10 Great Films Under 95 Minutes Long
5. Stand By Me (89 Mins)
Based on the Stephen King novella, The Body, this adaptation is a great example of a coming of age story. The film has many of the established King tropes: including the fictional town of Castle Rock (where numerous King stories are set) and lost innocence, but it eschews the supernatural horror King is renowned for in favour of a more grounded and human story.
When a boy overhears his older brother talking about a dead body just outside of town, he shares the information with his three friends. Fascinated by this grisly revelation, they decide to go on an adventure to see if they can find the body and confirm the rumour.
The film is decidedly ‘80s in tone and the dynamics of the friends group will be familiar to any fans of The Goonies (Corey Feldman essentially plays the same character in both of these films) or Stranger Things, which is of course heavily inspired by these ‘80s movies.
In a brilliantly affecting film, all of the characters share a convincing bond which only grows over the course of the film, drawing the viewer in.