A highly watchable teen-romance fantasy with a very specific, moody appeal: awkward longing, glossy melodrama, and enough self-seriousness to become unintentionally funny in places. It’s best approached as a cult object as much as a romance, because the atmosphere and iconography often outshine the actual chemistry… Read more
Twilight
Where to watch: Buy
Movie · Fantasy · Drama
Thu · 2h 2m
Director: Catherine Hardwicke
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke
Overview
When Bella Swan moves to a small town in the Pacific Northwest, she falls in love with Edward Cullen, a mysterious classmate who reveals himself to be a 108-year-old vampire. Despite Edward's repeated cautions, Bella can't stay away from him, a fatal move that endangers her own life.
Director
Catherine Hardwicke
Cast
Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Billy Burke
Curator Review
Verdict
A highly watchable teen-romance fantasy with a very specific, moody appeal: awkward longing, glossy melodrama, and enough self-seriousness to become unintentionally funny in places. It’s best approached as a cult object as much as a romance, because the atmosphere and iconography often outshine the actual chemistry and storytelling.
Best for
fans of brooding supernatural romance
viewers who enjoy earnest teen melodrama
cult-movie watchers looking for a campy time
people interested in late-2000s pop-culture touchstones
Skip if
you want polished dialogue and naturalistic acting
you dislike controlling or unhealthy romance dynamics
you prefer horror or fantasy with stronger world-building
you have no patience for teen angst played completely straight
Overview
Twilight is less a conventional romance than a mood board for adolescent obsession: damp forests, fluorescent classrooms, pale faces, and a soundtrack that does a lot of the emotional heavy lifting. Catherine Hardwicke leans into the intensity of first love and makes the whole thing feel like a fever dream, which is why the movie has lasted as both a sincere fantasy and a communal joke.
Worth noting
What keeps it interesting is the commitment. The performances are stylized, the dialogue is stiff, and the chemistry is weirdly off-kilter, but that awkwardness became part of the film’s identity. It plays like a movie made by people who fully believe in the melodrama, even when the melodrama is objectively absurd.
Bottom line
If you’re in the right mood, it’s easy to see why it became a phenomenon: it’s romantic, eerie, funny, and deeply specific about teenage desire. If you’re not, the same qualities can make it feel repetitive, unhealthy, and unintentionally hilarious. Either way, it’s impossible to ignore.
Top Letterboxd reviews
#1 gizmo fan (4★) · 23976 likes
my mom forced me to watch this and then quoted the entire thing and then started crying because she didn't have someone like edward and I told her that their relationship was actually really abusive and she said "Sweetie I know, me and your dad got divorced because of this movie." and now she's running around the house looking for something to eat Please save me
Casey (5★) · 23656 likes
“you don’t even say hi to me” “hi” A MASTERPIECE
Robin (2.5★) · 16582 likes
I've got 99 problems with this movie, but the Supermassive Black Hole baseball scene ain't one
demi adejuyigbe · 16417 likes
This movie rules. Every Edward line is so much better when you pretend he’s just the weird lanky guy at your high school that makes everybody nervous and does Dragon Ball Z charge-up moves when he thinks no one’s watching. Every Bella line has the subtext of “you better let me suck that dick, shiny boy.” The DP showed up day one and said “if I have to use a tripod, I will fucking kill myself.” The credits roll on
molly (3★) · 15951 likes
this is one of the most unintentionally funny movies of all time