No stomach for three hours of weeping hobbits? These films get the job done in half the time
We all love an epic movie now and again, but sometimes you just don’t want to sit through two and a half hours of tedious exposition, big robots punching each other or little people rambling through the countryside. To that end, we’ve assembled a collection of the best short movies that don’t muck about, all available on some of the best streaming services.
In such times, you want a film that gets the job done in 90 minutes. The hour-and-a-half sweet spot is ideal for weeknight watching and – as the following list shows – it’s perfectly possible to tell a gripping, thought-provoking and all-round entertaining story working within such time constraints.
NB: some of best short movies runtimes shown below may be slightly above 90 minutes, but before shooting us an angry email please note that this includes the end credits. Skip those and you’ll be in and out in under an hour and a half, trust us.
Additional words by Tom Wiggins, Matt Tate and Natalya Paul
This is Spinal Tap
The original mockumentary – and arguably still the best around. Rob Reiner’s seminal 1984 comedy follows the exploits of Spinal Tap, a spandex-clad British hard rock band long past their prime but looking to make it back into the big time. The fact that it’s all played with a straight bat makes the ridiculousness of it all that much more effective.
Co-writers Christopher Guest, Michael McKean and Harry Shearer play the principal members, not only improvising some of the funniest on-screen interviews ever committed to celluloid, but performing the band’s ludicrous songs (including such classics as “Tonight I’m Gonna Rock You Tonight”, “Sex Farm” and “Big Bottom”). An iconic comedy that never outstays its welcome.
Running time: 82 minutes
Watch This is Spinal Tap on BBC iPlayer
The Fog (1980)
John Carpenter not only directed and co-wrote this rollicking supernatural slasher movie – he also composed and performed the moody synth score, which succeeds in quickly establishing a permanent state of creeping tension. When a thick bank of fog rolls in from the sea, it’s not just low visibility that the residents of Antonio Bay need to worry about. There’s also a band of hook-wielding zombie sailors lurking in the pea-souper, their minds fixed on righteous vengeance.
Like so many horror films of its time, it’s since been rebooted (very badly), but the original remains an enjoyable and brisk watch – even if it doesn’t hit the heights of Carpenter’s other early horror classics The Thing and Halloween.
Running time: 89 minutes
Watch The Fog on Now
Evil Dead (2013)
Evil Dead has already been remade once by original writer-director Sam Raimi (Evil Dead 2 being basically a better budget reworking of his ultra-indie debut), but this slick Sony Pictures attempt is an entirely different beast – albeit one born from the same DNA and a similar setup: a bunch of attractive young people decamp to a remote forest cabin and unwittingly awake something ancient, angry and deadly – if not without a wicked sense of humour. Cue demonic possession, gallons of gore and a life-and-death battle against evil itself. Despite all the violence and terror, there’s something so OTT about Evil Dead that it never feels anything less than fun.
Running time: 91 minutes
Watch Evil Dead on Netflix
Watch Evil Dead on Shudder (Prime Video channel)
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Andy Samberg and his Lonely Island cohorts Jorma Taccone and Akiva Schaffer bring their brand of humour – previously confined to YouTube, the occasional Saturday Night Live sketch and their records – to the big screen in this unjustly overlooked mockumentary about egomaniacal pop star Conner4Real.
With old friends side-lined or cut out of his life altogether, Conner’s life and career spiral into disaster as his second album flops – which of course, makes for an entertaining ride. The cameos from dozens of real-life celebrities like Snoop Dogg, Seal and Paul McCartney add plenty of spice to the mix, while the songs themselves manage to be as catchy as genuine pop bangers – while being utterly hilarious to boot.
Running time: 87 minutes
Watch Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping on Now Cinema
Airplane!
Released back in 1980, Airplane! is a parody of the various disaster movies popular at the time – but unlike most parodies (Scary Movie, we’re looking at you), it manages to be consistently hilarious. In fact, it’s regularly rated one of the best comedy films ever made.
When food poisoning takes out the crew of an LA to Chicago flight, a former air force pilot might be the only person on board who can avert a catastrophe. Trouble is, wartime trauma has left him with a crippling fear of flying, so getting him back behind a joystick is going to require something truly remarkable.
