Empty state · Contextual help
Letterboxd’s empty states feature a fun easter egg
Letterboxd's empty review tabs pair No reviews. with a famous film line, and tapping the line opens the film it's from.
Screenshot added to the library in March 2023; its exact capture date wasn’t recorded, and the product may look different today. Write-up reviewed 22 Oct 2026.
Letterboxd uses little onboarding of its own, since it works much like other social apps, but its empty states are an exception. At the time of the recordings, an empty reviews tab says "No reviews." followed by a film quote about absence or loss: "Goodbye, Mr. Bond.", "Fuh-get about it!", "Game over, man! It's game over!". The line changes between visits. Tap it, and the app opens the film the line comes from, Goldfinger or Donnie Brasco for the first two.
Why it works
- It knows its audience: an app for film lovers fills its empty screens with film trivia, so even a blank tab says something about what Letterboxd is for.
- A dead end that leads somewhere: instead of leaving you on an empty screen, the quote becomes a link to another film page, which keeps you browsing.
- Worth finding: the rotating lines reward people who poke around, the kind of detail users tend to share.
More on this pattern: empty states in progressive onboarding and onboarding UX writing.
