It’s a tale as old as time that art inspires art. As a huge fan of female music, I often wonder: What movies do my favorite artists love? Have any movies inspired my favorite songs? When I’m scrolling through Letterboxd—the popular app that lets you log and review movies—for a movie night recommendation, I find myself wishing that my favorite artists had their own profiles for me to stalk. As a result, I’ve dug up interviews, song covers, and social media posts from a handful of today’s most popular female artists to see what movies they’ve referenced. If your faves could pick their four faves on Letterboxd, here’s what they would be.
Laufey
Laufey’s movie picks are romantic and wistful. On an Instagram live, she shared that You’ve Got Mail (1998) inspired her song “Serendipity,” which is about feeling fated to meet someone. She’s posted covers of songs from movies she loves, including “City of Stars” from La La Land (2016) and “Singin’ in the Rain” from Singin’ in the Rain (1952). Finally, she named a handful of her favorite rom-coms in an interview on The Drawing Board, including About Time (2013), which she gushed about being too underrated.
Taylor Swift
It’s no surprise that Taylor Swift, director of several music videos and All Too Well: The Short Film (2021), has cited several movie loves and inspirations over the years. Since early in her career, she’s gushed about Love Actually (2003) being her favorite movie of all time in several interviews. In 2022, she was a featured filmmaker at the Toronto International Film Festival, where she shared the myriad of movies that inspired All Too Well: The Short Film, including The Way We Were (1973) and Marriage Story (2019). She also said that she rewatched Sense and Sensibility (1995) while writing her album, evermore.
boygenius
The band boygenius—comprised of the individually successful Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus—often discuss literature they’re fans of, but they have strong favorites in film too. Julien Baker’s Letterboxd favorite pick would be North by Current (2021), a documentary for which she composed the score. Avid horror fan Phoebe Bridgers, who’s often seen implementing ghost and skeleton imagery in her music, claimed Hereditary (2018) is the best psychological horror film of all time. Meanwhile, genre-versatile Lucy Dacus stated in a fan Q&A on Reddit that The Beaches of Agnés (2008) and Bacurau (2019) had a deep impact on her.
Gracie Abrams
Gracie Abrams’s movie taste is best described as cult classics and nostalgic childhood favorites. She’s poured out her love for Spirited Away (2001) countless times on social media over the years. She’s also a vocal fan of The Twilight Saga, and says the first film in the series, Twilight (2008) is her favorite. Her comfort movie—a movie that feels like a hug on bad days—is Pride & Prejudice (2005), according to an interview with BuzzFeed. Lastly, it’s no secret that Gracie Abrams is an unapologetic fan of SpongeBob, so The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004) would have to make her list.
Beabadoobee
Beabadoobee’s love for the ‘80s and ‘90s aesthetics shines through her movie taste. In 2020, she told Harper’s Bazaar that The Craft (1996) is the movie that made her. She’s cited But I’m a Cheerleader (1999) as a favorite film in The Forty Five, and she notably loves it for its incredible all-female soundtrack. Finally, she shared with National Rock Review that she loves St. Elmo’s Fire (1985) and Pretty in Pink (1986) because they remind her of her childhood and her mom’s movie taste.
I’ve had my favorites set on Letterboxd for a long while now, but thanks to Taylor Swift’s extensive list of All Too Well: The Short Film inspirations and to Phoebe Bridgers for putting me in a horror mood, I may have to add some new favorites to my profile.