12 Best Movie Trailers Of 2025, Ranked

Movie trailers sometimes seem like little more than YouTube ads to skip. But they can be pieces of art in their own right that inspire conversation and profound reactions. Even something as silly as discourse over controversial trailer song choices or moments that went too far crystallize the profound responses movie ads can drum up. Meanwhile, the most beloved trailers in history (some of them even better artistically than the films they promote) are the epitome of what this art form can accomplish. Trailers deserve more respect, and 2025 provided the proof.

This year, there were tons of memorable trailers for movies big and small. These trailers stood out from the immensely packed crowd of film-based marketing material with creative bursts of editing, brilliant needle drops, and immersive atmospheres. Still others were remarkable in how well they promoted films that defied description. Whatever made them noteworthy, these 12 trailers provided some of the best cinematic moments of 2025.

They didn't just get people invested in upcoming movies — they were striking reminders that these promotional tools can exhibit tremendously creative ingenuity on their own. 

Through just two films, director Mary Bronstein has become a master of claustrophobic cinema playing on raw human emotions. Her second title, "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You," was preceded by one of 2025's most appropriately harrowing trailers. This piece of marketing gave viewers an in-depth glimpse into the life of Linda (Rose Byrne), a mother trying to juggle raising her sick kid, her therapist job, her crumbling house, and so many other responsibilities. In hindsight, what makes this trailer so extraordinary is how it grabs one's attention while keeping so many of the best "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" secrets under wraps.

A critical subplot involving supporting character Caroline (Danielle Macdonald) is only fleetingly referenced, while important visual details (like Linda's daughter always being just off-screen) aren't made explicit. There's so much about this movie kept hidden, yet the trailer still conveys a memorably tense and chaotic mood. It also shows off Byrne's mastery in the lead role and how this performance is unlike anything else she's delivered before. These elements rooted in "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" are combined with trailer-specific joys, like subtly ominous popping noises on the soundtrack and great editing.

Mary Bronstein is becoming a treasure among modern indie cinema auteurs. It's only fitting that her exceptional works like "If I Had Legs I'd Kick You" would spawn sublime trailers like this one.

Tim Robinson's sketch comedy show "I Think You Should Leave" is chock full of hysterical segments that keep viewers on their toes. You never know where surreal storylines involving driver's ed videos or country song recording sessions will go. The destination will inevitably be hysterical, but how it gets there is always captivatingly in the air. The trailer for Robinson's first major motion picture, "Friendship," excitingly maintained that unpredictability. This trailer depicts a blossoming bond between Craig Waterman (Tim Robinson) and Austin Carmichael (Paul Rudd) that very quickly sours when the latter tries cutting things off. 

From here, the "Friendship" trailer intensifies in tone. The cuts become quicker. The dialogue gets more aggressive. Everything remains discernibly funny, but it's also appropriately cringeworthy and deftly teasing what kind of chaos will be unleashed in this project. It's impressive that "Friendship's" first trailer so expertly communicates that it's a comedy while also conveying an intense ambiance rooted in one man's obsession to maintain a friendship. The trailer channels the tonal complexities of a great "I Think You Should Leave" sketch, but it's also a memorable delight even for those who've never seen a second of the show.

Best of all, the best "Friendship" punchlines are absent from this trailer. This piece of marketing clearly conveys "Friendship's" plot and atmosphere, but doesn't ruin all the film's greatest moments.

In the 2010s, Marvel Studios ruled over pop culture with an iron fist. By 2025, when "Thunderbolts*" was preparing to hit theaters, the company had hit a more erratic box office patch. So it was time for some unorthodox swings in marketing. One of those swings was a "Thunderbolts*" trailer that attempted to emulate the marketing style of an A24 or Letterboxd crowd-skewing indie release. Defined by an incredibly fast pace, it features lots of on-screen text emphasizing the pedigree of the feature's behind-the-scenes talent, and a glibly comic atmosphere. The usual highlights of typical Marvel Cinematic Universe trailers (explosions, teases of secret characters, etc.) were largely eschewed.

