A dark and somber photography combined with a borderline ironic “relax, enjoy the experience” set the tone for the trailer of the upcoming sci-fi Flatliners. Heavy breathing and croaking add a very eerie feeling to the atmosphere. The movie intends to be, quite literally a breathtaking sci-fi. It will also raise existential and scientific questions about the blurry line between life and death, and give us a prescient warning not to toy with our very existence.

The story is described more or less like this: five medical students, obsessed by the mystery of what lies beyond the confines of life, embark on a daring and dangerous experiment: by stopping their hearts for short periods of time, each triggers a near-death experience – giving them a firsthand account of the afterlife. But as their experiments become increasingly dangerous, they are each haunted by the sins of their pasts, brought on by the paranormal consequences of trespassing to the other side.

The Danish is best known for the 2009 movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, based on the romance by the same name. The film became an instant classic immediately, and it spawned as remake by David Fincher just two years later. The Scandinavian filmmaker has made four films since, but none has enjoyed as much commercial and critical acclaim. Let’s hope he’s willing to get dirty and turns things around this time!

Flatliners will be released worldwide on Friday, September 29th.