With sight gags and slapstick galore, plus a host of hitherto non-comedic actors like Robert Stack, Lloyd Bridges and Leslie Nielsen subverting their straight man reputations, Airplane! forms the template for later classics like The Naked Gun and Hot Shots! (both of which were made by the same team). But it stands alone as a pioneering classic – and a movie that still nails its cues over 40 years later.
Running time: 88 minutes
Watch Airplane! on Paramount+
Shiva Baby
Clocking in at a beautifully brief 78 minutes, Emma Seligman’s directorial debut is a witty, acerbic and sex-positive indie drama set at a shiva – a day-long mourning event in the Jewish faith. Struggling college student Danielle (Rachel Sennott) arrives with her parents, only to discover that also in attendance are not only her ex-girlfriend but her current sugar daddy – and his wife and new baby. ‘Awkward’ doesn’t being to describe it.
Running time: 78 minutes
Watch Shiva Baby on MUBI
Commando
This delightfully over-the-top action movie ticks off just about every 1980s Hollywood cliché as former special forces soldier John Matrix (Arnold Schwarzenegger in one of his best early-career appearances) takes on a ruthless Central American dictator’s entire army single-handedly.
Commando has it all: explosions, punch-ups, car chases, improper use of garden tools, a gaggle of scenery-chewing villains and lots and lots of bullets. Schwarzenegger proves himself a vital and arresting screen star in spite of his slightly stilted acting (he’s much better in Predator, which followed soon after); his sheer physical presence is more than enough to carry this brilliantly entertaining romp home.
Running time: 90 minutes
Watch Commando on Disney+
Cloverfield
Cloverfield was perhaps the zenith of the “found footage” sub-genre of horror – and sure, it’s a patchy one, with every decent effort (1999’s The Blair Witch Project) seemingly matched by a dreadful one (2016’s Blair Witch).
But Cloverfield succeeds by taking the concept and conceit – that the viewer is watching real-life footage of the events, recovered after the fact – beyond its low-budget roots by setting the movie not in a creepy forest or secluded farmhouse, but in New York during a massive, initially mysterious disaster. So the viewer essentially gets a first-person view of the apocalypse, complete with gory deaths, collapsing buildings and much, much worse. It’s a fun ride while it lasts, but those who suffer from motion sickness might well have to check out early – Abrams does love his shakicam footage.
Running time: 85 minutes
Watch Cloverfield on Paramount+
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974)
One of the all-time horror greats, this low-budget, lo-fi bombshell clips along at a brisk pace – but never feels rushed. After an introductory voice-over hints at the carnage to come, director Tobe Hooper rachets up the tension as a gang of road-tripping teenagers get side-tracked on a rural Texas highway. To reveal more would risk ruining the delectable shocks to come, but it’s probably not spoiling anything to say that, yes, some unconventional use of lumberjack gear does take place. Ghoulishly great stuff.
Running time: 83 minutes
Watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on BFI Player
Watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on Shudder
Planes, Trains and Automobiles
A holiday favourite from way back in the 1980s, this hilarious and heart-warming road movie stars Steve Martin and John Candy as travellers forced to team up in order to get home in time for the Thanksgiving turkey dinner. Martin shines as the uptight middle-class straight man, the total inverse to Candy’s brash, motor-mouthed shower curtain ring salesman – so it’s no surprise when their journey turns into a series of clashes and arguments. It all ends on a positive note, of course, which is probably why this film has become something of a classic of its time. It’s certainly among the late Candy’s best movies.
Running time: 93 minutes
Watch Planes, Trains and Automobiles on Paramount+
Creep
This micro-budget indie flick follows a videographer hired for a mysterious job – one that initially seems simple but turns out to be anything but.
With a lean cast (it’s basically a two-hander starring writer/director Patrick Brice and co-writer Mark Duplass – yes, he of mumblecore movie fame) and a leaner 77-minute running time, Creep relies more on mood and tone than special effects or gore – and it’s well worth sticking around until the shocker of a conclusion.
