Movies: They’re too friggin’ long these days. Whether it’s a new blockbuster film in theatres demanding two and a half hours or more of your time, or a new streaming prestige piece from a notable auteur that reaches peaks of four hours, every contemporary filmmaker seems to have agreed that longer is better. How and why did this trend happen? Why do directors wish to test our patience – and bladders – so intensely? What happened to the particular pleasures of a tightly-paced film that gets in, says what it needs to say, and gets out? Who has the time to watch these long-ass movies all day?
If you, like me, love spending your leisure time with a good movie, but don’t have a ton of leisure time to spare, I’ve got your back with a list of some of the best movies available to stream right now – that happen to be 90 minutes or less. These flicks are proof that you can do a lot with a little, and are the perfect entertainment choice for those whose schedules are crammed enough as is. Here are the best 90 minutes or less movies you can stream right now. Because we all wanna watch a good movie – but who has the time?
I Lost My Body
Streaming on: Netflix
Length: 81 minutes
Director: Jérémy Clapin
Writers: Jérémy Clapin, Guillaume Laurant
Cast: Hakim Faris, Victoire du Bois, Patrick d’Assumçao
Remember theDevon Sawa/Seth Green/Jessica Albacult-horror-comedyIdle Hands? Ever wish it was reimagined as a tight, French animated film aching with equal parts style and pathos? Your very specific wishes have been granted in the form ofI Lost My Body, a beautiful Netflix-acquired Cannes sensation. Naoufel is a young man whose parents died in a car accident. Since then, he’s lived a life of unfulfilled potential and quiet ennui – oh, and also his severed hand is alive and trying to reconnect itself to its owner.I Lost My Bodyis a peculiar mix of tones, stories, and moods, combining the visual splendor and scale of classic animated adventures with the philosophical discussions and quiet self-actualizations you might find in a live-action indie drama. If you’re a fan of the idiosyncratic French animated works ofSylvain Chomet– yourThe Triplets of Bellevilles, yourThe Illusionists –I Lost My Bodymight scratch that particular itch for you, while fostering its own, wholly unique identity for a new filmmaker to watch,Jérémy Clapin.
Paris Is Burning
Length: 78 minutes
Director: Jennie Livingston
Cast: Dorian Corey, Pepper LaBeija, Venus Xtravaganza, Octavia St. Laurent, Willi Ninja, Angie Xtravaganza, Sol Pendavis, Freddie Pendavis, Junior Labeija, Paris Dupree
Made in 1990,Paris Is Burningis a key piece of viewing not just for its importance within the LGBTQ+ cinema canon, but for its remarkable examination of such a vital piece of human history that will educate any viewer. The documentary, from filmmakerJennie Livingston, follows drag performers in the New York ball scene. If you’ve ever watchedRuPaul’s Drag Race, used words like “shade” casually, or vogued on a dance floor, you owe it to yourself to educate yourself on the context of these now-ubiquitous cultural mainstays. All of these and more come from these eternally underappreciated LGBTQ+ performers of color, and watching them perform with each other, dissect each other’s work, and celebrate the hell out of each other is thrilling and invigorating. The film also delves into the multiple tragedies so monstrously inherent in the late ‘80s/early ‘90s LGBTQ+ experience, from the AIDS crisis to the demonization of sex work to the swift reactions from homophobic families.Paris Is Burning, for all its 78 quick minutes, is a work of remarkable complexities, joys, despairs, and howls for acceptance.
Streaming on: Netflix, Kanopy
Length: 85 minutes
Director/Writer: Steven Knight
Cast: Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman, Ruth Wilson, Andrew Scott, Ben Daniels, Tom Holland, Bill Milner
Lockeis a one-man show – kind of. You only ever seeTom Hardyin the film, as the title role, a construction worker with all kinds of complicated problems. But he speaks to a litany of folks over the phone, played by well-known British performers likeOlivia Colman,Andrew Scott, andTom Holland. These conversations all guide us through the utterly human foibles and concerns of Locke, a man attempting to do the right thing in reaction to doing what might objectively be considered “the wrong thing.” Or is it? Writer/directorSteven Knightlays it all out on the line in this fascinating drama, never once cutting away from Locke’s car or from his star, the eminently watchable Hardy. And while real-time closed-room thriller narratives are often used in genre affairs (i.e.Saw,Cube,Buried), the domain ofLocke’s drama stays wholly in the real world. If you’re concerned with cinema’s lack of interest in small, human stories,Lockeis the perfectly streamable antidote.
