Lights, Camera, And Make It Memeable!
Written by Esther Smith
It’s impossible to browse the internet without coming across some form of meme. Back in the day, these used to be easy to spot: grumpy cat, rage comics, and there was even a debate on how to pronounce the word (in the end we settled on meem but there was a period where people would say me-me or may-may). There’s a whole website that gives you the history of viral memes and how they’ve changed over time – handy if you want to seem hip, cool, and young. Which, of course, I am.
But the days of He-Man singing have passed and the concept of Rickrolling makes my arm hair stand in cringe. Much like Pokémon, these memes have evolved and now we have 4 Non Blonde’s What’s Up? remixed with Nicki Minaj’s Beez In The Trap and the meme of Josh Hutcherson with Whistle by Flo Rida taking over our feeds when we least expect it. As fast as the internet grows, so does the culture: the meme cycle grows at a rapid rate but dies quickly as the attention is turned into the next viral moment. If you want to cash in on a trend, it’s better to do it sooner rather than later.
The way we respond to art influences what is created next; as memes have been around for decades, it’s only fair to assume they’d adapt alongside the way we use the internet. Yes, prepare yourself for another TikTok link filled article as I dive into the world of memes: influenced, remixed, and inspired by film.
Films Are So Memeable
I’d say you would have to be living under a rock to never see a meme from a film before, even if you’re adverse to social media you’ve most likely seen at least one of these memes somewhere in your life. Life as we know it is all down to taking something we know and building onto it, society is just one big game of yes, and… – while trends rise and fall quickly, internet culture has the power to keep something alive as much as it wants to.
When it comes to memes, these are small moments that could be used in reaction to a conversation, or if you’re creative, used as a tool to build onto an existing meme. It would be difficult for me to cram in as many film memes as I could into this article; they really are everywhere. Snippets from films are particularly influential because they have the ability to be understood without seeing the full context of which it had been created – some films are known more for their memes rather than their story.
But when you don’t know the context behind a meme and use it purely for laughs, ignorance is bliss. While a TV show and not a film, a scene from Breaking Bad went viral and proved to be prime meme material – but when you understand the context behind it (Spoiler: Walt just witnessed his brother-in-law’s execution), it seems a little dark to meme a horrifying moment, right? In fact, there are many memes you may have come across that originate from dark storylines.
Sometimes it’s not dark origins, but cultural origins: the Bye, Felisha meme and the Damn reaction GIF from Friday (1995) became popular but while these memes are used by a wider audience, they feed into the existing conversation of cultural appropriation and a newly developed concept: Digital Blackface.
Memes are supposed to be lighthearted, funny, and meant to be used freely – but when the original context is not known, it could end up watering down the actual meaning, or doing unintentional harm. Use memes with care, everybody.
Film memes are not always from past releases, new films are a hotbed for creative takes, and every third or fourth TikTok I’m landing on currently (July/August 2026) proves this. Some have been resurfaced after laying in waiting; As Nolan Intended – a reference to the director’s love for IMAX that’s spawned countless TikToks that poke fun or mock his vision. Even the official Instagram page for UK’s Labour Party has joined in; the meme has transcended “traditional” matters and now companies are using it to blend in with internet culture. Although I would argue Cineworld gets a pass for this one as it directly relates to the services they provide.
If it’s not enough to meme Nolan, it’s simply The Odyssey (2026) itself, with a clever rendition of a Lin-Manuel Miranda style musical. And to no one’s surprise at all, an edit with SpongeBob characters.
And sometimes the film doesn’t even need to be released before memes are flying over the internet. Wicker (2026) has just released their trailer and with it… quite the response: from fawning over the character to predicting new fashion trends – trust me when I say these were the tamest examples I could link without having the age rating of this article jumping up, but I’ve also written about non-human characters that the internet deem attractive if your curiosity has been awakened. I’m predicting a new wave of memes taking over our feeds by the film’s release, just a heads up.
But wait, it doesn’t end there! Internet memes have also been used in films and TV shows. Remember the rage comic I referenced earlier? One of its characters, troll face, made an appearance in season 3 of Black Mirror’s episode titled Shut Up and Dance. Memes were also heavily present in Ralph Breaks The Internet (2018). Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) references the 3 characters pointing at each other, an image that originally appeared in the 1967 animation that became a meme – although it’s fairly subtle in the film compared to the marketing image. How about something a little more obvious? Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever (2014) is… you guessed it, a film which entirely stemmed from a hugely popular internet meme.
While fans were ecstatic over the Spider-Man: No Way Home meme reference, reviews for Grumpy Cat’s Worst Christmas Ever are mixed. The reality is balancing meme culture and film will always be difficult, and audiences will know if it’s forced and they can tell when filmmakers are trying to appeal to a younger generation. You can try and mix business with pleasure but fair warning: results may vary and the desired outcome is not guaranteed.
We've Gotta Get With The Times
There used to be a set formula when it came to marketing films but a new generation means new beginnings. The team behind Beetlejuice Beetlejuice (2024) embraced meme culture by using their online platforms to rework already-popular images, videos, and audio to their advantage – it’s not the only film to do this because it seems to be the way to go now. As the way we interact with technology evolves, so does the way companies and corporations use it to advertise to us. And if it’s not companies, it’s the cast themselves: recently, Lili Reinhart has used her TikTok to drum up the hype for the upcoming film adaptation of The Love Hypothesis (2026) by using a trending audio from a PinkPantheress song in meme form. (As someone who is very excited about the film, she really knows how to cater to her audience.)
This phenomenon dates further back, but it saw an unprecedented boom in 2023 with Barbenheimer; it spawned endless memes and audiences seemed to be more excited about taking part in their own double-bill rather than the films themselves. And as much as I pride myself for resisting the herd mentality when it comes to trends, I even found myself wanting to jump on the bandwagon. It proved so popular that it’s seen as a case study on modern movie marketing; and we are seeing its effect trickling down through the years.
