A Glean movie guide
The Under-2-Hour Masterclass
Maximum impact, minimum time.
Acclaimed films that prove you don't need three hours to tell a great story.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Whiplash
A relentless, high-stakes look at the cost of greatness with an electrifying finale.
Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.
- 02
Get Out
A masterfully tense social thriller that keeps you guessing until the final frame.
Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
- 03
Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
A visually stunning reinvention of the superhero genre with immense heart and style.
Struggling to find his place in the world while juggling school and family, Brooklyn teenager Miles Morales is unexpectedly bitten by a radioactive spider and develops unfathomable powers just like the one and only Spider-Man. While wrestling with the implications of his new abilities, Miles discovers a super collider created by the madman Wilson "Kingpin" Fisk, causing others from across the Spider-Verse to be inadvertently transported to his dimension.
- 04
12 Angry Men
A masterclass in tension and dialogue set entirely within a single jury room.
The defense and the prosecution have rested and the jury is filing into the jury room to decide if a young Spanish-American is guilty or innocent of murdering his father. What begins as an open and shut case soon becomes a mini-drama of each of the jurors' prejudices and preconceptions about the trial, the accused, and each other.
- 05
Lady Bird
A sharp, deeply felt portrait of adolescence and the complexities of family bonds.
Lady Bird McPherson, a strong willed, deeply opinionated, artistic 17 year old comes of age in Sacramento. Her relationship with her mother and her upbringing are questioned and tested as she plans to head off to college.
- 06
Gravity
A breathtaking survival story that uses every minute to maximize cinematic tension.
Dr Ryan Stone, an engineer on her first space mission, and Matt Kowalski, an astronaut on his final expedition, have to survive in space after they are hit by debris while spacewalking.
- 07
The Grand Budapest Hotel
A meticulously crafted, fast-paced caper filled with signature wit and charm.
The Grand Budapest Hotel tells of a legendary concierge at a famous European hotel between the wars and his friendship with a young employee who becomes his trusted protégé. The story involves the theft and recovery of a priceless Renaissance painting, the battle for an enormous family fortune and the slow and then sudden upheavals that transformed Europe during the first half of the 20th century.
- 08
Run Lola Run
A pulse-pounding, experimental race against time that never lets up for a second.
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.
- 09
What We Do in the Shadows
A hilariously dry mockumentary that breathes fresh, funny life into vampire lore.
Vampire housemates try to cope with the complexities of modern life and show a newly turned hipster some of the perks of being undead.
- 10
Arrival
A profound and emotional sci-fi mystery about how we communicate with the unknown.
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.
- 11
Toy Story
The groundbreaking classic that proved animation could have immense heart and humor.
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.
- 12
Moonlight
A poetic and powerful triptych exploring identity, connection, and masculinity.
The tender, heartbreaking story of a young man’s struggle to find himself, told across three defining chapters in his life as he experiences the ecstasy, pain, and beauty of falling in love, while grappling with his own sexuality.