Like short stories, short films are something that I really struggle with creating and conceptualizing. I’m so used to thinking of stories as standard three act structures over the course of an hour and a half (or a novel) that it’s hard for me to imagine a story that takes place over just 10 minutes or a couple pages. Despite my troubles with creating them, however, I absolutely love movies in this format. Here are a couple of my favorites:

Night Stalker

Night Stalker is equal parts music video and short film. It’s an unconventional love story, following a couple who eat mysterious Chinese take-out that lands them in an alternate dimension. The wild premise and world building is fascinating, and it creates an absolutely electric tone. I’ve come back to this one over and over for the amazing neon color, weird animation, and music that captures the mood perfectly.

Curve

I saw Curve a couple weeks ago and immediately showed my roommate, I was so impressed. A horror/thriller short from director Tim Egan, this nearly non-verbal story follows a woman who wakes up on a curved ledge above a dark abyss. It’s so steep that she can’t crawl up, and can barely keep herself from slipping off. It’s incredibly suspenseful and gripping– my heart was in my throat and I couldn’t help gasping through every almost-fall, even upon re-watch. This one is extremely likely to end up in your dreams, so watch with caution.

Dawn of the Deaf

Another favorite of mine from recent memory is Rob Savage’s short Dawn of the Deaf, which catalogues the beginning of an apocalypse where all hearing people are killed by a “pulse” and become zombies, leaving just the deaf to survive. It’s a really cool look at deaf culture and a fresh take on the zombie apocalypse movie. Of all of these shorts, I think this one has the greatest potential to be turned into a feature length film. The character building is excellent, and the suspense and atmosphere are extremely well crafted. I would love to see how the story and the characters play out over an extended period of time. (The New York, I Love You episode of Master of None this year also did a great job of representing the deafness onscreen, if you enjoy this one!)

If you like these shorts and want to explore some more, check out this website, which does a great job cataloguing the ones available to watch on the internet for free.