The result was an amusing concoction that memorably promised "Thunderbolts*" was something unique in the MCU pantheon. It was also fun to see a major movie trailer highlighting crucial below-the-line crew members like its cinematographer and composer, who are often overlooked.

"Thunderbolts*" turned out to be a surprisingly solid Marvel movie, while this unique trailer has endured as a creative way to sell the enterprise. Marvel Studios attempts to try something new truly paid off. 

One of the most exciting voices in modern cinema is Brazilian filmmaker Kleber Mendonça Filho, who cemented himself as a must-watch talent with "Neighboring Sounds" and "Bacurau". At Cannes 2025, his newest feature, the Wagner Moura star vehicle "The Secret Agent," debuted to rapturous reviews and immediate award season buzz. U.S. distributor Neon introduced the general public to this revered project with an initial teaser triler bursting with personality and verve. These qualities were underpinned with tremendous confidence stemming from on-screen text declaring "The Secret Agent" as "the most awarded film" of the 2025 Cannes Film Festival. Though only 71 seconds long, this teaser demanded the attention of moviegoers.

Being a teaser, so much of "The Secret Agent" is kept secretive, which makes the various images glimpsed here extra evocative. A close-up of a toothy fish's mouth. A body dumped into a roaring stream of water. An outdoor skirmish. All of it is told with vibrant colors that pop off the screen. This teaser even creates its own standalone circular narrative by beginning and ending with Moura's protagonist getting interviewed. 

It works perfectly as a single piece of art capturing a chaotic era in Brazil's history. But it also gets audiences excited to see "The Secret Agent," as if it being the new Kleber Mendonça Filho movie wasn't enough to solidify it as a can't-miss production. 

Every second counts in a compact movie trailer. There's only so much time (typically just 150 seconds or less) to sell your film to people, so the creators behind these trailers often make sure they're packed to the brim with information and enticing elements. That proclivity makes instances of silence in film marketing so striking — like the one marking the start of "Sentimental Value's" first trailer. This silence comes as Rachel Kemp (Elle Fanning) asks Nora Borg (Renate Reinsve) about her relationship with her father, Gustav (Stellan Skarsgård), after which they cut to the two characters arguing in an eatery, but there's no sound. Audiences just see their verbal skirmish. 

Removing audio just makes this flashback extra impactful, accentuating the idea that we're getting a glimpse into Nora's mind, where arguments like these often rattle around. That's a tremendous kick-off to this "Sentimental Value" trailer, which proceeds to convey a bittersweet atmosphere through the inspired needle drop "Ooh La La." The Faces tune deftly communicates how intricate familial relationships are and fits right in with the wistful images scattered throughout the trailer. The editors even briefly deploy silence for a display of tenderness between Nora and her sister.

As if director Joachim Trier's track record on movies like "The Worst Person in the World" wasn't enough to inspire further anticipation for his films, this subtly subversive "Sentimental Value" trailer made it essential viewing.

Every time Emma Stone and Yorgos Lanthimos team up for a movie, unforgettable weirdness ensues. Stone just brings out extra layers of creativity in a filmmaker who has always had a proclivity for the bleak and bizarre. The very specific, unusual worlds Lanthimos weaves have often inspired equally idiosyncratic trailers, as seen by the "Killing of a Sacred Deer" teaser set to a haunting cover of Elle Goulding's "Burn." The 2025 Stone/Lanthimos production "Bugonia" delivered yet another all-time great piece of movie marketing with its second trailer that masterfully deployed Chappell Roan's "Good Luck Babe!"

That tune permeates every inch of this trailer, though a more ominous orchestral accompaniment accompanies it once CEO Michelle Fuller (Stone) is kidnapped by Teddy Gatz (Jesse Plemons) and his cousin Don (Aidan Delbis). There's a gripping sense of escalating chaos throughout this trailer as this innately absurd premise (two conspiracists kidnap a CEO believing she's a malicious alien) reveals itself. The final third, where Roan's wails are set to apocalyptic images of cars smoking and Fuller collapsing on her lawn, are especially evocative. 

