10. “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever”
It’s a bit of a miracle that “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” even exists. After the tragedy was the loss of Chadwick Boseman, another Marvel film that was the last thing anybody could, or should, think of. But his legacy is honored with huge stakes in the sequel, led by the fearless women who raised him in the first film. A powerful cover of “No Woman No Cry,” focusing on the lyrics “everything’s gonna be alright,” sets the tone in the trailer, as the cycles of life and death – and the threats that will then lead this story – are framed with rousing energy. It’s a showcase for Angela Bassett as much as Letitia Wright and a teaser of the massive action that promises to sit alongside grief and love. This is still one of the biggest franchises in the world, set in the most powerful nation.
9.” Bones And All”
It was reportedly Timothée Chalamet’s idea to use Leonard Cohen’s “You Want It Darker” to underscore the trailer for “Bones And All,” and you’ve got to hand it to him. Severe violence and romance somehow exist hand in hand in the teaser for Luca Guadagnino’s cannibal love story, with hyper-fast smash cuts of all the most intense parts of both flicking through while Cohen continues to growl. Teasing the one scene between Chalamet and Michael Stuhlbarg, his onscreen dad from “Call Me By Your Name,” is a smart move, as is the mirroring of his and Taylor Russell’s violent impulses that frame them as two painfully, fatally compatible lovers.
8. “Banshees of Inisherin”
The concept of making a film about two middle-aged men who simply aren’t friends anymore could seem trivial in anyone’s hands but Martin McDonagh’s – but when Colin Farrell raises his incredible eyebrows and asks Brendan Gleeson what he’s possibly done to him, the stakes suddenly grow. “What is he, 12?” Barry Keoghan asks, yet there’s still so much to take seriously in this comedy. The fictional Irish island of Inisherin is framed through its rickety houses, essential animals, and huge vistas, injecting a sense of unnerving violence. “We’ll call it the start,” Farrell says at the end, suddenly solemn – and with that, you know it’s no child’s play.
7. “Marcel the Shell with Shoes On”
You could say that just seeing a picture of Marcel, the titular shell who has shoes on, would be enough to either entice or alienate audiences into his tiny but very ordinary world, but the voice (Jenny Slate!) is everything. The trailer for A24’s feature-length retelling is brilliant, though, giving as much weight to the film’s meta-textual edge (a fiction feature about making a feature documentary about this little guy) as the introduction to the character for those who don’t yet know him. Add to that a perfect needle drop from Phil Collins and an awfully innocent “how to find your family” Google search, and the tear ducts are primed and moisturized.
6. “Bodies Bodies Bodies”
It’s a delicate balance to sharply satirize the most annoying people you’ve ever met without fully leaning into the very reasons they’re so irritating. But it’s a Charli XCX track, “Hot Girl,” that sets the tone here – and it helps that Rachel Sennott starts sobbing 25 seconds in. There’s a constant seesaw between stupid, bad decisions, and actual life or death issues, and plenty of annoyingly good gags and buzzwords – “you’re gaslighting me” goes into “you’re triggering me” which passes the baton to “you are so toxic” before relaying into “you’re silencing me” – to tease the grating tone. Plus, Pete Davidson suggests that he looks like he fucks. The boldness of “Bodies Bodies Bodies” begins with its incendiary trailer.
