{"id":665086,"date":"2026-06-29T22:56:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-29T22:56:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/665086\/"},"modified":"2026-06-29T22:56:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-29T22:56:17","slug":"werwulf-trailer-reveals-first-look-at-lily-rose-depps-controversial-transformation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/665086\/","title":{"rendered":"Werwulf trailer reveals first look at Lily-Rose Depp’s controversial transformation"},"content":{"rendered":"

Robert Eggers is returning to folk horror after his gothic detour with Nosferatu, reuniting with star Lily-Rose Depp on upcoming film Werwulf, which also features Aaron Taylor-Johnson as a farmer plagued by a supernatural curse in 13th-century England. A new trailer was released today (29 June), showcasing The Idol stars\u2019 prosthetic cleft lip, which sparked backlash when first-look images of Depp circulated last year. <\/p>\n

Depp plays Taylor-Johnson’s character’s wife, with Eggers having previously described her character as the “most gracious person in the film” (via Esquire<\/a>). <\/p>\n

Co-written by Eggers and Icelandic poet and screenwriter Sj\u00f3n, the film’s atmospheric trailer combines different aspect ratios as well as colour and black-and-white grading to tell the story of an ordinary family haunted by a mysterious creature.<\/p>\n

\"aaron<\/p>\n

Focus Features\/Rory Mulvey<\/p>\n

Related: Best streaming services<\/a><\/p>\n

Juxtaposing pagan rituals and Christian symbolism, the trailer further reveals Taylor-Johnson’s protagonist’s close connection to the bloodthirsty werewolf in a link that goes back to his childhood. <\/p>\n

The clip also offers a more detailed look at Depp’s farmer character, though her role in the story still remains unclear. When a first picture of Depp dropped online in November 2025, some had previously pointed out how the coverage of the prosthetic look seemed to perpetuate the stigma around cleft lips. <\/p>\n

One media outlet branded the transformation a “de-glammed” look for the Nosferatu star, with UK charity Changing Faces calling for “calling for responsible, respectful reporting” on Facebook<\/a>. <\/p>\n

\"aaron<\/p>\n

Universal<\/p>\n

Related: Aaron Taylor-Johnson hailed for his “best performance” as first look lands at Gothic horror<\/a>
<\/p>\n

As the language used by some media outlets and speculation that Werwulf would exploit the birth difference as “inspiration for horror” was also criticised in a Glamour<\/a> op-ed, the new trailer hasn’t clarified much about Depp’s character and whether her cleft lip would be portrayed sensitively. <\/p>\n

Releasing on Christmas Day, the film also stars Willem Dafoe, Ralph Ineson and Hamnet’s Bodhi Rae Breathnach.<\/p>\n

Werwulf marks Eggers’ fifth feature film, following his 2015 directorial debut, The Witch, starring Anya Taylor-Joy in a breakout performance as a Puritan teen suspected of communing with the devil. Eggers also wrote, directed and produced 2019’s The Lighthouse, 2022’s The Northman and 2024’s Nosferatu.<\/p>\n

Werwulf is released in cinemas on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n

Visit our Streaming Guide<\/a> now to see at a glance where you can view ALL your favourite shows and movies.<\/p>\n

The new edition of Living Legends, celebrating the global phenomenon of BTS, is here! Buy this ultimate fan guide in newsagents or online<\/a>.
<\/p>\n

\"Headshot<\/p>\n

Reporter, Digital Spy<\/p>\n

Stefania is a freelance writer specialising in TV and movies. After graduating from City University, London, she covered LGBTQ+ news and pursued a career in entertainment journalism, with her work appearing in outlets including Little White Lies, The Skinny, Radio Times<\/a> and Digital Spy<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Her beats are horror films and period dramas, especially if fronted by queer women. She can argue why Scream is the best slasher in four languages (and a half).\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Robert Eggers is returning to folk horror after his gothic detour with Nosferatu, reuniting with star Lily-Rose Depp…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":665087,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[147950,379,222817,381,96,190731,1156,2839,222816,156378,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-665086","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-collection-latest-news","tag-content-type-news","tag-contentid-6ca904f3-7bbd-4b98-8092-1e232830f9eb","tag-displaytype-standard-article","tag-entertainment","tag-issyndicated-false","tag-locale-gb","tag-movies","tag-shorttitle-werwulf-trailer-reveals-lily-rose-depps-transformation","tag-subsection-trailers","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665086","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=665086"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/665086\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/665087"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=665086"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=665086"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=665086"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}