Best of all, "Bugonia" slows itself down just before its title reveal for a darkly comic beat where Roan croons "it's fine, it's cool" during an extremely tense dinnertime conversation between the film's three leads. Immediately following that quietness up with Gatz charging Fuller cements this piece of "Bugonia" marketing as another example of Yorgos Lanthimos bringing out the best in trailer editors.

In the final days of 2024, the first "28 Years Later" dropped, immediately setting the internet on fire with its incredible use of the Rudyard Kipling poem "Boots." After that trailer and the buzzy cliffhanger ending of "28 Years Later," all eyes have now shifted to the film's January 2026 sequel, "28 Years Later: The Bone Temple." It was always going to be impossible for the "Bone Temple" marketing team to match that "Boots" teaser. However, the first "Bone Temple" trailer is still impressive in its own right, especially with its creative deployment of an Arthur C. Clarke speech about the future to underpin all the gnarly post-apocalypse chaos.

There's plenty in this "Bone Temple" trailer that catches the eye while keeping things cryptic, including absorbing shots focused on an individual played by Erin Kellyman. Further glimpses into "28 Years Later" breakout character Doctor Kelson (Ralph Fiennes) also intrigue, particularly what appears to be footage of him tapping into his unhinged side. Best of all, this "Bone Temple" trailer has an increasing sense of ominous energy as the trailer goes on (punctuated by chants of eerie phrases like "my soul shall burn in Hell") that suggests this follow-up will somehow take the saga of Spike (Alfie Williams) into even darker directions.

Throughout history, American movie studios releasing foreign language movies have often released trailers obscuring the fact that these movies deploy subtitles. Whether a film is from Denmark or Japan, U.S. indie studios will often drop trailers focusing on rave reviews or reaction shots and avoiding footage of characters talking in non-English languages whenever possible. Indie studio Neon has begun happily departing from that marketing norm in recent years with trailers for films like "The Seed of the Sacred Fig" that unabashedly show off their use of subtitles. The second domestic "No Other Choice" trailer marvelously continues that trend and creates a wickedly fun short in the process.

With the trailer's editors no longer fixated on just obscuring this Korean film's dialogue, the focus of this "No Other Choice" trailer is instead on more exciting matters. That includes great pieces of editing, like a final, grimly hysterical cut to a revved-up chainsaw, or the fun ways on-screen text interacts with elements like guzzled liquor. Propulsive energy and confidence permeate the entire trailer, which promises audiences another unpredictable ride from "Oldboy" and "The Handmaiden" auteur Park Chan-wook. 

Best of all, this "No Other Choice" trailer conceals many great twists and character beats, thus ensuring that all the good stuff hasn't been spoiled. With movie marketers getting over what Bong Joon-ho called the "one-inch barrier" of subtitles, endlessly creative concoctions like this domestic "No Other Choice" trailer are possible.

A great song choice can elevate any solid movie trailer to a classic. Case in point: The final "One Battle After Another" trailer, which was set to the Beyonce/Kendrick Lamar tune "Freedom." The endless energy and gusto bouncing off this track were perfect for a film about revolutionaries and propulsive chase sequences. Lamar's rapping interlude coming in over the various names of "Battle's" principal actors is an especially great touch. The names of Teyana Taylor and Benicio Del Toro, among others, get an appropriately grandiose presentation thanks to Lamar's rapid-fire vocals.

However, this "One Battle After Another" trailer doesn't just get by on its needle drop. It's also a fantastically edited creation vividly conveying the film's general plot without giving away all of its secrets or greatest crowdpleaser moments. The killer funny beats (like Leonardo DiCaprio's Bob Ferguson correcting his daughter on how "you roll dice") also deftly suggest what a tonally ambitious entity this Paul Thomas Anderson masterpiece is.

