The 9 best ‘one-shot’ movies to watch after Adolescence – and where to find them

Adolescence has captured the hearts and minds of viewers around the world in a stunning way, provoking debate among parents, teenagers, teachers and the Government alike.

While it tells a truly horrifying story of the murder of a 13-year-old girl, exposing the toxic darkness of the manosphere and incel culture online along the way, it’s also proven a gripping drama for Netflix fans.

Featuring Stephen Graham, who co-conceived Adolescence with writer Jack Thorne, the four-part series also stars Ashley Walters, Erin Doherty and Faye Marsay – as well as a stunning debut turn from young actor Owen Cooper – and is directed by Phillip Barantini.

However, it’s not just the story that the urgent piece of TV tells but the way it’s told that has engaged audiences so thoroughly: Adolescence is four single-take episodes, which together tell the story of the show.

That’s four one-hour long instalments, filmed in one shot with the cameras rolling and following the actors around as the action unfolds in real-time each episode.

It’s a conceit that requires incredible focus from both the cast and crew to work together smoothly and keep shooting no matter what, but Adolescence is not the first project to use this ambitious approach, with several films below suggested for you to explore if you want to see more of this type of contained storytelling.

Boiling Point (2021)

Also starring Graham and directed and co-written by Adolescence’s Barantini, Boiling Point is a British thriller set in a restaurant kitchen.

Initially based on a 2019 short film they’d made together, Boiling Point filmed the movie through four times before selecting the take that would be released.

Also starring Vinette Robinson, Alice Feetham, Hannah Walters, Malachai Kirby, Taz Skylar and Jason Flemyng, the action unfolds over one fraught evening as the restaurant copes with having its hygiene rating downgraded as well as an allergic reaction and multiple conflicts between staff and guests.

Making waves upon release, it became one of the most famous examples of this method of filmmaking and was followed up with a 2023 BBC TV drama sequel.

Streaming for free now on Channel 4

1917 (2019)

Nominated for 10 Academy Awards, 1917 was directed by Sir Sam Mendes, who co-wrote the film with Krysty Wilson-Cairns from stories his grandfather told him about serving in WW1.

Taking place after the Germans retreated to the new Hindenburg Line in France, it follows two young lance corporals, Will and Tom (George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman), who are tasked with delivering a crucial message to the front line to call off a doomed offensive attack after field telephone lines are cut.

Using clever filming and editing techniques, cinematographer Roger Deakins and editor Lee Smith manipulated long shots to have the entire film appear as though it were filmed as two continuous shots with one break in the middle, where the screen goes black as one of the heroes loses consciousness.

1917 also boasts a star-studded supporting cast including Colin Firth, Benedict Cumberbatch, Andrew Scott, Mark Strong and Richard Madden.

Streaming now on Netflix

Birdman (2014)

Birdman won the Oscar for best film – as well as director, original screenplay and cinematography – at the 2015 Academy Awards.

Director Alejandro González Iñárritu conceived of the film as being presented in one continuous take right from the start, bar one brief exception.

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) to use its full title, is about a washed-up superhero actor attempting to revive his fading career by writing, directing, and starring in a Broadway production.

Riggan Thomson is best known for playing the character Birdman, just like his real-life counterpart Michael Keaton was linked to his time as Batman in a meta piece of casting.

However, Birdman wants Riggan to return to blockbuster cinema and torments him with visions and a mocking internal monologue.

The movie also stars Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton, Emma Stone, Andrea Riseborough and Naomi Watts.

Streaming now on Disney Plus

Silent House (2011)

Silent House is another film which uses the one-shot illusion, in reality being a series of shots lasting between 10 to 15 minutes which are sewn together to look the movie was in the can after one single take.

The 2011 psychological horror focuses on a woman (Elizabeth Olsen) who is terrorised while cleaning her family’s vacation home alongside her father and uncle after a young woman turns up on the doorstep claiming to be her childhood friend.

It was a remake of the 2010 movie La Casa Muda, which claims to be based on a real-life incident that occurred in a Uruguayan village in the 1940s.

As with all of these films – and Adolescence’s episodes – the action unfolds in real time.

Available for rent on Apple TV Plus and Amazon Prime Video

Rope (1948)

Perhaps one of the first and most famous to do it, Alfred Hitchcock’s 1948 film Rope unfolds in real time and was edited so as to appear like four long shots, back to back.

Based on Patrick Hamilton’s 1929 play of the same name, Rope’s action all takes place in one room after two young men strangle their former classmate to death in their penthouse apartment in pursuit of committing the ‘perfect murder’.

They then invite friends around for a dinner party – including their former housemaster, who they think will approve of their act – which takes place in plain view of the antique chest their victim’s body is stuffed in.

Rope starred James Stewart alongside Farley Granger, John Dall and Joan Chandler.

Available for rent on Apple TV Plus and Amazon Prime Video

Medusa Deluxe (2022)

Medusa Deluxe, written and directed by Thomas Hardiman, is a murder mystery film set in the world of competitive hairdressing.

As the synopsis continues: ‘Extravagance and excess collide, as the death of a contestant sows seeds of division in a community whose passion for hair verges on obsession.’

The film stars Clare Perkins, Harriet Webb, Anita-Joy Uwajeh and Luke Pasqualino, as well as Kae Alexander as the model who does her best to get to the bottom of the scalped hairdresser backstage.

Medusa Deluxe takes place as all those involved with the competition are waiting to be interviewed backstage by the police (who we never see), speculating wildly, as the camera explores the building and its inhabitants in what is edited together to appear like one continuous take.

Streaming now on Mubi

Victoria (2015)

For Victoria, we return to the realm of the genuine single-take, one-shot film, with a 12-page script to work from and cast improvising dialogue during a 2.5 hour filming window on April 27, 2014.

The German crime thriller, directed by Sebastian Schipper, follows a wild string of events a young Spanish woman (Laia Costa) is sucked into after encountering a group of young men while exiting a Berlin nightclub and forming a friendship following a rooftop drinking session.

Her flirtation with one of the local men, Sonne (Frederick Lau), then turns potentially deadly as she leaves to open up the café she works in and a dangerous secret is subsequently revealed.

Victoria also stars German breakout star Franz Rogowski, Max Mauff and Burak Yiğit.

Available for rent on Apple TV Plus and Amazon Prime Video

Utøya: July 22 (2018)

Utøya: July 22 is a bold and affecting Norwegian film directed by Erik Poppe and based on the real-life tragedy of the Utøya summer camp massacre that took place on July 22, 2011.

The movie features fictional characters but was created thanks to close work between writers Anna Bache-Wiig and Siv Rajendram Eliassen and over 40 survivors.

It follows Kaja from a third-person perspective before and throughout the 72-minute attack, and mostly consists if a single take shot in real time.

As its intention was to promote understanding of the victims and focus on their stories, the terrorist who was responsible for the deaths of 77 people on that day is only shown briefly twice.

Available now on Amazon Prime Video via a free 7-day Viaplay trial or to rent on Apple TV Plus

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