The big reveal: Did Companion's movie trailer show too much?

First, before you read any further, consider this your spoiler warning if you plan to go see the movie Companion staring Sophie Thatcher and Jack Quaid.

Stop reading now if you don’t want spoilers.

I thought the movie was incredible, and I’m becoming a big fan of Drew Hancock as a director after the success and creativity in both Barbarian and now Companion. Let’s keep the streak going. Thatcher and Quaid were phenomenal and the plot and writing checked all the boxes.

Companion’s logline is: “A billionaire's death sets off a chain of events for Iris and her friends during a weekend trip to his lakeside estate.” Interesting! There’s a bit of mystery here—who is the billionaire? What are the chain of events? How will the weekend unfold? Consider my attention grabbed.

Then, we had the trailer release. Take a watch for yourself:

While the logline matches the trailer, it seems as if though it was intentionally written to be a bit vague to omit one key detail about the movie.

The trailer, on the other hand, reveals this surprising plot point.

There’s about seven seconds in the trailer — from 0:29-0:35 and 0:48-0:49 — that could be omitted, leaving the audience unaware that Sophie Thatcher’s character Iris is in fact artificial intelligence and not human.

You discover this insight approximately 20 minutes into the movie, but I couldn’t help but wonder… did I wish that I thought she was a person up until the reveal? Is a reveal even necessary?

Something about knowing ahead of time that she wasn’t human dampened what might have been an interesting twist for the audience (although, trust me — there’s plenty of other twists in the movie to enjoy).

For years, movie goers have wondered this age-old question: Do movie trailers reveal too much? People have often opted to “go in cold” to a movie, resisting the urge to watch a trailer or read reviews ahead of time, providing a fresh pair of eyes to watch without any preconceived notions.

Marketers are tasked with the challenging task (which I do believe is solvable and has been achieved by many films): how can you use movie footage to get people properly excited for the movie without giving away too much?

Let’s take a look at how movies are currently promoted and what I think is the ideal content release plan to use.

The current movie marketing content release plan (and what I would adjust)

Most movies follow a standard drip marketing strategy, revealing a bit more about the movie as time goes on.

The campaign typically goes something like this:

• Movie Announcement: PR blitz with major publications announcing that a studio is making a movie with actors attached. Creative is not usually attached to this as it’s too early in the cycle.

• First Look: Photos from production are released to the media, offering a first look at actors in costume as well as setting or production environment. Often these are share on actors’ channels (or they’re provided with other creative assets to share).

• Movie Poster: This really kicks off the campaign and is promoted via the press, actors, and the movie’s official accounts. It showcases the logo, full cast, and serves as the basis for the promotional movie.

• Tease: This is typically a 0:15-0:60 spot that generates excitement for the movie without revealing pretty much anything. Think about the Flying Tease for the upcoming Superman film debuting Summer 2025 which shows a few quick scenes over the course of 0:30. Simple, intriguing and captures the attention without sharing too much about the plot or story.

• Initial Trailer: This is the first deep dive into the movie, igniting interest in the audience. Typically trailers last anywhere between 1:30-3:00 minutes and highlight a sampling of scenes from the movie.

• Final Trailer: Often, movies will release a second trailer in the final leg of the campaign. This is often a longer trailer that is more of an extended cut. Sometimes these trailers run for 2:30+, revealing a lot about what the viewer might experience throughout the film.

There are a few key adjustments that I would make to this release strategy:

1. The tease should be just that—a tease. Shorten it to 0:15. Focus on a key element or a quick flash and dialogue from one character. We are just whetting the beak here of the audience, and need to leave them wanting more. Plus, any sort of content—whether it’s 0:15 or 4:30—will still amass a solid amount of PR and social impressions if done correctly.

2. Consider a release of a scene, rather than the initial trailer. This should happen six months before the movie debuts. Babygirl released the milk scene prior to the movie premiering, providing actors with the chance to show it and dissect it during their press junket. By releasing the scene, the audience will certainly recognize it in the movie… but once it’s done, everything else in the movie will be brand new and fresh to them.

3. Front-load the trailer. I’d try to keep most of the trailer content (approximately 80%) pulled from the first half of the movie. Sure, sprinkle in a few action sequences from the end for 10-15 seconds, but front-load the trailer with content from the first-half to set the stage without revealing how the main characters overcome (or succumb) to the main plot points. This would showcase what the movie is about without relying too heavily on content in the second half of the movie which might reveal too much.

4. The second trailer should be an extended trailer—not brand new. Think of it as a bonus cut from the first trailer. Swap out a few scenes, and add in a few new ones to keep in fresh. Make it 30 seconds longer, but don’t start from scratch. This should build on the initial trailer, rather than being a completely complementary trailer with brand new content. If you do this right, you’ll only be showing a few minutes of content that can be repurposed in a variety of ways prior to the film’s release.

At the end of the day, trailers generate hype for the movie. But, in recent years, moviegoers have had a love/hate relationship with them.

With the right content, cadence, and storytelling abilities, you can showcase content from your movie to get the audience excited without revealing too much.