10 Fantastic Brief Movies Starring Famous Casts

These movies under 40 minutes either released fantastic professions or included an excellent cast of currently well-known faces.
A brief movie is any initial movie that is not long enough to be identified a function; it is restricted to 40 minutes or less, all credits consisted of, according to The Academy of Movie Arts and Sciences. The majority of people are under the presumption that such productions run on a little spending plan and include a cast and team of excited novices, specifically those that are screened at film festivals in the hope of protecting sponsorship and connections for future jobs _ and get into an extremely competitive market.
While this is typically the case, it so occurs that even prominent filmmakers and stars sometimes wish to take a break from the tension of shooting a full-length movie, and take pleasure in meddling the whimsical, speculative, thought-provoking, suspenseful, abstract, or surreal universe of brief photos. If the entertainers are developed Hollywood stars, they might even take the part without payment, as an individual favor.
Some shorts were so outstanding that they were developed into effective functions and released whole professions. Case in point: Sam Raimi’s Within the Woods, which was made with just $1600 and was evaluated at a little theater right before The Rocky Scary Image Program It then broadened into The Evil Dead franchise, hence altering the lives of both Raimi and his lead and best friend, Bruce Campbell.
The following choice covers brief movies starring stars who are well-known and precious today, though a few of these previous productions include names that had actually not yet made global headings at the time.
10 The Swan (2023) – 17 Minutes
In September 2023, postmodern director Wes Anderson launched 4 brief movies on Netflix adjusted from Roald Dahl’s collection of stories: The Fantastic Story of Henry Sugar, The Rat Catcher, Toxin, and The Swan The latter stars Rupert Good friend as the storyteller/ older Peter Watson and Ralph Fiennes as Dahl; it fixates a fantastic and kind school kid who is enthusiastic about wildlife and is non-stop tortured by Ernie and Raymond, a number of vicious, gun-armed bullies. His distress reaches its peak when they choose to target an elegant swan.
What Makes It Fantastic
Based upon a previous occurrence in Dahl’s life, the story is an upsetting representation of the loss of innocence and getting rid of relatively hard challenges, and the contrast in between Anderson’s beautiful and dreamy scheme and the young boys’ undeviating ruthlessness produces a striking and remarkable mix.
Per Film Companion, “Both Good friend and Fiennes’ voice performing is a masterclass in how to make a calm and stable tone shimmer with quelched feeling. It took Dahl thirty years to be able to process this terrible occurrence into fiction, and he picked to soften the blow by including some escapism. Anderson likewise turns to something wonderful, not to avert from truth, however to analyze it.”
Stream it on Netflix
9 Bottle Rocket (1994) – 13 Minutes
” They’re not actually wrongdoers, however everyone’s got to have a dream.”
– Tagline from the 1996 function variation.
Co-written by Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson, directed by the previous, and set to a sentimental jazz rating, Bottle Rocket is a black-and-white criminal offense funny including siblings Owen and Luke Wilson as pals, previous colleagues, and striving wrongdoers. It was evaluated at the Sundance Celebration and got beneficial evaluations from critics, triggering Hollywood manufacturer James Brooks to assist Anderson release a function variation in color 2 years later on.
What Makes It Fantastic
This is the movie that guided Anderson and the Wilson siblings in the ideal instructions. Though not a business success, both the brief and the function created a cult following and made the appreciation of Martin Scorsese, who typically mentions them amongst his preferred releases from the ’90s.
8 Unusual Lifestyle (2023) – 31 Minutes

Strange Way of Life
- Release Date
- Might 26, 2023
- Director
- Pedro Almodovar
- Cast
- Pedro Pascal, Ethan Hawke, Manu Rios, Jason Fernández
- Categories
- Western, Drama, Short
Unusual Lifestyle is a Spanish gay Western drama. It’s composed and directed by Pedro Almodóvar and stars Ethan Hawke as Constable Jake and Pedro Pascal as the rancher Silva, 2 old flames who revive their flame 25 years later on, soon after Silva’s kid is apprehended by Jake for murder.
What Makes It Fantastic
Audiences do not typically associate Almodóvar with westerns, and it’s just the director’s 2nd English-language release after The Human Voice in 2020. Not to discuss that the chemistry in between Hawke and Pascal is incredible, and their closet is on point.
Stream it on Fandango
7 Touch of Evil (2011) – 12 Minutes
In 2011, New York City Times Publication the year’s finest and most well-known entertainers in a “Video gallery of cinematic villainy, motivated by dubious icons,” under the instructions of the artist and film writer Alex Prager; which is how Touch of Evil became. It stars, to name a few, Jessica Chastain as The Fire Beginner, George Clooney as The Autocrat, Glenn Close as The Vamp, Viola Davis as The Cruel Caretaker, Ryan Gosling as The Unnoticeable Male, Kirsten Dunst as The Siren, and beloved French actor Jean Dujardin as The Hothead.
What Makes It Fantastic
This elegant, scary, and appealing tribute to numerous home names made the Emmy for New Approaches to News & & Documentary Programs: Arts, Way Of Life and Culture. Brad Pitt transporting Eraserhead‘s Henry Spencer with a touch of Seinfeld‘s Kramer? Most likely worth having a look at.
6 The Ventriloquist (2012) – 11 Minutes
Composed and directed by Benjamin Leavitt and produced by Trigger Street, The Ventriloquist is a dramedy starring Kevin Spacey as Frank, Erin Cahill as Stephanie, and Mike Dirkesen as Big Guy. Frank is a shy and lonesome ventriloquist who has actually been carrying out on the exact same street for 3 years. He counts on his puppet, Mr. Higgins, to direct a more outbound character, specifically if it might land him a date with his crush, Stephanie.
What Makes It Fantastic
Spacey effectively handles to communicate the inner battle and solitude of introverts, their requirement for friendship, and their periodic dependence on things or other individuals to reveal their sensations.
Stream it on MUBI
5 The Audition (2015) – 16 Minutes

