A happy little plant turns fiendishly evil in the first trailer for the eerie and unsettling Little Joe. With nods to Little Shop of Horrors and Godzilla vs. Biollante, this one is firmly in the killer plant horror sub-genre, giving us a creepy little thriller just in time for the Christmas season.

Today, we have the first trailer and poster for Little Joe, a movie that has been described as "A masterful psychodrama," by IndieWire. The Los Angeles Times calls it "Hypnotically eerie". Magnolia Pictures' upcoming sci-fi drama serves as the feature debut from director Jessica Hausner. It will open in theaters on December 6.

This unnerving feature stars Emily Beecham, who received the Best Actress Award for the film at Cannes Film Festival this year, and also features superb performances from Ben Whishaw, Kerry Fox and Kit Connor who all encounter the crimson beauty of a special plant in Little Joe.

Little Joe follows Alice (Emily Beecham), a single mother and dedicated senior plant breeder at a corporation engaged in developing new species. She has engineered a special crimson flower, remarkable not only for its beauty but also for its therapeutic value: if kept at the ideal temperature, fed properly and spoken to regularly, this plant makes its owner happy. 

Against company policy, Alice takes one home as a gift for her teenage son, Joe. They christen it 'Little Joe.' But as their plant grows, so too does Alice's suspicion that her new creation may not be as harmless as its nickname suggests.

Directed by Jessica Hausner (Amour Fou, Lourdes), Little Joe stars Emily Beecham (Daphne, upcoming Cruella), Ben Whishaw (The Danish Girl, upcoming The Personal History of David Copperfield), Kerry Fox (The Dressmaker, An Angel At My Table) and Kit Connor (Rocketman).

Géraldine Bajard co-wrote the screenplay alongside director Jessica Hausner. They began working together in 2009 on the dramaturgy Lourdes, and have since collaborated on 2014's Ampur Fou. Little Joe is their third project together.

The first trailer for Little Joe arrives from Magnolia Pictures and Magnet Releasing. It arrives along with the first poster, which has Emily Beecham front and center alongside Ben Whishaw, as they stand surrounded by the happy little plant at the center of this sci-fi thriller.