10 Most Watched Movies During Quarantine, Ranked by Letterboxd
The past year saw the world deal with an unprecedented amount of downtime. One of the many ways people chose to spend it was watching movies. And thanks to Letterboxd, there is a definitive list of which films movie watchers gravitated to most.
The social media app for cinephiles has a diary feature where users can log what movies they saw on a given day. Letterboxd tracked all diary entries from March 15th, 2020 to March 15th, 2021, culminating in an expansive list with 200 entries. The results that came from the experiment provide a clearer picture of what movies graced TV screens in homes while their usual theater stomping grounds were locked up.
10 Midsommar: Available On Amazon Prime
Scary movies have a long history of being viewed in the comforts and safety of one's own home, so it's no surprise that horror virtuoso Ari Aster's latest feature was such a popular watch.
Starring breakout actor Florence Pugh, Midsommar follows Pugh's Dani as she, her boyfriend, and a few friends travel to Sweden to attend a summer festival that only occurs once every ninety years. Premiering in theaters back in 2019, Midsommar is now streaming on Amazon Prime and Kanopy. Although Aster subverts expectations by having the film take place largely during the day, the lack of darkness doesn't make it any less terrifying.
9 Portrait Of A Lady On Fire: Available On Hulu
Another refreshingly female-led film scoring high in viewership, Portrait Of A Lady On Fire follows the beautiful romance between a woman set to be married, and the painter who is tasked with doing her wedding portrait.
From prominent French filmmaker, Celine Sciamma, the film brings audiences into the most intimate moments between the two aforementioned women as they discover one another, and fall so deeply and quickly in love, all while the expiration date on their passionate affair hurdles towards them. Currently streaming on Hulu, Portrait Of A Lady on Fire is easily one of the greatest love stories in recent memory.
8 Borat Subsequent Moviefilm: Available On Amazon Prime
A surprise sequel that many had been calling for since way back in 2006 when the first one arrived in theaters, Borat Subsequent Moviefilm brings some much-needed comedy to a particularly dark year.
Both parts timely and off-the-wall absurd, Borat's second trip to the United States manages to accomplish much of what his first trip did, providing no shortage of laughs and cringe-inducing moments, while also holding up a rather large magnifying glass to the nation. Streaming on Amazon Prime, Borat never fails to reveal more about the current state of affairs than expected from an irreverent comedy.
7 Wonder Woman 1984: Available On HBO Max
No contemporary list of cinema is complete without a superhero movie. The second installment in the Wonder Woman standalone franchise, Wonder Woman 1984 picks up with Gal Gadot's titular character in the titular year, when she comes across an ancient stone that grants wishes.
A star-studded cast jumps in on the wish-granting mayhem with Pedro Pascal and Kristen Wiig (as classic comics foe, Cheetah) leading the villainous charge, as well as a surprise return from Chris Pine as Wonder Woman's wartime lover, Steve Trevor. The first of HBO Max's simultaneous releases, the film got a lot of eyeballs on it all at once.
6 Parasite: Available On Hulu
Coming off a historic Oscars victory (four wins, including Best Picture) a little more than a month before lockdown, the Hulu streaming Parasite became an easy go-to for the overwhelming majority of people who had missed its run in theaters.
From Korean master Bong Joon-Ho, his instant classic follows the struggling Kim family as they slyly weasel their way into every working position for the wealthy Park family. A scathing analysis of contemporary classism and the widening gap between rich and poor, Parasite arguably sits atop Bong's incredible filmography, as nothing less than an outright masterpiece.
5 Palm Springs: Available On Hulu
Another Hulu-streaming film, the Groundhog's Day-inspired rom-com Palm Springs certainly provided its share of laughs and levity. Released in the middle of summer 2020, months after its rousing premiere at the Sundance Film Festival (where Hulu scooped it up for a record $17,500,000.69), the film follows two wedding guests who are forced to live the special day over and over again when they get stuck in a time loop.
Starring Cristin Milioti (of How I Met Your Mother fame) and SNL alum Andy Samberg, Palm Springs is an easy and fun watch, filled with little details that'll have viewers returning to it over and over again.
4 I'm Thinking Of Ending Things: Available On Netflix
While quarantine significantly impacted the release schedules of most major production companies in Hollywood, it did little to affect Netflix's rollout. While the company's bigger and louder releases like Mank and The Trial of the Chicago 7 garnered Academy Award nominations, it was I'm Thinking Of Ending Things that surprisingly had the most viewership.
From Oscar-winning filmmaker Charlie Kaufman, the film features rising stars Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons as they play a new couple traveling to meet Plemons's parents, while of course mixing in Kaufman's patented moments of eccentricity and originality.
3 Knives Out: Available On Amazon Prime
Single-handedly bringing back the classic whodunit, Rian Johnson's star-studded murder mystery, Knives Out was an easy draw for audiences. Coming off the massively divisive Star Wars installment, The Last Jedi, Johnson followed up with an original idea that launched a franchise of its own.
Knives Out follows the investigation into the death of the patriarch of a rich and resentful family, led by detective Benoit Blanc (played by Daniel Craig). Johnson's expert subversion of the genre and packed cast (including Ana De Armas, Lakieth Stanfield, and Jamie Lee Curtis) make for must-see cinema.
2 Tenet: Available On Prime Video
Christopher Nolan's films are one of the most consistent box-offices draws in modern cinema, and closed movie theaters didn't stop people from seeing his latest work.
One of the first movies to screen in reopened theaters around the world, Tenet stars John David Washington (of BlacKkKlansmen fame), and new Batman, Robert Pattinson, as they grapple with time and espionage on a mission to save the entire world. Currently available On-Demand before it lands in its eventual home on HBO Max, Tenet proves Nolan's brand of complex plots and action is evergreen.
1 Soul: Available On Disney+
There are arguably no studios with a more consistent track record of quality films than Pixar, and their latest installment doesn't disappoint. The newest contribution from Pixar legend Pete Docter, Soul (co-directed and co-written by Kemp Powers) follows music teacher Joe Gardner, who lands the gig of his dreams right before he dies.
True to Pixar's high standards, Soul manages to weave beautiful animation, memorable characters, and deep, fully explored themes that entertain children and have adults reflecting on their lives and contemplating big ideas long after the movie is over.
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