But if the public aren’t generating memes off their own backs, you can always incentivise them. It turns out you don’t need to be a TV star or socialite to negotiate a brand deal, it can happen from the comfort of your bedroom. Popular Instagram account @greatbritish.memes with 2.9 million followers has utilised their account to advertise for brands while keeping in line with their image. And there’s even Reddit threads that go into the financial side of this side of marketing if you wanted to use someone’s platform to gain traction.
It makes it difficult, as an audience member, to see if the hype is authentic or manufactured. We’re naturally more likely to take a recommendation from someone we trust rather than a paid advertisement; they are two entirely different things. But sometimes creators hide the fact their content is an advert and it means the lines can get a little blurry; Curt Golden highlights the issue with influencers being invited to film screenings and the video not being labeled as an advert or a gifted experience.
It’s also worth noting that, while not a meme, fan edits/fan cams hold a lot of marketing power – and no I’m not talking about the original meaning of a fan edit, I’m referring to the new style. Powered by love and with the help of easily-accessibly editing software like CapCut, you can find quick, snappy, eye-catching edits of… just about anything: including cheese. There’s a plethora of fan edits of films out there and they’re quite addicting, and you know what? It’s making me want to watch these films. See, free promotion, done entirely by fans.
These can also serve as portfolios and open up bigger doors: Lionsgate secured 15 people who created TikTok edits and has embraced this new way of marketing – including memes. More recently, a viral edit of the hit TV show Heated Rivalry took the platform by storm and landed them a job at HBO. The amount of work fans put into their passion has not gone unnoticed from other people.
Is The Meme Landscape About To Change?
So, clearly memes are the way forward with film marketing and popularity and we should all just… get on board? If only it was that simple!
While companies are utilising internet culture for their branding, audiences do not always receive this well – and even have their own meme against brands. It loops back to disingenuity, many people on the internet are not paid for their memes, jokes, or trends and these stem from a place of creativity and love. When companies hop on a viral moment, it can feel like they’re forcing themselves to stay relevant or even come too late as the trend is already dead or on its way out – an unfortunate consequence of having to go through their legal team before posting. When meme cycles are short-lived, it can be difficult for film marketing teams to adhere to the trends without getting pushed out; either by audiences or legal teams.
And because social media is changing, so are laws: the UK government has announced a social media ban for under 16s and restrictions on those ages 16 & 17 (oh, you are so lucky this is a blog about film and not politics because I could write about this for days). The ban has already been in effect for Australia and results have been mixed, but other countries are looking to follow suit.
Debating aside, we can all agree this will change how the meme landscape will look as teenagers are a core demographic for this content, especially since A Minecraft Movie (2025) had a huge viral trend during its theatrical release. How this will impact the film marketing landscape we have to see, but there will most certainly be a change.
In my rare defence of teenagers: they made fan cams & fan accounts, they made internet stars successful, and even made YouTube videos at 16 years old before directing Backrooms (2026) and making it A24’s highest grossing film – this demographic does have a creative bone and they do contribute to the internet community. It’s clear there will be a change when we look at memes and internet virality, both good and bad. Their lack of presence is going to be noticeable but to what degree we won’t know for perhaps up to a decade.
The Meme Catalogue For Short Film Is Empty
So we’ve established that memes hold a lot of power when it comes to feature films but what about short films? The answer is a little complicated. Short films don’t follow the traditional distribution path as feature films and therefore, are not widely accessible unless they are available to watch online without a paywall. And without this distribution, the general public don’t have the same understanding of short films as they would with features: these two points serve as the foundation for the drought in meme-ability.
In fact the only meme I recall that has specifically come from a short film is this gif that is occasionally used for reactions and originates from Lights Out (2013). The film was readily available online and had the luck of going viral so naturally those hurdles I’ve mentioned were not there.
Throughout my time here at Festival Formula I’ve seen plenty of short films and only a handful of these have moments that we could deem meme-able – but I’m happy they’re not. While memes are obviously a fantastic tool for marketing, it has potential to take value away from the story. Like I said earlier, the meme from Breaking Bad is so viral we don’t even think about the context anymore. Aside from that, watching a film and seeing a viral meme in it can sometimes make you react like that Leonardo DiCaprio meme in Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019) – which is ironic if you think about it.
When we live in a fast world where sites are fighting for our attention, videos are becoming snappier, creators are making an effort to hold our attention for their view counts, and the ability to put videos in 2X speed is becoming widely available (guilty as charged, shh), it makes me appreciate what short film offers us: carefully crafted stories, curated thoughtfully by passionate programmers, and loved by the community around us.
Not everything needs to be a viral meme or a reaction GIF. Connecting with a story without thinking a scene would make a killer comeback in a group chat is a huge win for the short film community and instead, we can live in the moment and appreciate what is unfolding before us.
A Fresh Outlook
When I first pitched the idea of writing this it was because I finally had a professional excuse for my egregious screen time and to share a slice of my FYP… but I’ve realised there’s so much more to memes than a cheap laugh and a lazy scroll.
Film and television has contributed so much to meme culture – the majority being unintentional – and has brought everyone together. There’s building a community, yes, but with losing the emotional context, ignoring the cultural origins, or wielding memes as a marketing tool, these slices of entertainment are just another way to grab our attention for just a few moments before we move onto the next big thing.
Let me clarify: there is nothing wrong with enjoying memes (otherwise I’d be out of a hobby) but knowing where they come from and how they’re used is another step to understanding the wider landscape of the internet: everything feeds into each other one way or another.
And if you’re all meme’d out after this, go watch a short film – you’re free from the memepocalypse there.