Frances Ha
Streaming on: Netflix, The Criterion Channel
Length: 86 minutes
Director: Noah Baumbach
Writers: Noah Baumbach, Greta Gerwig
Cast: Greta Gerwig, Mickey Sumner, Adam Driver, Michael Zegen
Yes,Marriage Storyis a very goodNoah Baumbachfilm available for streaming on Netflix. But, it’s also very depressing. And, kinda long, at 2 hours and 16 minutes. What if you want a slice of Baumbach that’s lighter, tighter, and full of thatGreta Gerwigspirit? Allow me to introduce you toFrances Ha, a bustling and fluffy (in the best sense of the term) dramedy rendered in glorious black and white. Gerwig (Lady Bird,Little Women) co-wrote the film with Baumbach, her husband, and she adds a lot of welcome optimism to his often misanthropic worldview. She plays the titular Frances, a struggling dancer who does her best to keep floating through life when life keeps throwing her curveballs. If you’re not into “New York stories of white people just trying to get by,”Frances Hamight miss you. But if you’re into “goodNew York stories of white people just trying to get by,” or are at least open-minded to one being good, you will find much to enjoy aboutFrances Ha, a film with simpler, lovelier charms than its acid-tongued brethren.
Length: 80 minutes
Director: Patrick Brice
Writers: Mark Duplass, Patrick Brice
Cast: Mark Duplass, Desiree Akhavan, Karan Soni
The originalCreep, also under 90 minutes, also available on Netflix, is a skin-crawlingly icky found footage horror-comedy about the perils of masculinity, obsession, and storytelling. It is well worth your time. And yet, it’s bested handily by its sequel, a true horror masterpiece for the 21st century.Mark Duplassreturns as our identity-hopping serial killer, keen on documenting his crimes as a kind of voyeuristic look into the soul masquerading as an attempt at fostering friendship (the murder portrayed in the cold open is… harrowing). But this time, he’s paired withDesiree Akhavan, the fiercely talented filmmaker/actor who plays a fiercely talented filmmaker interested in documenting odd folks with odd requests. And whenCreep 2locks into its two-handed structure, unsettling sparks fly and ricochet. Duplass and Akhavan are perfect sparring partners, generating the film’s queasy moments of suspense, humor, and even genuine connection. Like many of the best pieces of 21st century horror,Creep 2sneakily has a lot to say about our modern foibles – all while scaring the ever-living stuffing out of you.
Tucker & Dale Vs. Evil
Streaming on: Netflix, Hoopla
Length: 89 minutes
Director: Eli Craig
Writers: Eli Craig, Morgan Jurgenson
Cast: Tyler Labine, Alan Tudyk, Katrina Bowden, Jesse Moss
Joining the Mount Rushmore of “Meta Horror-Comedies That Somehow Manage to Scare Us, Make Us Laugh, Criticize Horror Tropes, and Celebrate Those Same Horror Tropes,”Tucker & Dale Vs. Evilis a raucous burst of energy, laughs, scares, and some genuine dang pathos. IfScreamrepresents this specific sub-genre leaning more toward “horror” andThe Cabin in the Woodslies in the middle of the equilibrium,Tucker & Dale Vs. Evilbalances the whole equation with its comedy-first approach.Alan TudykandTyler Labineplay the titular characters, a pair of good-natured hillbillies who are just trying to help a group of camping college students get by on their camping trip. But wouldn’t you know it – everything they do keeps getting misconstrued as the work of vicious killers! This film is catnip for horror-heads, pleasurably dissecting what makes a horror film tick with joie de vivre. But it ain’t just a cerebral exercise in comedy –Eli Craig’s film works time and time again because of its surprising focus on emotion, desire, and love.
Searching for Sugar Man
Director/Writer: Malik Bendjelloul
Cast: Sixto Rodriguez
If you’re a documentary fiend searching for your next Netflix fix, this one will push all your buttons.Searching for Sugar Manfollows the fascinating journey to findSixto Rodriguez, a Detroit-born musician who somehow became a South African multi-platinum musical legend. Rumors were abound that he had died, but two fans (Stephen “Sugar” SegermanandCraig Bartholomew Strydom) weren’t so sure. So directorMalik Bendjelloulfilmed their journey to find him, and the results are absolutely astonishing. Sometimes feeling like a suspense thriller, sometimes feeling like a joyous exaltation of music, sometimes feeling like a melancholy rumination of life,Searching for Sugar Manproves that damn cliche that the truth is stranger than fiction – and often way more compelling. The film won the Best Documentary Oscar – give it a watch and you will see why. And you might find your new favorite artist, too.
