I’m not sure if readers will find this surprising or not, but on our Nexus editors’ team, 50% of us are screen and media students. Do you want to know what that means? 50% of our team self-diagnoses as having good taste in films.  

To truly put to the test film student taste vs non-film student taste, I compared each editor’s Letterboxd four. If some of you read the words “Letterboxd four” and have no idea what the fuck I’m talking about: Letterboxd (AKA the best app ever) is a film logging app where you can log, rate, and review every film you’ve ever watched. Possibly the best part about Letterboxd is the option to add up to four favourite films to your profile. This concept has sky-rocketed in popularity ever since the Letterboxd team started to interview our favourite actors and celebrities on their Letterboxd four.  

To answer the question of “Do film students have better taste in film”, there are three things I need to consider:  

1.        What is the rating of that film on Letterboxd (out of 5)?  

2.        Do I (obviously an expert) enjoy this film?  

3.        Do I think this person actually loves this film or are they trying to look cool and well cultured?  

To conduct my very obviously professional research I will be introducing each editor’s Letterboxd four then asking myself those three questions.  

The film students:  

Lans (sports and reviews editor):  

·       Lady Bird  

·       Juno  

·       Sound of Music  

·       I Saw the TV Glow  

1.        On Letterboxd, these four films aren’t ranked extremely high. But, because I’m a hater, I put that down to misogyny:  

a.        Juno: 3.8  

b.        Lady Bird: 3.8  

c.        The Sound of Music: 4.2  

d.        I Saw the TV Glow: 3.5  

e.        Average rating: 3.825  

2.        I may be biased as this is my own list, but I think these four films are brilliant. I especially think as a list, they are perfect. Each film compliments each other so well. One really important aspect of a film for me is passing the Bechdel test, which all four do, ¾ films have a strong female lead, and ¾ films are about the hardships of growing up and discovering who you are (which is something very close to my heart).   

3.        When I curated my Letterboxd four, I wanted to choose my four actual favourite films, I thought I was doing a disservice to the art I love the most by replacing it with a more well-respected film. But because I want to show off my taste here is the list I would have if I was trying to be impressive: 8 ½, Fantastic Planet, Frances Ha, and Stand by Me.  

Maia (News editor):  

·       Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind  

·       Evil Dead Rises  

·       Beautiful Boy  

·       Donny Darko 

1.        A good mix of highly ranked and upper middle stuff:  

a.        Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind: 4.2  

b.        Evil Dead Rise: 3.1   

c.        Beautiful Boy: 4.0  

d.        Donny Darko: 4.0 

e.        Average rating: 3.825  

2.        I have already ¾ of Maia’s picks. I must agree that Eternal Sunshine and Beautiful Boy are incredible films, my only question for her: is she okay? I saw Evil Dead Rise when it first came out and it didn’t leave any ever-lasting impressions on me and personally rated it 2 stars. I haven’t seen Donny Darko but have heard amazing things. And it’s been on my watchlist for ages. After reading 3 Rotten Tomato reviews and reading the synopsis on Wikipedia, I will be watching this film asap 

3.        I truly believe that Maia loves these films. One of them being such a bad pick definitely confirms this is from the heart not from a place of trying to be impressive. Eternal Sunshine, Beautiful Boy, and Donny Darko are very popular picks for Letterboxd fours so can’t fault her with those choices.  

Toby (editor-in-chief)   

·       Amélie  

·       Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers  

·       The Colour of Pomegranates  

·       Being John Malkovich  

1.        Toby is pulling in very high rankings:   

a.        Amélie: 4.2  

b.        LOTR The Two Towers: 4.4  

c.        The Colour of Pomegranates: 4.1  

d.        Being John Malkovich: 4.1  

e.        Average rating: 4.2  

2.        I have also seen ¾ of Toby’s picks. Amélie is absolutely beautiful and 100% deserves the hype. Being John Malkovich was a good watch, personally, I didn’t rank it very highly but gave it 3.5 stars. As for LOTR, The Two Towers is the best on of the trilogy, but I don’t think so highly of the franchise as I know some (including Toby) do. As for The Colour of Pomegranates, I went the same route as my research of Maia’s pick, Wikipedia called this an “art house” film and instantly the pieces fell into place. I personally am very inclined to art house so will definitely be adding this to the watchlist.  

