From Kpop Demon Hunters to Sinners: an honest ranking of Oscar winning movie posters

This year's Oscars celebrated some of the industry's most exciting releases, from Paul Thomas Anderson's One Battle After Another to del Toro's Frankenstein. But while cinematography, production design and costuming are among the celebrated categories, I'm astounded there isn't an award for all the beautiful movie posters.

To celebrate this underappreciated category, I've taken matters into my own hands by ranking this year's winners based solely on poster design. To keep things fair, I'm judging each poster based on its official design – let me know in the comments below if you agree with my ranking.

05. KPop Demon Hunters

• Winner of Best Animated Feature

KPop Demon Hunters has taken the world by storm thanks to its beautiful animation and surprisingly catchy songs (which also earned it the award for Best Original Song). From KPop Demon Hunters merch to themed events, the phenomenon has captivated audiences of all ages through the power of immersive animated storytelling.

Despite its grand success as a cultural phenomenon, the KPop Demon Hunters poster is pretty tame. With the composition of a dreaded floating head poster, the design feels a little lacklustre, with the film's signature blue and purple colour palette creating a flat appearance that lacks energy and visual contrast. It does, however, give you a sneak peek at the film's stunning animation style, thanks to the dynamic poses of the HUNTR/X girls, demonstrating the power of strong character design.

04. Sinners

• Winner of Best Actor, Best Original Score, Best Cinematography and Best Original Screenplay 

It pains me to place Sinners at 4 as it was arguably one of my favourite releases of 2025. With an impressive home run of awards, Ryan Coogler's Southern Gothic vampire flick is a masterful blend of screenwriting excellence brought to life through beautifully composed visuals that stick with you far beyond the cinema screen.

The film's poster, on the other hand, is misleadingly generic for such a highly awarded release. With the typical stacked floating head composition, the poster reads more like a flex of its impressive cast (boasting not one, but two Michael B. Jordans). The red palette is a rather on-the-nose gesture to its vampiric blood-soaked plotline, but the oversaturated appeal leaves the design feeling slightly one-note.

03. One Battle After Another

• Winner of Best Supporting Actor, Best Directing, Best Picture, Best Editing, Best Adapted Screenplay and Best Casting

Cleaning up with a mighty 6 Oscars, One Battle After Another was the clear winner of the night, earning high praise for Paul Thomas Anderson's directing and Sean Penn's performance as the nefarious Steven J. Lockjaw. Following a washed-up revolutionary and his daughter, One Battle is unrelentingly captivating from start to end.

With subtle 70s-style artwork, the One Battle After Another poster is a prime example of how the floating head formula can be reinvented to create a visually engaging design. Its warm earth-toned palette and the desperate fear painted on Chase Infiniti's face already begin to tell the story. While simple, the typography perfectly complements the design for a striking, confident appeal.

02. Hamnet

• Winner of Best Actress

Chloé Zhao's heartfelt historical drama Hamnet captured audiences with its raw emotion, punctuated by lead actress Jessie Buckley's heartbreaking performance. A classic tale of love and loss, Hamnet's beautiful, candid visuals are a stark difference from the aforementioned Hollywood blockbusters, demonstrating how stripped-back production design can be just as striking.

Capturing the gentle beauty of the film, Hamnet's poster is an intimate snapshot of Agnes and William Shakespeare's relationship. With a delicate, painted style, the poster reflects the film's soft, cinematic aesthetic, with surrounding florals creating a dreamy aesthetic.

01. Frankenstein

• Winner of Best Costume Design, Best Makeup and Hairstyling and Best Production Design

Guillermo del Toro's Frankenstein was (in my humble opinion) the most beautiful movie of 2025. With immaculate set design, costuming and SFX, each shot is a feast for the eyes that captures the early magic of del Toro's work. Coming on top in the creative categories, Frankenstein's success proves the value of practical effects in creating an immersive world.

The Frankenstein poster is a breath of fresh air. Equal parts eerie and beautiful, it perfectly sets the tone for the film. The calligraphic-style typography adds a literary flair to the design, while the dreamy visuals have an almost book cover aesthetic.

I'm going to slightly bend my own rules and chuck in an extra Frankenstein poster, simply because it's too beautiful to ignore. This stunning handcrafted poster by James Jean is a museum-worthy masterpiece that the artist admits "exacted a physical toll. Every strand of muscle was lovingly rendered by hand." He explains, "As the crimson fibres knit themselves into digital existence, my own muscles and tendons throbbed with the ache of creation."