10 Upcoming Movie Trailers That Are Probably Tricking You

4. Ian & Barley Fail To Resurrect Their Father - Onward

Pixar's new film Onward looks like another hilarious-yet-devastating treat from Pixar, as elf brothers Ian and Barley Lightfoot (Tom Holland and Chris Pratt) race against time to find a way to complete a spell to resurrect their late father, who at present is just a walking pair of legs.

Pixar of course has a knack for delivering unexpected emotional rug-pulls, and though Onward's trailer focuses on the hilarity of its Weekend at Bernies-inspired premise, it's easy to suspect that something else might be afoot.

Though the obvious implication from the trailer is that the kids will find a way to fully resurrect their dad by the end of the movie, even if only for a brief reunion, it's actually highly probable that this won't happen at all.

At this past summer's D23 expo, Onward's writer-director Dan Scanlon discussed how the film was influenced by never knowing his own late father, and how when he was a teenager, a relative played an audio recording of his dad, where he simply said the words "hi" and "bye."

The mystery of who Scanlon's father really was became the "blueprint" for Onward, and so it would only be true to Scanlon's inspiration if the film ended on a similarly bittersweet, open-ended note where the brothers don't get the full reunion they so desperately desire.

But of course, Ian and Barley will probably learn to appreciate that they spent 24 hours with their dad regardless, even if, being a pair of legs and all, his communicative abilities were sadly limited.

That sounds totally within Pixar's wheelhouse, even if the trailer is clearly trying to lead viewers in a more predictable direction.