A new age for handheld cinema: the 10 greatest movies shot on mobile phones
One of the easiest ways to get left behind in cinema is by a staunch refusal to accept and embrace the newest technological developments, even if shooting on a mobile phone won’t be for everyone.
Obviously, it’s impossible to imagine Quentin Tarantino or Martin Scorsese putting their hand into their pocket and wiping down the screen before getting to work on their latest masterpiece, and Christopher Nolan’s fondness for IMAX is the complete opposite in terms of size, cost, and ease of use.
It goes without saying that many filmmakers will never find themselves in a position even remotely comparable to that heavyweight trio, though, which makes the use of a phone a means of both necessity and invention.
Everyone from Bong Joon-ho to Zack Snyder has used their device to display its storytelling and visual potential, but the following ten are the finest feature-length offerings the bespoke subgenre has thrown up thus far.
10 best movies shot on mobile phones:
10. And Uneasy Lies the Mind (Ricky Fosheim, 2014)
One of the first narrative feature films to be shot entirely on an iPhone, Ricky Fosheim’s psychological thriller is more than just a gimmick; it uses its limitations to enhance the air of unease.
The story follows Jonas Fisch’s Peter, a movie star who seems to have it all. However, while enjoying what was supposed to be a relaxing retreat at an isolated mountain mansion for his birthday, the new life he thought he’d left behind begins working its way closer and closer towards the surface.
Not entirely dissimilar from The Shining in terms of setting, context, and subtext, And Uneasy Lies the Mind was an impressive showcase for phone-shot features, one that thrives on its warped sense of perspective.
9. High Fantasy (Jenna Bass, 2017)
Anyone with a phone and ambitions to direct can make it a reality, with South African’s High Fantasy using the familiar backdrop of the body swap comedy to heart-warming effect.
Deep in the nation’s countryside, a group of young friends wake up to the realisation they’ve all swapped bodies, and that’s the setup. Again, this is hardly a revelation from a narrative perspective, but the disparate nature of the cast opens the doors to some thought-provoking societal examinations.
Discovering new things about each other and sharing their individual and collective heritage along the way, it’s barely even noticeable High Fantasy was shot on the phone; such is the way the story draws the audience in.
8. High Flying Bird (Steven Soderbergh, 2019)
It wasn’t the first time he’d shot a movie on a phone, but because he’s Steven Soderbergh, the second time around marked a drastic departure from the first.
A typically stylish slice-of-life drama, André Holland’s Ray Burke navigates the personal and professional pitfalls of sports agency, with the filmmaker displaying an impressive amount of creativity through his shot selection and camerawork.
With a star-studded cast bringing the array of characters to life, High Flying Bird goes behind the scenes on an element of the sports world that cinema rarely digs into, and in this case, does it through an iPhone lens.
7. Midnight Traveller (Hassan Fazili, 2019)
Using phones can often aid to the urgency and immediacy of the message any filmmaker wants to put across, but Hassan Fazili’s documentary Midnight Traveller would have the exact same impact were it captured through more conventional means.
Filmed on three phones by Fazili, his wife, Fatima Hussaini, and their two daughters, it follows the family’s three-year odyssey to flee from their home in Afghanistan to find asylum in Europe, refusing to shy away from the perils encountered along the way.
Tracing the Fazilis through Iran, Turkey, Bulgaria, and 475 days in Serbia before finally being granted refugee status, Midnight Traveller puts an identifiable, relatable face to a crisis that many others have experienced in a way unique to their own family.
6. I WeirDo (Liao Ming-yi, 2020)
The first Asian film to be shot on an iPhone, Liao Ming-yi’s romantic drama I WeirdDo matched its trailblazing nature with no small amount of awards season recognition.
Heart-warming and affecting in equal measure, the story charts the evolution of an OCD patient in isolation suffering from mysophobia, who undertakes a journey of self-discovery and friendship in a time where their germophobic nature has become the norm.
Nominated for ‘Best New Director’ and ‘Best Cinematography’ at Taiwan’s Golden Horse Awards, I WeirDo deserved both accolades for the way Ming-yi constructed and executed such a moving societal fable on a mobile.
5. 9 Rides (Matthew A. Cherry, 2015)
Matthew A. Cherry has gone on to be involved in some huge movies – most notably Spike Lee’s BlackKklansman and Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse – but it was his sophomore directorial effort 9 Rides that saw him hop on the phone bandwagon.
A spiritual companion of sorts to Tom Hardy’s Locke, an Uber driver begins their shift on New Year’s Eve and embarks on a citywide odyssey that brings nine sets of passengers into his orbit, allowing him to reflect and process events in his personal life.
Funded via Kickstarter, 9 Rides became a festival favourite for reasons that had nothing to do with the fact it was filmed on an iPhone, illustrative of how the intimate drama used its minute scope to the fullest.
4. Sleep Has Her House (Scott Barley, 2017)
An experimental contributor to the ‘slow cinema‘ movement, Scott Barley was nothing short of a one-man army on Sleep Has Her House.
The writer, director, producer, cinematographer, editor, and composer made a movie that won’t be for everyone, but considering it received two votes for being the greatest movie ever made in a Sight & Sound poll conducted in 2022, it clearly made an impression.
Relentlessly foreboding but undeniably niche, long takes create an unnerving sense of atmosphere as Barley strips away virtually everything associated with cinema in favour of an existential and expressionist marvel unlike anything else that’s ever been made.
3. Ghost (Anthony Z. James, 2020)
The only limit on how to shoot a movie on a phone comes from the imagination, with writer and director Anthony Z. James using a combination of crime thriller and family drama to anchor Ghost.
Taking place during the first day of freedom Anthony Mark Streeter’s ex-con Tony Ward has experienced in years, he uses his newfound liberation to reconnect with his family before the ghosts of the past have a chance to catch up.
A minimalistic redemption story that constantly carries an air of unease, perhaps the biggest compliment Ghost can be paid is that it might not have worked anywhere near as well as it did were it filmed like a typical production.
2. Unsane (Steven Soderbergh, 2018)
There’s no form of cinematic technology Steven Soderbergh isn’t willing to take a crack at, and in suitably eclectic fashion, he decided horror was the best means to test out how an iPhone works for movies.
The answer was very well, with Unsane burrowing increasingly deeper beneath the skin as Claire Foy’s Sawyer Valentini struggles to make sense of the blurred lines between fantasy and reality during a voluntary 24-hour psychiatric hold.
Soderbergh famously shoots as quickly and economically as possible, and having found a kindred spirit in an inanimate object, it was to be expected that Unsane would indicate the prolific filmmaker and his newest toy would make for a winning combination.
1. Tangerine (Sean Baker, 2015)
Sean Baker has been one of independent cinema’s leading lights ever since he first burst onto the scene, so nobody was left shocked when Tangerine quickly blew away any notions of gimmickry.
It might have gained plenty of publicity for being a feature from a known director and backed by a fairly large distributor that was shot with iPhones, but it was the story, characters, and performances that won it instant classic status.
To illustrate the impact of not only Tangerine as a whole but its adoption of cinema’s newest handheld techniques, one of the three iPhones used by Baker and cinematographer Radium Chung was snapped up by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Science to be displayed in the organisation’s museum.
