What happens when the man behind The Notebook meets the filmmaker behind The Sixth Sense? Apparently, you get Remain, a love story that starts with all the warmth of a Nicholas Sparks romance before slowly turning into something much darker. The first trailer for Remain, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Phoebe Dynevor, gives audiences a surprisingly restrained look at the upcoming supernatural romantic thriller.
Directed by M Night Shyamalan from a screenplay based on a story he developed with Sparks, the film brings together two creators whose storytelling styles could hardly be more different. Sparks also wrote the novel based on the same story.
Does Remain Really Start Like A Nicholas Sparks Romance?
For the first half of the trailer, Remain looks almost deceptively familiar. Gyllenhaal plays Tate Gordon, a reclusive architect who moves to a small coastal town while working on a new project. There, he meets Wren, played by Dynevor, and the two quickly develop an intimate connection.
The trailer gives us board games, shared meals, smiles, dancing and quiet moments between the pair. It even has the kind of soft, emotional atmosphere one might expect from a traditional Sparks adaptation.
There is romance. There is longing. There is chemistry. Then things start feeling very wrong. Wren asks Tate, “Why can’t we be together, Tate?” His response is equally mysterious: “I think you know.”
Why Does Remain Suddenly Turn So Unsettling?
The warmth of the opening gradually gives way to strange disappearances, eerie sounds and increasingly unsettling images. Wren appears to be in distress, and Tate finds himself trying to understand what is happening around him.
At one point, the trailer shows Wren apparently preparing to slam her head against a bathroom wall, only for Tate to find her gone. It is the kind of moment that instantly changes the entire mood of the film. The trailer deliberately refuses to explain too much, which feels particularly refreshing for a Shyamalan film.
Do Jake Gyllenhaal And Phoebe Dynevor Sell The Unusual Romance?
The supernatural mystery may get audiences into theatres, but the relationship between Tate and Wren has to feel emotionally convincing for the story to work. Gyllenhaal seems perfectly suited to the role of a troubled man who is already carrying emotional baggage before the mystery begins. The trailer gives him plenty of quiet, introspective moments before pushing his character into increasingly bizarre circumstances.
Dynevor, meanwhile, gets a role that appears to demand much more than simply playing the romantic lead. Wren is warm and affectionate in one moment and deeply unsettling in the next.
Together, the pair have enough chemistry to make the romantic beginning believable, which is important because the trailer’s supernatural turn only works if we first believe that Tate genuinely cares about Wren.
Is The Shyamalan And Sparks Combination Actually Working?
Nicholas Sparks has built a career around emotionally charged romances, while Shyamalan is best known for psychological thrillers, supernatural mysteries and stories designed to make audiences question what they are seeing. Yet the trailer suggests that these two styles may actually complement each other.
The romantic portions give the supernatural mystery an emotional foundation, while Shyamalan’s darker sensibilities prevent the story from becoming another conventional love story.
Final Verdict: Is Remain Worth Watching?
Based on the trailer alone, Remain looks like one of the more unusual romantic films coming in 2027. It starts with the emotional familiarity of a Nicholas Sparks story and then slowly pulls the rug out from under that expectation. Jake Gyllenhaal and Phoebe Dynevor appear to have enough chemistry to anchor the romance, while the supernatural mystery gives the film a darker identity.
Remain is scheduled to release in North American theatres on February 5, 2027 with international releases beginning February 3.
