10 Best Movies That Are Under 70 Minutes Long, Ranked

Here’s a roundup of short films — movies that run under 70 minutes but often feel complete. The list shows how much can be accomplished in a compact runtime, from playful comedies to spare, intense dramas. By some definitions, anything over 40 minutes counts as feature-length, so many of these entries sit comfortably in that category.

Plenty are older films, but the selection spans eras and styles, proving brevity isn’t limited to a single moment in film history. Highlights include Christopher Nolan’s debut Following, a gritty, Hitchcock‑tinged 69‑minute piece; the abstract, animated Chronopolis; the heavy, arthouse Mirrored Mind; and the Marx Brothers’ Duck Soup, where gags drive a farcical plot about a fictional country and a war.

Other notable picks range from the landmark animation The Adventures of Prince Achmed to the lean heist picture Armored Car Robbery, Chaplin’s touching The Kid, the intense silent thriller The Unknown, and Buster Keaton’s stunt-packed Sherlock Jr.

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