A24 has released a new promotional image for We Live in Time, a decade-spanning romance featuring Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield. It also apparently features a horrific, bug-eyed carousel horse, which has swiftly stolen the spotlight to become a new internet meme.
We Live in Time follows the relationship between Almut (Pugh) and Tobias (Garfield), from their first meeting, to falling in love, to starting a family together. Told in snapshots throughout their lives, the drama seems to be aiming for a touching tone as the couple support each other through career milestones and health struggles.
As such, We Live in Time‘s latest promotional photo appears to depict a relatively early moment in their relationship, with Pugh and Garfield laughing as they enjoy a romantic carousel ride together. Yet in what is either a brilliant stroke of marketing or a gross oversight, the happy couple is completely overshadowed by the demonic visage of the carousel horse next to them.
Positioned in the bottom left corner of the photograph, the satanic steed’s bulging, soulless eye and gaping maw demand the viewer’s attention, refusing to let us mindlessly enjoy seeing Pugh and Garfield pretend to be in love. Trapped in what I can only assume is a silent scream, the tormented pony almost appears to break the fourth wall by gazing directly out at viewers.
It’s like one of those reminders of mortality that 17th century artists used to put in their paintings. Death is coming, and it looks like a horse who has seen the end of time.
Social media users immediately honed in on We Live in Time‘s disquieting steed, breaking out their image editing software with glee. The hell horse quickly went viral and inspired numerous memes, with people editing it into other films or superimposing it on top of Garfield and Pugh’s heads. Even Late Show host Stephen Colbert weighed in on the tortured equine.
“Look, I’m gonna say what we’re all thinking,” Colbert quipped during his Wednesday night monologue. “That pony is tripping balls on ketamine.”
It’s unclear whether this sinister stallion previously existed in the wild, or was specifically created for We Live in Time by a set designer who missed their calling as an existential artist. While the film was shot in London, the horses on South Bank’s famous Golden Carousel look more colourful and less like they’d eat your soul.
We Live in Time and its horrible horse arrives in theatres on Oct. 11.
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