The 'Moonfall' Account Is the Only Good Corporate Twitter Account

Sorry to Thrillist's official Twitter account.

moonfall john bradley
Lionsgate
Lionsgate

As far as I'm concerned, the only movies coming out in 2022 are Moonfall and Avatar 2. That's maybe not the most responsible stance an entertainment critic could take, but I recently made a New Year's resolution to "live my truth," whatever that means, and to me that means patently ignoring anything not featuring a moon that is either falling and/or populated by tall blue extraterrestrials. It is definitely a coincidence, but worth mentioning, that these two movies also have very, very good official Twitter presences. The official Avatar account occasionally drops educational information about the unique biosphere of Pandora in between fan art retweets and teases for the next movie, which is interesting if you find that interesting, and a very funny extended bit if you don't. Moonfall's Twitter, on the other hand, seems to be taking an approach that can only be described as perfect.

Moonfall is a movie about the moon falling. In the tradition of all the utterly ridiculous sci-fi action blockbusters that came before it (The Core (movie about going to the core), Geostorm (movie about a "geostorm")) things are presented very literally. "Save the moon, save Earth," Patrick Wilson growls in a trailer set to a hard rock remix of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Bad Moon Rising." Yes. Yes. My human brain is asleep, and my lizard brain is so, so awake.

Most movies that come out these days have official social accounts, but not all official accounts are created equal. There are two ways one could go about advertising a film like Moonfall on social media. One is simply posting and retweeting trailers and posters and cast interviews to little, if any, engagement. The other is to do what Moonfall is currently doing. Moonfall's Twitter account has been posting since the first trailer was released on September 1, 2021. Everyone remembers where we were when we read those fateful words: "THE MOON WILL COME TO US." To advertise a markedly silly movie to the public, the team behind Moonfall knows they must capture a markedly silly tone, and they've nailed it.

They even have a Ridley Scott-esque guerilla marketing campaign in the form of a website, moontruth.net, ostensibly run by John Bradley's character Dr. K.C. Houseman, a guy who thinks there's a big machine inside the moon. To that I say, absolutely. I will believe anything anyone involved with this movie tells me, because I want my life to be enriched by the concept of a moon that is actually a giant malevolent structure built by ancient aliens, or something. Has anyone ever proven that it isn't? I'm just asking questions.

In other words, Moonfall's tweets are how every corporate account should be going about things online, and at the same time they are a feat that is simply impossible to replicate. A metaphysical quandary: Is the Moonfall Twitter account good because it has mastered the art of good posting? Or are the posts good because they've been posted by the Twitter account for Moonfall, a movie about the moon falling? I think Wittgenstein once said something similar to that, actually. To tweet in the voice of Moonfall is to find the sublime within the ridiculous, to embrace the inherent stupidity of a plot so outrageous I'm still not a hundred percent convinced it isn't a Super Bowl stunt and reach across the gulf of that lunar crater to compose missives in 280 characters or less that are funny enough for a certain entertainment reporter to chuckle at, click like, and text to three of her friends. If the moon really does fall one day, I know exactly which social media account I trust to tweet through it.

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Emma Stefansky is a staff entertainment writer at Thrillist. Follow her on Twitter @stefabsky.