Dear Beautiful Reader,
We all have our favorite films. Movies that we adore. Movies we can watch over and over again. Or movies that have made a significant impact on our lives. I wouldn’t consider myself a cinephile per say but films do hold a giant place in my heart. I love everything about them from the use of colors to the music they choose. I love every single detail. When i discovered Letterboxd I thought to myself “this is absolutely genius.” A place where I can log and rate the movies I watch and see my friend’s logging and rating movies as well? Gold!
I’m determined to watch a lot more movies in 2026, more specifically movies I have never seen, because there are a lot on my watchlist I need to get through. And with that being sad I plan on visiting the movie theater more frequently. VISIT THE CINEMA!!!! For the love of god please visit the cinema. In the ever growing world of streaming services taking over it’s so important we keep movie theaters alive and supported.
Anyways, I have to stop now or I’ll go on for hours. Here are my top 4 films on Letterboxd and why they’re there.
4. Am I OK?
To say this movie changed my life is a vast understatement. It came out in January of 2022 but I didn’t watch until late 2023. It is a HBO Max movie which is unfortunate for me seeing as I no longer have that subscription. No bother, I’ll find another way to watch it. Anyways, this movie stars Dakota Johnson (who I love) as Lucy. Lucy is a 30 year old girl who has only just now come to terms with her sexuality as a lesbian. It’s about her battling with herself on wondering if it’s too late in life and navigating life after coming out at 30.
I can write a more lengthy post about my own journey with my sexuality but I’ll just say this for now. When I first watched this film it resonated SO much with me. At the time I told my friends “this movie is exactly like my life except I’m bisexual.” Well, cut to spring of 2024 to me coming out as a lesbian. It’s alright, a canon event as a lesbian so I hear is labeling yourself as bisexual first. And when revisiting this film after the fact, it became clear this movie meant everything to me. I’ve seen it so many times since and I will always recommend it if you’re feeling lost in life.
3. Get Out
Jordan Peele, the man you are, my love for you goes so deep. A hill I will die on is that ever since Get Out I told my friends “Jordan Peele needs to make some kind of western style movie” and then years later he releases Nope. Yeah, still waiting for some kind of credit on that. Anyways, Jordan Peele is hands down my favorite director and writer and Get Out is what did it for me. Though he’s had three projects: Get Out, Us, and Nope, I can confidentially say Get Out is my favorite.
In my opinion, Get Out is one of the most genius movies ever written. I saw it three times in theaters and have watched it many times since. What I love about this film is that you can watch it multiple times and catch things you didn’t catch in the previous viewing. If you somehow haven’t seen Get Out I won’t spoil it for you, I urge you to go in blind. The cinematography is wonderfully done. Everything is this movie is intentional from the way the camera is angled to the sound and music choices they make. The entire cast delivers incredible performances and everything about this film is so neatly done. A fantastic film that will forever hold a spot in my top 4.
2. Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
I never considered myself a Spider-Man girl. He just wasn’t ever in my top favorite super heroes. That is, until 2018 when I saw this movie in theaters for the first time. Because of this movie Miles Morales will forever be my favorite Spider-Man and my favorite super hero.
It follows Miles who gets bit by a radioactive spider and becomes Spider-Man, only.. there’s already a Spider-Man in his universe. When Peter Parker is killed by Kingpin it’s up to Miles and other Spider-people from different universes to band together and stop him.
First, let me talk about the animation. This movie is done in comic book style animation and it was such a smart choice and SO well done. Everything about this movie is beautiful. The colors, the textures, the character movements and diversity is just so perfectly crafted. Second, the soundtrack. I revisit this soundtrack fairly often even now because the songs are just so good. What’s Up Danger will always be a hype song for me and will always give me chills.
This movie is so important to me because it teaches great lessons. To not be afraid, that it’s okay to be different, and that anyone can be a superhero.
Highly recommend you watch this if you haven’t. The second installment, Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse is just as amazing. Don’t ask me about when we will get the third or I’ll start hyperventilating, thank you.
1. Knives Out
sigh And we’ve arrived. My number one spot. The movie that has stayed in my number one spot since 2019 and probably will never change. Do you have a movie you could watch over and over and never tire of it? That’s Knives Out for me.
This film is hands down the best movie I have ever seen in my 28 years of life, and it probably will be until I die. I’ve been sitting here starting at this paragraph for ten minutes thinking where the hell to start.
The comfort and joy I get from this movie is unmatched. It starts with the setting. The best way to describe the feel of this movie is to compare it to Clue. A murder in a big, beautiful house full of suspects. The Thrombey house is one thousand percent my dream house. It’s grand, it’s dark, it’s everything I could ever want.
The writing and the mystery of this script is amazing. It takes you on a journey. It shows you the truth right off the bat and then works backwards and through twists so that you never know what’s coming. Because was the truth you see in the beginning the whole story? Each member of the cast delivers outstanding performances. I feel connected to every character, no matter how horrible they are, I have a sense of each one. And the cinematography! So good.
If there’s one thing I love it’s a good mystery. I love all three installments on Knives Out: Knives Out, Glass Onion, and Wake Up Dead Man. Each one is a standalone film, the only connection being Daniel Craig’s character. I was heavily anticipating Wake Up Dead Man and I absolutely loved it. But it has an unfair advantage to my love for Knives Out. So my ranking goes: Knives Out, Wake Up Dead Man, and Glass Onion. Not that I didn’t enjoy Glass Onion, it’s just the weakest.
So there you have it friends, my top 4 on Letterboxd. My top 4 favorite movies ever. Honorable mentions that have rotated into my number 4 spot are La La Land and Arrival. Thank you for reading. What are your favroites??
Love,
Alea Darling <3