Five incredible movies shot in first-person
The use of first-person perspective is widespread across all forms of media. Books do it all the time, video games have revolutionised immersion by placing players in the midst of the action, and even movies have given it a go.
Some great examples of first-person scenes in films include Sandra Bullock flying through space in Gravity, the eponymous creature hunting down soldiers in Predator, and the main character seeing through the eyes of a movie star in Being John Malkovich. But what about entire movies shot in first person? Are they any good?
These films all feature significant sequences shot from the point-of-view of a main character. This is not an easy format to master, as it can very come across as little more than a gimmick, but not in these cases.
This list won’t include any found footage films, as they feel like their own distinct category, but shoutout to the likes of The Blair Witch Project, Cloverfield, and the ‘REC’ series for their contributions.
The five best movies shot in first-person:
Nickel Boys (RaMell Ross, 2024)
Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel by Colson Whitehead, Nickel Boys follows Elwood (Ethan Herisse), a young Black boy living in Jim Crow-era Florida. He gets sent to a notorious reformatory school for a crime he did not commit, where he meets Turner (Brandon Wilson). The boys face horrendous racist abuse from their teachers and guardians, clinging to each other for survival before they eventually hatch a plan to escape.
The movie flips back and forth between Elwood and Turner’s perspective, sometimes regularly in the same scene, with seamless POV work from cinematographer Jomo Fray. This technique, combined with the beautifully naturalistic screenplay, confronts the viewer directly with the horrors that the boys face. Everything is heightened as a result, the good times and the bad, and the audience’s connection to the protagonists and their plight is strengthened. The plot of Nickel Boys is strong enough that it would have made a brilliant movie anyhow, especially with the exceptional performances of the likes of Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor, who plays Elwood’s grandmother. However, the use of first-person takes it to an entirely new level. A bold move, but one that paid off big time.
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (Julian Schnabel, 2007)
If you want to make yourself cry until you start worrying you’re going to run out of moisture in your body, then here’s The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. The film is inspired by the real-life story of French journalist and author Jean-Dominique Bauby. Played by Mathieu Amalric in the movie, Bauby suffered a massive stroke at the age of 43. This left him with a condition known as ‘Locked-in syndrome’, which paralysed all his whole body, save for his left eyelid. Not wanting to waste away in a hospital bed, Bauby and his speech therapist, Sandrine Fichou, devised a method of communicating via blinking, which ghostwriter Claude Mendibil typed up into a memoir.
Large portions of the film adaptation of the book are filmed from Dauby’s perspective. About a third of the narrative is shown through his eyes, as he adjusts to his new state of being and comes up with a plan to overcome his misfortune. Locked-in syndrome is a fate nobody would wish on even their worst enemy, and getting to experience even a fraction of what it must be like through film is utterly harrowing. The Diving Bell and the Butterfly is equal parts horrifying and inspirational, feelings elevated by its clever use of first-person.
Lady in the Lake (Robert Montgomery, 1947)
Cards on the table – Lady in the Lake isn’t as good as the other movies in this list. Directed by its star, Robert Montgomery, it’s a noir detective affair and an adaptation of a story by Raymond Chandler. PI Phillip Marlowe (Montgomery) attempts to get out of the world of crime-solving and into the world of crime fiction, but a trip to a publisher’s office lands him one last case. Marlowe is never seen except for his reflection in mirrors, as Montgomery wanted to emulate the first-person style of Chandler’s novels. The movie was even marketed as ‘You’, helping Marlowe to solve the mystery.
Nobody had ever attempted anything like this on a studio budget, but sadly, like most pioneers, Montgomery made a whole heap of mistakes. The first-person aspect isn’t perfect and, at some points, is majorly distracting. As a result, the film bombed, taking its director’s career with it. Considering when this movie came out, though, it’s astonishing that they managed to make it at all. A new type of dolly was built to simulate Marlowe walking, and for the film’s fight scenes, a special shoulder mount was created. The Stedicam wouldn’t be invented for another 28 years.
Enter the Void (Gaspar Noé, 2009)
Gaspar Noé certainly isn’t one for doing things by the book. The Argentine-born filmmaker, who is most commonly associated with French cinema, has produced a number of experimental, often mesmerising art films, and Enter the Void is no exception. Starring Nathaniel Brown as Oscar, a drug dealer who gets shot by the police, the film depicts the mind of the dying man, as he experiences a state of near-death. The audience joins Brown as he floats around above the streets of Tokyo, encountering numerous psychedelic visions as he goes.
Noé first had the idea for the movie in his twenties. He got high on mushrooms and, appropriately for this list, watched Lady in the Lake. His movie can be summarised as precisely that – a first-person film with a drug-infused twist. It was extremely complicated to make. A rough cut was screened at the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, but the movie wouldn’t get a theatrical release until the following year due to an intense post-production period. The use of POV split critics right down the middle. Some found it intoxicatingly striking, whilst others deemed it pretentious and distracting. However, these sorts of reviews are par for the course in the wild world of Noé.
Russian Ark (Alexander Sokurov, 2002)
Another first-person film, another movie starring its director. There’s a trend forming here. Alexander Sokurov voices the nameless Narrator in Russian Ark, his journey through the history of Saint Petersburg’s Winter Palace. The story begins at party held by Emperor Alexander I, where the Narrator is established as a non-corporeal being who has the ability to float through time. He meets another similar person called ‘The European’ (Sergei Dontsov), and the pair continues to meet at various pivotal moments across the next three centuries.
Sokurov’s decision to never reveal his character adds to the sense of his other-worldliness. He is meant to be some sort of ghost, so it makes sense that his presence is off-putting to the audience in some way. The historical nature of the movie also fits with this production choice, as viewers are invited to literally take a front-row seat to watch figures like Peter the Great, Tsar Nicholas II, and Joseph Stalin. Public opinion on Russia is, understandably, rather low at the moment, but this movie serves to remind you of how impressive a history the country has and what a shame it is that recent events have soiled its name.
