The First Bite
“What are they after?”
“They're hungry…”
Two lines. That's all it takes for Osiris to ditch subtlety and sink its teeth into the primal fear of being prey. The new trailer from Vertical Films isn't just another “soldiers vs. aliens” romp—it's a grimy, claustrophobic nightmare where the monsters aren't hunting for sport, trophies, or even conquest. They want meat.
Director William Kaufman, an Army vet turned B-movie stalwart (The Marine 4, Jarhead 3), knows his way around macho survival tales. But here, he's trading desert firefights for flickering spacecraft corridors, swapping insurgents for something far worse. The setup is Predator meets Alien meets The Most Dangerous Game, yet the vibe is pure early-2000s Sci-Fi Channel original—if Sci-Fi Channel had a budget and Linda Hamilton growling orders.
The Hunt Begins
The trailer opens with disorientation—commandos waking up on a ship, weapons gone, memories scrambled. No grand abduction scene, no cosmic exposition. Just confusion, then panic. The aliens (practical effects, thankfully—no glossy CGI here) move like shadows, all elongated limbs and gnashing maws. Kaufman's military background shows in the tactical chaos: soldiers forming firing lines, barking commands, realizing too late that bullets might not be enough.
Max Martini (13 Hours) leads the squad with his usual gravelly gravitas, but the real intrigue is Brianna Hildebrand (Deadpool's Negasonic Teenage Warhead) as what looks like the team's reluctant tech whiz. And then there's Linda Hamilton, because of course there is—because if you're making a movie about humans fighting unwinnable battles, you need Sarah Connor's scowl in your corner.
Why This Feels Different
Most Predator knockoffs fail because they miss the point. It's not about the body count—it's about the hunt. The slow dismantling of human arrogance. Osiris gets that, but twists it: these aliens aren't warriors. They're butchers. The trailer's most chilling moment isn't a jump scare—it's a wide shot of the team stumbling upon a cavernous room strewn with bones. Not trophies. Leftovers.
Kaufman's filmography is hit-or-miss, but he's at his best when leaning into grit (Daylight's End's vampire dystopia had teeth). Osiris looks like it's doubling down—less quippy marines, more raw survival horror. The ship's design echoes Event Horizon's industrial hell, and the aliens' screeches sound like something out of The Descent.
The Big Question
Will it be good? Maybe. But more importantly—will it be fun? The trailer promises gnarly kills, Hamilton snarling, and Martini doing his best “we're not dying today” routine. If Kaufman nails the pacing (and avoids the third-act slumps that plague his films), this could be the kind of mid-budget sci-fi thriller we rarely get anymore.
Osiris hits theaters and VOD on July 25, 2025. Mark the date. And maybe skip dinner first.
In an era of sterile, algorithm-approved blockbusters, Osiris feels like a throwback—a messy, violent B-movie with A-list swagger. Whether that's a compliment or a warning depends on how much you like your sci-fi with bite marks.
