From the moment I learned what Letterboxd was, I’ve been carefully preparing the best possible answer to the question of what my four favorite films are, just in case I ever find myself on the red carpet of a movie premiere. I could spend hours on TikTok watching clips of celebrities listing their favorite movies, critiquing their choices, and wondering if we’d get along based on their picks.
If you don’t know, Letterboxd is a popular film review app that lets viewers rate and critique their favorite movies and shows. You can also find carefully curated watchlists to figure out which films to watch next. Recently, I’ve gotten more active on the app, doing my best to fill in all the films I’ve seen in my 18 years of life.
Now, I don’t pretend to be some kind of film connoisseur. In fact, I would consider myself very behind, because I have not seen nearly as many movies as some of my friends and classmates. I’m simply just listing the four films that, at this moment, I would consider my top favorites. However, I won’t be ranking them because I’m way too indecisive for that task.
So let’s get into it!
1. Little Women (2019)
I was raised on the 1994 version of Little Women by my mom. On a rainy, boring day, my mom, sisters, and I would gather in the basement of our house and watch the beloved film. To be transparent, I found the film a little boring as a kid. Don’t get me wrong, Winona Ryder is a genius in that version of the movie, and the storyline had always resonated with me, seeing as I came from a family of three daughters. But it wasn’t until I saw the 2019 version of Little Women that I became utterly infatuated with the film.
To give you a little context, Little Women, adapted from the book written by Louisa May Alcott, tells the story of Jo March and her three sisters as they grow up during the American Civil War era. With their father away at war, the four daughters are forced to make sacrifices to help their mother, Marmee, run the household. When a peculiar boy named Theodore ‘Laurie’ Laurence moves next door, he becomes an honorary member of the family. We see his friendship with Jo blossom, plus an eventual romance with Amy (the youngest sister), later in the story.
This movie does everything right. It is a film about growing up, saying goodbye, letting childhood go, and pursuing one’s dream. Each sister has a completely different personality. Jo dreams of being a writer, while Amy hopes to be great at painting. Meg strives for a good marriage and motherhood, while Beth only wishes to stay at home and play the piano.
Greta Gerwig, the director, is a genius in my opinion, perfectly capturing the meaning of girlhood and what it’s like to have sisters. If anything, I think the film shows that sisterhood has not changed in the past century, with all the bickering and sweet moments shared between the March girls. It made me appreciate growing up with two older sisters much more. Even though I find it to be frustrating and annoying at times, there’s truly nothing like sisterhood.
2. Dead Poets Society (1989)
No film could make me cry more than this one. The first time I watched Dead Poets Society was with my dad, with whom I’ve bonded over music and movies for as long as I can remember.
Taking place at an all-boys boarding school in New England, an eccentric teacher (Robin Williams) uses poetry to convey messages about life’s true meaning to his students. When a group of boys discovers the old “Dead Poets Society,” they bring the club back to life in secret, performing poetry and learning to express themselves through words.
I specifically enjoyed the aesthetic of the movie, especially how Dalton Academy showcased beautiful architecture with a dark-academia feel. The movie is undoubtedly gut-wrenching, but it conveys an important message about doing what you love and staying close to those who allow you to be true to yourself. You’ll laugh at Charlie, cry over Neil, and empathize with Todd.
It’s impossible not to love these characters because they feel so relatable and raw in ways you probably wouldn’t expect. I’d never found myself relating to a bunch of preppy East Coast boys more. Not to mention, Ethan Hawke is absolutely brilliant in the film, especially in the “O captain! My captain!” scene, which remains one of my all-time favorites.
3. Before Sunrise (1995)
Surprise! Yet another Ethan Hawke film… I can’t help it! I’ve been obsessed with his acting as of late.
This movie is perfect for the dreamers, artists, and hopeless romantics out there. In the film, an American man named Jesse takes a train across Europe, running into a peculiar woman named Celine. The two forge a friendship and decide to make a detour through Vienna for the night before Jesse must return home.
Throughout the film, their chemistry is truly unmatched. The movie is incredible at adding the intimate little details of love, like Jesse moving the hair out of Celine’s face, or the two of them refusing eye contact in the little listening booth of a vinyl shop. You’re guaranteed to fall in love with this pair as you watch them stroll around Vienna, coming across surprising strangers in the process.
Before Sunrise taught me to seize the moment and to do things when you have the chance, because you never know when the opportunity will present itself again. Jesse and Celine’s conversations are incredibly raw, unfiltered, and candid. That’s what I truly appreciate about the movie: the two are completely honest with one another because they know that there’s a good chance they’ll never see each other again.
I guess their relationship also speaks to the fact that true connections cannot be forced, and there are people in life that will understand you on an unbelievable level (even if those people are American strangers you come across in a train car). I highly recommend this film if you’re looking for a romance that doesn’t just ask questions about love, but also about life itself.
4. Harry POtter and the prisoner of azkaban (2004)
This might surprise you based on the fact that this movie interrupts the common theme I had going with my previous three films. But for that reason, it has earned a place in my top four favorites.
I was a massive fan of the Harry Potter franchise all throughout middle school. I specifically remember binge-watching the entire movie series in two days during quarantine, and I truly connected with it because the books brought out my inner child and gave me a world to escape to in my free time. I fell in love with the wizarding world and all of the characters in it. The aesthetics, world-building, and attention to detail in the film adaptations amazed me. But out of these eight films, one stuck with me the most.
The Prisoner of Azkaban follows third-year Harry as he battles dementors and watches out for the mass murderer, Sirius Black, who has escaped from Azkaban. The film focuses on themes of time-traveling and memories, and its eerie, dark aesthetics in Hogwarts Castle add so much to the film. You truly want to become immersed in the world. It feels magical — there is no other way to describe it.
My favorite scene of the entire series is when Hermione figures out there is a way to save Sirius (who turns out to be a misunderstood character) and Hagrid’s hippogriff, Buckbeak. Using a time-turner given to her by Professor McGonagall, she and Harry travel back in time to change the circumstances of their current situation. It is a magical scene, and Harry powerfully casts his Patronus in order to save Sirius. Even though it’s technically meant for kids, this film is of the highest quality.
Overall, when I consider my favorite movies, these four stand out among the crowd. The types of films I find most enjoyable are those that resonate with me, making me think and feel something powerful.
What are your four favorite films?
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