Ayo Edebiri’s Hilarious Film Reviews on Letterboxd Gain Internet Fame

Actor and comedian Ayo Edebiri won her first Golden Globe over the weekend for her role in FX’s The Bear. Two days later, she watched the 1995 science fiction thriller film, Strange Days, starring Ralph Fiennes and Angela Bassett and told more than 220,000 people what she thought about it.

“A movie full of CHOICES,” Edebiri wrote on her highly adored Letterboxd profile. “Two that I loved were the visual effects whenever someone gets fried and when Angela Bassett used her braids as a weapon during a fight sequence, that was amazing.”

It’s the latest example of the rising star combining her humor and unflinching honesty in reviews as she documents her recent watches. Edebiri had been quietly reviewing films on her Letterboxd account long before her 2022 breakthrough role in The Bear.

She’s watched and reviewed nearly 1,000 films since 2018. Over the years, fans have discovered the account and delighted in her hot takes and stream-of-consciousness style entries.

For example, her thoughts on the 2018 remake of A Star is Born: “this movie makes 0 sense but I had so much fun and truly would die for Sam Elliott in a way that I can’t get into online.”

Or Space Jam: “Tweety Bird truly has the range.” The original Jurassic Park? “nope nope nope! would’ve minded my business and died!”

Several of Edebiri’s reviews read like diary entries. On The Princess Bride: “got my hair braided for truly 8 hours today and the braider had never seen it before…..the BEAUTY of showing this movie to someone who has never seen it before….!!”

In the same vein as Yelp for books or Beli for restaurants, Letterboxd has gained popularity in recent years as a digital passport to see someone’s logged films and their personal reviews.

Other celebrities who use Letterboxd include Chloe Fineman (a former costar and friend of Edebiri’s), and John Mulaney‘s own Letterboxd.

Edebiri even went as far as reviewing films she’s in. Her review of Bottoms, the 2022 film with her and Nick Sennott, merely says, “I’m in it with my friends so.” She gave it five stars. (Charmingly, Edebiri’s dad has a Letterboxd account too where he praises his daughter’s films.)

In an interview with Backstage last year, the 28-year-old acknowledged her Letterboxd profile and suggested there might come a time when her rising profile forces her to go dark on the app.

“There’s a lot about her new reality that Edebiri is still getting used to,” Backstage wrote at the time. “For starters, how deeply complete strangers care about her Letterboxd review razzing Robert Eggers’ The Northman.”

Edebiri’s Northman review states: “An honestly good plane movie! I had fun! I love an epic myth. I love that Robert Eggers loves putting white people in the past and making them sound insane. He’s really good at it and he shouldn’t stop. Massive crush on eye-less Björk and would be honored to be cursed by her.”

“Somebody was like, ‘Look at you — you’re never getting cast in a Robert Eggers movie now!’” she recalled to Backstage.

Still, Edebiri is not quitting just yet. Her Strange Days review from Tuesday marked her first entry of the new year. Before that, she closed out 2023 by watching the new A24 film, Iron Claw starring Zac Efron and her Bear costar Jeremy Allen White (she reviewed it with an emoji-style prayer circle that said “Zack[sic] Efron Oscar Nominee” in the center).