You’re walking down the street when the face of a movie star catches your attention. OK, fine. Then, a movie title. Sure, whatever. But then—a sentence or two that’s so delicious, you think to yourself: I gotta see this movie.
What the heck just happened? Well, you read a really good movie tagline.
This micro–art form is a great way to sell someone on experiencing a story. Knowing how to craft an effective tagline is a valuable tool for any screenwriter or filmmaker. Let’s get into it.
A movie tagline is a short, punchy tease of what a film has to offer. It’s not a plot summary; it’s more of a vibe summary. From a promotional standpoint, it’s usually part of a poster and other marketing materials, directly addressing the potential viewer and promising a worthy experience.
From a creative standpoint, it’s helpful as a way to drill your project down to its essence. It’s easy to get lost in a jumble of ideas and lofty concepts; coming up with a great tagline forces you to think about your story economically and rediscover what inspires you about it in the first place.
How to create a tagline for your film
Promise your premise.
You must succinctly let a potential viewer (or reader of a script) know what type of experience they’re in for. Think of it like a logline reduced even further to its most essential elements. Hint at your project’s tone, genre, and emotional core. When in doubt, remember the wishes of Scarecrow, Tin Man, and Cowardly Lion from “The Wizard of Oz”—you want to hit people in the brain, heart, and gut.
Use reversal.
Audiences love a swerve. We seek comfort in the familiar and adventure in the surprising. One canny way to use this in your taglines is with reversal.
You can do this on a macro level with the description of your film. Set up the “ordinary world” of your story before hitting us with a concise description of your inciting incident. For example, the quite literal tagline of Edgar Wright’s “Shaun of the Dead” (2004) is “A romantic comedy. With zombies.” That’s setting up a twist on genre elements with a dry comedic tone in just five words.
It’s similar to the pleasant surprise of a punchline: ordinary followed by special; love followed by hate; death followed by life. Think of a single word that describes your film, then set it up with its opposite. The tagline for Steven Spielberg’s con man film “Catch Me If You Can” (2002), for example, is “The true story of a real fake.”
Make it personal.
Taglines, more often than not, talk to the audience directly. Put potential viewers in the center of your story by using “you” or “we.” It’s a simple, intuitive way to grab someone and immerse them in the story immediately. Take the tagline for Tim Burton’s “Edward Scissorhands” (1990), which combines this concept with a clever reversal: “His story will touch you, even though he can’t.”
“Double Indemnity” (1944)
“From the moment they met, it was murder.”
Here’s a great reversal of language that promises romance and criminal intrigue.
“Bonnie and Clyde” (1967)
“They’re young… they’re in love… and they kill people.”
This tagline utilizes the rule of threes to pull off a jarring pivot and genre switch.
“Dawn of the Dead” (1978)
“When there’s no more room in hell, the dead will walk the earth.”
If your film is centered on a genre trope (e.g., a zombie apocalypse), describe it with as elevated or visceral terms as possible to unsettle viewers off the bat.
“Jaws 2” (1978)
“Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water…”
The tagline for “Jaws 2”—which arrived three years after Spielberg’s original film spread thalassophobia throughout the nation—takes a universal base reality and makes us reexamine it as though it’s something new, and in this case, scary.
“Superman” (1978)
“You’ll believe a man can fly.”
This tagline promises the impossible to the viewer and instills a sense of awe along the way.
“Alien” (1979)
“In space no one can hear you scream.”
This almost feels like a personal attack on the reader, placing the second-person pronoun in the center of an evocative, isolated nightmare.
“A Nightmare on Elm Street” (1984)
“If Nancy doesn’t wake up screaming, she won’t wake up at all.”
By evoking an actual character with a name and putting her through not one but two horrible fates—the second worse than the first—this tagline emanates dread like none other.
“Cobra” (1986)
“Crime is a disease. Meet the cure.”
With one setup and punchline, we know exactly what this movie is.
“Platoon” (1986)
“The first casualty of war is innocence.”
Here’s a devastating sentence that promises a thorough, personal examination of the human toll taken by an often abstract concept like war.
“Army of Darkness” (1992)
“Trapped in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas.”
With the rule of three, an understanding of genre tropes, and a hard left turn at the end, this tagline is an arresting gut-punch.
“Quiz Show” (1994)
“Fifty million people watched, but no one saw a thing.”
This tagline makes one ask questions and feel creatively challenged: “How can so many people watch something but miss a detail? Surely I would notice, right? Wait, what’s the detail?” These questions can only be answered by buying a ticket.
“Clerks” (1994)
“Just because they serve you doesn’t mean they like you.”
This is another great counter-attack of language, setting up the base reality before comedically sweeping the leg.
“Mars Attacks!” (1996)
“Nice planet. We’ll take it!”
This is a great tone-setter that promises a cheekier and more personal take on our collective understanding of alien invasions.
“Grosse Pointe Blank” (1997)
“Even a hit man deserves a second shot.”
Say what you will about puns—sometimes they tell an entire story. Plus, this taps into a universal desire (redemption) and places it over a fun genre (crime).
“Dude, Where’s My Car?” (2000)
“After a night they can’t remember comes a day they’ll never forget.”
This tagline offers more delicious wordplay switches—plus, the promise of relatable comedy. Who among us hasn’t had a wild night out and a tough morning after?
“The Royal Tenenbaums” (2001)
“Family isn’t a word…it’s a sentence.”
This is a brutally effective, relatably funny evocation of the concepts promised by this dramedy.
“Alien vs. Predator” (2004)
“Whoever wins… we lose.”
This tagline concisely communicates the narrative stakes, nihilistic tone, and violent horror promised therein.
“I Am Legend” (2007)
“The last man on Earth is not alone.”
Setting up a premise that sounds like a paradox is a potent way to make your viewer need to experience your story. Get them to ask: How could this be?
“Hellboy II: The Golden Army” (2008)
“Believe it or not, he’s the good guy.”
This is another direct engagement with movie tropes, promising the viewer that their expectations will be bucked at every turn.
“Crank: High Voltage” (2009)
“He was dead… but he got better.”
The element of surprise is a wonderful way to hook a would-be viewer. How can someone get better from being dead? Guess you’ll have to watch!
“The Social Network” (2010)
“You don’t get to 500 million friends without making a few enemies.”
This is a great setup-punchline structure, reversal of language, and engagement with real-life concepts in the film (i.e., Facebook friend requests).
“The Blackening” (2022)
“We can’t all die first.”
Everyone knows the horror movie trope that Black characters die first. This slasher social satire from director Tim Story and writers Tracy Oliver and Dewayne Perkins has a tag that twists the trope with self-awareness.
“Trap” (2024)
“30,000 fans. 300 cops. 1 serial killer. No escape.”
Punchy bullet points are a great way to succinctly pitch a concept, with each point elevating the stakes and excitement a bit further.