If you’re early enough to the cinema you’ll be lucky enough to get a glimpse of previews of upcoming film releases, which is arguably one of the biggest selling points for movies. Usually they’ll be for films you haven’t heard of, or films you have heard of but have not yet seen the trailer. Some films sometimes even warrant viewing the trailer when it is released online, if they are anticipated enough by the likes of big studios, directors or franchises. Recently however, I have considered viewing trailers as an unfortunate experience rather than a fortunate one, and I tend to avoid seeking out the trailer for something unless under exceptional circumstances. The reason? Trailers spoil the movies.
This is not a recent problem. Ever since a trailer for Castaway (2001) revealed whether Tom Hanks escapes the island, there has always been controversy over trailers spoiling movies. The Terminator franchise is another infamous culprit, with the trailers for several of the instalments revealing a little too much information about their villains. If you look up any major movie trailer online, there’s a likely chance you’ll find comments about how it made people feel as if they watched the entire movie in the trailer. Granted, if you haven’t seen the movie, it is impossible to tell how much of the movie the trailer reveals. A recent example is M. Night Shyamalan’s Trap, a movie about a police operation to trap a serial killer at a concert. However, the big ‘twist’ the trailer seems to spoil is that the father (Josh Hartnett) is the killer. M. Night Shyamalan is known for his plot twists, so to make such a significant reveal in the trailer of his film seems uncharacteristic of him. However, having seen the film, the trailer only reveals the first half of the movie.
Some trailers have undoubtedly spoiled major plot points in movies; from the infamous plot reveal in the trailer for 1973’s Soylent Green, to the recent thriller remake Speak no evil revealing what happens at the end of the movie. Nevertheless, most trailers don’t go this far. More commonly trailers reveal too much general information about a movie which diminishes the excitement of watching a movie for the first time. It makes you feel as if all those YouTube comments were justified in saying the whole movie was in the trailer.Another recent example for this which I experienced was the trailer for Alien Romulus. The trailer not only exposes some of the film’s most exciting action sequences, but also that it would have another iconic chest-bursting scene. Granted, I thoroughly enjoyed the movie itself, but I found myself reflecting that some of the action or scary scenes would havehad more of an impact if they weren’t shown in the trailer. This is something I sadly find myself thinking evermore frequently after watching new movies. When it comes to big franchises and highly anticipated releases, fans are going to watch the movie when it comes out regardless of any marketing; I don’t need to see the trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux or Robert Eggers’ upcoming Nosferatu remake because I am already sold on the concepts they represent and because I enjoyed what came before.
Which brings me onto the reasons as to why trailers give away too much information. Firstly, ever since the pandemic, cinemas have been struggling to get back on their feet. Many Odeon and Cineworld branches have permanently closed, budget cuts have been made, and the companies have had to find new ways to get punters in the cinema. The pandemic habituated people into streaming; why spend £20 to go to see one film in the cinema when you can stream many more at home for a cheaper monthly subscription? As such, trailers have been targeted less towards fans and dedicated cinemagoers and more to general audiences who don’t care as much about significant plot points being revealed. Alternatively, perhaps movie studios simply feel they must sell as much of the movie as they possibly can to get people to return to the cinema.
Long gone are the days when most movie trailers would be a quick highlight reel of the general atmosphere and vibe of amovie. An effective movie trailer should sell this effectively without revealing too much of the plot. There are, however, recent exceptions. Oz Perkins’ recent horror Longlegs starring Nic Cage as a deformed serial killer had a very minimal yet intriguing marketing campaign. The trailers only tended to show seemingly random shots from the movie which effectively conveyed the creepy, ominous tone without revealing plotlines. They even went as far as creating a whole website about the murders from the film as if they were real, leaving further details completely at the discretion of the audience.
Sadly, most trailers aren’t this reserved, and more often provide cinema fans such as myself with too much information to sell a film. As such, I personally only tend to watch trailers if they are for a film I have heard very little about but sounds intriguing. I find the less I know about a film, the more I enjoy it. Hence why I generally avoid watching movie trailers.
G does Films 