10 movies nobody knew anything about until they were released

‘Cloverfield’ (Matt Reeves, 2008)

JJ Abrams has been obsessed with the notion of the ‘mystery box’ throughout his entire career, as much of his early work on Lost involved setting up secrets that enticed viewers to pay attention, and although he faced criticism later for being too reliant on this technique, it was an effective strategy for the found-footage science fiction film Cloverfield, which he produced for director Matt Reeves.

There was nothing in the trailers that suggested what Cloverfield was actually about, making the reveal of the kaiju monsters even more shocking, a strategy that Abrams would utilise again for other films in the franchise, such as 10 Cloverfield Lane, which was converted into a spinoff when based on a non-Cloverfield script, and its title was revealed in a trailer that debuted only weeks before the film was intended to be released in theatres.

‘Killing Them Softly’ (Andrew Dominik, 2012)

While there were vague rumblings that the new film from director Andrew Dominik, Killing Them Softly, after his masterpiece of The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, would be a crime drama set around the 2008 presidential election in the United States, most assumed that a mafia film starring James Gandolfini, Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins, and Brad Pitt would be an epic. The action that was seemingly potent in the trailer was barely in the film, as Dominik instead made a grounded drama about the economic consequences of the financial crisis that blew a hole in the notion of American idealism.

It’s a dark, cynical, and depressing film that caused audiences to revolt, becoming one of the rare titles in history to land an ‘F’ rating on Cinemascore, and it’s also a hidden masterpiece that has gotten better with age.

‘Split’ (M Night Shyamalan, 2017)

M Night Shyamalan had finally started to piece together a comeback after The Visit was a surprise hit that showed he wasn’t a total hack, and so there was genuine excitement for his new thriller Split, which had only released a mysterious trailer that revealed James McAvoy as a character with multiple personalities. Even though it debuted at a festival in late 2016 before getting a wide release in January 2017, audiences managed to keep Split’s secrets, which surprised the larger crowd when the film turned out to be much weirder than it was marketed. 

The biggest surprise was that Split was set in the same universe as M Night Shyamalan’s cult classic 2000 film Unbreakable, which was revealed in the final scene when Bruce Willis returned to reprise his role as David Dunn; audiences were firmly on board, and Shyamalan got to complete his trilogy with Glass.

‘Tomorrowland’ (Brad Bird, 2015)

Disney had the utmost confidence in Brad Bird, who had won Pixar two Academy Awards for ‘Best Animated Feature’ with The Incredibles and Ratatouille, and had proved himself capable of making live-action films with Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol. Bird was afforded what was essentially a blank cheque to make his ambitious science fiction adventure Tomorrowland, a film that revealed nothing about its story in the trailers, banking on the director’s track record and the name recognition of the classic Disney park.

It turned out that Tomorrowland was not set in a futuristic city, but a modern tale about how a society of narcissistic inventors had stalled progress by hoarding scientific research to themselves. It is a more interesting film than it is given credit for, but it certainly wasn’t the optimistic crowdpleaser that many were expecting Bird to make.

‘The Blair Witch Project’ (Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sánchez, 1999)

The Blair Witch Project is one of the most profitable films ever made, given that it was made on a microscopic budget and starred unknown actors, and it also started the ‘found footage’ horror subgenre, only offering brief hints with its marketing material which was framed as in-universe information.

The film’s release could have only occurred in the pre-Y2K era, when there was enough online activity to initiate a digital marketing campaign that drew attention to a niche subject, but wasn’t privy to the rampant speculation that would have spoiled the premise. That there was actually confusion surrounding whether The Blair Witch Project was ‘real’ is the ultimate sign of success, as it was so shrouded in secrecy that even audiences could not reach a consensus on what they had just watched.

‘John Wick’ (Chad Stahelski, 2014)

Keanu Reeves’ career was in free-fall in the aftermath of his massive salary for The Matrix sequels, as he experienced several bombs that destroyed his reputation. John Wick wasn’t shrouded in mystery because of an intentional marketing campaign, but because of the minor budget it was working off of; the film was intended to be a direct-to-VOD release before the enthusiasm for initial screenings convinced Lionsgate that they had a potential to capitalise on the positive word-of-mouth.

Although the trailers revealed the basic premise of a former assassin on a mission of revenge against thugs who had killed his dog, they didn’t showcase the complex mythology of The High Table or the inventive style of ‘gung fu’ action. John Wick was such an unexpected phenomenon that it became one of the most successful R-rated franchises of the modern era.

‘The Brutalist’ (Brady Corbet, 2024)

The Brutalist was an independently financed film, made for less than $15million, and was Brady Corbet’s passion project after the sour response to his previous effort, Vox Lux. Its debut at the Venice Film Festival wasn’t greeted with any fanfare when compared to some of the more high-profile contenders in competition, but initial festivalgoers were blown away when they found that Corbet had made a classical, three-and-a-half-hour period epic about the collapse of the ‘American Dream’ through the perspective of a Holocaust denier.

The Brutalist transformed into one of the year’s most important cinematic events overnight after it was acquired by A24, which managed to spark widespread interest in classical film projections that screened it in the format that Corbet had intended. Against all odds, The Brutalist truly felt like the ‘type of film that they don’t make anymore’.

‘I’m Still Here’ (Casey Affleck, 2010)

Joaquin Phoenix has pulled many unusual public stunts and made various strange statements, making it unclear how self-aware he is at any point in time. After Phoenix seemed to sincerely retire from acting following the release of the James Gray drama Two Lovers, the announcement of Casey Affleck’s documentary I’m Still Here appeared to be legitimate.

Phoenix’s increasingly bizarre talk show appearances, in which he appeared unhinged and unwell, began to stoke controversy regarding whether it was an elaborate marketing hoax and if it was in any way made at the expense of those with mental health issues. I’m Still Here was never publicly revealed to be a mockumentary until it was seen, and even those who saw it were left wondering if there were any kernels of truth and reflection within Phoenix’s bizarre efforts at avant-garde performance art.

‘The Empty Man’ (David Prior, 2020)

It was at the height of the pandemic that Walt Disney Studios chose to quietly release a few of the films that they had inherited from 20th Century Fox with the intention of burying them. While the X-Men film The New Mutants had been marketed, pushed back, and reshot for several years, there was nothing known about David Prior’s supernatural horror thriller The Empty Man, apart from a mysterious trailer released only weeks before it was dumped in theatres.

While most assumed that this was a cheap horror film that was destined to bomb, those who caught up with The Empty Man discovered it was not the generic possession film it was marketed as being; Prior had created a labyrinth of suspense and conspiracies, inspired by David Fincher and David Lynch, that instantly became an object of analysis and cult fandom among horror buffs.

‘It Comes at Night’ (Trey Edward Schultz, 2017)

A24 had begun to develop a reputation for high-quality films, despite the fact that the horror titles it released were typically not what audiences were expecting. Although It Comes at Night was marketed as a supernatural thriller with some sort of monstrous threat lurking in the background, the film proved to be a bait-and-switch for audiences who instead were exposed to a tragic, paranoid psychological drama about two families who cross paths in the aftermath of a deadly pandemic.

Although It Comes at Night was initially rejected as being boring and slow, it is a great film when viewed independently from the false expectations established by A24’s marketing campaign. It wouldn’t be the last time that the production house released a controversial horror film that wasn’t what viewers were expecting (Hereditary came only a year later), but It Comes at Night was eerily prescient about the Covid-19 pandemic.