I’m saying it, out loud: The original Twilight is one of the best films ever, here’s why

A cold, blue filter has never felt so comforting when it comes to watching Twilight. The 2008 film has always been controversially loved, because there’s no denying that it’s very flawed. But if Twilight taught me anything, it’s that love is unconditional, and I love it for all its terrible acting and scarce plotline. But what is it about Twilight that makes it so rewatchable, so quotable, and so lovable? It’s a lot of things actually – it doesn’t get the genius credit it deserves. Here’s why the original Twilight movie is one of the best films to ever exist.

The soundtrack

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There’s nothing more iconic than hearing the hoa hoa hoa hoa hoaaa of the Twilight soundtrack as Bella walks around Forks. What would Twilight be without spider-monkeying up a tree to Bella’s lullaby, dancing at prom to Flightless Bird/American Mouth, or sucking the blood out of your human girlfriend while your own cover of Let Me Sign plays in the background? These songs weren’t well known before Twilight, and it’s part of the reason why it’s made its impact as one of the best films ever: Twilight made its own genre of music upon its release. What other film soundtrack matches its grungey teenage longing? NONE.

Also, Twilight would lose a good chunk of its aura without Supermassive Black Hole playing while the Cullens play baseball. Seriously, no other movie could ever!!

The dialogue

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Twilight is SUCH a quotable film. Not a day goes by that I don’t say to myself “this is the skin of a killer, Bella.” Everything about the questionable lines stays with you for years after. I will NEVER forget “it’s the fluorescence,” “you’re like my own personal brand of heroin,” and “isn’t it enough just to live a long and happy life with me?”

Yes, these lines are mediocre at best, but 12 year old me was in a chokehold, and chokeholds as strong as 109 year old vampires don’t disappear. Ever.

The *terrible* acting

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We all know Robert Pattinson HATED making the Twilight films. Like actually despised it. He described the script in an interview as “something that should never have been written,” having originally thought it was “fanfiction.” It makes sense that he wasn’t giving it his all, but I can’t say the same for icon Kristen Stewart. Bella Swan is supposed to be an awkward character who makes weird faces and grunts a lot, and boy, did Kristen bring that to life. The acting is bad but it’s because the character is bad, and she basically solidified herself as a comedic genius by playing Bella so well.

The lore

The first Twilight has so much mystery to it, and I’m not just talking about why Bella uses Bing instead of Google as a search engine. I’m talking about Laurent, Victoria and James. I’m talking about Carlisle’s backstory. And of course, I’m talking about Billy Black and the enigma of the werewolves. Twilight only scrapes the surface of all the vampire lore we’re yet to learn, and even people who think Twilight is beneath them are curious about the story of the thousand year old Volturi. The intrigue alone is enough to make you watch the next films.

The female gaze

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There’s a reason why the original Twilight made an unconditional, irrevocable impact on all of us girlies. Catherine Hardwicke, the director of the first Twilight film, was a relatively small indie film director who fell in love with Stephanie Meyer’s book and took on the project. She got the entire film done in around 40 days.

However, around halfway through filming, the book suddenly blew up and became a huge hit with female readers. Because of this, Lionsgate bought the rights to film the rest of the saga, and the big-shot directors got their hands on the scripts. This also meant the first Twilight film would be the only one directed by a woman, so goodbye female gaze and hello 40 minutes of werewolf abs. Although, I can’t complain too much about that.