6 Movie Previews I Like Right Now (April 2024)
I love the ritual of going to the movie theater. Going to the movies is great in a group, in a duo, on a date, and by yourself, sometimes for similar reasons and sometimes for unique reasons.
For example, I love going to the movies by myself like I did today for In the Land of Saints & Sinners, a fine movie where Liam Neeson plays Brad Pitt in Killing Me Softly except in Ireland in 1971. I set my phone to do-not-disturb and put my phone, keys, and wallet in my hat on my lap because doing that makes me feel like everything in my life is sitting there and agreeing to wait two hours.
I also love going to the movies with Kelly like we did when we saw Dune 2, an excellent movie about families. We split an enormous beverage and held hands, because holding hands has always been one of the best parts about going on a date to the movies.
To me, movie previews are great in all settings, I think because they appeal to the marketing strategy part of my brain. Each time I think about the preview people and how they decide the best way to sell a several-hour movie in just a few minutes, and about how the craft of making a great movie promo is very different than the craft of making a great movie.
Getting closer to the summer, there are a lot of previews out there right now. Here are 6 that I like, and a few reasons why:
1. A Quiet Place: Day One
Manipulating you, but we agree it’s OK
According to IMDB John Krasinski and Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy aren’t in this movie, but they are the first people in the trailer because a lot of people liked the other movies and a lot of people like John Krasinski and Emily Blunt and Cillian Murphy. Once they’ve tricked you and got you hooked, though, they make it OK by showing that the new movie has Lupita Nyong’o and Djimon Hounsou in it, who are both so good that it doesn’t matter anymore that the preview people manipulated you:
2. Molli and Max in The Future
Look how many other people said it was good
The quick description of this movie is “a sci-fi rom-com about a man and a woman whose orbits repeatedly collide over the course of 12 years, 4 planets, 3 dimensions, and 1 space-cult.” That’s a lot to try and convey in just over a minute, so this preview employs the marketing tactic of social proof, relying on it to anchor you through the complicated visuals and many music and tone changes:
3. Abigail
There’s a simple premise. If you like the preview, you’ll like the movie.
They kidnap a ballerina vampire. That’s the movie. If you’re somehow on the fence after that description the preview shows you a little bit, but it’s pretty much exactly what you think it will be, just like the movie, so you probably already know if it’s up your alley, but here you go:
The only question I had during this trailer is, “What kind of vampire are we talking about?” and the preview people anticipated this at the exact right moment, which gives me confidence that this movie has the right level of self-awareness. The other way I know this is from these two lines: “Alright, let’s go kill us a fucking vampire” and “What can I say? I like playing with my food.” (Rob, want to get tickets now?)
4. Furiosa & The Bikeriders
We already know you wanna see it. Look how cool it is.
I love trailers for blockbuster movies because they are playing by very different rules, so they really get to focus on making a badass trailer to build excitement, more like an anticipated tech product launch than a commercial for laundry detergent. First off is the epic preview for Furiosa, which is full of iconic moments and potential taglines smashed together back to back to back to back:
Where Furiosa is like sugar-coated pop music, The Bikeriders plays it like classic rock, channeling Scorsese in a trailer that feels like the introductory scenes of The Departed but condensed and teasing the acting of Austin Butler, Jodie Comer, and Tom Hardy:
“Burn it down.” Sign me up.
5. The Wild Robot
Stands alone
I think this trailer hits an elusive level of marketing we strive for at Kind & Funny, one where the marketing piece has its own intrinsic artistic value. I loved this trailer because it really makes me want to see the movie, but also because it feels like a self-contained short film:
If you can tap into emotion like this, you’re doing something right.
Some people equate marketing with lying, but I think you only have to lie if you’re trying to trick people because you have a bad product. Luckily at Kind & Funny we get to pick the people we work with, so we always get to tell an authentic story in an attempt to appeal to the right customers. And while I understand that not all movies will be as good as they seem in a preview because some are imperfect products being sold to me with lies, I do love the moments in the theater when hope springs eternal, I can put pessimism on hold, and every preview is a thumbs up.
Any movies you really want to see? jed@kindandfunny.com.