The Creativity Behind Letterboxd Lists

Written by Leah Kilde. Graphic by Ana Vergara.

Letterboxd’s user base has increased sevenfold since 2020. The site now hosts around 13 million members from over 190 countries around the world publishing punchy movie reviews and defining their lives through their top four films. These features are popular due to Letterboxd’s marketing of promoting new movies with quick quips posted on opening weekends and asking entertainment professionals for their top fours at red-carpet events.

One feature on the site does not get as much love from the marketing department but displays some of the most creative work: Letterboxd lists. Users utilize the list feature to organize films however they want. Complete creative freedom is granted, for better or for worse. Here are three examples of ways Letterboxd users use the list feature.

Specific selections

No art is original, as some may say, and Letterboxd users love to point out similarities between movies in their lists. Some lists are more vague, organizing films that all have the same actor or were released in the same year. Other users with a more keen eye recognize resemblances between exact scenes or motifs. Users add a comedic spin by delving into detail about the specific criteria needed for a movie to make their list.

Exact examples:

Movies where a character is involved in an incident which briefly impairs their hearing and leads to us hearing EEEEEEEEEEEEE for a few seconds to symbolise this

https://letterboxd.com/settingsun/list/movies-where-a-character-is-involved-in-an

All the times Hollywood made film adaptations of the first installment of a beloved young adult book series except the film was so poorly received that they gave up on adapting the rest of the books despite foreshadowing and cliffhangers in the first film

https://letterboxd.com/roshay/list/all-the-times-hollywood-made-film-adaptations

Poster commentaries

Letterboxd displays movies based on their posters, and allows paying members the option to customize which version of a movie poster is displayed on their profile. This function has inspired users to organize lists based on movie posters in helpful or comedic ways. Many color codes are made by poster or organized based on design composition. This may sound like a pretentious art critique, but many movie buffs have fun with this category and compare movies you’d never think would be mentioned in the same sentence.

Peak performances:

Hello, I’d Like to Report a Poster Theft

https://letterboxd.com/cinemommie/list/hello-id-like-to-report-a-poster-theft

How I take Snapchats

https://letterboxd.com/kyanhd/list/how-i-take-snapchats/

Complete collections

Movies exist outside of themselves. They’re often referenced in pop culture or even other films. Some occur in the real world with crossovers featuring similar cities or settings. Letterboxd users have created cumulative lists full of movies mentioned in other media or those sharing actors, settings, or plots. Creators of complete collections find a niche commonality and file every single movie under that umbrella in the same Letterboxd list. Many feature films are ever-growing, ranging from the beginning of cinema to the newest releases.