There is no particular timeframe that a story needs to cover in order to be considered complete. The greatest films of all time vary in length, both in their runtime and how much time passes in the narrative: days, months, years, etc. However long it takes for the plot to feel natural: that’s what the filmmaker shoots for, and it can vary so drastically that a drama that takes place over a weekend can feel like a different genre from a drama that takes place over months and years. Of course, this doesn’t make one inherently better than the other; it just makes the weekend-length movie a little more unusual and unconventional than the other.
Then there is the film whose action occurs over a day or less. Though relatively rare, they’ve existed for a while and can inhabit any genre. The first proper zombie movie,Night of the Living Dead, is one such example; and then there’sAmerican Graffitiin the 70s andThe Breakfast Clubin the 80s. More contemporary examples includeSuperbad,The Menu, andBodies Bodies Bodies. Movies like these do surprisingly good jobs at helping the viewer get to know the characters and present conflicts that make the characters change over a short period of time. In the case of movies likeCléo from 5 to 7and the much more recentReality, the story can even take place over no more than a couple of hours. Whether they’re happening in real-time or take the full 24 hours,the best of these unique gems of cinema run the gamut from full-blown classics to recent works of brilliancethat will remain relevant for as long as the cinema exists.
10’Ferris Bueller’s Day Off' (1986)
Directed by John Hughes
Ferris Bueller (Matthew Broderick) wants to take the day off from school, and he’ll come up with an elaborate scheme to convince his parents that he’s sick to pull it off. He drags his best friend (Alan Ruck) and girlfriend (Mia Sara) into his plan as well, leading to a day in which they see a baseball game, eat at a fancy restaurant, go to a parade, and more. In the meantime, the principal of his school spends the day trying to expose Ferris as a liar.
Ferris Bueller’s Day Offis a comedy classic that takes place over a school day(as unrealistic as that feels at times). Three decades after its release, it was still relevant enough forDeadpool(one ofthe most popular superhero movies of the 2010s) to pay homage to its iconic post-credit scene. All in all, its timeless message is captured by a quote that’s still well-known today: “Life moves pretty fast. If you don’t stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.”
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off
9’Reality' (2023)
Directed by Tina Satter
Based onTina Satter’s playIs this a Room,which is based on the actual FBI interrogation transcript of Reality Winner (played by a terrificSydney Sweeney),Realityis a dramatization of dialogue taken from real life. This alone makes it unique, along with the fact that this interrogation is the whole movie. Reality was given the longest U.S. prison term for leaking classified government documents to an online publication, documents that would point to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election, yet even those who know that will be enraptured by this movie.
There is a creeping sense of discomfort throughout this film, which does an excellent job of digging into the mentality of a whistleblower. The way it redacts dialogue that was redacted from the interrogation transcript somehow makes this feel both surreal and real at the same time. Raising questions about government transparency and the role of the media,Realityis extremely well-acted and should be consideredSydney Sweeney’s strongest film yet.
8’My Dinner with Andre' (1981)
Directed by Louis Malle
The narrator (Wallace Shawn) ofMy Dinner with Andrehas been avoiding someone for years, an old friend and colleague named Andre (André Gregory). But now they’re about to have dinner together in Manhattan, and what a conversation they have. Andre talks about his travels, from having a wacky improvisational group in the Polish wilderness to being in the Sahara to having a wild night in Long Island, and that goes on for a while.
Then the conversation changes in tone, as the two men discuss how to take value from life. A few highlights include how we all perform in everyday life (as actors do on a stage) and the dangers of tranquility. Given how often people find it hard to have healthy disagreements nowadays,My Dinner with Andreis as important as ever.Thisis what it’s like to have a productive debate in real life: it’s messy, sometimes impassioned but always respectful, intellectually challenging, and it makes you think even after it’s over. The music in the final scene perfectly caps off this eccentric film.
My Dinner with Andre
7’Cléo from 5 to 7' (1962)
Directed by Agnès Varda
Beginning with a devastating tarot card reading, during which the camera stares down at the cards and two pairs of hands involved,Cléo from 5 to 7is about a famous singer (Corinne Marchand) who has known that she probably has stomach cancer for a few days now. “She’s doomed,” the tarot card reader states, and thus the film continues through the next two hours of Cléo’s life as she waits to hear the test results from her doctor. Each chapter indicates exactly how much time it takes up, making for one of the most well-organized movies ever made.
There is a great bit where Cléo’s superstitious assistant claims that she can’t wear or even touch something new on a Tuesday. Another great moment is when she takes off her hair and changes into black half-way through the film, at which point she walks to a café and overhears fragments of people’s conversations.Rarely does a film so movingly absorb the viewer into someone else’s headspace, making this an integral part of the French New Wave and one of directorAgnès Varda’s greatest works.
Cléo from 5 to 7
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6’High Noon' (1952)
Directed by Fred Zinnemann
Image via United Artists
InHigh Noon,Gary Cooperplays an aging town marshal who is planning to move out of town with his new wife (Grace Kelly). It’s their wedding day, which gets interrupted by bleak news: feared outlaw Frank Miller (Ian MacDonald) has recently been released from prison, and his train is set to arrive at noon. Since Kane is the one who sent Miller to prison, he knows that Miller is coming back to kill him (and others). While Miller’s gang waits at the station, Kane has to either skip town immediately with his wife or protect the town he’s defended for so long.