3.        Now, all though I agree with the quality of Toby’s list, I highly doubt he truly loves these films more than anything in the whole world (which is, in my opinion, the sole purpose of a Letterboxd four). I Know his love for Amélie and LOTR. However, the colour of Pomegranates does not strike me as a “Toby loves this film” film. I think he is trying too hard to be tasteful and well versed in films. He has failed himself.  

Non-Film Editors:  

Dylan (Features Editor):  

·       Jesus’ Son  

·       Inherent Vice  

·       Lost Highway  

·       Stop Making Sense 

1.        No comment, here you go:  

a.        Jesus’ Son: 3.6  

b.        Inherent Vice: 3.6  

c.        Lost Highway: 4.1  

d.        Stop Making Sense: 4.7  

e.        Average rating: 4.0  

2.        I have only seen 50% of Dylan’s Letterboxd four which makes him the most different in my opinion. I love Talking Heads therefore loved Stop Making Sense so also rated it very highly. Lost Highway is an excellent pick and is definitely some of David Lynch’s best work (RIP king). As for Jesus’ Son and Inherent Vice, after conducting my very excellent research, Inherent Vice will be added to my watchlist. The cast is stacked, though, I don’t know if I’ll think of it as highly as Dylan does. Jesus’ Son isn’t very well received, it did pretty good on Rotten Tomatoes, but no one really loves this film it seems. Classic heroin addict story, it will be added to the watch list but isn’t high on the priority list.  

3.        These four films scream Dylan. They are extremely Dylan films. I know for a fact that he did not tweak this list in the name of looking cool and well versed. And I’m honestly quite proud of his choices.  

Nina (Entertainment editor):  

·       Call Me by Your Name  

·       Midsommar  

·       The Virgin Suicides  

·       The Love Witch  

1.        The girls love these films; the boys do not:  

a.        Call Me By Your Name: 3.9  

b.        Midsommar: 3.8  

c.        The Virgin Suicides: 3.8  

d.        The Love Witch: 3.5  

e.        Average rating: 3.75  

2.        I have seen all four films on Nina’s list so can give my full honest opinion with zero Google searches necessary.  I personally love Midsommar and The Virgin Suicides as well and think they are near perfection. Florence Pugh had an outstanding performance in Midsommar and made me absolutely fall in love with her as a performer. The Virgin Suicides was a film I watched at such a formative time in my life, and it holds such a special place in my heart. I think I’ll cherish those films until the day I die therefore have to agree with their place on Nina’s list. Call Me By Your Name is also a special film for me, it’s quite the comfort watch and the soundtrack is definitely one of my favourites. But, as I got older, I started to see and feel the weirdness in that relationship and though I can acknowledge it was a purposeful choice, I think it was a little too glamourised in this film. I did not like The Love Witch at all. I mean, I thought it was okay, but I personally would not watch it again.  

3.        Much like Dylan, this is a very Nina list. You meet Nina and you can guess these films very easily. Therefore, zero trying to be impressive 100% true love.  

Ruby (Columns editor): is cool  

·       Ferris Bueller’s Day Off  

·       Saw  

·       Mad Max: Fury Road  

·       Project X  

1.        Real slightly above average films:  

a.        Ferris Bueller’s Day Off: 3.9  

b.        Saw: 3.7  

c.        Mad Max: Fury Road: 4.2  

d.        Project x: 3.3  

e.        Average rating: 3.775  

2.        I have seen ¾ of these films. I only like 1 of them though. Ruby has a very frat boy taste in films, sadly. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off is the most mid “well received” film in my opinion, not a fan. Project x 100% deserves the Letterboxd Rating, not Ruby’s though. I do however, love Saw (in a frat boy way). I’m sure Mad Max: Fury Road is a fine film, I just know I would not like it. After conducting my research, I understand the hype but will not be joining that club.  

3.        The thing with Ruby’s list is, I know these are her four favourite films, but if she really had it her way this list would be 50% horror films and 50% true crime documentaries. So, though I know this is truthful for feature films, it’s not truthful for a ruby list. She still passes with 100% pure heart though.  

Final Thoughts:  

After my very precise and extensive research, I do not believe there is much correlation to whether a film student creates a better top four than a non-film student. We have our outliers like Toby who is clearly trying too hard to be a cool film student and Dylan who could pass as a film student in a line up. But, between Ruby, Nina, Maia, and I, there doesn’t seem to be much difference between the quality of the list and how those films resonate with each person.  

Verdict: Film students don’t have a better taste in films; Toby is just pretentious.