A Scottish film company says the rise in popularity of Letterboxd is changing how independent filmmakers find audiences.
If you’re not familiar, Letterboxd is a film-logging social media platform where film lovers (and indeed, some filmmakers) rate and review what they’ve watched, as well as viewing what their friends have been enjoying on the big screen, too.
It was once enjoyed by the most committed cinephiles, but over recent years has evolved into a global player shaping what people watch, how they talk about it, and how long smaller films stay on our screens.
Among those using it closely is Conic, the Glasgow-based distribution company founded by Jen Davies and Graham Fulton, which works to bring distinctive independent films to UK and Irish audiences.
‘It’s giving smaller productions the same chance to be noticed’
Conic’s Jen Davies said Letterboxd has made film discovery “more democratic, giving smaller productions the same chance to be noticed as the big-budget releases”.
“Someone’s review in Dundee can now inspire someone in New York to seek out an independent film they’d never otherwise have heard of,” she noted.
“For distributors, it means we can see those conversations unfold in real time. You can watch people react to a trailer, or see which themes and performances are resonating most. That kind of audience insight just didn’t exist a few years ago.”
Dave Chen, who directed The Primary Instinct, spoke with Letterboxd in 2020 and said: “What I realised recently about Letterboxd was that much of it is free of the negativity. It’s just a bunch of folks who love movies sharing thoughts on those movies, but it also feels like a real community of people.
“There are filmmakers on there who share their thoughts on films and their favourites, and that’s of course endlessly fascinating (such as Sean Baker). Even the negative reviews can be fun to read. There’s a lot of pithiness and wit on the site, and its design really helps facilitate that.”
We are a nation of film lovers after all
According to data from Ofcom, two-thirds of UK households subscribe to at least one of Netflix, Amazon Prime Video or Disney+, with Netflix remaining the most subscribed-to service.
However, the way we watch films appears to have changed in recent times. Research carried out by Three reveals that 87% of Brits are obsessed with looking up stats and facts about films and actors while they watch them.
Which means reaching for apps like Letterboxd during or directly after watching films makes perfect sense.
Any conversation is good, no matter the platform
Davies noted that any platform that helps people talk about indie film “is a positive thing”. She added: “The biggest studios still dominate, but Letterboxd cuts through all that noise.”
Filmmaker Chad Hartigan, director of Little Fish, agrees. He said after his first film came out and got into the Hamptons Film Festival, he spent the day after its screening Googling to see if anybody had written anything about it.
“I was so curious to see what people thought and there was nothing – not a review, not a blog – just total emptiness,” he told the film review site.
When his next film got into the Sundance Festival, there was more of a buzz with people tweeting about it. “People were asking if the bad reviews hurt me. Absolutely not – nothing can be worse than the radio silence of nobody caring about the first film,” said Hartigan.
“The fact that people care enough to sit and write about this movie – good or bad – is a win, and I’ve carried that onward.”
As for Davies, she concluded that platforms like Letterboxd are “about curiosity, discovery and genuine connection – and that’s exactly what cinema is supposed to be”.
Current Conic releases include Souleymane’s Story and Dragonfly, now showing in cinemas, while The Shepherd and the Bear (February 2026), DJ Ahmet (March 2026) and Wild Foxes (April 2026) are coming soon.
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