I love this. Here are some excerpts that really dig into the meaning behind the visual. Be sure to check out the full article at Slant Magazine.
Compared to the film’s teaser, the poster for David Cronenberg’s Cosmopolis is markedly demure, a tame puppy to the preview’s rabid dog. What it first exudes is the high-society life that’s lived by Robert Pattinson’s finance superstar, Eric Packer, a 28-year-old billionaire created by novelist Don DeLillo.
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By all evidence (material, maestro, and frantic first glimpse), this chic one-sheet is your invitation to jump off the cliff, to leave crisp and shiny decorum behind and tumble down the hole at which Pattinson seems to be staring. Like the poster for Eastern Promises, it presents crossed hands as the ultimate depiction of a man at a crossroads, where the tick of time (hence the watch) is decibels louder. Whereas the cover of DeLillo’s book shows the pivotal limo from an external distance, this poster brings you inside, promising a ride that’s as intimate as it is untamed.
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The casting is apt, of course, because Packer, like Pattinson, is a golden boy in his prime, a youthful, powerful pretty face at the apex of a business. Those aren’t reading lamps in the back of that limo, but spotlights, and they’re fixed squarely on the actor and the character. The deeper context of this poster makes it better than its style, which, though immensely attractive, is a tad too reminiscent of very recent predecessors. In text and natural glow, it’s almost the twin of the poster for Like Crazy, and its minimalistic, lens-flare-kissed business man brings us right back to the ads for Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds. That said, the design is more successful than both of those it echoes, finally sealing its impact with the inclusion of a rear window. That’s not a comforting glow peeking into the limo’s cab, it’s a setting sun, and as Packer’s day-long journey makes its way into night, he’s leaving the past behind him.
Of course, good limo riders know the sun isn’t setting in this image. Mr Packer is still all groomed and neat as a pin so this is a sun rise. 
(Good catch Chauffeur Tink)
Thank you to Claire_dlR and Lady_Packinson for the tip.
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