Not many people expect Elijah Wood to be anything but a heroic hobbit or a neurotic genealogist in search of his past, but movies do exist that have the young but seasoned actor stepping away from his usually weaker roles into something a bit more badass. Everyone seems to forgot the bloodthirsty Kevin from Sin City, and few have even heard of Green Street Hooligans which I highly recommend. Not that his repertoire is brimming with dark and edgy roles, but The Oxford Murders will not be his first foray into the sometimes violent world of the R-rated.

The Oxford Murders, which also stars John Hurt and Lennor Watling, has been floating around the festival scene since 2008 and has picked up a few awards along the way. Magnolia is releasing the film on VOD and XBox live starting July 2, and the movie will get a theatrical release starting August 6. THR picked up on a trailer for the film and it looks pretty good, so it'll be fine by me if it finds it's way in front of a few more eyes beyond the festival circuit.

Here's a synopsis of the film, followed by the trailer.

When an elderly woman is viciously murdered in Oxford, her body is discovered by two strangers whose lives are immediately changed forever: Arthur Seldom (John Hurt), a prestigious professor of logic, and Martin (Elijah Wood), a young graduate student who has just arrived at the university hoping to be Seldom’s pupil.
It quickly becomes clear that hers is the first in a series of increasingly bizarre murders, with each victim’s corpse marked by strange symbols. Professor and student join forces to try and crack the code, setting into motion an elaborate game with the killer with ever-increasing stakes. As Martin gets closer to the facts, he grows increasingly unhinged from his grasp on the world around him.