'Death Note' Clip: Light Meets Ryuk And Things Get Dark Fast [Comic-Con 2017]

A new film from the director of The Guest and You're Next should be cause for anticipation and celebration. Adam Wingard has a great, dark sense of fun as a filmmaker. His characters, especially David (Dan Stevens) in The Guest, are generally as well-defined as his style. He's described his latest film, Death Note, as having an attitude not dissimilar from The Guest – a movie that gets better every time you watch it.

While a new film from the director of that thrilling B-movie, who's been tapped to direct Godzilla vs. Kong, sounds enticing, Americanizing the manga series and the casting choices have drawn controversy online. A month away from Death Note's debut, when fans and critics can judge the movie, Netflix has released a new look at the film at this year's San Diego Comic-Con.

Below, watch the new Death Note clip.

Here's the Death Note clip straight from Netflix:

Set in the rainy, emo streets of Seattle, Washington, Light Turner (Nat Wolff) discovers a supernatural book that can kill whoever he pleases. When he writes a name in the book, that person meets a terrible fate. Light chooses to use this power to rid the world of anyone he deems unworthy of life. The book brings the evil spirit Ryuk (Willem Dafoe) to Seattle, as you can see in the clip above.

There's a dark premise here, though there is some levity as Light freaks the hell out upon the appearance of Ryuk. But the sinister nature of the Death Note journal can't be ignored. There's a lot of power in this book, and it doesn't take much power to make a person turn to a much darker side of themselves. Even doing something good by writing down a name in a book of someone who is making another person's life a living hell gets a little excessive when Light writes "decapitation" as the victim's cause of death.

Based on the manga by writer Tsugmi Ohba and artist Takeshi Obata, which has been adapted into live-action movies and shows, video games, and even a musical, Wingard's film co-stars Margaret Qualley (The Leftovers), Lakeith Stansfield (Get Out), and Masi Oka (Heroes), and Shea Whigham (Boardwalk Empire).

Here's the official synopsis for Death Note:

What if you had the power to decide who lives and who dies? We suggest you obey the rules. Based on the famous Japanese manga written by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata, Death Note follows a high school student who comes across a supernatural notebook, realizing it holds within it a great power; if the owner inscribes someone's name into it while picturing their face, he or she will die. Intoxicated with his new godlike abilities, the young man begins to kill those he deems unworthy of life.

Death Note is available to stream August 25.