Netflix’s Elven trailer turns the holiday into a Christmas horror story

A trailer for Netflix’s new Danish series Elves transforms a holiday designed to reconnect a family into something much darker and eerier.

The new trailer, which lasts just over two minutes, strikes the strange tone right from the start. A family of four goes on Christmas vacation, sings Christmas songs, and participates in a sibling rivalry when their car drives on the road.

They are quickly chased from a club, but when they arrive at their cabin, the girl is still obsessed with finding out what it is. While the father is scornful, the daughter is not discouraged and returns by bicycle to the accident scene. He finds a little creature that looks partly sweet and strange: a children’s version of the elves’ title. And from there, the story goes into horror mode.

Another eerie place is part of a strange religious sect that had built a harmonious coexistence with the elves until modernization destroyed them. “Why is there a fence in the woods?” the girl asks for a photo of the huge fortress. “Because we lived in harmony with nature,” the restaurant explains, “until people came who prefer to live there.”

More of the island community is introduced, and the girl goes to Hermione at SPEW and decides that the elves will be detained against their will. “Maybe not to lock them in there,” the brother said, contrary to his willingness to help the creatures. “Maybe to protect the rest of us.”

From there, we first get a glimpse of an adult elf, see a photo of the bush fence with a corn hole, and the tension with the locals rises as the girl is unafraid in her quest to free the elves.

There are shots, screams, haunting music, and another or two scary shots from the adult goblins. It becomes clear that the girl has upset the delicate balance of this remote island, and the elves are on the hunt for blood, revenge, or both.

Created by Stefan Jaworski and with Sonja Sofie Engberg Steen, Ann Eleonora Jørgensen, Peder Thomas Pederson, Vivelill Søgaard Holm and several actors listed as “Adult Elf” – which does not bode well for the lead roles – the stream series premieres Danish Elfen on Netflix on 28 November.