For all the money poured into bunkers by the ultra-wealthy, concrete may be the least important thing holding them together. In Academy Award-winning filmmaker Florian Zeller’s new psychological thriller “Bunker,” an elaborate shelter built to survive the end of the world instead threatens to bring a long marriage crashing down.
The first official clip from the film has arrived courtesy of the Toronto International Film Festival, offering an initial look at Academy Award winners Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz ahead of the film’s North American premiere at TIFF in September. And note: it’s a North American premiere, not a world premiere, signaling that the movie will make its global premiere at the Venice Film Festival first, a sign that bodes well for its quality.
Written and directed by Zeller, “Bunker” centers on an architect who accepts a morally dubious commission to build a survivalist bunker for a tech billionaire. His decision prompts his wife to reassess their marriage after 17 years together, with the project exposing fears and fractures that extend well beyond its fortified walls.
Bardem and Cruz, who have been married since 2010, previously appeared together in films including “Jamón Jamón,” “Vicky Cristina Barcelona,” “The Counselor,” “Loving Pablo,” and “Everybody Knows.” Zeller wrote “Bunker” specifically with the couple in mind, and Bardem has described the film as “a marriage story.”
The cast also includes Stephen Graham, Paul Dano, and Patrick Schwarzenegger. Production took place primarily in Madrid, followed by additional filming in London.
“Bunker” marks Zeller’s third feature as a director after “The Father” and “The Son.” “The Father” earned six Academy Award nominations and won two, including Best Adapted Screenplay for Zeller and Christopher Hampton. It also carried Anthony Hopkins to a surprise Best Actor victory over presumed frontrunner Chadwick Boseman, demonstrating Sony Pictures Classics’ formidable Academy campaign prowess. Zeller wrote “Bunker” without Hampton, making it his first solo screenwriting effort as a filmmaker.
Sony Pictures Classics, which also distributed Zeller’s first two films, recently acquired “Bunker” for North America and several other territories. The company plans an awards-qualifying run in late 2026 before a wider U.S. theatrical release in early 2027.
Watch the first clip from “Bunker” below.
Clip removed at the request of Film Nation.
Born in Chile, raised in Canada, now living in Brooklyn, NY, Rodrigo Perez is the founder and editor-in-chief of The Playlist, which he launched in 2007. He has worked in entertainment journalism since 2000, including at MTV, and has written for SPIN, IndieWire, Pitchfork, Complex, Magnet, MuchMusic, and various music, film, and entertainment publications over the past two decades.
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