Dev Patel's Jay has a clear agenda when he lands in Pakistan in the first trailer for The Wedding Guest. He rents a car and heads out to scout the location of a wedding where Sameera (Radhika Apte) is about to be married.
One night as everyone sleeps, the mysterious Jay sneaks in and abducts the bride-to-be from her room. But wait, there’s a twist! It turns out Sameera has ordered her own abduction to escape an arranged marriage to a man she doesn’t know.
With Jay’s help, the two plan to disappear into neighbouring India. But as the two strangers plan their escape, can they really trust each other? Who is playing who at this point?
Both Patel and filmmaker Winterbottom are no stranger to filming in India. The director filmed A Mighty Heart (2007) with Angelina Jolie, and Trishna (2011), starring Freida Pinto and Riz Ahmed, in the country.
Meanwhile, the British-Asian actor has returned to India numerous times for his films. Those include the Oscar-winning film Slumdog Millionaire (2008) to The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (2011), Lion (2016) and the recent Hotel Mumbai (2019).
This is Apte’s second English film; she earlier starred in The Ashram (2018) with Melissa Leo and Kal Penn, which was also shot in India.
The thriller had its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) last September.
The Wedding Guest, written and directed by Winterbottom, will open in limited release in Los Angeles and New York on 1 March, and move to a wider release in other US cities on 8 March. There is no word yet of the film's India release.
Watch the trailer below: