15 Trailer Breakdown
Yesterday, 15 trailers were released. While there’s no record for most trailer drops in a single day, this might be a new high.
We’ve divided them into categories:
Studio Films
Studio Series
Indies
Festival films with no distributor
Foreign
Some quick stats:
Average run time: 2min 1sec
Longest trailer: 2min 48sec
Shortest trailer: 1min 5sec
Here’s the breakdown:
STUDIO FILMS
Prime’s Play Dirty
Dir: Shane Black (Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, The Nice Guys)
Cast: Mark Wahlberg, LaKeith Stanfield
Release: Oct 1
Synopsis:
A ruthless thief and his expert crew stumble onto the heist of a lifetime.
They lean heavily into Black’s action/comedy style. Making sure to have an equal measure of witticisms and explosions. With the hip-hop soundtrack, the effect is fantastic. Nothing too flashy, except for some red overlays. This hits all the right beats. But hard to know if there’s anything deeper than the flash.
Netflix’s The Woman in Cabin 10
Dir: Simon Stone (Netflix’s The Dig)
Cast: Keira Knightley, Guy Pearce
Release: Oct 10
Synopsis:
A travel writer stumbles upon a gruesome secret while traveling aboard a luxury cruise ship.
Guy Pearce post-Brutalist is typecast as an evil man of wealth, and we love it. The trailer wins by centering us on Knightley’s anxiety as a journalist trapped on a yacht full of billionaires. That’s a premise well-suited for short-form trailer storytelling.
Searchlight’s Is This Thing On?
Dir/Prod/Star/B-Cam Operator: Bradley Cooper
Co-Writer/Co-Star: Will Arnett
Co-Star: Laura Dern
Release: Dec
Synopsis:
As their marriage unravels, Alex faces middle age and divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while wife Tess confronts the sacrifices she made for their family-forcing them to navigate co-parenting and identity.
This trailer takes the approach of condensing a full scene into 2 minutes. The first part plays out in NYC’s Comedy Cellar, and the second half uses the audio to drive a montage that deepens the stand-up set. This is done to showcase the character study element of the film. And even though the end rapid montage trailer build feels off, given the subject matter, the most remarkable element is how much Will Arnett looks like director Bradley Cooper.
STUDIOS SERIES
Apple TV+’s The Savant (limited series)
Dir: Matthew Heineman (Cartel Land)
Cast: Jessica Chastain
Release: Sept 26
Synopsis:
Follows the Savant, a top-secret investigator who infiltrates internet hate organizations to bring down the nation's most violent men.
Here, the trailer actually pulls this in a different direction than the series wants to go. It pushes it to be a facsimile of the “best in their field goes too far” type of films. Like Rami Malek’s The Amateur (2025). However, knowing that Heineman is deeply concerned with hellishly visceral political truths, this will be less of a Chastain vehicle and more panoramic in its view.
FX’s The Lowdown
Creator/EP/Wri/Dir: Sterlin Harjo (Reservation Dogs)
Star/EP: Ethan Hawke
Co-star: Kyle MacLachlan, Keith David, Peter Dinklage, Tim Blake Nelson
Premiere Date: September 23
Synopsis:
A determined bookstore owner in Tulsa moonlights as an investigative journalist, digging into local corruption. When his reporting uncovers sinister connections, he must protect both his family and the truth.
This is intended to read as a quirky, Coen Brothers/David Lynch-esque series. While the first half succeeds, the second half feels repetitive. Not because the visuals of explosions and gunfire aren’t building, but because the heart of the piece has been undermined by the quirkiness.
Peacock’s Devil in Disguise
Cast: Severance’s Michael Chernus (as John Wayne Gacy), Gabriel Luna
Release: Oct 16
Synopsis:
Chicago-area contractor John Wayne Gacy leads a double-life as a serial killer, while detectives piece together clues that lead to a shocking discovery.
This falls into a more Network version of the explosion of premier serial killer series (Monster, Mindhunter). This will entirely rely on Chernus’ chilling performance to pull us through.
ESPN’s Eli’s Places (S3)
Release: Aug 27
Docu-series centered around a celeb (Eli Manning). Interesting in that they’re trying to drum up the forthcoming Chad Powers movie by having a featured appearance by the star Glen Powell.
INDIES
Focus Features’ Hamnet
Dir: Chloe Zhao’s (dir: Nomadland, Eternals)
Prod: Sam Mendes and Steven Spielberg
Cast: Jessie Buckley, Paul Mescal
Release: Nov 27 (limited) and Dec 12 (wide)
Synopsis:
The story of Agnes - the wife of William Shakespeare - as she struggles to come to terms with the loss of her only son, Hamnet. A human and heart-stopping story as the backdrop to the creation of Shakespeare's most famous play, Hamlet.
This is shouting provocative period piece vibes. Slow orchestral music. Gorgeous landscapes. Aching performances.
Picturehouse’s Urchin
Dir: Harris Dickinson
Premiere: Cannes Un Certain Regard
UK/Irish release: Oct 3rd
Synopsis:
Mike, a homeless person in London is struggling to break free from a cycle of self-destruction while trying to turn his life around
You have to admire that they bury the lead that Dickinson directs until 1/3rd of the way through. And bury Dickinson’s cameo/small part in the film until the 3/4ths mark. A similar strategy is used with the Cooper cameo in his film.
But the issue with these types of trailers for indies that follow a person’s personal transformation is that the story beats as shown in the trailer feel repetitive. That’s because the richness of these films comes from watching them in real time. Absorbing their idiosyncrasies. Boiling them down reduces them until their beauty evaporates.
Oscilloscope’s Mistress Dispeller
Premiere: TIFF/Venice
Release: Oct 22nd
Synopsis:
A Chinese woman hires someone to secretly end her husband's extramarital relationship in an attempt to save her marriage.
The desaturated fly-on-the-wall doc approach is almost trailer poison, but Oscilloscope is very clever. They spice up the character intros at the top by adding comic book-like GFX. They roll through a sizeable stack of festival laurels and praising quotes.
Unholy Communion
I couldn’t make it through the full thing.
FESTIVALS (NO DISTRIBUTOR)
Memory of Princess Mumbi
Premiere: TIFF 2025
Genre: Sci-Fi
Synopsis:
In 2093, young filmmaker Kuve travels to the remote village of Umata to document the aftermath of a devastating war that outlawed post-2040s technology and brought ancient kingdoms back to life. There he meets Mumbi, a local filmmaker who challenges him to make his film without relying on AI, using only his hands, eyes and heart.
This is the best trailer of the day. The scope expands in a profound way with each added element, making it more mystical, more profound, and diving deeper into the heart of the story. There’s careful work being done here, and we hope the film lives up to it.
Amoeba
Premiere: TIFF Discovery 2025
Synopsis:
In a repressive city-state, a tomboy schoolgirl persuades three classmates at an all-girls school to rebel by forming a triad gang.
This has the same action-cutting style as many of the studio features, but swaps out the subject matter for a quarter of Singaporean teenage women who form a gang. No violence. And all the shenanigans are cute. But the rhythm of the cutting and the soundtrack are all psychological. These women aren’t hardcore, but in their mind’s eye, they’re delinquents. The disparity is delightful.
A Loose End
Premiere: Venice Spotlight
Synopsis:
An Argentinian cop escapes to Uruguay, starting from scratch in a foreign land. As locals welcome him with open arms, he navigates his new life and finds unexpected romance amid his fresh beginning.
FOREIGN
Varience Films’ Baahubali
Dir: S.S. Rajamouli (RRR)
Release: Oct 31st
Synopsis:
A child from the Mahishmati kingdom is raised by tribal people and one day learns about his royal heritage, his father's bravery in battle and a mission to overthrow the incumbent ruler.
This is a re-release of Rajamouli’s film from a decade ago. And it leans heavily into what was so remarkable in RRR: the mythological-level visuals.