Everyone loves a film that moves at breakneck speed, but there’s also an undeniable charm to slowing down and taking in every detail of a film at a slower pace. This is the magic of slow-burn cinema. From action to romance to arthouse, there are more exceptional slow-burn films than one can count, but a precious few certainly stand out above the others.
A slow movie doesn’t need to be boring. When great directors nail a more deliberate pace, they’re able to motivate their audience to take things easy and spend more time with the characters, story, and themes. A slow-burning rhythm can bepoetic, meditative, and absolutely hypnotizing. Not everyone is in the mood for slownessallthe time, but when they are, these are the ten movies that should be able to best satisfy that craving, from least to most masterful.
10’Heat' (1995)
Michael Mannhas spent his whole career proving that mainstream thrillers and action films can be beautifully artful, too, but there’s no doubt about what his magnum opus is. Of course, it’sHeat, which, anchored byAl Pacino,Robert De Niro, andVal Kilmerat the top of their games, isone of the greatest action epicsthat Hollywood has ever produced.
A remake of Mann’s television movieL.A. Takedown,Heathas some exemplarily suspenseful action set pieces and adrenaline-pumping heist sequences, butmost of its strength lies in its willingness to slow downbetween those high-stakes moments. Mann takes his sweet time developing these characters and expanding the thematic consequences of this cat-and-mouse game, and that’s precisely what makes this gangster filmalmost as good asThe Godfather.
9’In the Mood for Love' (2000)
Wong Kar-waiis perhaps the most legendary of all Hong Kong filmmakers, and for good reason. His idiosyncratic aesthetics and passion for tales of love and longing are what make him such a beloved director, and nowhere are these qualities better exemplified than inIn the Mood for Love. Wong’s best film to date, it’s the most powerfully bittersweet exploration of the themes that have attracted the auteur throughout his whole career.
In the Mood for Loveis one ofthe best foreign arthouse films ever, exquisitely creative and even more than a bit experimental. Many of Wong’s films can be critiqued for significantly favoring style over substance, but that’s not a label that can be applied to this masterpiece.In the Mood for Loveis amongthe best-ever romantic dramasprecisely thanks to itsbalance between rich substance and enthralling style, and though it’s certainly on the slower side, the strong emotions that it elicits make those 98 minutes fly right by.
8’Persona' (1966)
Ingmar Bergman, master of Swedish cinema, left the world with more masterpieces on his resume than many directors can ever dream of making. It may not be his most iconic movie, but there’s a strong argument to be made in favor ofPersonabeing the director’s best work.Delicately structured and gorgeously surreal, it’s Bergman at both his narrative and stylistic best.
Personademandsfar more thought than your average film, but those willing to pay their full attention to its manyprofound symbols and its deliberately gentle pacingare in for quite the experience.Personaoffers far more questions than it does answers, but that’s exactly what makes it so unforgettable, and it’s exactly why its slow-burn pace feels so perfect.
7’Stalker' (1979)
There are very few bigger masters of slow-burn cinema than the Soviet auteurAndrei Tarkovsky. Although he only managed to make seven narrative feature films before his untimely passing at just 54 years old, those seven are all among the greatest European movies ever made. His oeuvre includes two sci-fi films, the best of which is definitelyStalker, one ofthe best sci-fi movies of all time.
Like all of Tarkovsky’s work,Stalkeroftenflows more like a poem than a traditional film. For the director, cinema was all about sculpting with time to create thought-provoking stories that touched on countless profound themes, and indeed,few films are more thematically densethanStalker. Its prolonged scenes of pure silence and refusal to follow traditional Hollywood tropes can make its pacing excruciating for those less fond of slow-burn cinema, but for those who love it,Stalkeris a must-see.
6’Once Upon a Time in the West' (1968)
The genre of Westerns has had a good number of hugely influential filmmakers, but arguably none of them have been quite as great asSergio Leone. The father of spaghetti Westerns, the Italian director made some of the genre’s greatest and most iconic films, templated for what Westerns would look like in the future.Once Upon a Time in the Westis a spaghetti Western as well, but one that feels significantly different from the rest of Leone’s oeuvre.
