale when Jason Blum and Universal paid $10M+ for it in September.

The film has a fairly simple premise. it’s nighttime, the boat is dead, there's no cell service, and the killer is standing on the shore waiting. Three estranged siblings — Jane Levy, Jessica Rothe and Max Mattern — head down a remote river to scatter their father's ashes, and the trip turns into a fight for survival against a masked figure played by Dane DiLiegro, the Predator in "Prey."

The obvious question with a premise like this is why don't they just swim to safety. The trailer's answer is that the killer is a great swimmer — that's a fun hook. My one gripe: there's a flash frame late in the trailer that pretty much gives away how one of the chase sequences ends. Universal should have cut that.

"River" actually arrived at TIFF as a Shudder Original with IFC set to release it theatrically. IFC chose to put it up for auction instead. Sony looked like the frontrunner with an $8M bid, and Focus, Paramount, A24 and Netflix all passed on the price. Then Blum-Universal won it with $10M+.

When I wrote about the sale, reviews were mostly in the 3/5, B/B- range. The Rotten Tomatoes score has since climbed to 94%, 70 on Metacritic, and word from the festival circuit, including Beyond Fest, is that it's a bloody good time.

"River" opens January 15, 2027, over MLK weekend, against "The Beekeeper 2" and "Children of Blood and Bone." It's a shame it misses Halloween, since this year's scares in theaters come down to “Other Mommy,” “Crawlers” and "Clayface,” but January has been good to horror

Since TIFF, Giuliano has already lined up his next film, "Occupant," with Blumhouse Atomic Monster and Focus, and he's said he's thinking about a sequel, so Universal is betting on this filmmaker hard.