The Witcher 4 draws inspiration from A24 films like The Witch and The Lighthouse

The Witcher 4 trailer was released last month, offering our first glimpse of Ciri as the grizzled, battle-worn protagonist of the acclaimed franchise. Stunningly pre-rendered in Unreal Engine 5, the footage provided a cinematic exploration of the game's themes-ones that often lean into moral ambiguity and the idea that everyone is a monster.

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Credit: CD Projekt Red

On an episode of the AnsweRED podcast, Witcher 4 trailer director Tomek Suwalski, producer Magdalena Rudnicka, and Witcher 4 game director Sebastian Kalemba sat down to discuss the inspirations behind the trailer - particularly the influences that span beyond the books.

"What I like about those films (The Witch, The Lighthouse) is that they allow for a slow burn, which is a very rare thing to have in short-form and in a trailer," Suwalski said.

He highlighted how, through the typical marketing pipeline for a game, it's common for teams to skew towards action. Soundtracks filled with loud bangs, relentless movement and explosions on screen. For The Witcher 4, CD Projekt Red opted for the opposite approach.

"I love slow burns. I love when the story has its own individual pacing. And I don't believe that the audience has to be bombarded in the first five seconds, otherwise, they will just skip it."

From his perspective, audiences have become overwhelmed by an endless stream of attention-grabbing content. In response, he believes there's an innate desire to return to something more grounded.

"I kind of feel like also the audiences, they kind of want to go back to the roots in a sense. They want something more mature, more explicit even-like something that can really be meaningful for them on a deep level."

"And you can't do this by just bombarding with action," he added.

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Credit: A24

This is where cinematic inspirations like The Lighthouse and The Witch come into play, not just in setting a darker tone but in establishing a methodical, creeping pace.

"They are dark movies, they're horror movies," Suwalski said. "And I was like, 'Wow, this is like... I really resonate with those kinds of vibes.' So I was super excited and happy that it's dark"

Of course, at its core, The Witcher 4 is still built on Sapkowski's works, and the team remains committed to reinforcing those themes.

"Something we really wanted to capture in the trailer, is how fear and superstition drive people," Suwalski said. "The books always had this theme where the real monsters are often not the creatures, but the people."

As for how the team plans to achieve this - from the game's narrative to the gameplay - we'll have to wait to find out more.

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