Letterboxd is a popular app and website where people can review and keep track of all the movies they’ve watched. I’ve had it on my phone for a while, but only really started using it over the past year. A main feature of Letterboxd is the option for users to showcase their taste and interests by displaying their four favorite films at the top of their profile. It’s always really fun to add a new friend on Letterboxd and get an idea of what they’re like and what they’re into based on those movies. I think it says a lot about a person — their personality, values, and interests — acting almost like a horoscope.
Here are my top four, what they’re about, and why they ranked so highly for me.
1. Portrait of a lady on fire
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a highly revered film, and for good reason. It follows the story of two young women —Héloïse and Marianne — who experience a slow-burning romance on an isolated French island at the end of the 18th century. Marianne gets commissioned to paint Héloïse’s wedding portrait. No painter has been successful in doing so yet, as Héloïse refuses to sit for them. To trick her into cooperating, Héloïse’s mother tells her that Marianne is there to keep her company on her daily walks. In reality, Marianne spends those walks learning Héloïse’s face so she can paint her, and they eventually fall intensely in love.
What’s so beautiful about this film is the unspoken intimacy between the two women. There are so many layers of complexity in every scene and interaction. We get to watch Marianne perceive Héloïse through an artist’s eyes and, later, through a lover’s eyes. She moves from being an enigmatic task to a beloved muse as their relationship grows closer. There’s so much magnificent beauty in their relationship, like how they learn about one another and navigate their feelings despite their circumstances. It’s incredible, hypnotic even, how you can literally feel the tension and energy between them as you watch.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire is a beautiful, albeit tragic, film. It challenged so many of my preconceptions of what film can be. It’s slow, thoughtful, and intentional, relying on subtle cues and subtext in ways that are nothing short of genius. It is magnificent, and for me at least, quite resonant.
2. Frankenstein (2025)
I went into Frankenstein completely blind. I had no expectations, and I had never read the book. I heard Jacob Elordi was in it, which made me skeptical at first. To my great surprise, Frankenstein turned out to be an astounding and complex testament to the human condition.
First of all, the imagery blew me away. There are so many biblical allusions and parallels to classic works of art. Second, the casting and acting were fantastic. In this role, Jacob Elordi truly proved that he’s more than just a pretty face. His portrayal of Frankenstein’s monster is spectacular. When he’s first created, he’s so infantile, and you feel profoundly maternal towards him. His movement and physicality, the expression in his eyes, the delivery of his lines, it all steers you towards unwavering empathy.
I also loved Mia Goth’s portrayal of Elizabeth. It’s so refreshing to see a woman in gothic media portrayed as her own intelligent, capable person, respected by her husband rather than reliant on him. She demonstrates empathy towards Frankenstein’s monster when no one else does, leading her kindness to haunt the narrative for the rest of the movie.
Finally, I loved the commentary on mankind. People fear and rebuke what they do not understand or feel threatened by, but ultimately, everyone exists in perpetual pursuit of acceptance. Forgiveness and belonging are saviors in a world that is, more often than not, hostile and unforgiving.
3. Where do we go now?
Where Do We Go Now? is a film set in a very small, isolated Lebanese village. In the village, Muslims and Christians have lived together peacefully for decades. In the surrounding villages, conflict starts breaking out between Muslims and Christians. The women of this small village go to great lengths to prevent the men from finding out about the growing tensions around them, but things escalate anyway.
What I loved so much about this film was its portrayal of how integral women are to society. Without the women, the men would have descended into senseless violence. Instead, the women fight to preserve their community amid the chaos. Especially as an Arab woman myself, the dynamics between the families in the village felt so familiar. In Arab culture, your neighbors are more than friends; they become family.
As a political science major, I’m no stranger to how divisive and problematic sectarian conflict can be. I think this film did an incredible job of demonstrating the intersectionality of these issues and pushing viewers to reflect on the choices that exist when conflict erupts. Most of all, it propels women forward in a context where Western audiences typically disregard them.
On Letterboxd, I described Where Do We Go Now? as momentous, and I stand by that. It is earthshattering. You will cry, you will laugh, and you will feel so proud of women everywhere who consistently fight for justice as a labor of love.
4. Aftersun
*Sensitive Topics mentioned: depression and mental illness*
I’ve gone back and forth between Aftersun and Manchester by the Sea for this fourth favorite position, but Aftersun has held the slot for a while. The film follows the memory of a vacation the main character, Sophie, and her father went on 20 years earlier, inspired by the director’s own experiences. It’s one of those movies that fall under the category of “nothing happened, but everything happened,” which is one of my favorites because it is true to real life. It’s hard for me to say a lot about this movie because you really need to watch it to understand, but I’ll do my best.
What is so compelling about this story is that it shows how depression proliferates. Even into adulthood, you cannot escape the wounds you don’t treat in life. Unfortunately, these wounds are often hereditary. Sophie and her father, Calum, embody this. On vacation, Calum tries to separate himself from his sadness, but it haunts him. There’s one especially gut-wrenching scene where Sophie lies down on the hotel bed and tells her dad about how sometimes she feels so tired that she feels it in her bones. In that moment, he stares silently at her, realizing that she has likely inherited his illness. It’s miserable. There’s nothing he did wrong, nothing he could have done to prevent it. He spends the whole vacation — but really, his whole life — trying to be present for Sophie and to protect her, and yet.
At the same time, there’s the added hurt that comes from knowing Sophie’s memories of this vacation were generally happy. She didn’t know how her father felt or was suffering, only reflecting on it and realizing the truth as an adult. Aftersun is one of those movies that struck a nerve with me and left me utterly inconsolable.
If you’re into movies, I highly recommend getting on Letterboxd.
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