Running time: 82 minutes
Watch Creep on Netflix
The Blair Witch Project
It wasn’t the first horror movie to utilise the found footage angle (or “gimmick” as some might say) but The Blair Witch Project was the first to break into the mainstream. A true box office phenomenon, its success was partly due to a marketing campaign that hinted at the movie being a true story. Was this real-life footage we were watching, cobbled together from tapes discovered after a trio of college film students vanished in the Maryland woods?
Of course it wasn’t – but the lo-fi handheld footage, unknown cast and their convincing sense of escalating panic as they realise they may not be alone in the forest all serve to create a disturbingly authentic feel. In the years since its release we’ve been deluged with similar films but this remains one of the best, and creepiest, examples.
Running time: 81 minutes
Watch The Blair Witch Project on Now Cinema
Palm Springs
Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti, two strangers who happen to be guests at the same wedding, find themselves trapped in an infinite time loop in this offbeat romcom. If they fall asleep or die, they wake up and have to live the entire day through again. The pair decide to make the most of this temporal purgatory, indulging in wilder and wilder behaviour safe in the knowledge that whatever happens, they’ll just end up back at square one. Life, it seems, has truly become meaningless.
If might sound like a cliched concept, but Palm Springs feels different by dint of focussing on a pair of people rather than just one. The chemistry and tensions between the two keep the film involving – and it’s very funny to boot.
Running time: 90 minutes
Watch Palm Springs on Amazon Prime Video
Paranormal Activity
Made on a shoestring budget and running with the “found footage” angle that was already long in the tooth by its release in 2009, Paranormal Activity can still put the willies up all but the hardiest viewer.
The story centres on a woman who believes she’s been haunted by some kind of supernatural presence since her childhood. A psychic warns her and her boyfriend against attempting to communicate with the presence – advice which, of course, they immediately ignore. Cue minor creepy occurrences captured on grainy night vision video, gradually ramping up to the point that you’ll be going to bed with the lights on.
Running time: 86 minutes
Watch Paranormal Activity on Prime Video
Watch Paranormal Activity on Now
My Neighbor Totoro
Being wholesome and emotional without straying into cloying sentimental is a tough task, but it’s one Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki have nailed time and time again. 1988’s My Neighbor Totoro is a prime example.
This film about a pair of young sisters who move into a new house and befriend a forest spirit in rural post-war Japan really does have something for everyone: an overarching sense of wonder; hand-painted bucolic beauty; a touching depiction of family life; a soaring score from the masterful Joe Hisaishi; and of course the titular Totoro, a now-iconic Ghibli character representing… well, all sorts of things if you care to think about it.
Running time: 87 minutes
Watch My Neighbor Totoro on Netflix
The Lion King
Hmm…not sure how much we really need to say about this one. It’s arguably Disney’s most beloved film of all time, Elton John did the music, and it features Rowan Atkinson as a sardonic talking bird. And that’s before we get to quite possibly the most traumatic death scene in any film, live action or animated. It’s The Lion King, you know? It’s good.
As you probably know, Simba’s coming-of-age battle to take his rightful place as King of the Pride Lands has been semi-recently remade using cutting edge CGI, but somehow lost everything that made the original so special in the process. If you want to revisit this timeless masterpiece, watch the 1994 version. And because you’re reading this article, we’re going to assume that you’ll appreciate the 30 minutes shorter runtime, too.
Running time: 89 minutes
Watch The Lion King on Disney+
Porco Rosso
Another tightly paced Ghibli classic, Porco Rosso is set in the 1930s Adriatic – a place where airborne pirates harass tourist cruises until they’re seen off by our titular hero. He’s a louche, middle-aged Italian pilot who has (for reasons never truly explained) been cursed with the face of a pig. When the pirates hire a brash American fighter ace to take Porco out of the picture, his simple life is turned upside down.
With all this set against the backdrop of rising Italian fascism, Porco Rosso is richly served with thoughtful subtext and themes; as with all Ghibli films, these don’t smash you over the head with a metaphorical hammer, but reveal themselves through the story and its wonderful characters.
Running time: 94 minutes
Watch Porco Rosso on Netflix
Toy Story
People will always argue about which Toy Story film is the best, but nobody can dispute that the first is the most significant. The first entirely computer-animated feature-film and the film that launched Pixar as a studio, Toy Story is about as landmark as movies get.
