Movie-making is an arduous task, one that spans months, years, or even decades. From inception to completion, there are multiple processes required to be taken care of. There are scripts to write, funds to raise, locations to scout, sets to construct, actors to hire, crew to instruct, props, costumes, scheduling, filming, scoring, and finally editing. Every step, no matter how small and insignificant, requires an immense amount of time and effort. Yet, somehow, against all odds, a select few movies have achieved it all in just a month or less. And they don’t even hold back on the spectacle. Whether it is a soft-paced romance or a time-sensitive thriller, these movies have generated the necessary drive and excitement and also condensed years' worth of work into a few short weeks.

Just thinking of making an entire film in under a month is exhausting itself. There are no days off, only work and catnaps for rest. And despite the overwhelming process, these movies have exceeded expectations and cemented their place as memorable outings in cinematic history. They’ve been coherent and discussable, albeit chaotic and hasty. But they prove that filmmaking, at its heart, is about being determined and passionate about the art. The movies on this list are a testament to what can be accomplished when time is a limiting factor. Moreover, they remind us that films are not just about budgets or schedules or practicality, but imagination, heart, and the possibility of creating magic out of nothing.

Updated on August 26th, 2023, by Danilo Raul: This article has been updated with additional content to keep the discussion fresh and relevant with even more information and new entries.

15 American Graffiti (1973)

28 days

American Graffiti with Harrison Ford
Universal Pictures 

Chronicling one night in the life of four teenage buddies, American Graffiti is the ‘60s set coming-of-age comedy classic. The group is close-knit, and it is the last night of summer freedom before they graduate high school and enter the horrifying world of adulthood. So naturally, they’ll spend the night having fun.

They cruise the streets of Modesto, California, drinking beer and chasing girls under the neon glow of diners and drive-in signs. Starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ronny Howard, Charles Martin Smith, and John Paul Le Mat, the film is as memorable as its characters. What’s more interesting is that it was shot in a mere 28 days. Although brief, it captures the essence of youth, innocence, and nostalgia with wit and heart.

14 Rocky (1976)

28 days

Scene from 1976's Rocky
United Artists

On a shoestring budget of less than $1 million, Rocky made an enormous impact on the box office and the film industry altogether. As every underdog story goes, the movie revolves around Rocky Balboa, an untaught, small-time, but kind-hearted, and ambitious working-class Italian-American boxer who gets the extraordinary opportunity to fight the world’s greatest heavyweight champion.

He trains under the gruff and seasoned Mickey, and his skill improves with each match. Shot hastily, Rocky is a classic in the sports cinemascope. The way Rocky’s training montage shows growth and the way its pacing builds tension only culminate into an iconic finale. And to think it was filmed in only 28 days is an achievement in itself.

13 Moonlight (2016)

25 days

A scene from 2016's Moonlight
A24

Creating the Best Picture Winner is no easy feat. And while you’d think that it takes months to perfect the process – from writing to post-production – Moonlight does it in just 25 days. The movie follows a young black man through three important stages in life. He grapples with his resources and his identity in the 1980s Miami scene. We see Chiron as a resilient child who survives the impoverished streets to Juan, a drug dealer who gives him life lessons, and finally, as an adult going to great lengths to advance himself.

Scale-wise, Moonlight is pretty modest. But it is the sheer poetry and metaphorical storytelling that makes it grand. With a moving subtext that depicts humanity, masculinity, and dreams with a haunting beauty, the film brings grace to the screen and sheds light on underrepresented stories.

12 Memento (2000)

25 days

Guy Pearce as Leonard Shelby in Memento
Newmarket

Guy Pierce's Leonard Shelby is an investigator who's suffering from short-term memory loss as damage from an attack. His mind can only retain information for a few minutes at a time, forcing him to rely on notes and Polaroids to piece together the mystery of his wife's murder.

