Movies are getting longer and longer. Marvel movies last 2.5 hours, Scorsese makes things that are 3.5 hours, and Nolan thinks 3 hours is the new standard. Sometimes you just want to watch something without blocking your calendar. These fifteen films all last less than 90 minutes and prove that you don’t need an endless runtime to make something good. Some are classics, others are obscure, but they share one thing: they don’t waste a single second.
10. Attack the Block (2011) – 88 minutes
John Boyega is 18 and plays Moses, a teenager in a London housing estate who fights aliens with swords and fireworks. The extraterrestrials are gorilla-like things with neon teeth. Nick Frost has a cameo as a drug dealer. The budget was £8 million, but it looks like it cost twice as much.
9. The Guilty (2018) – 85 minutes
This tense Danish thriller takes place entirely in an emergency call center. Jakob Cedergren is a police officer who takes emergency calls and receives a call from a kidnapped woman. The whole film is him on the phone. You never see what happens, only his face as he realizes what is truly going on. Jake Gyllenhaal made an American remake in 2021 that is okay, but it doesn’t surpass this film.
8. What We Do in the Shadows (2014) – 85 minutes
Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement make a mockumentary about vampires living together in Wellington. Viago (Waititi) is the proper one, Vladislav (Clement) is the ex-torturer, Deacon is a young vampire, and Petyr is 8000 years old and lives in the basement. They argue about washing dishes, go to nightclubs, and try to bite people.
7. Toy Story (1995) – 81 minutes
The first fully computer-animated film ever. Pixar barely existed, and Disney had no confidence in the project. Tom Hanks is Woody, and Tim Allen is Buzz Lightyear. The story is simple—toys are jealous of a new toy—but the execution is perfect. The animation looks dated now, but the story still works.
6. Once (2007) – 86 minutes
An Irish musical film that looks like a documentary. Glen Hansard is a street musician, and Markéta Irglová is a Czech immigrant. They meet, make music, and fall for each other without ever explicitly saying it. The budget was €130,000, and it won an Oscar for “Falling Slowly.” The scene where they play together for the first time in a music store is magic.
5. The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993) – 76 minutes
Tim Burton produced, and Henry Selick directed. Jack Skellington is the Pumpkin King of Halloween Town, finds Christmas Town, and decides to take over Christmas. Danny Elfman wrote the soundtrack and provides Jack’s singing voice.
4. My Neighbor Totoro (1988) – 86 minutes
Hayao Miyazaki makes the purest thing in existence. Two girls move to the countryside while their mother is sick in the hospital and meet forest creatures, including Totoro—a giant fluffy spirit. There is no real antagonist, no danger, only children discovering nature. Studio Ghibli exists because this film was made.
3. Perfect Blue (1997) – 81 minutes
The debut of the great Satoshi Kon. Mima Kirigoe leaves her J-pop group to become an actress and begins to lose her grip on reality. A stalker follows her, people die, and she no longer knows what is real. Darren Aronofsky bought the rights to recreate scenes shot-for-shot in “Requiem for a Dream” and “Black Swan.”
2. Before Sunset (2004) – 80 minutes
Richard Linklater’s sequel to “Before Sunrise.” Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and Céline (Julie Delpy) meet nine years later in Paris. He has written a book about their night together, and she comes to his reading. They have 80 minutes before his flight departs. The entire film is them walking through Paris and talking—about their lives, relationships, and regrets. It ends with one of the best final lines ever.
1. The Lion King (1994) – 88 minutes
Disney’s greatest animated film. Simba sees his father die, flees, grows up with Timon and Pumbaa, and returns to defeat Scar. It is Hamlet but with lions. The opening with “Circle of Life” is iconic, and Mufasa’s death traumatized a whole generation of children.
