13 min · English · Drama · Romance
What do you hold on to when everything is changing? Try this for a teenager's search for meaning at the end of high school.
Bittersweet short films
420 Bittersweet short films in the cafe, running 2 to 43 minutes. Many are thought-provoking or emotional. They span 34 languages. Each is a complete standalone short film, chosen by the cafe and played through its original video provider.
20 min · Malayalam · Drama
A Malayalam family drama about a woman's life hemmed in by domestic expectations, which has sparked a lot of discussion among its viewers. Twenty minutes, with a 5.1% like rate on YouTube.
13 min · Tamil · Drama · Romance
A phone call reaches across an old relationship and a difficult lockdown. Try this short reunion with Karthik and Jessie for a conversation about longing, boundaries and finding the will to continue.
25 min · Hindi · Drama · Romance
Settle in with a Hindi love story about loss and the choices that shape a relationship, one that quietly asks what love, happiness and sacrifice really mean.
11 min · English · Drama
Pull up a chair for “No More Wings”, a warm, bittersweet two-hander in which childhood friends Isaac and Jude catch up over fried chicken as their lives drift in different directions.
6 min · No dialogue · Animation · Fantasy · Drama
A wordless animation: a strange creature races against time to finish the most important thing it will ever make. Six minutes that linger long after.
12 min · Malayalam · Drama
Pooja's online persona raises questions about identity and loneliness. A twelve-minute Malayalam drama for the social-media age.
12 min · Hindi · Drama
Sheeba Chadda and Shantanu Maheshwari in Ajay Shivan's Hindi drama: Ved has his birthday all planned, until his mother's surprise reminds him whose special day it really is.
6 min · English · Animation
Ru Kuwahata and Max Porter's Oscar-nominated stop-motion, adapted from Ron Koertge's poem: a son remembers his father through the art of packing a suitcase. Five perfect minutes.
20 min · Malayalam · Drama
Vivek Joseph Varughese's Malayalam drama about a housewife who is loved but not respected, and the day she claims for herself. Billed as award-winning by its makers, with English subtitles; MMC viewers have watched it to the end.
2 min · No dialogue · Drama
A wordless, under-two-minute short made, as its maker puts it, for those still awake at 2 a.m. Pour a late cup and settle in.
16 min · English · Science fiction · Thriller · Drama
An English sci-fi thriller: two estranged brothers caught in a repeating chain of events try to stop a tragedy. Fifteen tense, emotional minutes.
8 min · Tamil · Romance · Drama
Spend a little time with the love story in “Kooravarthaigal”.
28 min · Malayalam · Romance · Drama
Sanjay Damodhar Renjith's Malayalam romance: Abey is sure he's dying, until lively Twinkle crashes into his grey world. For someone ready for death, learning to live might be the real danger.
24 min · Malayalam · Drama
A Malayalam family drama that brings the experience of postpartum depression into the open. Twenty-four honest minutes.
17 min · English · Drama · Science fiction
During a lethal epidemic, a quarantined father faces an impossible choice when his daughter falls ill. A sixteen-minute English sci-fi drama that lands close to home.
7 min · English · Drama
Liam has six weeks to live and has told no one. Settle in for a quietly affecting British drama about keeping up appearances while time runs out.
35 min · Malayalam · Romance · Drama
Settle in with this Malayalam romance from Nahas Hidhayath, starring Unni Lalu and Nayana Elza, with Joel Johns's song 'Hello Hello' setting the mood.
14 min · Malayalam · Romance · Drama
A Kutti Stories Malayalam drama about a young woman whose relationship choices run into family expectations and dependence.
23 min · English · Documentary
Meet Lusia Harris in her own words. A short introduction to a basketball life that deserves to be better known.
20 min · Malayalam · Drama · Thriller
A Malayalam drama-thriller about empathy and vengeance between a father, his son and the man who came between them. Twenty minutes, with English subtitles.
22 min · Malayalam · Romance · Drama
From the makers of Jeevana, a Malayalam romance starring Unni Lalu and Aparna Janardhanan. Twenty-one bittersweet minutes.
32 min · Kannada · Romance · Drama
For the goodbye that arrives before you are ready. A former couple shares one last stretch of time together.
42 min · Tamil · Romance · Drama
Joan Ashik's forty-one-minute Tamil romance for Vijay Sethupathi Productions: two strangers fall for each other in a dream before they ever meet. Poetic, unhurried and best for an evening.
13 min · Gujarati · Drama
A daily walk to the post office becomes a story about waiting and hope. A pick for anyone who knows how much a letter can mean.
22 min · Malayalam · Romance · Drama
Settle in with Manu and Reenu, an aspiring actor and a dance student, as everyday moments become the heart of their romance.
30 min · Malayalam · Drama
On a rainy evening, Chandra decides to tell her husband Das something intimate she has kept to herself. The disclosure upends everything the couple believed about each other, leaving both of them to ask whether their life together can go on as before.
9 min · Tamil · Romance · Drama
An eight-minute Tamil romance about family judgement and the choice to stand beside the person you love.
44 min · Malayalam · Drama
A forty-three-minute Malayalam drama about Marty and Albin, two young men who find friendship in difficult circumstances. Best kept for an evening.
35 min · Malayalam · Romance · Drama
Shyamlal's thirty-four-minute Malayalam romance follows a just-married couple through one misty midnight of love, anger and old wounds. Starring Sourav Syam and Ashika Asokan.
20 min · Malayalam · Romance · Comedy
An unexpected taxi ride reunites two former lovers and unsettles the distance between them. A twenty-minute Malayalam rom-com.
11 min · Spanish · Animation · Drama
A new classmate changes María's daily life. Choose Cuerdas for an animated story about friendship, connection and making room for someone different.
32 min · Malayalam · Drama
A thirty-one-minute Malayalam family drama: a dysfunctional family's holiday drags a hidden truth into the open and tests a mother's capacity to accept it.
22 min · Malayalam · Drama
Shaiji Joseph's Malayalam drama about parents of modest means raising an autistic daughter, starring Nandhana Rajesh. Twenty-one honest minutes.
19 min · Tamil · Romance · Drama
Thamizh Vannan writes and directs this Tamil romance about words the eyes can say. Eighteen bittersweet minutes.
13 min · English · Romance · Drama
Arthur is sure that love at first sight is real the moment he meets Ruth. Settle in with John Hurt and Phyllida Law for a tender British romance about love that refuses to run out of time.
25 min · Malayalam · Drama · Comedy
A Malayalam drama about children and their teacher that mixes humour, tension and real emotion. Twenty-five minutes.
14 min · English · Romance · Drama
A journey to recreate an old photograph becomes a chance to begin something new. Try Reappear for an English-language romantic short connecting a father's memory with a son's next chapter.
17 min · Malayalam · Drama · Romance
A misunderstanding brings two people in their thirties together for a conversation about loneliness, health and companionship. A seventeen-minute Malayalam romance.
17 min · Malayalam · Romance · Drama
A brief encounter leaves memories that last far longer than the meeting itself. A sixteen-minute Malayalam romance.
Related guides
Thought-provoking short films · Feel-good short films · Suspenseful short films · Light-hearted short films · Emotional short films · Calm short films · All guides