Movies under 100 minutes,
for the mood you’re in.

Two sisters settle into a country house and discover that the woods have unusual neighbors. The appeal is in small discoveries: a new home, an unfamiliar sound, a creature that makes the ordinary feel enormous. Choose it when you want curiosity to set the pace instead of a complicated plot.

Keep in mind: A parent’s illness is part of the story.

A young girl helping clear her grandmother’s house meets another child in the nearby woods. Céline Sciamma gives childhood questions and family grief a small, intimate setting. Pick this over Totoro when you want the gentleness to come with a more reflective ache; knowing less about the meeting helps preserve its surprise.

Keep in mind: Bereavement is central to the premise.

Frances wants a life in dance while friendships, apartments and plans keep shifting around her. The black-and-white city comedy makes room for ambition and embarrassment in the same breath. A good choice for a restless evening when you want a character still figuring things out, rather than one with a tidy plan.

Jesse and Céline meet again in Paris, with only a little time before he needs to leave. A walk becomes a conversation about the lives they have built and the possibilities they left behind. Choose it when listening to two people test what they can say matters more than action; Before Sunrise gives their reunion extra context.

Vampires sharing a house still have chores, etiquette and awkward nights out to negotiate. The documentary-style setup treats supernatural vanity like an ordinary flatmate problem. Start here if you want a strange, playful comedy whose appeal comes from turning grand monsters into petty people. This is the feature film, rather than the later TV series.

Keep in mind: Comic horror includes blood and violence.

A family gathering brings Danielle into uncomfortable proximity with people she would rather keep apart. Questions, glances and the crowded room make a small social situation feel like a trap. Choose it over the vampire comedy if embarrassment is your preferred source of tension; the short runtime does not make this a relaxing watch.

Lola has minutes to help her boyfriend find a large sum of money. Running, chance encounters and a driving electronic pulse turn a simple deadline into an experiment with possibility. Choose this when you want urgency and visual play, with very little settling-in time. The pleasure is in the variations, so leave the route unspoiled.

Keep in mind: Includes crime, guns and violence.

A fox’s appetite for adventure puts his family and neighbors at odds with three farmers. Stop-motion textures and dry, very human squabbles give the animal heist a fussy charm. Pick it when you want the energy of a caper with room for jokes about pride and family; it is less breathless than Lola’s sprint.

A boy befriends a huge robot in a town where fear makes that friendship difficult to protect. Its science-fiction scale gives a simple question room to grow: who gets to decide what someone can become? Choose it for an animated adventure with an emotional center, and leave time afterward to talk about that question.

Keep in mind: Includes weapons, peril and Cold War anxiety.

Different witnesses recount a violent encounter, and the accounts refuse to fit neatly together. Akira Kurosawa makes the act of telling a story as important as the event itself. Save this for an attentive evening when you want to compare perspectives afterward; the compact running time leaves a deliberately difficult conversation behind.

Keep in mind: The accounts include sexual violence and a killing.