In a twist few saw coming, the generation raised on TikTok and YouTube has found an unlikely new passion: classic cinema. Amidst the doom and gloom of movie theater closures and box office slumps, a bright spot has emerged in the most surprising of places – the 18-25 year old demographic, whose embrace of vintage films is confounding expectations and reshaping the cultural landscape.
The Lockdown and Streaming Effect
Two years of Covid lockdowns proved a cinematic revelation for Gen Z. Stuck at home and with their usual entertainment options limited, many turned to streaming services to pass the time. But rather than just bingeing the latest releases, they found themselves venturing into the movie archives and discovering films made decades before they were born.
Streaming made exploring film history effortless. As Paul Gallagher of the Glasgow Film Theatre explains, “Lockdown had this effect on young audiences realising, through online viewing, that there were a lot more films out there than they previously thought.”
The Letterboxd Phenomenon
Their guide on this classic movie expedition? Not crusty old critics, but Letterboxd – the social film review platform that’s become Gen Z’s go-to source for movie discovery and discussion. Much more than just a review aggregator, Letterboxd encourages an exploratory, open-minded approach to film appreciation.
We see people going on this journey. We see them going in and going, ‘OK, I’m going to watch all 250 films’ on the Letterboxd Top 250 list.
– Gemma Greenwood, Editor-in-Chief of Letterboxd Journal
Rather than judgmental gatekeeping, Letterboxd breeds enthusiasm. Users create watch-party lists, impose movie challenges on friends, and dive deep into niche genres, eras, and regional cinema. And their journeys through film history are clearly reflected in their viewing diaries on the platform.
The New Cinephilia
This digital cinephilia may look quite different than the theater-obsessed cine-love of earlier eras, but it’s no less passionate. When Sight & Sound proclaimed the death of cinephilia in 1996, they couldn’t have foreseen how the internet would enable its rebirth in a new form.
Today’s young movie buffs are more eclectic and open-minded in their tastes. Freed from the snobbery that often permeated past cinephile culture, they move easily between arthouse fare and mainstream hits, genre flicks and foreign gems. Rather than clinging to rigid canons, they follow their curiosity across eras and borders.
It’s all about fostering a community rather than this gatekeepery ethos.
– Paul Vickery, Prince Charles Cinema, London
Rewriting the Film Canon
As Gen Z gobbles up classic movies with fresh eyes, they’re rewriting the film canon in real time. On Letterboxd, previous sacred cows like Godard and Truffaut get short shrift while Asian auteurs like Kurosawa, Edward Yang and Wong Kar-wai are heavily represented in user favorites.
Films once considered minor or uneven, from Kubrick’s Barry Lyndon to Campion’s In the Cut are also rising in esteem under Gen Z’s revisionist gaze. It’s a less predictable, more global version of the canon, shaped by the whims of digital communities rather than critical dictates.
Reviving the Repertory
Perhaps most heartening, the Letterboxd bump is translating into ticket sales. Though overall box office remains depressed, specialty cinemas are seeing a remarkable surge of interest in vintage titles among young viewers:
- A 2023 rerelease of the 1984 Talking Heads concert film Stop Making Sense grossed nearly $7 million, with 75% first-time viewers
- Recent retrospectives of Wong Kar-wai, Béla Tarr and Edward Yang outpaced expectations, drawing Gen Z crowds
- Rereleases of arthouse classics like Yi Yi saw huge upticks after featuring on Letterboxd lists
For Gen Z, these films aren’t just obscure oldies – they’re living, breathing works that speak to the current moment. Whether it’s finding solace in Wim Wenders’ portraits of disconnection or swooning over the longing of Wong Kar-wai’s romances, young cinephiles are making classic movies their own.
New Cine-Love for a Digital Era
In 1996, Susan Sontag wrote that cinephilia could “only be resurrected through the birth of a new kind of cine-love”. Against all odds, Gen Z seems to have found it. Marrying the community power of the internet with a boundless view of film history, they’ve reinvented movie fandom for the 21st century.
Their eclecticism and enthusiasm provide a welcome tonic to the doomsaying that often surrounds cinema. While the industry grapples with an uncertain future, young film lovers remind us that as long as there are great movies to discover – whether in a theater or on your phone – the magic of the movies will endure.
