The Best Movie Posters of 2023

After seeing Jonathan Glazer's The Zone of Interest at NYFF, I wondered how the film's one sheet would communicate its formal departure from the historical war drama/biopic genre. The two designs created by Neil Kellerhouse seen here do just that with a startling immediacy commensurate with the tone of Glazer's work. The first poster released by A24 presents a paradoxical image: an idyllic, almost mundane, sunlit garden scene under an ink black sky—an inversion of Magritte's The Empire of Light. The second poster revealed earlier this month in advance of the film's NYC/LA opening takes us up close to one of the flowers in the garden—a glowing poppy-red abstraction that draws your eye to the abyss at its center. Taken together, these images have a destabilizing effect that dares the viewer to contemplate what's on the other side of the garden wall. Released by A24.

Three by Akiko Stehrenberger.

The courtroom sketch poster for Anatomy of a Fall, Justine Triet's Palme d'Or winner, revealed by NEON last week for the film's digital release, is that rare combination of concept and execution that makes it seem dead-obvious once you've seen it, and an excellent case in point of why Stehrenberger is one of the most in demand artists in her field.

Look closely at Sandra Hüller's right arm 🧐

Anatomy of a Fall released by NEON
The Disappearance Of Shere Hite released by IFC Films

One of the highlights of our year was having the honor of representing two limited edition screenprints for Todd Field's 2022 film TÁR—Akiko Stehrenberger's interpretation of Cate Blanchett's Lydia Tár as Gulliver in Lilliput and Thunderwing's dynamic Swiss typographic take on the film's title and central character.

We had the pleasure of hosting Todd Field on the one-year anniversary of TÁR to celebrate the release of the limited edition screenprints (photos). Todd also shared some of his personal favorite movie posters for an episode of MUBI Picks at Posteritati (our most popular episode yet).

Shoutout to Blair Green at Focus Features ❤️

This Bergmanesque poster for Todd Haynes's May December was given away at 35mm screenings. Released by Netflix.

Adrian Curry's well-deserved top pick for one of my favorite films of the year. Midnight Marauder generously shared some alternate poster designs he created for the film that are just as strong as the final one sheet but strike very different tones. I agree with Adrian that the distributor "made the right choice with this baby." Released by Grasshopper Films.

The main creative for Sick of Myself, Kristoffer Borgli's pitch black comedy John Waters called "Pretty? Pretty fucked up!," is just a frame grab, but it's one that perfectly captures the film's sardonic tone and treatment of themes around narcissism and social media. The poster for the Japanese release was just as effective with its illustrated approach (Isamu Gakiya / Idea Oshima). We had a blast with Kris and the Utopia team when the film opened in April (photos).

A24 released a limited edition fine art print for Borgli's follow-up Dream Scenario with artwork by River Cousin, available on A24's online shop.

The collaboration between Vasilis Marmatakis and Yorgos Lanthimos has given us some of the best examples of movie poster design of the last couple of decades (the Dogtooth poster is a personal favourite) and the campaign for Poor Things is no exception. Released by Searchlight Pictures.

Look closely at Emma Stone's eyes and lips 🧐

Marmatakis has a cool website

Special poster created for IMAX screenings of Martin Scorsese's epic with artwork by the film’s Osage Nation Ambassador, Addie Roanhorse.

"Execution is everything." Neil Kellerhouse and James Paterson nailed the execution on this series of vintage noir-inspired Le Samourai-esque one sheets, and the title treatment is killer. Released by Netflix.

I selected this poster for the unique role it played in the film's marketing. Studio Ghibli announced that they would not release any ads or trailers for Hayao Miyazaki's highly anticipated feature prior to its release in Japan over the summer, this poster with Miyazaki's own hand-drawn concept art being the sole exception.

Another giant bird but this one's dining on a rotting-but-somehow-still-tumescent corpse, the perfect visual entrypoint for Sebastián Silva's horny ketamine-fueled E.M. Cioran-inspired comedy. Painting by Ignasi Monreal. Released by MUBI.

R. Crumb-y artwork by Yeon Yeoin for the South Korean release of Ari Aster's "Jewish Lord of the Rings," John Waters' favorite movie of the year, that includes a Mariah Carey needle drop that takes scene of the year. Released by A24.

Talia Ryder crosses the Delaware in Sean Price Williams and Nick Pinkerton's picaresque ode to the American east coast, painting by Kat Mukai. Released by Utopia.

Two beauties from Caspar Newbolt, a ravishing alt poster for Saim Sadiq's Joyland, and the official one sheet for Charlotte Le Bon's debut feature Falcon Lake. We had lots of fun hosting Charlotte Le Bon, Caspar Newbolt, and our friends at Yellow Veil over the summer to celebrate the opening of Falcon Lake at Metrograph (photos).

Joyland released by Oscilloscope
Falcon Lake released by Yellow Veil

A limited edition set of two double-sided posters for A Woman Escapes, a 3D collaborative feature by Sofia Bohdanowicz, Burak Cevik, and Blake Williams, starring Deragh Campbell. Released by Prismatic Ground.

This year we were blessed with not one but two sparkling new restorations of dearly beloved but long unavailable films by Gregg Araki, The Doom Generation and Nowhere. We had an absolute blast with Gregg and James Duval here at Posteritati for both releases. For the new release of Nowhere, Gregg dug up an unused comp he designed for the original 1997 release (pictured here) and used it as the basis for the new 2023 one sheet. Strand Releasing issued a creditless version of the new design as a signed limited edition which we had the privilege of representing.

Thank you Marcus Hu ❤️

I love this Nam June Paik coded tri-fold poster designed by Hassan Rahim for the new Elara Pictures / The Film Desk release of Richard Sandler's 1999 doc The Gods of Times Square.

Three by Brian Hung, one of the most consistently excellent artists and one who brings a fresh approach to every project he takes on. Brian deploys three totally different techniques on each poster shown here—two new Shinji Somai restorations, Typhoon Club and P.P. Rider, and the experimental new Hong Sang-soo, In Water—and each one is wildly successful in their respective domain. Released by Cinema Guild.