Nicole Kidman LOVES Letterboxd! ...Do We?

At the tail end of 2024, online film and pop-culture communities were shaken right to the core by the revelation that pop superstar Charli xcx had a public Letterboxd account, containing a seemingly exhaustive record of every film the Guess hitmaker has watched. As of September 2025, her page boasts an astonishing 1,250 different films viewed, as well as 499 direct diary entries recording the precise date of viewing - plus the occasional one-liner review in her trademark nonchalant snark.

(via @itscharlibb)

Some might dismiss the account's contents as an inane collection of parasocial detritus, but fans certainly didn't think so - and neither did cinephiles. In fact, the account was a topic of fascination and even press attention over the the following days, with many taking the eclecticism of her viewing habits as just further credentials for her status as one of today's cutting-edge artists.

Among her highest-rated films are beloved dramas (Phantom Thread), art-house classics (Persona), notorious exploitation films (Funny Games) and even the occasional family favourite (Babe: Pig in the City) thrown in as, presumably, a much-needed palate cleanser from the previous. The breadth of genres, languages and cultures represented on her page is considerable, and it's highly likely that some of her 284k followers on the platform have discovered entirely new favourite directors and movements simply because she happened to log a certain film on her diary one evening. A tap of a finger on Charli xcx's phone, and the 97-year-old silent classic The Passion of Joan of Arc enjoys yet another wave of cultural relevance.

Launched in 2011, Letterboxd's popularity has soared over the past five years - due in no small part to the pandemic and the sudden abundance of idle time in its wake. The website's impressive 17-million-strong userbase includes rising stars Rachel Sennott, Jaeden Martell and Millie Gibson, as well as beloved directors Francis Ford Coppola, Sean Baker and Martin Scorsese.

(via @mscorsese)

The brand has also become a much welcomed presence on red carpets, with industry titans chomping at the bit to declare their "Four Favorites". One particularly memorable interaction came early this year courtesy of Nicole Kidman, whose striking endorsement of the brand at Palm Springs International Film Festival cemented its exceptional cultural capital.

"Letterboxd?! We LOVE Letterboxd!" - Nicole Kidman at Palm Springs International Film Festival (via @LetterboxdHQ)

A stroke of marketing genius, the Four Favorites gimmick simply asks Letterboxd users (and more recently, interviewees) to select any four films that encapsulate their taste – showcased in a neat little row via their posters. Some choose to exhibit their all-time top four, while others make a point of representing a different genre with each one. Some even select their top four less for the merit of the films themselves, and more for the immediate aesthetic value of their posters.

While it may seem reductive to compress complex cinematic experiences into little more than digital trading cards – there's no denying that the Four Favorites is a hugely appealing shorthand for cinephiles to express their identity, especially if they can boast that they've sat through all 7 hours of Sátántangó.

Another perk of the format is how easily it translates to short-form video content. Letterboxd's official channels regularly post clips of high-profile actors, directors and other industry professionals unveiling their own top fours – which are often met with fascination (and scrutiny) from cinephiles on social media. An especially intriguing top four came from none other than Murder on the Dancefloor hitmaker Sophie Ellis-Bextor who – in spite of the sunny family-oriented image she usually projects – selected two of the most harrowing parental horrors in existence: Don't Look Now and Rosemary's Baby. It certainly makes for an attention-grabbing and shareable clip – but more than that, it reveals another layer to Ellis-Bextor's star persona and, possibly, a new perspective for fans to interpret her music from.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor declares her top four (via @LetterboxdHQ)

The past few years have seen mainstream social media platforms become, bewilderingly, increasingly hostile (and in many cases outright dangerous) to minority groups, and creative voices have seen our platforms shrink at a startling rate. In stark contrast to X (Twitter) and Facebook, Letterboxd still uplifts racial minorities, feminist perspectives and the queer community through its own newsletter - and while the site's userbase is certainly not immune to cyclical squabbles or petty oneupmanship, the likelihood of an individual's Letterboxd review being inundated with calls for their lynching remains, mercifully, low.

If cinema is, as legendary film critic Roger Ebert said, "a machine that generates empathy", the vast majority of the Letterboxd community appear to have picked up the message. In that case, choosing a "top four" becomes not a frivolous self indulgence – but a declaration of identity, values and connection to fellow human beings. It's little wonder that every progressive-leaning celebrity is vying to announce down Letterboxd's tricolour microphone that their Four Favorites happen to include Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Tangerine or Happy Together.

As much as Charli xcx's sudden Letterboxd fame appeared to have come as a shock to her, she has since embraced fate and springboarded straight into the role of accidental film critic. On TikTok, she has begun posting roundups and off-the-cuff reviews of the films she has recently logged on her page – many of which are niche auteurist works from a range of time periods and cultural backgrounds.

Charli xcx reviews Joachim Trier's upcoming film Sentimental Value (via @charlixcx)

Sure, these films would still exist if Letterboxd did not. However, what Letterboxd provides is a kind of connective tissue between films, creatives and viewers that has never really existed before. What may at first appear to be little more than an aesthetically-pleasing database is in fact a remarkably effective mechanism that encourages cinematic exploration and gives underappreciated films and filmmakers their moment in the sun. Whether the site will remain on the side of artists or veer irrevocably into to capitalistic greed remains to be seen – but for the moment, Letterboxd feels like the jolt of life that the cinematic art form desperately needs.

Follow Mor Media on Letterboxd to discover our exclusive film reviews, curated lists, and the latest updates on Cornwall Film Festival 2025.

Leon Hill is a BA Film student at Falmouth University and currently interning with Mor Media. You can follow their creative misadventures on Instagram (@leonbeckerhill) and read their film reviews on Letterboxd (inlandecho).

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