Memento is the story of a manhunt, but it is told backward to match the main character’s pace, with each turn revealing new details. The reverse chronology adds layers of complexities and leaves room for surprise as clues lead us further to discovering the murderer. Filmed in just 25 days, the movie relies heavily on clever twists and unexpected revelations. Overall, it is a grim but engrossing noir thriller proving how memory can be both – a burden and a blessing.

11 Birdman (2014)

23 days

Michael Keaton in Birdman by Alexandro Gonzales Innaritu
Fox Searchlight Pictures

Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman centers around Riggan Thomson, a fading star known for playing the famous character of ‘Birdman,’ suffering from deteriorating mental health. Right before his major Broadway comeback, which could very well help him redeem himself, his co-star gets injured, placing him in a difficult position.

Michael Keaton’s Riggan Thomson is excellently portrayed as someone who struggles with the blurs of reality and imagination. The movie, shot in just 23 days, unfolds in long takes and a predetermined sequence. Relying on stabilized cameras and precise choreography, Birdman turns into a visually stunning experience that portrays the psychological triumph and anguish of an artist in a two-hour runtime.

Related: Top Breakout Movies From Modern Filmmakers

10 Halloween (1978)

20 days

Halloween
Compass International Pictures

What started as a quiet and horrific psychosis awakening for a kid became an iconic slasher film because of its nightmare-ish elements. Directed by John Carpenter and filmed over just 20 days, the 1978 Halloween tells the story of Michael Myers and his terrorizing intentions on the night of October 31. As a six-year-old, Michael murdered his sister on Halloween, resulting in years of institutionalization.

Fifteen years later, as he was being transferred for a court date, Myers escaped and returned to the place of his birthing evil, Haddonfield, to find his next victim. Michael Myers is nothing but a scary, black-faced killer. Nothing holds him back from destruction. The movie did not spend time on money or equipment and instead was shot in long, flawless takes, and the deeply unsettling result was on-point.

9 Whiplash (2014)

19 days

Miles Teller and JK Simmons in Whiplash
Stage 6 Films

Whiplash follows Andrew (Miles Teller), a promising young drummer who joins a competitive music conservatory to become the best in his field. But there, he meets Terence Fletcher (J.K. Simmons) who is an aggressive and demanding jazz instructor. The movie analyses Andrew’s explosive relationship with him and how, under his intense training methods, Andrew Neiman finds himself becoming as obsessed with perfection as his mentor.

J.K. Simmons is blistering as Fletcher, seizing the film with a fierce, unhinged performance. Though contested by some for its unconventional take on teaching, the tight and controlled storytelling fused with pounding drums and terrifying profanities serves for a thrilling 114 minutes of rising pressure that stays with you. And to think it was filmed in just 19 days? Genius.

8 Phone Booth (2002)

12 days

Colin Farrell in Phone Booth
20th Century Fox

Phone booths are a thing of the past, considered merely an aesthetic nowadays, but Colin Ferrell’s 2002 outing calls for an intense and thrilling experience in the confines of a phone booth. Colin Ferrell’s Stuart Shepard is a publicist who’s cheating on his wife, Kelly. When he’s at Times Square, Stuart uses a phone booth to contact Pamela McFadden, the woman he’s having an affair with.

One day, Stuart picks up a call from the same booth, and it turns out the caller is threatening to kill him unless he confesses his deeds to both women. Phone Booth is all about time. It uses the dwindling time to create dread and urgency. The audience feels the same mounting pressure and anxiety as the main character. Perhaps it is the brevity, the 12 days of production time, that makes it so whole, immersive, and perfect in its simplicity.

7 Before Sunset (2004)

15 days

Before Sunset
Castle Rock Entertainment

Shot almost entirely in Paris, Before Sunset serves as a swooning, joyful, and poignant sequel to Before Sunrise. Nine years after their first chance encounter, Jesse and Celine reunite at a beautiful book cafe where Jesse is doing a book reading. Now rekindling their romance on an afternoon, they walk the streets, wandering and sharing life’s triumphs and losses. Filmed in just 15 days with a runtime of 80 minutes, the movie packs a lot of insight into love and distance.

Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have amazing chemistry as they long for the time passed, grappling with their dreams against the backdrop of Parisian cafes and boulevards. Director Richard Linklater uses the two-week time with such care and sweetness, mixing a subtle sad revelation. Overall, the movie is a realistic depiction of love and life unfolding side by side yet forever on the periphery.

6 The Blair Witch Project (1999)

8 days

The Blair Witch Project
Artisan Entertainment

The horror classic follows three students lost in the Maryland backwoods while searching for the Blair Witch. Shot in a guerrilla documentary style, the movie builds dread and escalates the paranoia as glimpses of terror jump out over and again, briefly from the shadows.

There isn’t much story except for the evil stalking humanity angle, but the minimalism is backed by disturbing images and the fear of being trapped. Yes, The Blair Witch Project is a found-footage horror, but filming one isn’t easy. While it spearheaded the genre, it also demanded a coordination that was precisely chaotic and frightening. In just 8 days, directors Eduardo Sánchez and Daniel Myrick created a movie that fills your psyche with maddening fear.

Related: These Are the Most Exciting Movies to Watch When You're Bored

5 Locke (2013)

8 days

Tom Hardy in Locke
A24

Films taking place in a single location are not tricky unless you intend to make something revolutionary. The good news is that Steven Knight wanted to do something different with Locke.

Starring Tom Hardy, Olivia Colman, and Ruth Wilson, this feature film written and directed by Knight tells the story of a construction manager whose life falls apart in the span of 37 calls as he drives. It was done on a moving car and filmed with a high-quality portable camera in just eight days.

4 Russian Ark (2002)

4 days

Alexander Sokurov's drama Russian Ark
Wellspring Media

Some of the best films you see in life don’t require much effort. Russian Ark is a beautiful story written and directed by Alexander Sokurov. The movie presents a historical drama set in the Winter Palace of the Russian State Hermitage Museum, capturing centuries of Russian history and culture in 90 minutes.

The film is considered revolutionary for looking like it was shot in a single continuous take. It was made on a budget of $ 2.5 million, and it only took four days to complete.

3 The Little Shop of Horrors (1960)

3 days

the-little-shop-of-horrors-1960
The Filmgroup

No, we are not talking about the Rick Moranis classic from 1986; that film is a remake of this one, which was used as the basis to create a Broadway play that ran for multiple seasons. The Little Shop of Horrors features a story written by Charles B. Griffith and was directed by Roger Corman, a master of crafting low-budget horror stories.

The casting includes the talents of Jonathan Haze, Jackie Joseph, Mel Welles, and Jack Nicholson. The whole film was shot in only three days.

2 The Terror (1963)

2 days

the terror 1963
American International Pictures

Again, Roger Corman lands another entry in the ranking, this time by taking over a troubled production he began himself. The Terror was shot simultaneously as The Raven, another Corman production from his Poe days.

After some legal issues, the film became the hot potato passed around by five different directors, including Francis Ford Coppola. Production company The Filmgroup demanded Corman to come back and fix his mess. He did it in two days. The Terror stars Boris Karloff, Jack Nicholson, and Sandra Knight with a story written by Leo Gordon.

1 Victoria (2015)

Four Hours

A scene from Victoria
MonkeyBoy

Victoria is a testament to overachievement. The film, directed by Sebastian Schipper and co-written with Olivia Neergaard-Holm and Eike Frederik Schulz, features the talents of Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, and Franz Rogowski and has all the flair of a high-budget crime thriller.

We follow a night in the life of a girl named Victoria and how her life was turned on its head in only two hours. The film was done on a meager budget of $400,000 and filmed in a single continuous take with plenty of improvising but crafting one solid story. It was done in only 4 hours.