For cinephiles and film students

Find your next favourite film.

Collections by director, movement and country. 110+ lessons on film history and craft. One film a week to discuss with other members, and daily puzzles to test what you know. For people who already love cinema and want to go further.

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Free to download on iPhone and Android. Optional Pro upgrade.

1,200+ selected films 50+ film collections 110+ cinema lessons 6 daily film puzzles

FILM OF THE DAY

In the Mood for Love

Wong Kar-wai

2000 · Hong Kong · 1h 38m

RomanceDramaArt-house

“He remembers those vanished years.”

Film details

Films Learn Play Profile

What's inside

Four ways into cinema.

Discover

1,200+ films in 50+ collections by director, movement, country and era, plus a Film of the Day.

See the collections

Learn

110+ lessons on film history, directors and technique, with a quiz to test yourself.

See a lesson

Discuss

A weekly Screening Room, a community top-ten poll, and double bills you publish for others.

See the Screening Room

Play

6 daily film puzzles, head-to-head Duels, and a Monthly Card of viewing prompts.

See the puzzles

Find a place to start

Follow a director, a movement, or a country.

50+ collections, from silent comedy and the French New Wave to Japanese masters and New Hollywood. Each one is a focused route into a corner of cinema.

All-time favourites

Film of the Day

Meet a film you might have missed.

Get a fresh recommendation each day, with a little background to spark your interest. Watch the trailer or save the film for another night.

✓A memorable line from cinema with Quote of the Day.
✓A watchlist for everything you want to come back to.

A daily pick

Cléo from 5 to 7

Agnès Varda

1962 · France · Drama

A singer waits for medical test results in Paris. As the afternoon unfolds, her attention shifts from how others see her to the life around her.

“As long as I’m beautiful, I’m alive.”

+ Add to Watchlist

Look a little closer

Why does that scene work so well?

110+ lessons on directors, national cinemas, movements and technique, from the Kuleshov effect to slow cinema. Read one, then watch with new eyes.

✓Lessons link to a collection of the films they discuss.
✓Short quizzes to check what you've picked up.
✓Tracked progress so you can pick up where you left off.

Lesson · History & Movements

Soviet Montage Theory

The politics and poetry of editing

1The Kuleshov Effect

2Eisenstein: The Dialectics of the Cut

3Dziga Vertov and the Kino-Eye

4How Montage Changed Everything

?Lesson quiz4 questions

The Screening Room

The same film. A different take from everyone.

Each week, there's one film to discuss. Write down what you thought before reading the other members' notes. Then see what they noticed, what stayed with them, and where you disagree.

✓One film, every member, every week.
✓Everyone's notes stay sealed until you post yours.

The Screening Room This Week

Paris, Texas

Wim Wenders

1984 · West Germany · 2h 27m

Write a review

Your favourites

Which films would make your top ten?

Some choices are easy. Others could keep you arguing all evening. Give your favourites a place of their own and see how they compare with everyone else's.

The Ballot

Put your top ten to the vote.

Rank your ten favourite films and tell other members why you chose them. Your choices contribute to the community poll.

1City Lights1,204 votes

2Ordetyour pick

3Tokyo Story1,061 votes

48½998 votes

Example ballot

The Duel · My Canon

Build your ranking, one choice at a time.

Choose between two films. As you make more choices, My Canon builds your personal ranking. Share it when you're ready to defend the order.

Touch of Evil

The Third Man

Which is the better film?

Make a night of it

Give your next film night a theme.

Pair films that speak to each other, or let a viewing challenge take you somewhere unexpected.

The Programme

What would you show as a double bill?

Choose two or three films and explain the connection. Publish your programme on your profile so other members can try your pairing, too.

Le Samouraï

Drive

“Both are about a coat, a car, and a man who says almost nothing.”

The Monthly Card

Let a prompt choose your next watch.

Get nine viewing prompts each month. Try an unfamiliar country, explore another decade, or finally watch that director you've been meaning to start. Films you mark as watched during the challenge count towards your card.

Example progress: 4 of 9

Daily film puzzles

A little film knowledge. A few good guesses.

Recognise a poster, place a film in history, or work out what four titles have in common. Pick a puzzle and see how you do.

Cinedle

Guess the mystery film as the clues get more specific.

Four of a Kind

Sort sixteen films into four groups. Find the connection that brings each group together.

Timeline

Put five films in order of release. Harder when they came out a few years apart.

Poster Reveal

Identify a film as its poster appears, one tile at a time.

Cinema Quotes

You know the line. Can you name the film?

Cinema Crossword

Solve clues about the films and people you know, and a few you may want to look up afterwards.

Come back for fresh puzzles and try to beat your personal best.

Cinema Passport

See where your film watching has taken you.

Your Cinema Passport brings together the countries and decades you've explored. Use it to revisit a favourite period or find somewhere new to start.

✓See the countries and decades in your viewing history.
✓Get suggestions for areas you haven't explored yet.
✓Tap any gap to see the best films from it.

Amateur Film Student Film Buff Cinephile Film Critic Criterion Scholar

Earn progress towards six ranks as you take part in the app.

Cinema Passport Film Buff

27Countries

11Decades

312Films Seen

Next to explore: a country or decade you haven't watched yet.

Keep it all together

Remember what you watched, and what you thought.

Save films for later, keep your favourites close, and leave yourself a review to come back to. When someone asks for a recommendation, you'll have plenty to share.

✓Keep a watchlist, favourites, ratings, and reviews.
✓Make share cards for your films, reviews, and personal lists.
✓Export collections as PDFs to keep or share.
✓Pick up your library and progress on another signed-in device.

Share Card

Blue Velvet

David Lynch · 1986

“A white picket fence, a severed ear, and a town that keeps smiling through both.”

★★★★★

A Film Canon Pick

Take a look inside

Start with something that interests you.

Read a selection of collections and lessons here for free. Find a film to add to your list or a subject you'd like to know more about.

Film collections

Browse more collections

Cinema lessons

Browse more lessons

Questions

A few things before you download.

Is Film Canon free?

Film Canon is free to download, with some content and features available at no charge. An optional Pro upgrade gives you access to more. Check the app for current upgrade details.

I already know a lot about cinema. Is this for me?

Yes. Collections go deep into national cinemas, movements and individual directors, lessons cover theory and technique as well as history, and the Screening Room lets you compare your reading of a film with other members'. If you're newer to cinema, any collection or lesson is a good place to start.

Can I watch films in Film Canon?

Film Canon helps you discover films, learn about them, and keep track of what you watch. It isn't a streaming service, so you'll need to watch the films elsewhere.

Can I keep a watchlist and write reviews?

Yes. Save films you want to watch, keep favourites, add ratings, and write reviews you can return to later.

Does it sync between devices?

Yes. Sign in and your watchlist, reviews, rankings and progress follow you to any other device you sign in on.

Is Film Canon available on iPhone and Android?

Yes. You can download it from the App Store or Google Play.

Your next film is waiting

What will you watch next?

Start with a collection, a lesson or today's puzzle. Your watchlist, notes and progress stay with you.