Benedict Cumberbatch Takes Flight In The Thing With Feathers First Trailer
Briarcliff Entertainment has dropped the official trailer for The Thing With Feathers, a new drama led by Academy Award nominee Benedict Cumberbatch that follows a grieving father raising two young sons on his own. Fresh off its world premiere at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival, the film hits theaters November 28, 2025.
Benedict Cumberbatch has a new one, and it is not your standard grief drama. Briarcliff Entertainment just dropped the first trailer for 'The Thing With Feathers,' and yes, grief literally shows up as a man-like crow who will not leave this family alone. I know. Same. Intrigued.
The premise (and the weird hook)
Cumberbatch plays a father known only as 'Dad,' suddenly on his own with two young sons after his wife dies. That would be plenty on its own, but then a human-ish Crow takes up residence, lurking and heckling him into confronting the mess he is trying very hard not to face. The trailer leans into that surreal push-pull: the more Crow needles him, the more Dad and his kids edge away from free fall.
'Grief is messy and chaotic.'
That line from the official materials is the vibe: unruly, invasive, and possibly the exact disruption Dad needs to break the spiral.
Trailer snapshot
The footage is all jagged nerves and midnight corners: Cumberbatch playing a man running on fumes, the boys trying to read a new normal on their dad’s face, and this Crow figure slipping in from the shadows to provoke, prod, and dare Dad to look straight at what happened. The sell is simple: the most unwelcome house guest might be the only thing that saves them.
Who made it and who is in it
'The Thing With Feathers' is written and directed by Dylan Southern, adapted from Max Porter’s 2015 novella. Alongside Cumberbatch (an Oscar nominee), the cast includes David Thewlis, Jessie Cave, Sam Spruell, Leo Bill, Vinette Robinson, Garry Cooper, Tim Plester, Richard Boxall, Henry Boxall, and more.
Festival stop, early score, and release plan
The film premiered at the 2025 Sundance Film Festival and already has a 53% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes from 30 reviews — early, mixed, and exactly the kind of response you expect for a grief story with a literal Crow in your kitchen.
Briarcliff Entertainment is rolling it into theaters on November 28, 2025.
Behind the scenes
Produced by Andrea Cornwell, Adam Ackland, and Leah Clarke. Executive producers are Benedict Cumberbatch, Sean Wheelan, Adrian Politowski, Sierra Garcia, Nadia Khamlichi, Nessa McGill, Mia Bays, Charlie Gatsky Sinclair, Nils Leonard, Nathanael Karmitz, Elisha Karmitz, Fionnuala Jamison, Morwin Schmookler, Patricia Lawley, Lee Broda, Thomas R. Burke, and Ollie Madden.