In almost every conversation I have with a friend, there is one question that inevitably pops up in moments of silence:
“What are you watching?”
The answer has changed over the days, weeks, and years but something new has stayed the same: the where.
“I have not seen the full movie, but I have seen clips on TikTok.”
A not-so-quick scroll down TikTok’s (eerily) accurate algorithm unearths movie after movie, uploaded in parts. The app has become a necromancer for old movies – bringing them back into the public eye – or a catalyst for upcoming ones to reach box office success. The numbers speak for themselves; by partnering with data collaboration platform Live Ramp in 2024, Tiktok found that its users are 44% more likely than non-users to go to the movies at least once a month. It also found out that 47% of users said that they had learnt about upcoming movies on the app and out of this number, 36% bought a ticket. Tiktok’s influence doesn’t stop at the point of release for the movie either. Disney’s Encanto opened to a disappointing $256M but turned into the second highest streamed movie of 2023 after the success of “We don’t talk about Bruno”.
Tiktok’s power has not gone unnoticed. USC Professor and Author Dr. Julie Albright has termed the app “digital crack cocaine”, referring to the dopamine spikes it generates. Much of TikTok’s popularity comes from how its content is easy and fast to consume, which allows for instant gratification with smaller gaps between each hit.
However, the short content form of the app has led to reduced attention spans and a desire for visual overloads. Movies such as Saltburn, Barbie and very recently “Wuthering Heights” are clear examples of movies that favour the high contrast, vibrant and saturated colour grading that Tiktok is drawn to. Even before the movie hits post-production, Tiktok’s influence can be seen in the movie’s artistic choices. For example, many contemporary movies frame their characters in the dead centre to ensure nothing gets cut off on the mobile screen. This makes for mobile-friendly, but ultimately lifeless and safe film-making.
In a cheeky and meta moment, Tiktok users started parodying cast interviews in which cast members seem to be speaking or acting in a way that would get them viral moments. Clearly, the global audience is fully aware of the newfound role that “viral-ness” plays in entertainment.
Photo taken from @notpreeti on Tiktok
Democratising movies or Ruining them?
But Tiktok isn’t just about watching movies, it’s about adding your voice to them. From fan-cuts to parodies and duets, the “viral-ness” of a film has the ability to make it or tank it. Take for instance, the ever popular character skit. After the release of “Wuthering Heights”, many accounts on TikTok began parodying Jacob Elordi’s version of Heathcliff to poke fun at the simplified plot. Similarly, an edit of Margot Robbie’s Barbie takes scenes of cat-calling and other forms of sexism from her time in the “real world” and overlays it with the words “Women’s life”, showing how the movie meets social commentary on Tiktok.
Photo taken from @velcohilx on Tiktok
This new, democratic form allows audiences to be in-conversation with films in an unprecedented way. It also opens up the field, allowing independent creators to create movies without the backing of major production houses. Youtuber Markiplier (Mark Edward Fischbach)’s Iron Lung made a whopping $43.5M. With over 30 million subscribers, the youtuber’s self-financed, independent project was set to roll out to three theatres in the United States but ended up in 3,000 theatres worldwide, as reported by Forbes. It outperformed Send Help and the Melania documentary.
Hate it or love it, it is clear that the way we make and promote movies has been changed forever. While social media might not be the top priority for directors, it is clear that it is no longer an afterthought either. The real balance that filmmakers must strike is on finding ways to innovate within the social media format they occupy. However, it remains unclear how much risk filmmakers can take when the formulaic nature of algorithms dictate how much money the film can make and in turn, whether production houses and studios will take a chance on that risk.
Cover Image Credit: Anna Hecker on Unsplash