As a cherry on top, this is a very different trailer (structurally and tonally) than the trailers that heralded the releases of past Anderson films like "There Will Be Blood" and "The Master." "One Battle After Another" is a very idiosyncratic motion picture, so it's only right that it received an equally distinctive and musically soaring trailer.

Among the most underrated movies of 2023 was the Hlynur Pálmason feature "Godland." This clinical and quietly brutal feature delivered staggering imagery in its depiction of man being dwarfed by the natural world he hoped to conquer. Now, Pálmason is back, albeit for a very different project. His latest production is the dramedy "The Love That Remains." The first official U.S. trailer for this project communicated a distinctly unique aesthetic compared to both "Godland" and typical trailers from U.S. distributor Janus Films.

The trailer is accompanied by meta-narration from a woman explaining to the viewer that "The Love That Remains" focuses on "a family of five plus a sheepdog." Eventually, the narrator bluntly states that "there are no far-right extremists or murderers in this film. Just normal people and normal problems." She then notes that "we are interested in the small everyday things..." before the trailer begins a montage of various oddball elements of normal existence peppered throughout "Love That Remains." This rampant narration is fascinating. Simultaneously, it speaks directly to the viewer while fully immersing those viewers in this specific Icelandic world. The narration also creatively conveys the feature's very precise tone, particularly in a final note to viewers giving them permission to "go see something else ... it's okay."

There was no other 2025 trailer quite like this one. The first "Love That Remains" trailer was as distinctive in its comedic impulses as "Godland" was idiosyncratic with its majestic imagery.

The very first proper glimpse audiences got of Zach Cregger's horror film "Weapons" was through a very cryptic teaser trailer that didn't even last a minute in length. That was enough to make it one of 2025's greatest trailers. Starting with a close-up of a clock displaying that incredibly important "2:17 AM" time, the teaser is set to audio of police captain Ed Locke (Toby Huss) reassuring distressed parent Archer Graff (Josh Brolin) that he and his forces are doing everything possible to find those missing kids. A montage of footage of kids running through the night (arms outstretched, naturally) transpires as Locke speaks, with the accompanying score growing more and more ominous.

Finally, surveillance footage of one of the fleeing youngsters fills the screen as Locke says his final phrase: "what do you see that I don't?" It's an ingenious capper to this teaser, urging viewers to look closer and get as obsessed with this world as Graff is about finding his son. In just a short span of time, this "Weapons" teaser establishes memorable imagery, the emotional stakes of its story, and further surprises hiding in plain sight. Toby Huss is also a fantastic narrator for this teaser, with his authoritative yet slightly uncertain vocals suggesting how this missing kids case is so bizarre it's stumped even a man whose voice radiates dependability.

Maggie Gyllenhaal's directorial debut, "The Lost Daughter," was a deeply artistic and melancholy exercise, frequently blurring the lines between the past and present. It was a provocative visual enterprise, but it was still her first feature-length filmmaking effort. Was this what all her films would look like? Would her first foray into big-budget cinema, "The Bride!," rock a similar aesthetic? The teaser trailer for this anarchic version of "Frankenstein" (starring Jessie Buckley as the titular bride) suggested Gyllenhaal was bringing an exciting, rock n' roll energy to this project, radically different from "The Lost Daughter." It was an atmosphere that also made for an intoxicatingly fun teaser.

Kicking things off with Buckley's cackling laugh, this "Bride!" teaser exudes uncontrollable chaos. Once audiences get a glimpse of the titular protagonist and Christian Bale's take on Frankenstein's monster, the mayhem gets even more enthrallingly out of control. Visuals like a shattering chandelier or period-era shoot-outs are already a hoot. What really makes this teaser, though, is the dynamic electronic score (such an unexpected sound for even a revisionist "Frankenstein" adaptation) and bombastic delivery of the "here comes the bride" tagline, one word at a time. 

It all combines to create a teaser that's the cinematic equivalent of a surge of energy charged directly into the brain. Only time will tell if the film lives up to this trailer, but "The Bride!'s" first teaser certainly suggests Gyllenhaal is cooking something unexpected and transgressive.