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Short Cuts (1993) poster

1993 · drama

Short Cuts

Directed by Robert Altman3h 8m1993

Many loosely connected characters cross paths in this film, based on the stories of Raymond Carver. Waitress Doreen Piggot accidentally runs into a boy with her car. Soon after walking away, the child lapses into a coma. While at the hospital, the boy's grandfather tells his son, Howard, about his past affairs. Meanwhile, a baker starts harassing the family when they fail to pick up the boy's birthday cake.

Our read: Short Cuts (1993) reads as a sombre, steady, grounded drama entry — measured in intensity, intimate in scope, measured in temperature, nihilistic in outlook, with a strong directorial signature.

Movie DNA

Sombre, steady, measured drama, grounded in texture. Nihilistic, intimate, measured.

ElsewhereIMDb7.649kRT95%Metacritic81TMDB7.2679
  • sombre
  • twisty
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Where the cast leads
DNA · twelve axes

How Short Cuts feels to watch.

Each axis is scored by hand, not from votes or genre averages. The bar uses the film's own colours.

MoodHeavy ↔ Cosy
PacingSlow-burn ↔ Kinetic
IntensityGentle ↔ Extreme
WeirdnessConventional ↔ Surreal
HopeNihilistic ↔ Redemptive
StakesIntimate ↔ Epic
HumourNone ↔ Broad
RealityGrounded ↔ Fantastical
DensitySparse ↔ Twisty
WarmthCold ↔ Tender
AuteurTransparent ↔ Signature
Tonight, this looks like

What watching it is actually like.

“You want sprawling LA lives colliding in cynical, funny, deeply adult ensemble drama.”

ends unsettlingit stays with youmeditativegrips by minute 25attention 5/5feels its length
Date nightWith friendsSoloWith parentsKids around
Heads-upnudityexplicit sexsuicide themegraphic violence

Skip it tonight — Skip if three hours of intersecting misery and nudity exceed your late-night energy.

Nearest by DNA

Eight films that feel like this one.

Closest in the twelve-axis space, not “people also liked”. All films like Short Cuts, with why →

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