Perfect Blue
(1997)A young pop idol retires from her music group to become an actress. She is stalked by a dangerous fan and starts to lose her grip on what is real and what is fantasy.
Good films that end in under 90 minutes
Runtimes crept past two hours and stayed there. These did not. Every one is under ninety minutes and rated well by thousands of people, which is a decent sign that nothing important got cut.
The End of Evangelion
(1997)A teenage pilot must get into his giant biomechanical robot while a shadowy organization attacks his base and a woman tries to bring him back to the fight against a plan to merge all human souls.
The Lion King
(1994)A young lion prince named Simba is exiled after his father's murder. He must decide whether to return home to challenge his uncle and reclaim the throne.
Paths of Glory
(1957)A colonel tries to defend three French soldiers who are court-martialed for cowardice after they refused to follow a suicidal attack order during World War I. The film shows the military's disregard for human life and the corruption of those in command.
City Lights
(1931)Charlie Chaplin's Tramp falls in love with a blind flower girl and tries to raise money for her surgery. He also deals with a wealthy friend who only remembers him when drunk.
The Kid
(1921)A tramp finds and raises an abandoned baby as his own son. The boy becomes his partner in small scams and the two form a close bond.
Persona
(1966)A young nurse cares for a famous actress who has stopped speaking. They move to a cottage where the nurse confides in her patient and begins to lose her own sense of identity.
Mortal Kombat Legends: Scorpion's Revenge
(2020)A resurrected ninja seeks vengeance against the sorcerer who destroyed his family and clan. At the same time, three fighters are chosen to compete in a deadly tournament to protect their world.
Flow
(2024)A cat must find a way to survive as floodwaters rise and cover its world. It joins other animals on a boat, navigating the flooded landscape with no spoken language.
My Neighbor Totoro
(1988)Two young sisters move to the countryside with their father and discover friendly forest spirits living near their new home. The film shows their everyday adventures and the subtle magic of nature around them.
Rashomon
(1950)Several people give conflicting accounts of a samurai's murder in a forest. Each version reveals how the witnesses and participants lie to make themselves look better.
Flipped
(2010)A teenage girl and boy who have been neighbors since childhood have opposite feelings for each other over the years. The story follows their shifting perspectives as they slowly start to connect.
Toy Story
(1995)In a world where toys are secretly alive, a cowboy doll named Woody fears losing his place as the favorite toy of his owner Andy. When a new spaceman action figure named Buzz Lightyear arrives, Woody's jealousy leads to conflict and unexpected adventure.
The Iron Giant
(1999)During the Cold War in 1957, a young boy named Hogarth Hughes discovers a giant metal robot that has fallen to Earth. He befriends the creature and tries to keep it hidden from the U.S. military who want to destroy it.
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
(1920)A hypnotist named Dr. Caligari uses a sleepwalking man called Cesare to carry out murders. The film has a distorted, angular visual style that creates a sense of unease.
Ghost in the Shell
(1995)In 2029, a cyborg police major named Motoko Kusanagi hunts a mysterious hacker known as the Puppet Master. The chase forces her to question what it means to have a soul when your body is mostly machine.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 2
(2013)An older Batman comes out of retirement to fight a new wave of crime in Gotham City. He faces off against a brutal new villain and the government, which sees him as a threat.
Mulan
(1998)A young woman disguises herself as a man to take her aging father's place in the army. She must prove herself as a soldier while keeping her identity secret.
Rope
(1948)Two wealthy young men strangle a former classmate to prove their intellectual superiority. They then host a dinner party with the victim's body hidden in a chest in the same room, using the event to taunt their old professor.
The General
(1926)A train engineer chases after his stolen locomotive during the American Civil War. He gets caught up in a series of mishaps and adventures on both sides of the conflict.
Justice League: The Flashpoint Paradox
(2013)The Flash wakes up in an alternate timeline where his mother is alive and the world is warring. He must team up with a brutal Batman and other heroes to fix the timeline and stop a catastrophic war.
The Night of the Hunter
(1955)A serial killer posing as a preacher pursues two children who know where their late father hid stolen money. The kids flee down a river and seek help from a protective older woman.
Stand by Me
(1986)In 1959, four boys in a small Oregon town walk along train tracks to find the body of a missing kid their age. They talk about pop culture, face bullies, and share secrets during the trip.
The Nightmare Before Christmas
(1993)Jack Skellington is the King of Halloween Town and he gets bored with his annual routines. He discovers Christmas Town and decides to take over the holiday with his own spooky twist.
The Abominable Bride
(2016)The main characters solve a murder in Victorian-era London. The story is a special episode that places the modern Sherlock cast into the setting of the original Arthur Conan Doyle stories.
Fantastic Mr. Fox
(2009)A clever fox goes on a series of heists to steal from three local farmers. The farmers team up to hunt him, forcing the fox to use his wits to protect his family and animal community.
Before Sunset
(2004)A man and a woman who spent one night together nine years earlier meet again in Paris. They walk and talk as they catch up on what has happened in their lives since that night.
Freaks
(1932)A trapeze artist schemes to marry and murder a wealthy dwarf performer in a traveling circus. Her plan sets off a dangerous confrontation with the other sideshow performers.
My Life as a Zucchini
(2016)A stop-motion animated film about a young boy named Courgette who goes to live in a group home after his mother dies. He finds friendship and a new family with the other children there.
Predator: Killer of Killers
(2025)An animated film in the Predator franchise. It follows a group of characters hunted by a deadly alien predator. The story is told across multiple segments.
Le Dîner de Cons
(1998)A wealthy publisher invites guests to a weekly dinner where each person brings a foolish companion to mock. He picks a man who builds model boats out of matchsticks but the evening goes wrong when his own secrets come out.
Batman: Under the Red Hood
(2010)Batman hunts a new vigilante called Red Hood who has appeared in Gotham City. The investigation forces Batman to confront painful events from his past.
Batman: The Dark Knight Returns, Part 1
(2012)Batman returns to Gotham after a long absence to fight crime again. He faces new threats and an older more fragile body.
Beauty and the Beast
(1991)A selfish prince is turned into a hideous beast and must earn the love of a kind young woman named Belle to break the curse before a magical rose loses its last petal. Set in a French village, the story follows Belle as she comes to live with the Beast in his enchanted castle.
Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
(2002)A wild mustang stallion named Spirit is captured by the U.S. Cavalry in the Old West. He befriends a Lakota man and a mare named Rain as he tries to find his way back to freedom.
High Noon
(1952)A newly married town marshal learns a gang of killers is coming to get him on the noon train. He has to decide whether to stay and fight alone or leave with his wife.
The Killing
(1956)A group of men plan a racetrack heist. The story follows each of their roles in the robbery and the unexpected complications that arise.
The Man from Earth
(2007)A university professor reveals to his colleagues that he is actually a 14,000 year old man. The story unfolds entirely through conversation at his farewell party.
The Emperor's New Groove
(2000)A spoiled emperor gets turned into a llama by his vengeful ex-advisor. He must team up with a kind villager to get back to his palace and reverse the spell before it is too late.
Barbie in the 12 Dancing Princesses
(2006)Barbie plays a princess who loves to dance. She and her eleven sisters discover a secret world where they can dance freely at night.
This list is from Underplayed Gems, a catalogue of films and series from everywhere. Not quite it? Tell the Catbot what you feel like watching, or browse by genre, country and year.