You remember the 90s. The neon windbreakers, the massive hair, and that one grainy video of Nancy Kerrigan crying "Why? Why? Why?" on a hallway floor. For decades, Tonya Harding was the punchline. She was the "white trash" villain in a sparkly leotard who tried to kneecap the American Dream. Then, in late 2017, a teaser dropped that basically slapped the world across the face.
The trailer for I, Tonya didn't look like a somber biopic. It didn't look like a Hallmark movie about a girl who just wanted to skate. Honestly, it looked more like Goodfellas on ice.
The Teaser That Flipped the Script
When Neon released the first teaser, people were confused. You've got Margot Robbie—who, let’s be real, is way more "Hollywood star" than "Oregon rough"—stubbing out a cigarette with the blade of her ice skate. That one shot told us everything we needed to know. This wasn't going to be a "we feel sorry for her" story. It was a "here is what actually happened, and you’re probably not going to like it" story.
The pacing of that trailer for I, Tonya was frantic. It used this snappy, fourth-wall-breaking style that felt aggressive. Most trailers try to sell you on a hero. This one sold you on a disaster. You see Allison Janney as LaVona Golden, sitting in a kitchen with a parakeet on her shoulder, looking like she’d spit in your eye for a nickel.
It was a masterclass in tone management. The film’s editor, Tatiana S. Riegel, later talked about how they had to balance the "darkly comic" with the "deeply tragic." If the trailer was too funny, the abuse looked like a joke. If it was too sad, nobody would want to see a movie about a woman they already hated.
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The Music: Why "The Passenger" Mattered
Music makes or breaks a trailer. If they had used a generic orchestral swell, the movie would have died at the box office. Instead, they leaned into that 1970s and 80s grit. While the film eventually used tracks like "Goodbye to All That" by Sufjan Stevens to hit those emotional low notes, the marketing was all about the attitude.
A lot of people forget that the Siouxsie and the Banshees cover of "The Passenger" (originally by Iggy Pop) became the heartbeat of the trailer for I, Tonya. It has this driving, relentless rhythm. It feels like a car careening toward a cliff. It perfectly mirrored Tonya's life—constantly moving, constantly in survival mode, but never actually in the driver's seat.
What the Trailer Got "Wrong" (According to the Pros)
If you’re a figure skating nerd, that trailer was actually kind of a nightmare. There's a specific shot that shows Tonya (Robbie) landing what is supposed to be her historic 1991 triple axel.
Here’s the thing: It wasn’t a triple axel.
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Die-hard fans on Reddit and skating forums pointed out almost immediately that the jump in the trailer was actually a botched "flutz" (a lutz jump with an incorrect edge). The producers eventually admitted they had to use CGI to recreate the triple axel because, well, Margot Robbie is an actress, not an Olympic athlete, and almost no one in the world can actually land that jump consistently anymore. They apparently spliced a take-off from one jump with a landing from another. Does it matter for the average viewer? Not really. But it’s a funny bit of trivia that the most famous jump in history was actually a digital Frankenstein job in the trailer for I, Tonya.
The "Redneck" Marketing Controversy
The film was marketed as a "hilarious" dark comedy. You saw the cardboard cutouts of Margot Robbie in a competition dress, holding a lit cigarette. It was "cool." It was "edgy."
But some critics felt this was a bit of a bait-and-switch. When you actually sit down to watch the movie, it’s brutal. There is a scene—briefly glimpsed in the trailer—where LaVona throws a knife at Tonya and hits her in the arm. In a two-minute trailer, that looks like "wacky family drama." In the context of a two-hour movie, it’s a harrowing depiction of domestic violence.
The marketing campaign, led by Neon and 30West, took a huge risk by leaning into the "trashy" aesthetic. They knew the audience already viewed Tonya as a caricature, so they leaned into the caricature to get people in seats, then pulled the rug out from under them with the actual drama.
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Why the Trailer Still Ranks
The trailer for I, Tonya is still studied today for a few reasons:
- The Fourth Wall: It broke the "biopic" rules by having characters talk directly to us.
- Unreliable Narrators: It openly told us that the story was based on "wildly contradictory" interviews.
- The "Anti-Princess" Aesthetic: It showed the mud, the handmade costumes, and the blue eyeshadow, directly contrasting the "Disney" image of figure skating.
Looking Back: Did It Change Anything?
Before that trailer, Tonya Harding was a villain. After that trailer, she became a person. A flawed, complicated, and often unlikeable person, sure—but a person nonetheless. The trailer forced us to look at the media's role in the scandal. It reminded us that while we were busy laughing at the "skating redneck," there was a woman who had been beaten by her mother and her husband, only to be banned for life from the one thing she was good at.
It wasn't just a movie promo. It was a 150-second indictment of 90s tabloid culture.
Next Steps for the Film Enthusiast
If you want to understand why this specific marketing style worked so well, you should compare the trailer for I, Tonya with the original news footage from the 1994 Winter Olympics. Look at how the "respectable" media (like CBS or the New York Times) framed Tonya versus how Craig Gillespie framed her.
You can also hunt down the "Red Band" version of the trailer. It’s significantly more vulgar, but it captures the "irony-free" spirit of the screenplay way better than the clean version. Check out the soundtrack on Spotify too—it’s a perfect time capsule of the era's transition from rock to pop.