If you love movies, you can tell your followers on various social media platforms about what you're watching, but Letterboxd is the only social network created solely for movie fans. It's a fast-growing but still underrated corner of the social-media landscape. Here's why you should join.
Founded in 2011 in New Zealand by a pair of cinephiles, Letterboxd has since grown to 9 million users while retaining its curated, close-knit community feel. I've been a Letterboxd member since the site was in its beta phase, getting a firsthand view of its growth while having the opportunity to introduce it to my friends and colleagues.
It's one of the most welcoming places online, and anyone who enjoys watching movies, whether every day or just a few times a month, can get something out of a Letterboxd account.
Keep Track of What You Watch and Want to Watch
The most basic function of Letterboxd is to log the movies you've watched. You can simply mark movies as watched, or you can use the diary function to document exactly when you watch each movie. Some users have gone back and logged their specific movie viewings for years or decades, based on personal record-keeping.
When I first set up my Letterboxd account, I relied on my personal lists dating back to 2007 to fill in what movies I'd seen and when, and I still reference that info when deciding what to watch. You don't have to be that meticulous in order to find Letterboxd useful, though, if you want to create a snapshot of your viewing over time.
You can also add movies to your watchlist, keeping track of every movie you're interested in seeing. Some people add thousands of movies to their watchlists, while I prefer to confine it to movies I hope to catch up on from the current year. Letterboxd partners with JustWatch, so each movie's page has info on where the movie is available to stream or rent/buy digitally. Sort your watchlist by various criteria so you'll never have to wonder what to put on for your next movie night.
Share Your Opinions
Social media is all about expressing yourself, and with Letterboxd you can share as much or as little as you like. Give a movie a rating out of five stars, or write a review with your detailed analysis of the film (or just make a little joke). Follow friends to keep track of what they've been watching and see if your tastes line up.
As a critic, I use Letterboxd to post links to my reviews, essays, and podcast episodes, but I also post personal musings and sarcastic one-liners. Letterboxd is a great way to discover new movies you may never have heard of because a friend or fellow movie fan happens to write a review that catches your attention.
You can also create lists, whether to gather your favorite movies in a particular genre, or to make amusingly hyper-specific lists that point out odd connections between groups of films. Use tags to organize your entries, keeping track of which movies you saw in theaters, at home on various streaming services or on physical media, at film festivals, or with friends. Tags help me collate the films I've seen at various festivals over the years, to give me a long-term picture of offerings at different events.
Join a Supportive Community
Although Letterboxd now has millions of users and continues to grow, it's still a relatively small corner of the internet, and the discourse is much less toxic than on larger social networks. Sure, people disagree about movies, but most discussions are courteous, and Letterboxd has a robust, proactive community policy that has been successful at weeding out trolls, scammers, and other bad actors. I've had far more vitriolic responses to my reviews in professional publications than I ever encounter on Letterboxd, and it's easy to block anyone who bothers or harasses you.
Letterboxd users include passionate film fans, professional film critics, independent filmmakers, and even some movie-loving celebrities. Unlike other social networks where celebrity feeds are often carefully managed by public-relations teams, celebrities on Letterboxd are more low-key and casual. You can follow people like Bottoms and The Bear star Ayo Edebiri (and her dad), filmmakers Sean Baker (The Florida Project) and Jim Cummings (Thunder Road), and Saturday Night Live's Bowen Yang and Sarah Sherman. It's amusing to look up a random movie like, say, much-maligned comedy sequel Caddyshack II, and discover that the director himself has posted a review trashing the movie.
Celebrate Film Culture
Letterboxd is free to use, although subscribers who pay for the Pro or Patron tiers get an ad-free experience and other perks, including more detailed statistics about their movie-viewing habits and the ability to change the display posters for any movie. I've always found my Pro subscription worth the relatively small investment. Letterboxd isn't a giant corporate behemoth (although it was recently purchased by larger firm), and the company itself has one of the best film publications online, with interviews, film festival coverage, recommendations, podcasts, and more. Letterboxd staff can often be spotted at film festivals and on red carpets with their signature three-color microphone, asking celebrities about their four favorite movies.
Ultimately Letterboxd is about celebrating a beloved art form, in a way that democratizes appreciation and expression. I've become a more adventurous, thoughtful, connected (and sometimes snarky) film viewer since joining. Whether you stick to the biggest blockbusters, delve deeply into film history, or look for the most obscure genre movies, Letterboxd will help you get more out of watching movies.