Alfred Hitchcock (Psycho) made one of the earliest attempts to film an entire feature in a long take, but the technology of the time posed a major limitation: a 35mm film reel could only run for about 10 to 12 minutes. In Rope, a thriller about two men challenging their professor to uncover a murder they committed, Hitchcock found a workaround: disguising the cuts using shadows and close-ups on walls or the actors' clothing.
Speaking of Adolescence, here’s a one-shot movie that shares much of its DNA: Boiling Point. This film — which is truly shot in one continuous take, without disguised cuts — stars Stephen Graham (one of the series’ creators and actors) and follows a chef through one stressful night at his restaurant. It’s 90 minutes of tension and perfection, achieved on the fourth take.
The great quality of the long take is that by avoiding cuts, it creates a sense of immediacy and natural flow, which heightens tension in any situation. This can be used to maximize the impact of danger, as in Utøya: July 22. Based on real events, this one-shot movie recreates (with some creative license) the horrific 2011 summer camp massacre in Utøya, Norway, evoking anguish, compassion for the victims, and genuine terror at the perpetrators.
One of the most famous one-shot movie examples in recent memory is Birdman, by Mexican filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu (though much credit also goes to cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki). The movie, which marked star Michael Keaton’s comeback, follows the stressful final minutes before the debut of a stage play meant to revive his career. While not truly a continuous long take, it cleverly disguises its cuts to create that illusion.
