Why the 90-Minute Movie Is a Lost Art
Every movie now is two and a half hours. Not every movie needs to be two and a half hours. The 90 minute movie used to be standard. You got in, you got the stor
Every movie now is two and a half hours. Not every movie needs to be two and a half hours.
The 90 minute movie used to be standard. You got in, you got the story, you got out. No fat. No scenes that exist just to justify the budget. Tight, efficient, satisfying.
What happened? Streamers want longer runtimes because it looks better on the platform. Directors lose perspective after a certain budget. Nobody wants to cut their baby.
But the best movies know when to end. Run Lola Run is 81 minutes. Evil Dead is 85 minutes. The first Toy Story is 81 minutes. None of them feel short. They feel complete.
A 90 minute movie forces discipline. You cannot have that extra scene where the character stares out a window thinking about his childhood. You have to move. That urgency makes better movies.
Next time you watch a movie that drags, check the runtime. Bet it is over 140 minutes.