Coulrophobia is rife in the current movie and TV landscape no thanks to the back-to-back release of It and FX’s seventh season of American Horror Story.
The former is poised to unleash Pennywise the Dancing Clown on September 8th, while AHS will forge a Cult in exactly two weeks’ time. That means FX’s marketing machine, which has always been a source of cryptic teasers and misdirection, is beginning to flicker into life, and we now have Cult‘s first full trailer to coincide with the release of this season’s suitably creepy opening credits.
Doing good on its promise to center its story on the 2016 Presidential Election, the first true trailer for season 7 of American Horror Story acts as a not-so-subtle nod to Trump-era terror. In it, we’re introduced to Ally Mayfair-Richards (Sarah Paulson), who’s expressing her perfectly rational fear of clowns to a curious shrink (Cheyenne Jackson as Dr. Rudy Vincent). Billie Lourd (as Winter Anderson) also crops up as the nanny from hell, who presents a pint-sized version of Twisty – yes, that Twisty – to an unsuspecting young boy. Oh, if only he knew.
Also included in this blistering one-minute teaser is our first glimpse at Evan Peters’ volatile character, Kai Anderson, who may well be the ring leader of the titular cult. Chalk that up as conjecture for now, as we all know how much American Horror Story likes to toy with our expectations.
Joining Peters, Paulson, Vincent and Lourd on Cult‘s casting sheet are Cheyenne Jackson, Emma Roberts, Frances Conroy, Billy Eichner, Colton Haynes, Lena Dunham, Dina Porter, Leslie Grossman, Mare Winningham, and Chaz Bono.
American Horror Story: Cult begins in earnest on Tuesday, September 5th at 10/9c. It’ll stretch for 11 episodes in total and, following scenery-chewing roles across Roanoke and Hotel, we know that Kathy Bates won’t be a part of the show’s future.
