Film Preview: The Glass Castle (2017)

Page Revisions:

(May 21, 2017) Original
(August 6, 2017) New Posters (#2-#4)

Release Date:

August 11, 2017

Synopsis:

From IMDb: “A young girl comes of age in a dysfunctional family of nonconformist nomads with a mother who’s an eccentric artist and an alcoholic father who would stir the children’s imagination with hope as a distraction to their poverty. ”

Poster Rating: C / A- / C / B-

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Review: (#1) The vast sky taking up the plurality of the poster’s design is an overused gimmick that adds little to the film’s meaning and with a foreground image that does little heavy lifting, it’s a passable, but inconsequential design.

(#2) Memory is a challenging thing to evoke with poster design, but the creators behind this design have done amazing work. The colors, lighting, imagery, and the skillful mix of them all make for a most fascinating image. (#3) This is similar to the first design they released with the differences being solid but inconsequential. (#4) A natural evolution from the third design this tacks on the imagined castle in the backdrop and successfully fills the space so nothing feels too wasted.

Trailer Rating: B

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Review: There’s some intense acting in the film and the design work looks impressive, but this feels like a film we’ve seen many times before and that doesn’t bolster its potential for a broad audience.

Oscar Prospects:

Another prior Oscar nominee is on deck. This time, she re-teams with her Short Term 12 director Dustin Cretton. This period family drama has all the earmarks of an Oscar contender, down to its star-studded cast and fierce dramatics. Larson gave her best performance in Short Term 12, not in Room, so with Cretton involved it could be a slam-dunk nomination for her. Woody Harrelson and Naomi Watts could also be solid players, but an Oscar contender doesn’t release in August, especially not early August, so unless the film gets major traction from the festivals, it may not be a big contender.