10 Best Movies That Play Out In Real Time

10. Dog Day Afternoon

Sidney Lumet's searing crime drama isn't just one of the best ever movies to play out in real time, it's also one of the best movies of the entire 1970s.

Dog Day Afternoon follows a hostage situation in the fallout of a bank robbery committed by two desperate men, Sonny (Al Pacino) and Sal (John Cazale).

Though the film technically compresses the transition from afternoon to evening over the course of its 125-minute run-time, we never leave the focal characters, lending it a chaotically dreamlike quality as both the media circus and police presence steadily intensifies.

Just as it has in other real time siege pictures like Phone Booth, the technique massively enhances the overall sense of urgency, rather than continually cutting away to B-plots and blatantly skipping over time.