Bloat: Everything we know about the upcoming horror thriller film starring Ben McKenzie

Bazelevs is about to deliver another screenlife spectacle called Bloat, starring Gotham's Ben McKenzie and Birds of Prey's Bojana Novakovic. Both will be husband and wife trying to figure out what is happening with their son. It's a horror film that was first announced in 2022, and it took a long time to appear on that big screen.

The film is a first feature as a director for Tokyo-based filmmaker Pablo Absento, who is known for short films like Slit, Shi, Call My Name and more. For Shi, the director got quite a recognition and was nominated for awards at Crimson Screen Horror Film Fest, FilmQuest, and more.

Fans can expect a little violence and strong language in the film given the R rating from the Motion Picture Association. The trailer is already out in the open so they can take a look at a fair few scenes to get the gist of it.

Here's everything in light about Bloat

Bloat is coming to theaters on March 7, 2025. (via Lionsgate Movies)

Bloat is coming to theaters and digital platforms on March 7, 2025, where Pulsar Content was in charge of its international sales, as Variety first reported in 2022. Russian streaming platform Okko has co-financed the movie, which marks its debut as a part of international production.

We have one poster of the film where the faces of Ben McKenzie and Bojana Novakovic can be seen above the term 'BLOAT' with a Gollum-like creature beneath them. As the name suggests, a boy is almost drowned in a lake but survives. However, he soaked something more than just water there.

Its plot, as currently available on IMDb, reads,

"A military officer stationed in Turkey while his wife (Novakovic) is vacationing in Japan with their kids. During the stay, their younger son almost drowns in a lake. Soon after the accident, the parents realize that something is wrong with their boy."

This vacation-turned-horror will see more stars appearing other than Ben and Bojana, so here's a list of who is playing who in the film.

Ben McKenzie as Jack
Bojana Novakovic as Hannah
Sawyer Jones as Kyle
Malcolm Fuller as Steve
Ethan Herschenfeld as Judge Richard Resnick
Kane Kosugi as Ryan
Miyu Yokota as Sakura
David Lavine as a forensic expert
James Adam Lim as a police officer
Asha Etchison as a reporter
Rebecca Nelson as Jack's mother
Jeff Applegate as Col. William Bradley
Zack Niizato as a doctor
David Gibson as Jack's father
Larry Bull as a defense attorney
Akiyo Komatsu as Officer Ikeda

What do we have from Bloat's trailer?

The Bloat trailer opens with an airplane landing, followed by Jack and Hannah connecting over a video call where the former is in Turkey, serving the military, and the latter is in Japan, who notices something unusual while she is on the call. By the looks of it, this is where Hannah sees her boy, Kyle, drowning in a lake.

Problems begin when we see an email popping up on the screen that denied all the leaves requested by soldiers following some unforeseen events in the Middle East. Now Jack cannot do anything but try investigating over the internet only.

Tension keeps rising as the Bloat trailer advances, where in one scene, we see Kyle's brother showing a bite mark on his hand, claiming Kyle did that. We also got to know what kind of demon is possessing the kid. That would be Kappa, who is considered the keeper of the lakes, as the trailer suggests.