Kirsten Dunst to explore trippy dream world in ‘Woodshock’

A24 Films has premiered the first trailer for Woodshock, upcoming feature directorial from Kate Mulleavy and Laura Mulleavy.

Haven’t heard of it? We’re not surprised. It stars Kirsten Dunst (Melancholia, Spider-Man, Marie Antoinette) in the lead, but has undoubtedly been overshadowed by the forthcoming theatrical release of Sofia Coppola’s The Beguiled, in which Dunst also stars.

Woodshock deserves as much attention as it can possibly get, a film that A24 Films has dubbed “something special”. They should know, having swooped in way back in 2015 to secure the distribution rights in the United States.

The film focuses on Theresa, a young woman haunted by profound loss and torn between her fractured emotional state and the reality-altering effects of a cannabinoid drug. It is described as a “hypnotic exploration of isolation, paranoia, and grief that exists in a dream-world all its own”. The duo behind the film aren’t kidding. See what they mean by viewing the trippy trailer here.

Though Woodshock is the feature film debut from the Mulleavy sisters, they’re no strangers to Hollywood, having established the Los Angeles-based fashion brand Rodarte. The pair previously also worked as costume designers, most notably on the 2010 film Black Swan starring Natalie Portman. Having always had the desire to direct, the siblings developed the screenplay for Woodshock over a period of several years.

Pilou Asbæk (Ghost in the Shell, Lucy), Joe Cole (Peaky Blinders, Green Room), Lorelei Linklater (Boyhood, Bomb City), Jack Kilmer (Palo Alto, The Nice Guys), Susan Taylor (Heat, Greenberg) and Steph DuVall (Showtime’s Ray Donovan) star alongside Dunst.

Ken Kao’s Waypoint Entertainment financed and produced the film, along with Ben LeClair and Michael Costigan under their Cota Films label.

Release Information

The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on September 4, 2017 before receiving its limited theatrical release in the United States on September 22. International rollout followed in markets including Portugal. Production took place in the redwood forests around Eureka, California, a setting that reinforced the story’s isolated, hallucinatory atmosphere.

Production and Financing

Waypoint Entertainment and Cota Films handled the project with an estimated budget of five million dollars. The modest scale allowed the Mulleavy sisters to maintain control over the film’s visual language without studio interference. Locations were chosen for their dense, otherworldly quality, giving the cannabinoid-induced sequences a grounded yet disorienting texture.

Critical and Audience Reception

Woodshock opened to mixed-to-negative notices. It earned a 27 percent score on Rotten Tomatoes, where critics noted the film’s visual engagement while finding its premise ultimately unsatisfying. Metacritic assigned a 39 out of 100, placing the picture in the generally unfavorable range. Audience scores followed a similar pattern, with some viewers praising the hypnotic imagery and others citing narrative opacity as a barrier.

Box Office Performance

The film grossed roughly forty-three thousand dollars worldwide after a three-week limited run. That figure fell well short of its five-million-dollar budget, reflecting both the narrow theatrical footprint and the challenges of marketing an experimental drama in a crowded fall slate. A24 kept the release modest, consistent with the distributor’s approach to auteur-driven titles that prioritize prestige over broad commercial appeal.

Legacy and Availability

Woodshock remains accessible through YouTube TV, Cinemax channels, and various digital rental or purchase platforms. In June 2023 the Museum of Modern Art included the film in a retrospective program, signaling continued archival interest nearly six years after its initial release. The screening gave newer audiences a chance to experience the Mulleavy sisters’ singular visual approach on the big screen.

Mulleavy Sisters' Post-Woodshock Work

The sisters have not directed another feature since Woodshock. Their primary focus has remained the Rodarte fashion label, which continues to generate critical acclaim and celebrity clients. The absence of follow-up films has positioned Woodshock as a one-off experiment that captured their distinctive sensibility without leading to a sustained directing career.

Even with its modest commercial footprint, Woodshock stands as a rare studio-backed attempt to translate grief into pure sensory experience. The Mulleavy sisters brought their fashion-trained eye for texture and color to every frame, creating a film that still feels singular nearly a decade later. For viewers drawn to atmospheric storytelling over conventional plotting, the picture rewards repeat viewings on the small screen where its dream logic can unfold without theatrical expectations.