Kane chooses the second option, but he can’t face them alone. Unfortunately for him, gathering the much-needed support from the townsfolk proves futile, as the only few willing to help him are unfit. Even though this movie takes place over such a short period of time, the bitterness it evokes is still powerful over half a century later.Controversial upon its release and open to more than one interpretation,High Noonis arguablythe best revisionist Western of all time.
5’Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?' (1966)
Directed by Mike Nichols
A trulylegendary stage-to-screen adaptation,Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?is about a husband (Richard Burton) and wife (Elizabeth Taylor) who play complicated and emotionally cruel games with each other. They have just come home from a party and host two guests (played byGeorge SegalandSandy Dennis) who become increasingly uncomfortable throughout the evening. The husband, George, is a history professor at a New England college, and his wife Martha is the university president’s daughter.
Nominated for thirteen Academy Awards and winning five (Best Actress, Supporting Actress, Cinematography, Black and White Art Direction, and Costume Design),Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?contains lots of verbal sparring and drinking.It works as a fascinating character study, and the acting is famously remarkable. While most of the other movies on this list take place during the day, this one unfolds overnight—surrounding us with the mysteries, tragedies, and conflicts of a dysfunctional marriage.
Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?
4’Dog Day Afternoon' (1975)
Directed by Sidney Lumet
Dog Day Afternoontells the story of a bank robbery gone wrong. Based loosely on the real hostage situation led byJohn Wojtowicz, it tells the story of the guys who try to rob a bank but wind up having to keep everyone inside hostage to negotiate with the police outside.Al Pacinoplays a man robbing this Brooklyn bank for his lover’s sex-change operation, and his scheme soon becomes a big news story. A crowd of people gathers outside, many of whom support him. The famous chant “Attica! Attica!” comes from this film.
The negotiations last all day, and it’s interesting to watch how the hostages' attitudes toward their captors change throughout the movie. Nominated for six Academy Awards,Dog Day Afternoondeservedly won for Best Original Screenplay.Director Sidney Lumet does some of his finest work here, and Pacino’s intense performance continued his 70s run of top-notch roles. This is one ofPacino’s most tremendous movies, which is really saying something.
Dog Day Afternoon
3'12 Angry Men' (1957)
Sidney Lumet’s directorial debut is better than most others' work at any stage in their careers. It’s called12 Angry Men, about a particularly intense jury deliberation. Most of the guys here think the defendant is guilty, and a few would like to get a move on because they have prior arrangements. Gradually, though, enough holes get poked in the story they’ve been presented with that the verdict soon appears less clear than the majority suspected.
Easily one ofthe best films that largely take place in just one room,12 Angry Mendemonstrates a few of the flaws in our justice system, takes a practical approach toward how ordinary people consider their own experiences when asked to judge others, and gives incompetent defense lawyers everywhere a little bit of hope that their case is not lost. Sometimes a good, prolonged debate is all you need for a narrative to feel full, and this masterpiece from the 50s is proof of that.
12 Angry Men
2’Do the Right Thing' (1989)
Directed by Spike Lee
Addressing racial tension in frank but empathetic terms,Spike Lee’sDo the Right Thingpresents a day in the life of people living in a Brooklyn neighborhood in the late 1980s. Lee plays a delivery guy who works for a pizza joint run by a middle-aged Italian-American man (Danny Aiello) and his racist son (John Turturro). There are also three guys who sit outside talking all day, a man who walks around with a boom-box (Bill Nunn), and other engaging characters.
It only received Oscar nominations for Best Supporting Actor (Aiello) and Best Original Screenplay, but it should have received more. By turns funny and tragic,Do the Right Thingoffers a variety of perspectives that help viewers understand the nature of prejudice. Bringing all of these characters to life over the course of just twenty-four hours (it begins and ends with a radio DJ starting his show) while painting such a vivid portrait of city life is a monumental task. Accomplishing all this and more,Do the Right Thingis arguablySpike Lee’s best work to date.
Do the Right Thing
1’Dr. Strangelove (Or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb)' (1964)
Directed by Stanley Kubrick
Right beforeStanley Kubricktold his millennia-long story about humanity, he gave us a story that unfolds over just a few hours:Dr. Strangelove (Or How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love the Bomb). A paranoid American general (Sterling Hayden) has gone rogue, ordering the nuclear bombing of a Soviet base without the president’s permission. Unfortunately for the world, only he knows the code that would allow the order to be called off. Communication is a big theme here.
This results in a scramble to stop the bombing and, by extension, a nuclear holocaust.There isn’t much time, though, giving this comedy the pace and energy of a thriller. It’s scary how relevant this film still is today, despite the Cold War being over, but it’s told so well that it’s still a fun ride the whole way through (and always has been). Along with a hilariousGeorge C. Scottand three ofPeter Sellers’best performances,Dr. Strangeloveis still one ofthe greatest satires of all time.
