An Ode to Letterboxd, the Most Underrated App

By Shannon O’Shea

I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge social media person. Sure, it definitely has its perks, but constantly updating stories and statuses and trying to make my life look as exciting as possible just sounds a little exhausting to me. But I like the aspects of social media that function as a way for me to record a diary of my life, to keep up with friends, and to see content about topics that I’m interested in. Over the last couple years, I’ve decided that my favorite social media app, and one of my favorite apps in general, is the movie-logging app Letterboxd. Here’s why I think it should become one of your favorites, too.

I confess I’m using “social media app” pretty loosely here. Letterboxd is primarily an app for keeping track of movies—the ones you have watched, the ones you want to watch, your favorites, and so on. But, it has great social features as well; you can follow your friends and see what movies they’re watching, get recommendations based on the movies they’ve favorited, and read other users’ reviews. I love opening the app and seeing the latest reviews and ratings from whatever movies my friends have watched during the week.

Letterboxd is great for people who like keeping track of things they’ve done and want to do. As someone who likes to go back and look through what I’ve done in past months and years, I love Letterboxd’s Diary feature, where you can log every movie you watch, record the day you watched it, what you rated it, and whether you liked it. You can also continually update a list of films you want to watch. You can make lists, too, categorizing movies by themes, vibes, your personal Top 10, or whatever occurs to you. Some of my lists include “Weirdest Movies I’ve Ever Seen” (hello, The Holy Mountain) and “Best Bad Movies” (featuring some true gems like Twilight and Gremlins 2: The New Batch).

I’ve pretty much Pavlov’d myself at this point; every time I finish a movie, I’m immediately excited to open the app and add a new entry. Honestly, who needs Instagram likes when you have the satisfaction of logging and rating a film, checking it off your Watchlist in the process? (Look, I too crave the occasional Instagram validation, but movie-logging is fun too!)

Especially during the pandemic, I’ve appreciated anything that helps me keep track of, and be mindful of, the passage of time. Sometimes it feels like we’re all just drifting along as the weeks pass us by, with nothing to differentiate one month from the next as we spend our time alone in our places of residence. So, being able to look back and remember each month based on the movies I watched feels like an easy and enjoyable way to process the progression of the year. I find that I even feel a small, strange sense of accomplishment as I log films and check them off my watchlist—it’s like even if I didn’t do anything else this week, at least I watched that movie that’s been on my list for ages. In my experience, even small things like these can brighten your day.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a hardcore film buff or just an occasional moviegoer, if you like watching movies, following friends, or even just looking back on your own experiences, you should download Letterboxd. It’s a fun way to get rid of boredom, record memories, and keep up with your friends, and it’s also great for those who want to branch out and get some new movie recommendations. Check it out!