A Glean movie guide
Short & Sweet: Movies Under 90 Minutes
No filler, just great cinema.
Big stories that respect your time, all clocking in under an hour and a half.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Run Lola Run
A high-octane, ticking-clock thriller that never lets up for its entire 81-minute runtime.
Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manni. He lost 100,000 DM in a subway train that belongs to a very bad guy. She has 20 minutes to raise this amount and meet Manni. Otherwise, he will rob a store to get the money. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event along Lola's run.
- 02
Before Sunset
A beautifully written romance that captures a profound connection in near real-time.
Nine years later, Jesse travels across Europe giving readings from a book he wrote about the night he spent in Vienna with Celine. After his reading in Paris, Celine finds him, and they spend part of the day together before Jesse has to again leave for a flight. They are both in relationships now, and Jesse has a son, but as their strong feelings for each other start to return, both confess a longing for more.
- 03
Toy Story
The foundational Pixar masterpiece that delivers a complete, heartfelt adventure in just 81 minutes.
Led by Woody, Andy's toys live happily in his room until Andy's birthday brings Buzz Lightyear onto the scene. Afraid of losing his place in Andy's heart, Woody plots against Buzz. But when circumstances separate Buzz and Woody from their owner, the duo eventually learns to put aside their differences.
- 04
What We Do in the Shadows
A hilarious mockumentary that packs a high density of jokes into a lean, supernatural comedy.
Vampire housemates try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster some of the perks of being undead.
- 05
Stand by Me
A quintessential coming-of-age story that achieves emotional depth without a single wasted frame.
After learning that a boy their age has been accidentally killed near their rural homes, four boys decide to go see the body. Gordie, Vern, Chris, and Teddy encounter a mean junk man and a marsh full of leeches, but they also learn more about one another and their very different home lives. Just a lark at first, the boys' adventure evolves into a defining event in their lives.
- 06
Airplane!
A rapid-fire parody classic that maintains a relentless pace of visual and verbal gags.
An ex-fighter pilot forced to take over the controls of an airliner when the flight crew succumbs to food poisoning.
- 07
Shiva Baby
A masterclass in building claustrophobic tension within a brief, high-anxiety comedy.
College student Danielle must cover her tracks when she unexpectedly runs into her sugar daddy at a shiva - with her parents, ex-girlfriend and family friends also in attendance.
- 08
Rope
Alfred Hitchcock’s experimental thriller unfolds in a single, continuous-feeling shot over 80 minutes.
Two young men attempt to prove they committed the perfect murder by hosting a dinner party for the family of a classmate they just strangled to death.
- 09
Petite Maman
A gentle and deeply moving modern fairy tale that tells a complete story in just over an hour.
After the death of her beloved grandmother, eight-year-old Nelly meets a strangely familiar girl her own age in the woods. Instantly forming a connection with this mysterious new friend, Nelly embarks on a fantastical journey of discovery which helps her come to terms with this newfound loss.
- 10
The Nightmare Before Christmas
A visually stunning stop-motion musical that creates an entire world in 76 minutes.
Tired of scaring humans every October 31 with the same old bag of tricks, Jack Skellington, the spindly king of Halloween Town, kidnaps Santa Claus and plans to deliver shrunken heads and other ghoulish gifts to children on Christmas morning. But as Christmas approaches, Jack's rag-doll girlfriend, Sally, tries to foil his misguided plans.
- 11
Primer
A complex, mind-bending time travel puzzle that proves you don't need a long runtime for big ideas.
A group of fledgling inventors discover a complex method to manipulate reality. At first, they successfully game the stock market with it, but the consequences of the invention start to catch up with them.
- 12
Perfect Blue
A haunting psychological thriller that uses its concise length to maintain a disorienting, tense atmosphere.
Rising pop star Mima quits singing to pursue a career as an actress. After she takes up a role on a popular detective show, her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered. Harboring feelings of guilt and haunted by visions of her former self, Mima's reality and fantasy meld into a frenzied paranoia.