This year, trailers felt even more important than usual, because we could finally see them again where they belong as cinemas reopened. We’re still not out of the woods, but the pandemic has at least made room for us to celebrate the movies that have come before and those that are on their way with some of the best teasers out there. Breathy covers, snappy edits, incredible accents and showstopping visuals aplenty, there was so much to celebrate – here are the trailers that got us excited, talking, and grateful for cinema again in 2021.
Dune
After an agonising wait, Denis Villeneuve’s vision of Dune finally arrived in cinemas this year – and boy, did it deliver on this trailer’s promise, taking the top spot on our list of the best movies of 2021. Epic scale? Check. Stunning production design? Check. Massive worms, throat singing and a shit-ton of sand? You bet. Bring on (the now officially confirmed) Part Two. SB
Spider-Man: No Way Home
Talk about breaking the internet. Sony took their sweet time to share a proper trailer for No Way Home, and it sent Spidey-fans spiralling. Marvel’s multiverse plans became clearer, with a spell-gone-wrong causing Peter Parker’s old foes from other on-screen universes to start spilling into this one. Speculation has been rife about other familiar faces we’ll see in this film, and with it finally out in cinemas, we now know exactly what this trailer was hiding. SB
House Of Gucci
It’s a rare but beautiful thing when a trailer as quotable as this one for House Of Gucci comes along. Our appetites suitably whetted months ago by the shot of Lady Gaga and Adam Driver in apres-ski mode, this peek at Ridley Scott’s dynastic drama gave us such gems as “I don’t consider myself a particularly ethical person, but I am fair”, “Father, son, house of Gucci”, and, of course, Jared Leto’s extraordinary (apparently) Italian accent. SB
Jurassic World Dominion
In this opening five minutes of the third film in the Jurassic World trilogy, Dominion goes all David Attenborough – more like a dino documentary, it shows us creatures great and small going about their business 65 million years ago. Cut to the present day, and, after the events of Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom that let dinosaurs loose upon modern society, we see a spectacular set-piece involving a T-Rex invading a drive in. As well as effectively teasing the film, this prologue also raises the question – just how does one not hit the target when attempting to shoot one of the biggest creatures in the world with a tranquilliser dart? We'll have to wait until next year to find out. SB
Turning Red
Going through adolescence can, at times, feel like your body isn’t quite your own; that it’s transforming into something you don’t recognise. For Turning Red’s Mei, that’s literally the case – thanks to her family’s mystical connection to red pandas, she turns into one every time she experiences intense emotion. And when you’re entering teenagehood, that’s, like, all the time. This looks like Pixar on top form, and the use of NSYNC’s ‘It’s Gonna Be Me’ is inspired. SB
Shiva Baby
Millennial women are so often sanitised and sugar-coated, but Emma Seligman was never going to let that slide. “IT’S NOT MY CAREER, IT’S A LENS!” Rachel Sennott’s Danielle snips at her dad, when he says he can’t quite figure out feminism. A shiva (a Jewish funeral) turns into a nightmare for this young woman – where a standard family tradition is given horror movie stakes thanks to Seligman. EK
The Matrix Resurrections
It’s one thing to deliver a blockbuster movie – but a blockbuster of a trailer? That in itself is an extraordinary experience on the big screen? That’s next-level hype-building, something The Matrix Resurrections has pulled off with its incredible trailers and teasers. The launch was supported by an interactive campaign inviting us to, once again, choose between the red pill or the blue. We can’t wait to see how far the rabbit hole goes this time. SB
Everything Everywhere All At Once
If you thought Spider-Man: No Way Home was the only movie offering multiversal madness this year, you thought wrong. From the Daniels, directors of the bizarrely brilliant Swiss Army Man, comes Everything Everywhere All At Once. From the looks of this mind-bending trailer, we can expect sumptuous visuals, googly eyes aplenty, and endless Michelle Yeohs. Sold. SB
Marry Me
“Do you, some guy, take Kat to be your lawfully wedded wife?” It sounds wild and it kind of is – but then again, 2021 gave Jennifer Lopez a pretty wild year. The trailer for her new romcom Marry Me comes only a few months after she broke the internet by going public again with her longtime lover Ben Affleck (!), but this one is all about her: the glittering wedding dresses and those showstopping notes really prove that nobody does it quite like J-Lo. EK
Zola
The first Twitter thread-turned-movie raised eyebrows when it was first announced - how can you bring to life a series of short remarks and disembodied storytelling, let alone make it exciting? But there was nothing to fear with Janicza Bravo around – all the annoying yet addictive sound effects of the internet come to life in an anti-fairytale of a road trip. It starts with an unlikely friendship and ends with sex, guns, thefts, and the weirdest weekend trip you’ll take on cinema. A smash-cut of all the most trippy bits to come, the trailer is delicious. EK
The Batman
When news broke of director Matt Reeves taking on a new standalone version of the caped crusader, there were concerns – haven’t we reached Bat-saturation? This trailer gives us an indication of what will set The Batman apart, with a gothic feel, neon-infused visuals, Zoë Kravitz’s take on Selina Kyle, and Robert Pattinson embodying an altogether different type of Bruce Wayne than we’ve ever seen on screen before. SB
The Green Knight
Indie heroes A24 are pretty much unmatched when it comes to setting the internet on fire, and the trailer for The Green Knight did that better than anything else this year. Medieval times have never looked so cool, with flashes of green and splashes of blood turning what could have been a stuffy historical picture into something so exciting. Plus, with Dev Patel as our king, we’re in safe hands. EK
Lightyear
It’s the prequel nobody asked for, yet still feels weirdly fascinating. It’s in the epic galactic stakes, the trippy, fiery visuals, and that David Bowie cover which they really could have never made this movie without. And of course, the trailer would be nothing without the man bringing this version of our beloved Buzz Lightyear to life. If anyone could get us excited with just one word, a tiny little “and” – it’s certainly Chris Evans. EK
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