The movie poster is a sacred art. After all, it’s often the first thing you see that grabs your attention. Posters have the tough job of being aesthetically pleasing — at least enough to convince you to watch the movie — and providing hints about a film’s genre or plot. Today, they dominate the moviegoing space, from theater walls to Times Square billboards to Letterboxd top four favorites. But not all posters are created equal.
As the success of superhero movies soared over the past two decades, certain elements have become movie poster staples: floating heads, contrasting colors and stoic poses. This homogenization has spread to non-blockbuster films like “Killers of the Flower Moon” as they struggle to market to mass audiences. Though the hand-drawn style has faded into obscurity, there still exist various posters that put artistry front and center. In celebration of these modern marvels and the classics of decades past, here are six of our favorite movie posters.
“Bones and All”
The last thing you’d expect from a cannibal horror movie is a gorgeous pink and purple poster infused with romance. The film follows a young woman, who is a cannibal, and a drifter as they journey on the backroads across America. Nevertheless, artist Elizabeth Peyton’s painting “Kiss (Bones and All),” commissioned for director Luca Guadagnino’s 2022 film, was the perfect choice. The short, visible brushstrokes and the stylish title font inspire elegance and passion, reflecting the two protagonists’ relationship. And if you still can’t see the vague outline of Taylor Russell and Timothée Chalamet’s faces, just squint your eyes a bit.
— Leo Field, Film & TV Editor
“Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope”
Hot take: There is nothing more iconic and timeless than a “Star Wars” poster. “A New Hope” and its franchise have become iconic in their own right, with a poster that foreshadows the Skywalker family’s fate. The twins are positioned in the middle of the frame, Darth Vader looms over them and the ghost of Obi-Wan Kenobi haunts the family. Whether you were forced to watch“Star Wars,” or you viewed it by choice, the poster’s reflection of the first film in the franchise details only a sliver of the lore unpacked across the series.
— Ellie DaSilva, Staff Writer
“Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse”
New York City, it’s your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. From the meshing of different frame rates to rich worldbuilding, “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” uses out-of-the-box animation and storytelling to question fate and human agency. The Chinese release poster does no different, depicting webslinger Miles Morales as the monkey god Sun Wukong and the supporting cast as various characters from “Journey to the West,” the 400-year-old tale of Sun Wukong’s travels. Sony Pictures Animation masterfully reimagines a well-loved tale while paying homage to its audience, on international and local levels.
— Angela Dong, Contributing Writer
“Clueless”
Yellow checkers, a golden water bottle chain, satellite phones and Cher Horowitz’s unforgettable frown of disgust: “Ugh, as if!” The “Clueless” movie poster walked so every 2000s rom-com following it could strut in heels. It hints at Cher’s infamous closet, disguising her in a sea of yellow checkers. It’d be “totally buggin’” to dismiss the hot pink clunky letters of the title, the perfect callback to the Y2k.
— Shreeya Goyal, Contributing Writer
“The Silence of the Lambs”
The poster for “The Silence of the Lambs” is pure psychological terror distilled into a single image. Jodie Foster’s pale face, red eyes and the dead moth sealing her lips can make anyone’s skin crawl. Serial killers Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill haunt the movie poster through the symbolic nature of the moth, representing the perverted idea of transformation. Without blood or violence, the poster evokes dread through its simplicity. It’s an image so still, it feels like it’s watching you back.
— Rhea Kohli, Staff Writer
“La Haine”
Director Mathieu Kassovitz’s “La Haine” galvanizes its audience into facing racial and political injustice not just in Paris’s low-income banlieues, but worldwide. In the poster, Vincent Cassel’s eyes sharply stare at the viewer above the words “jusqu’ici tout va bien” — French for so far, so good — a recurring phrase that encapsulates the film’s urgency. Police brutality and rioting circumscribe the lives of three young men in “La Haine,” and the film glares at those who refuse to succumb to systematic oppression.
— Ellie Miller, Staff Writer
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