Two years ago, Saturday Night Live aired a funny music video starring Pete Davidson about how “short-ass movies” are preferable to movies with long runtimes. A few days later, Netflix got in on the fun by adding an official Short-Ass Movies category to its streaming service. That hysterical category still exists two years later and is being updated to this day.
If you aren’t aware, Netflix has hundreds of secret categories, and this is just one of them… but it’s also one of the most fun. Plus, having a short movie in your holster to watch before bed or on the weekend can be a boon, so we thought we would dive back in and pick out some of the best short-ass movies Netflix has to offer. Here are 5 worth putting on your watch list.
Best short-ass movies on Netflix
The Badadook
A viral Australian horror hit from 2014, The Babadook follows a mother and a son haunted by a mysterious humanoid creature. Essie Davis shines as the increasingly paranoid and distraught mother, but the horror movie is perhaps best remembered for being an internet meme and the monster itself becoming a surprise LGBT icon.
Bodies Bodies Bodies
In a weird twist of fate, Pete Davidson is one of the stars of a notable short-ass movie on Netflix. Bodies Bodies Bodies takes place in a mansion during a house party in which the guests decide to play a murder-in-the-dark style game that quickly goes awry. This fun horror comedy features some major upcoming talent, including Rachel Sennott and Amandla Stenberg.
Monty Python’s Life of Brian
Following 1975’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail, the comedy troupe teamed back up in 1979 in Life of Brian — featuring Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones, and Michael Palin — a silly religious satire about a man named Brian Cohen who is born on the same day as Jesus and later mistaken for the Messiah.
Shortcomings
Randall Park (Fresh of the Boat, WandaVision) made his feature directorial debut with the film Shortcomings in 2023. The dramedy follows film school dropout Ben Tanaka (Justin H. Min), his girlfriend Miko Hayashi (Ally Maki), and his best friend Alice Kim (Sherry Cola) as they travel the country while navigating a series of relationship changes.
The Summit of the Gods
The Summit of the Gods is a French-language animated film based on the 2000s manga series of the same name. The young Japanese reporter Makoto Fukamachi meets a mountain climber named Habu Joji, who seems to have in his possession the camera of lost British mountaineer George Mallory. Fukamachi begins to research Habu and eventually travels to Nepal in search of the mysterious man. Stunning animation and music put this one over the top.
