The Letterboxd app began taking over red carpets in late 2023. The digital-film diary allows movie lovers to log, rate, and review everything that they watch. Users can also create custom movie lists, or expand their personal watchlist. But Letterboxd is best known for its feature that allows fans to pin their four favorite movies to their profile. At recent award shows and press tours, celebrities can expect to be asked: “What’s your Letterboxd top four?”
As someone who’s logged over 50 movies this year, these are the titles that make up my personal Mount Rushmore.
4. mermaids (1990)
Rachel Flax changes cities almost as often as she changes shift dresses. Unfortunately for her daughters, that means they have to follow.
Charlotte Flax likes to rebel against her mother, but not in the typical 15-year-old way. Instead of cutting class and breaking curfew, she devotes herself to Catholicism and dreams of her future as a nun. Kate Flax just loves to swim. At 9 years old, she’s already putting on impressive performances at local swim competitions.
Everything the Flax girls know about themselves and each other is challenged when they settle in a small Massachusetts town. Charlotte fears that she’s more like her mother than she’d ever want to be, leaving Rachel to confront the consequences of the unconventional life she’s built for her daughters. Mermaids challenges the Flax family to answer the age-old question: I know you love me, but do you like me?
This is Lady Bird before it existed. And the mother-daughter casting of Cher, Winona Ryder, and Christina Ricci is chef’s kiss.
3. bottoms (2023)
PJ and Josie are losers. They’re also best friends, and they share the same goal: losing their virginity. It’s not so simple when you’re crushing on the most popular cheerleaders at school.
After mortifying themselves in front of Brittany and Isabel one too many times, PJ and Josie are desperate to change their reputation. When they decide to start a self-defense club, it’s definitely to empower women and not to hang out with cheerleaders. But who’s showing up to a random self-defense club without some incentive? Enter the latest gossip: Did you hear that PJ and Josie learned to fight in juvie?
The club is a big hit. What started as the hot, after school hangout quickly becomes a safe space for the girls of Rockbridge Falls high school. PJ and Josie will have to find out how long they can build a community that’s based on lies.
Bottoms transcends the typical high school comedy. It’s satirical, unhinged, and a bit absurd. The comedic duo of Rachel Sennott and Ayo Edebiri complement its go-for-broke style humor — you’re in for a treat.
2. to wong foo, thanks for everything! julie newmar (1995)
Vida Boheme and Noxeema Jackson rule New York City. And they’ve just earned themselves the chance to travel to Hollywood to compete in the Miss Drag Queen of America competition. Naturally, they decide to ditch the first class flying experience for a cross-country road trip.
When Vida encounters Chi-Chi Rodriguez, a young and an aspiring drag queen, she swaps their plane tickets for a Cadillac convertible. The two veterans bring Chi-Chi for the ride, hoping to pass along the four cardinal rules of becoming a drag queen. As most road movies go, the good news ends there. The three of them quickly find themselves with a battered vehicle and a warrant for their arrest. When they hunker down in small-town Nebraska, they have no idea how many lives will be changed.
In just a few days, both the townspeople and drag queens discover that friendship can come from the people we least expect. In the process, the entire community of Synderville, Nebraska is touched by the magic of queer joy.
To quote my own Letterboxd review, “this warms my freezing cold heart.”
1. the outsiders (1983)
In case you were absent on that day of middle school English class.
The Outsiders adapts the beloved S.E. Hinton novel that tells the story of 14-year-old Ponyboy Curtis, whose life has turned upside down in the past year. It’s been eight months since he lost his parents, leaving his older brothers to raise him.
The Curtis brothers belong to a gang called the Greasers. Greasers are tough — they wear leather jackets, slick back their hair, and above all, they have each other’s backs. They also rival with the Socs, the upper class, preppy teens who drive mustangs and like to jump Greasers for fun. But what happens when small-town rivalry gets taken too far? The youngest of the crew, Ponyboy and Johnny Cade have just found out, and they have to flee town fast.
The Outsiders is a coming-of-age story that explores the bonds of found family while serving as a cautionary tale about social divide, class prejudice, and teen violence. It has moments that are heartbreaking and others that are heartwarming. You won’t want to forget tissues for this one.
It also features one of Hollywood’s most star-studded casts, including names like Tom Cruise, Patrick Swayze, Rob Lowe, Ralph Macchio, and Matt Dillon.
What cements each of these movies at the top is the way they’ve stuck with me long after the credits rolled. While some of these stories are heavier than others, they’ve each made me feel something memorable. Some make me laugh, and others have made me cry, but they’ve all left their mark on me. And what they have in common is their ability to be rewatched.
Each of these movies have made me call my friends just to say: “You need to watch this.” So, if you’ve yet to see any of them, download Letterboxd and add to your watchlist. You’re doing yourself a favor!