Josh Giuliano’s River was the highlight of New York Comic Con 2026. And now that the trailer is out online, it’s easy to understand why.
The upcoming horror slasher made its premiere during the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) to rave reviews. At the moment it has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes from 32 critics. And just days later it was announced that it was selling to Universal and Blumhouse Atomic Monster for north of $10 million. That’s on top of a video going viral of Blumhouse Productions CEO Jason Blum leaving River immediately after watching almost like he was thinking, “We need to buy this now!”
At NYCC, Blum appeared on stage with River star Jessica Rothe, best known for Happy Death Day. She’s starring alongside Jane Levy, Max Mattern, and Dane DiLiegro in the horror movie. And they both sat down with panel host MatPat for a Q&A that teased what’s to come, but also what went into these intense scenes.
River tells the story of three estranged siblings who reunite in their rural hometown after the death of their father. As they set out to scatter his ashes, the trip devolves into a fight for survival as they are stalked by a faceless killer. Rothe’s character in particular can be seen swimming in the river when she spots a man on the shore. When he jumps in after her without a word, things turn terrifying…
Since Fangirlish was present at NYCC, we were lucky enough to learn a bit more about the movie.
Rothe in particular said that the water stuff in River was the hardest part. “Especially because we started shooting it in late summer into fall. So at the beginning I was the lucky duck who got to be in the water during the 100 degree days. But then towards the end it was getting very cold. And because of my costume I couldn’t really wear like a secret sneaky wetsuit.”
While she got training to do all the in-water scenes for River, Rothe also had a familiar stunt double working with her. Rothe said, “Our stunt team was incredible. Kelly, my incredible stunt girl, who was on Happy Death Day with me, also stunts me in this movie. She is a badass. And they kept us really safe and helped us do some pretty gnarly things. Because everything you see on that screen is practical.”
As for the movie itself, she teased that it has “Family drama, heartfelt moments, terror, a psychotic 6′ 8″ ripped super hot but very scary man. Like it really has it all!” The 6′ 8″ psycho in question is played by former basketball player Dane DiLiegro. He notably played the Predator in Prey and was in Only Murders in the Building as Johnny Caccimelio.
Watch the official trailer for River below:
River hits theaters January 15, 2027.