Streaming on: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Crackle
Length: 88 minutes
Director: Akiva Schaffer
Writer: Pam Brady
Cast: Andy Samberg, Jorma Taccone, Bill Hader, Danny McBride, Isla Fisher, Ian McShane
If you’ve liked any piece of comedy in the last fifteen years, you have The Lonely Island to thank. The trio ofAndy Samberg,Akiva Schaffer, andJorma Tacconehave produced pieces of silly, high-energy, media-saturated comedy that shaped and guided everything in its wake – especially with theirSaturday Night LiveDigital Shorts that burned up the views on a nascent YouTube. And when they were first tapped to take their considerable skills to the big screen, the result wasHot Rod, a highly idiosyncratic work of bizarre confidence that sadly fizzled at the box office upon its first release. Since then, it’s been reappraised and rightly celebrated as a beautiful cult object, a work of comic bonkersness that’s both the trio’s most experimental and right-down-the-middle work. The main narrative is simple – a manchild daredevil (Samberg) must raise money for his stepfather’s (Ian McShane, of course) heart operation by pulling off a large stunt. Better for the trio to hang all kinds of flights of fancy on top of, from a “falling through the forest” sequence that pummels the gut with its length, to the true surreal bliss of “Cool beans.”Hot Rodis the perfect hangout film, a slice of comic purity that feels like it was made just for you.
The Naked Gun: From the Files of Police Squad!
Streaming on: Amazon Prime, Hulu
Director: David Zucker
Writers: Jerry Zucker, Jim Abrahams, David Zucker, Pat Proft
Cast: Leslie Nielsen, Priscilla Presley, Ricardo Montalbán, George Kennedy, O. J. Simpson
Oftentimes, the best comedy performers behave unaware they’re in a comedy. They react to the most absurd situations with deadpan commitment – a serious lighthouse in a silly sea. This formula for comic excellence ensured thatLeslie Nielsen, known in the front half of his career for deadly serious roles, would succeed with aplomb inJerry Zucker,Jim Abrahams, andDavid Zucker’s 1980 masterpieceAirplane!He played the supporting role of a doctor, committing with no wink to every act of lunacy, nailing it so perfectly that the ZAZ team gave him his own show:Police Squad!, a cult spoof that went after early police procedurals. Nielsen reprised the role of Lieutenant Frank Drebin in 1988’s feature adaptationThe Naked Gun– and the rest is history. Nielsen is now forever known as a comedy mastermind – all because he never knew he was in a comedy. In modern eyes,The Naked Gunis almost transgressive in its sheer silliness, bolstering its more-than-competent genre plot with immaculately crafted capital-J Jokes. Much of the 21st century’s film comedies rely on innate charms, loose runs of improvisation, and lived-in ironic detachment.The Naked Guncontinues to destroy because it dares to be well-made.
The Sound of Silence
Streaming on: Hulu
Director: Michael Tyburski
Writers: Ben Nabors, Michael Tyburski
Cast: Peter Sarsgaard, Rashida Jones, Tony Revolori, Austin Pendleton
If you didn’t seeThe Sound of Silence, a devastatingly quiet (pun mildly intended) indie from 2019, rectify that immediately. First-time feature filmmakerMichael Tyburskigives us exactly what we desire from a first-time feature filmmaker: A distinctive voice. You’ve never seen anything quite likeThe Sound of Silence, even if it’s populated with familiar faces likePeter Sarsgaard,Rashida Jones,Tony Revolori, andAlex Karpovsky, and is somewhat in dialogue with other unique pieces of independent cinema (it’s likeSpike JonzeandJoe Swanberghad a baby edited byJoe Pera?). Sarsgaard plays a “house tuner,” a man who visits homes to fine-tune their sonic discrepancies in order to rid their inhabitants of pesky issues with depression, anxiety, and the like. Sarsgaard believes that such small noises as a refrigerator hum or a floorboard squeak are more responsible for our mental health than we think, and he has a litany of curious tools and methods to diagnose such offending noises. When he visits the home of a woman played by Jones, everything changes – though to hint at more would deny you one of 2019’s most lovely, low key, weirder indie pleasures.
