The Long Take: Cinema's Most Audacious Shots

No cuts. No mercy. Pure cinema.

Some directors use the long take as a challenge to the audience, others as a form of trust. These are the films built around sequences of sustained, unbroken attention.

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Created: April 10, 2026

The Collection

Rope

Rope

1948
1
Rope
1948
1
Rope
IMDb 0.0 / 10
Director Alfred Hitchcock
Cast James Stewart, John Dall, Farley Granger
Why Hitchcock's entire 80-minute film is constructed from a series of meticulously choreographed long t…
1917

1917

2019
2
1917
2019
2
1917
IMDb 8.2 / 10
Director Sam Mendes
Cast Dean-Charles Chapman, George MacKay, Daniel Mays
Box Office $159,227,644
Gravity

Gravity

2013
3
Gravity
2013
3
Gravity
IMDb 7.7 / 10
Director Alfonso Cuarón
Cast Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Ed Harris
Box Office $274,092,705
Children of Men

Children of Men

2006
4
Children of Men
2006
4
Children of Men
IMDb 0.0 / 10
Director Alfonso Cuarón
Cast Juan Gabriel Yacuzzi, Mishal Husain, Rob Curling
Box Office $35,552,383
Russian Ark

Russian Ark

2002
5
Russian Ark
2002
5
Russian Ark
IMDb 0.0 / 10
Director Aleksandr Sokurov
Cast Sergey Dreyden, Mariya Kuznetsova, Leonid Mozgovoy
Box Office $3,048,997
The Sacrifice

The Sacrifice

1986
6
The Sacrifice
1986
6
The Sacrifice
IMDb 0.0 / 10
Director Andrei Tarkovsky
Cast Erland Josephson, Susan Fleetwood, Allan Edwall
Box Office $223,015
Snake Eyes

Snake Eyes

1998
7
Snake Eyes
1998
7
Snake Eyes
IMDb 0.0 / 10
Director Brian De Palma
Cast Nicolas Cage, Gary Sinise, Carla Gugino
Box Office $55,591,409
Touch of Evil

Touch of Evil

1958
8
Touch of Evil
1958
8
Touch of Evil
IMDb 0.0 / 10
Director Orson Welles
Cast Charlton Heston, Orson Welles, Janet Leigh
Box Office $2,247,465
Atonement

Atonement

2007
9
Atonement
2007
9
Atonement
IMDb 0.0 / 10
Director Joe Wright
Cast Keira Knightley, James McAvoy, Brenda Blethyn
Box Office $50,927,067
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

2014
10
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
2014
10
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
IMDb 7.7 / 10
Director Alejandro G. Iñárritu
Cast Michael Keaton, Zach Galifianakis, Edward Norton
Box Office $42,340,598
Victoria

Victoria

2015
11
Victoria
2015
11
Victoria
IMDb 0.0 / 10
Director Sebastian Schipper
Cast Laia Costa, Frederick Lau, Franz Rogowski
Why *Victoria* executes its entire 138-minute narrative in a single, unbroken take, transforming a seem…
Oldboy

Oldboy

2003
12
Oldboy
2003
12
Oldboy
IMDb 8.3 / 10
Director Park Chan-wook
Cast Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jeong
Box Office $2,458,200

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