For those who have been living peacefully under a rock for the last 25+ years, the film follows a gang of toys that come to life when humans leave the room. Their ringleader, a cowboy named Woody, is the favoured plaything of his owner Andy until the arrival of Buzz, a delusional action figure who believes he’s a real space ranger. The two fierce rivals eventually have to team up when they become separated from Andy, and the adventure that follows is as epic, dazzlingly inventive and yes, tear-jerking, as it was back in the mid-’90s.
Running time: 81 minutes
Watch Toy Story on Disney+
Attack the Block
Aliens arrive on Earth with bad intentions. Said aliens decide to land in a South London housing estate – and find out that South London housing estates are full of their own kind of hazards.
By refusing to cast judgement on the actions of its teenage protagonists (which include Star Wars‘ John Boyega in his breakthrough role), Attack the Block leaves you free to make up your own mind – though you’ll probably be too wrapped up in the action to bother. Directed by Joe Cornish, it’s by turns scary, funny and very cool.
Running time: 88 minutes
Watch Attack the Block on Netflix
What We Do in the Shadows
Taika Waititi’s outstanding mockumentary about a bunch of house-sharing New Zealand vampires really hits the horror-comedy spot – and doesn’t hang about while doing so. With plenty of laughs mined from the awkwardness of being a neurotic immortal living in the modern world, it’s certainly leaning more towards the comic side of the spectrum, but it’s not lacking in genuine moments of creepiness. If you’re a fan of This Is Spinal Tap as well as Interview with the Vampire, this is one movie to get your teeth into.
Running time: 87 minutes
Watch What We Do in the Shadows on BBC iPlayer
Watch What We Do in the Shadows on Shudder
Ghost in the Shell (1995)
Set in 2029, this iconic anime movie (adapted from the manga by Masamune Shirow) follows a cyborg agent in her attempts to track down the Puppet Master, a hacker able to manipulate people’s personalities and memories.
Ghost in the Shell not only looks gorgeous, being one of the first films to combine cell animation with CGI, but also raises interesting questions about the nature of human identity in an increasingly tech-dominated world. A true cyberpunk classic – and this original animated version is far superior to the 2017 live-action remake starring Scarlett Johansson.
Running time: 82 minutes
Watch Ghost in the Shell on ITVX
Watch Ghost in the Shell on Mubi
Watch Ghost in the Shell on Funimation
Watch Ghost in the Shell on Prime Video
20 Feet from Stardom
This Oscar-winning documentary turns its stage lights onto a key (and all too often overlooked) contributor to pop music: the backing singer. Based entirely around interviews with performers, producers and the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Mick Jagger and Sting, 20 Feet from Stardom is an enlightening exploration of the lives of some of the most hardworking and talented professionals in the music industry – people who share a stage with global superstars night after night without a single audience member knowing their name.
Running time: 90 minutes
Watch 20 Feet from Stardom on Prime Video
My Octopus Teacher
If all you know about octopuses is how tasty they are when turned into takoyaki, Craig Foster’s captivating Netflix documentary might just make you change your order next time you go out for sushi.
The film follows a year in the conservationist’s life, in which he took a daily dip among the kelp off the coast of Simon’s Town in South Africa. It’s among this forest of marine foliage that Foster forms an unlikely inter-species bond with an unnamed female cephalopod and, with the help of a world-class underwater cameraman, captures some of her species’ truly mind-blowing skills, characteristics and behaviour on film. It gets a bit schmaltzy towards the end, but as an insight into the life and world of a creature that wouldn’t be out of place in a sci-fi movie, it’s truly fascinating.
Running time: 84 minutes
Watch My Octopus Teacher on Netflix
Frances Ha
Greta Gerwig’s Frances is a late-20s New Yorker, full of dreams of making it in the big city but lacking the talent or drive to actually make anything happen. Instead, she latches onto her best friend as a crutch, and when that route comes to nothing she’s finally forced to look inwards and make some difficult choices. Noah Baumbach’s black-and-white film sounds arty and arch, but it’s sweet, funny and involving, all buoyed along by Gerwig’s wonderful performance.
Running time: 86 minutes
Watch Frances Ha on Prime Video
Watch Frances Ha on BFI Player
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