Slower-paced and far more reflexivethan, say, the Dollars Trilogy,Once Upon a Time in the Westis a quasi-mythical epic bidding farewell to the Old West. It’s plenty stylish, butlessstylizedthan other Westerns of the era, serving more as a requiem and a swan song than a celebration of the period’s violence and lawlessness. One ofthe best Westerns of all time, it’s a brilliant deconstruction of the genre that wouldn’t be half as great as it is if it weren’t so deliberately paced.
5’Chinatown' (1974)
There’s debate regarding whether film noir was a genre, a film movement, or simply a style born from the trauma of World War II. What’s not up for debate is that it spawned some of the greatest films from Hollywood’s Golden Age, and that its successor, neo-noir, produced just as many equally phenomenal works of art. Among these,Chinatownstands out as the best.
A slower, more elegant pace can get the job done in the noir genre just as well as a fast, suspense-heavy pace.
One of thebest mystery movies of the last 75 years, this exceptional detective drama proves that a slower, more elegant pace can get the job done in this genre just as well as a fast, suspense-heavy pace.Every scene patiently contributes somethingto making the world around protagonist Jake Gittes feel more complex and oppressive. By the end, this slow-burn rhythm rewards the viewer with one of the genre’smost explosive and gut-wrenching third acts.
4'2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968)
Stanley Kubrick, praised by some as the single greatest American filmmaker who has ever lived, made movies that, for the most part, were on the slower side than the average. It’s no coincidence that his slowest-paced film,2001: A Space Odyssey, is also his best. A masterpiece of science fiction and one ofthe most visually stunning movies ever made, it’s proof of just howthoughtful and thought-provoking sci-fican be when placed in the right hands.
2001’s slow-burning pacing is essential to its epic scale and its thematically profound exploration oftechnology, evolution, and the nature of human consciousness. There’s no doubt that it’s a movie that requires one to be in a very particular state of mind in order to fully appreciate its intricacies, but those who tend to enjoy slow sci-fi ought to check out2001if they somehow haven’t already.
3’Jeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles' (1975)
The Belgian arthouse dramaJeanne Dielman, 23 quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxellesis boring. In this particular case, however, that’s not a criticism, but rather a compliment. After all, directorChantal Akermanmade her magnum opusboring by design, showing a widowed housewife going through her daily chores for almost three and a half hours. Those who give Akerman’s style patience will be shocked by how strangely captivating—perhaps even exhilarating—they’ll find a woman peeling potatoes for five minutes to be.
Jeanne Dielmanis acelebration of domestic labor and a critique of the society that makes it invisible. It’s one ofthe best arthouse films ever made, and proof of how fascinating slow-burn cinema can be when its pacing feels like a deliberate artistic choice with tons of thought behind it. Thematically profound and bolstered by a powerhouse lead performance byDelphine Seyrig, it was recently named the greatest film of all time by critics from the British Film Institute’sSight & Soundmagazine. It’s well-deserved recognition.
2’Seven Samurai' (1954)
There are those who would go so far as to callAkira Kurosawathe greatest filmmaker of all time, and it would be hard to blame them. After all, not many directors have as many masterpieces in their filmographies as Kurosawa does, and only someone deserving of the title of “greatest filmmaker of all time” would be able to create a film as complex, entertaining, and artistically admirable asSeven Samurai.
Seven Samuraiis a 207-minute-long action epic, and though that may sound daunting to some, it’s a filmguaranteed to capture the attention of absolutely anyone—no matter what kinds of films they usually enjoy. It’s arguably themost entertaining arthouse film of all time, with a star-studded cast and a thrilling story.Seven Samuraiis one of the most influential movies ever made, and its slow pacing only makes iteasier to get lost in its engrossing worldand the fascinating characters who inhabit it.
1’Andrei Rublev' (1966)
Though Andrei Tarkovsky made masterpiece after masterpiece, every filmmaker has a magnum opus, andAndrei Rublevis Tarkovsky’s. A gorgeous exploration of themes of art, spirituality, humanity, and how those three veins intersect, this historical epic is undoubtedly one ofthe greatest films of all time. At nearly three and a half hours long, it’s its director’s longest movie—and it’sworth every second of patience that its slow-burning pacing demands.
Andrei Rublevmakes the history of Russia and theEastern Orthodox Church absolutely fascinating, and its universally gripping themes and story are a delight. This is slow-burn cinema at its best, using itsmethodical sense of rhythm to expand the scope of its themes and symbols, to slowly enrapture the audience, and to prove that art is at its most thought-provoking when it’s not in a rush.
