Netflix's new short movie category is loaded with great films

Some films are just too long. Here's how to find brilliant ones that won't bore your bottom

Netflix's new short-ass movies filter
(Image credit: Future)

Some films are just too long. Take The Batman, a really great two-hour movie that runs for three hours. So I'm delighted to see that Netflix has introduced a new "short-ass movies" section to help you find movies that'll move you, excite you and delight you without giving you a square backside from their too-long running times.

It started as a joke: on Saturday Night Live, Pete Davidson did a skit about the joys of "short-ass movies, a really short movie, at most an hour forty". "Good idea!" Netflix replied on Twitter, and the new Short-Ass Movies section was born. Although it was introduced by Netflix US, it's on Netflix UK too.

As far as I can see, every short-ass movie meets Davidson's criteria: they're at most an hour forty, and usually a good bit shorter.

Why short movies are sweet

The new category is packed with great films: Easy A, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Attack The Block, the Halloween movies and much more. There's a huge variety in terms of genre (and if we're being honest, quality) but you'll find psychological thrillers, slapstick comedies, Spike Lee joints and stone cold classics, all coming in at a backside-friendly hour and a bit.

I think that's great. There's nothing wrong with long movies – some of the best movies ever made weigh in at over three hours – but if you're like me and want something to watch on a school night that's just too much movie to cram into a single sitting, and I hate splitting films over two sessions. Big films are for big film nights; short-ass movies are for the nights when you want to watch something self-contained that won't keep you watching till the wee small hours.

I think the inclusion of a short-ass movie category is funny but also useful. So the next step is obvious: Netflix should also introduce a category for long movies and weekend watching. How about a big-ass movie section too, Netflix?

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Carrie Marshall

Writer, musician and broadcaster Carrie Marshall has been covering technology since 1998 and is particularly interested in how tech can help us live our best lives. Her CV is a who’s who of magazines, newspapers, websites and radio programmes ranging from T3, Techradar and MacFormat to the BBC, Sunday Post and People’s Friend. Carrie has written more than a dozen books, ghost-wrote two more and co-wrote seven more books and a Radio 2 documentary series; her memoir, Carrie Kills A Man, was shortlisted for the British Book Awards. When she’s not scribbling, Carrie is the singer in Glaswegian rock band Unquiet Mind (unquietmindmusic).