Watch, rate, review.
What was once exclusive to pretentious film critics has transformed into a grassroots movement that has taken the film landscape by storm: film criticism.
Letterboxd is a social media platform for film lovers of all kinds — from those with just a surface-level knowledge of digital media to seasoned film critics alike. Often coined “the Goodreads of movies,” the site allows users to discover new movies, log ones they have seen, write public reviews and see their friends’ activity.
Letterboxd neither costs money to use, nor offers payment for reviews. In a world that seems increasingly disconnected, the site provides a sense of solace knowing people who use the site do so not with the intention of earning money— but simply for their love of film.
The accessibility of the site has allowed anyone with a passion for film to join a community without the added pressure of feeling obligated to say something groundbreaking. For instance, the top Letterboxd review on Jordan Peele’s 2022 film Nope reads, “this movie does for cloud spotting what jaws did for swimming.” This review has accumulated over 12,000 likes despite not having offered a deep-dive into the film’s plot, thematic elements nor film production. Another review simply reads, “I love it when movies are good.”
In today’s climate and a platform like Letterboxd, anyone can be a film critic, but it hasn’t always been this way.
Until the rise of Letterboxd, mainstream reviews were, and still are to a certain extent, largely dominated by elitist platforms such as Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. These sites aggregate weighted averages based on the opinions of esteemed critics, commentators, and columnists.
IMDB was a breath of fresh air in the realm of film-centric sites for obtaining reviews from the users themselves, unlike their counterparts Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic. IMDB users can submit a rating from 1 to 10 for any film on their site, and their casted votes are then aggregated and summarized into a single rating, which is displayed on their website.
However, even IMDB was missing one crucial element: the interactive nature of movies. From crowded theaters on opening night to binge-watching with friends, film is inherently a community. While IMDB made strides in making film reviews representative of the general population, it is still simply a database, while Letterboxd is an all-encompassing cinema social network.
As platforms such as Letterboxd have made increasingly clear, people trust other people, rather than the opinions of those tied to academia, which are often convoluted and disconnected from those of the average movie enthusiast. Sure, The Guardian may offer a nuanced, expert review, but Letterboxd has proven that people are more inclined to trust the opinion of the ordinary person.
As a Letterboxd user, senior Alex Banerjee has found that the site has transformed the way he consumes movies. “I can’t relate to an academic opinion the same way I can relate to a random person with the same level of education on film as me (none),” Banerjee stated. “Ordinary people seem much more approachable and you don’t feel like you have to be on their level to understand what they talk about.”
The world of film reviewing is seeing dramatic changes, and Letterboxd is at the forefront.