The Audition
- Release Date
- October 3, 2015
- Director
- Martin Scorsese
- Cast
- Robert De Niro, Leonardo DiCaprio, Brad Pitt, Martin Scorsese, Rodrigo Prieto, K.K. Moggie
- Categories
- Brief, Funny
Directed by Martin Scorsese, The Audition is a funny brief including Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio as extremely competitive, fictionalized variations of themselves, in addition to a cameo by Brad Pitt. It is a journey from Manila, to Macau, to Tokyo that functions as a promo for a hotel and gambling establishment resort chain.
What Makes It Fantastic
The Audition expense $70 million; a substantial amount for a luxurious advertisement. De Niro and DiCaprio’s dynamic is really amusing, however it was Scorsese’s efficiency that actually took the spotlight.
Stream it on PlayPilot
4 Multi-Facial (1995) – 21 Minutes
Multi-Facial is a semi-autobiographical drama composed, directed, produced, and scored by Vin Diesel for $3000. It stars him as a racially and ethnically nuanced star having a hard time to land functions in an unforgiving and extremely competitive market.
What Makes It Fantastic
Making Use Of his own experience, Diesel handles to portray the aggravation of amateur stars and knocks typecasting in Hollywood. This brief captured the attention of Steven Spielberg, who was likewise impressed with Diesel’s 1997 function Wanders Off, and as an outcome, he composed the function of Adrian Caparzo particularly for him in Conserving Personal Ryan
3 Hotel Chevalier (2007) – 13 Minutes
Composed and directed by Wes Anderson and starring Jason Schwartzman as Jack Whitman and Natalie Portman as Rhett, Hotel Chevalier functioned as a theatrical beginning to Darjeeling Limited Chance at the Hôtel Raphael in Paris, it illustrates the uncomfortable reunion of 2 previous fans. Neither star was compensated and recording covered in less than 3 days.
What Makes It Fantastic
Besides Anderson’s saturated visual, the story is a poignant mix of desire and the agonizing, unknown confessions that follow a separation. It’s subtle, unclear, and relatable simultaneously.
Per The Dissolve, “The entire movie is stylized like a fragrance business however suffused with the sense of melancholy endemic even to Anderson’s lower works.”
Stream it on PlayPilot
2 Dust (2013) – 8 Minutes
Dust is a dream drama composed and helmed by Ben Ockrent and Jake Russell and starring Alan Rickman as Todd, Lola Albert as Jessica, and Jodie Whittaker as the latter’s mama. Todd is a questionable and disheveled sexagenarian who follows Jessica and her mama home from school and burglarize the woman’s space during the night. The reason will absolutely take you by surprise.
What Makes It Fantastic
If you have actually missed out on Rickman and have actually currently seen all his business films, specifically the Harry Potter franchise, then this uncommon and dark take on a popular mythos produces a fascinating and unforeseeable watch.
Stream it on MUBI
1 The Fantastic Story of Henry Sugar (2023) – 37 Minutes
The Fantastic Story of Henry Sugar is yet another Wes Anderson adjustment of Roald Dahl’s work; fixating a male who can see the future and through things and human skin with the aid of a book he took, this dream drama premiered at the 80th Venice International Movie Celebration. The cast consists of Benedict Cumberbatch as Henry Sugar/ Max Engelman, Ralph Fiennes as Roald Dahl/ The Police Officer, Dev Patel as Dr. Chatterjee/ John Winston, and Ben Kingsley as Imdad Khan/ The Dealership.
What Makes It Fantastic
This condensed and devoted adjustment holds an approval score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes. Besides its engaging cast, it’s a wonderful and heartfelt theatrical representation of spiritual development. After exploiting his newly found “present” to earn money illegally, Henry turns his life around by wandering the world to develop healthcare facilities and orphanages.
Stream it on Netflix or Fandango