The platform’s esoteric watchlists and rating system appeal to cinephiles craving a different mode of discovery
I
never thought I would use Letterboxd. The app’s premise of logging reviews of every film you watch felt like counting steps, and I generally prefer to exercise my pretension the old fashioned way – such as getting a BFA or frequenting art house cinema screenings where I am usually the only person under 50 in the theater.
But after I wrote about my feelgood movie for the Guardian – that would be Sullivan’s Travels, Preston Sturges’s perfect 1941 satire – I was swayed by two newsroom colleagues. “Hey Alaina, we heard you like movies,” one of them said. “What’s your Letterboxd?” I wanted to be part of the club, and signed up later that night. Now, I write thoughts on every movie I see, usually before I’ve even left the theater or closed out the streamer.
Though the movie-cataloging app has existed since 2011, it grew in popularity during Covid lockdown, when people stuck at home had little else to do than peacock their film taste. Most Letterboxd users skew young, between the ages of 18 and 34, and tend to spend more money on movies than the typical American. In 2024 the app hit 17 million users, around the same time that the rapid-fire, red carpet interview series Letterboxd Four Favorites started going viral. This modest popularity is set against a film industry in crisis, with productions down and unemployment up. Last week’s announcement of Netflix’s acquisition of Warner Bros – or will it be a hostile takeover by Paramount Skydance? – felt especially depressing to those who cherish the act of moviegoing, as many fear the streamer’s triumph will be the death knell for cinemas.
