10 Best Movies That Play Out In Real Time
3. Russian Ark
Russian Ark is an especially interesting example because, unlike almost every other film on this list, it doesn't have any aspirations to reality whatsoever.
Rather than follow a conventionally grounded narrative, Russian Ark is a dreamlike historical drama in which an unnamed protagonist wanders the halls of the Winter Palace in Saint Petersburg, experiencing 300 years of Russian history as he passes through the palace.
Though the typical laws of time perhaps don't apply to the spectral figure we follow throughout the film - who is implied to have died in an accident - Russian Ark nevertheless unfolds over the course of a 96-minute unbroken take, while including a cast of more than 2,000 actors as well as three (!) orchestras.
Due to its brilliantly executed single take, the surreal experience can be enjoyed as one immersive, indeed dreamlike sequence occurring in something approximating real time, while in turn conceding the very unstoppable march of time itself through the centuries.