Whenever I watch a movie, I open my phone and go to the movie review app Letterboxd to write my feelings about the movie. Before even fully finishing “I Used to Be Funny,” I rushed to Letterboxd to fill out a review immediately because of how good the movie was.
“I Used to Be Funny” was originally discovered at the South by Southwest Film Festival on March 13, 2023, and released in theaters in the US on June 7, 2024. Although it was released a bit ago, it has recently gained more popularity thanks to TikTok promoting it for its sad storyline and amazing soundtrack.
After seeing multiple TikToks about it, I was influenced and decided to watch it too. The movie was not only sad but also had funny characters. If they were real, I would definitely want to be a part of their friend group.
“I Used to be Funny” begins with the main character Sam overhearing the TV in her apartment talking about a missing teenager, Brooke. Later at dinner Sam and her roommates discuss seeing the missing girl, and the movie flashes back to Sam hearing knocking at the door. The glass of the door breaks and reveals Brooke, she ends up yelling at Sam, telling her how much she hates her, and how she ruined her life. Sam doesn’t open the door, instead, she crouches in the corner but doesn’t appear to be scared.
The movie continues with traumatic flashbacks of Sam’s life shaping the plot and slowly unfolding just exactly what Sam did to “ruin” Brooke’s life. I loved the way these flashbacks shaped the plot of the movie slowly, and the audience didn’t know the whole story so quickly.
Along with that, the movie touches on an issue women have to face every day, worrying about any man taking advantage of them– in other words, sexual assault. Although the movie touches on such a heavy subject, it goes through everything gently and slowly and doesn’t touch too much on the traumatic part, so I feel like victims of sexual assault may find comfort in the movie rather than being triggered by it.
Another thing I made sure to shoutout in my review on Letterboxd was just how amazing the soundtrack was. The movie featured songs by trending artists Adrianne Lenker and Phoebe Bridgers. Phoebe is one of my favorite artists, so I was immediately drawn in by the TikToks showcasing her songs in the movie. I specifically loved the end scene when they played her song “I Know the End” over clips of all of Sam’s memories with Brooke. The song pairs so perfectly with the message of how much sexual assault can change someone’s life and really captures the overall emotion of the movie. I’ve been listening to a playlist of “I Know the End” on repeat for the past week because of how much emotion this scene made me feel after hearing it at the end of this movie.
When I first started the movie, I had no clue what was happening, but I actually kind of liked that. I usually put a movie on and go on my phone, but I actually put my phone down to see what would happen next. I initially watched this movie because people said that it made them cry. What I didn’t know was how important and influential this movie could be for society. The movie disproves the saying “She was asking for it” which many people still like to use as an excuse as to why a woman got raped. Because that is what the movie wants people to take away, they show the way Sam’s life and all the people around her changed forever which shows everyone, man or woman, that the way you treat people matters. Maybe it meant nothing to you, but to them, it meant everything.
