Our 10 Favorite Movie Posters from 2024 – Universal Brutalist Sunset
by Alex Billington
December 10, 2024
With the year winding down, it’s time to look back and highlight some favorites from the world of movies. The past few years I’ve been putting together these collections of my favorite poster designs, highlighting the work (from real humans not AI!) that I think deserves extra attention because it is bold & eye-catching. Below is my personal selection of 10 Favorite Movie Posters from 2024. These aren’t necessarily the “best” rather they’re my own favorites that stuck with me. The only qualification is that they must be official posters released by the distributor, not fan art or other posters created unofficially. This year I was drawn to really light, colorful, vivid designs that also follow the golden rules of graphic design. I like colors! Always gets me. Turn up that saturation, make it brighter. I’m a sucker for strong visuals always enjoy watching for new poster drops all year, hoping for some real winners. These 10 posters stuck with me as compelling, eye-catching, creative designs that really make me want to watch every one of the films. Check them out below.
Here are my 10 favorite posters. Full-size image can always be found on our favorite poster site IMPAwards.
Universal Language (dir. Matthew Rankin)
Design by Derek Gabryszak [Website] & Hannah Christ [IG]
I think this is a brilliant film (from Canadian filmmaker Matthew Rankin – it first premiered in Cannes) and it’s especially hard to capture the distinct feel of this film on a poster. But this totally nails it… That unique brutalist structure works so well for this one – and they even snuck a turkey onto the poster! Amazing work.
Saturday Night (dir. Jason Reitman)
Design by BLT Communication [Agency]
Love this poster and love this film! It’s hilarious (the film and the poster) and perfectly depicts the intense pressure to succeed and wacky absurdity of this comedy about the first Saturday Night Live taping in 1975.
The Shadow Strays (dir. Timo Tjahjanto)
Design by Unknown
This is one of these awesome posters where no words are necessary. It’s all right there. The knife in the snow split by the blood from this fight. Awesome design even if it’s gory – sometimes you have to break the rules.
Matt and Mara (dir. Kazik Radwanski)
Design by F Ron Miller [Website]
This one is so simple yet so sweet – and the film is good (another Canadian one). I adore the colors and their faces intertwined by this simple line-art that weaves its way around the letters. Minimalism at its very best.
Drive-Away Dolls (dir. Ethan Coen)
Design by AV Print [Agency]
The power of great imagery! There’s no point in even trying to describe this because it’s all right there and so obvious. You can see what exactly what it is! Even if the film isn’t that great, this poster makes up for it.
Sasquatch Sunset (dirs. Zellner Brothers)
Design by Jump Cut NYC [Website]
A rainbow-colored odyssey into the forest with a family of idiotic sasquatches. This is another design that so beautifully captures the vibes of the film without just using a still frame – and I really enjoy the colors here.
The Room Next Door (dir. Pedro Almodóvar)
Design by Leroy & Rose [Agency]
Okay this is technically a French poster for Pedro Almodovar’s The Room Next Door – but it’s so damn good I had to feature it anyway. Those blinding colors! As shiny as every Almodovar film. Perfectly simple design.
Kinds of Kindness (dir. Yorgos Lanthimos)
Design by Vasilis Marmatakis [Website]
So much dancing! Many characters! Much craziness! Many Emma Stones! Lanthimos going wild again. A poster for Lanthimos’ film Poor Things made my list last year – happy to put another one on this year’s list.
The Brutalist (dir. Brady Corbet)
Design by Unknown
A spectacular poster for a masterpiece film. Yes this is the exact same shot from the opening of the film, but it’s powerful. The upside-down Statue of Liberty represents this film perfectly. And with this slanted text on top – this is a striking poster that will stop people in their tracks and make them want to learn more about it.
Thelma (dir. Josh Margolin)
Design by Gravillis [Agency]
To wrap it all up – June Squibb on her mission to defeat some scammers. This delightful poster for Thelma is a bit busy but the crochet design (which they re-used for another similar poster) is especially striking and unforgettable. And no other poster looks like this! Especially the way she’s rockin’ the scooter & sunglasses.
A few other favorites that didn’t make the cut this year: this eerie, dripping design for Art of a Hit, the red blood stains on the vampire poster for Abigail, this beautiful Chinese artwork for Black Dog, the very creepy minimalistic design for The Girl with the Needle, and any of the artist-designed posters for Alien: Romulus.
So there you have it! Those are my top picks for 2024. I believe poster design is getting a bit sloppy & lazy these days, not only due to the rise of GenAI and its always-horrendous creations, but also because studios are trying to cut costs and that means getting rid of poster design fees. But there’s still great work out there – and it’s always worth celebrating. Other best of 2024 poster lists to check out: Adrian Curry’s annual list of The Best Movie Posters of 2024, or Creative Bloq’s early preview of the Best Movie Poster Designs (more to come later). There are so many posters released every year, sometimes it’s hard to remember the very best ones. However, truly great artwork usually stands out so much that other design geeks remember them and mention them over and over. Let’s continue to highlight non-AI, artist-made movie posters as much as we can. And of course a final shout out to IMPAwards, my own favorite place for movie posters on the web. In these though times for websites, please keep visiting them so they keep running. What are your favorites?
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