Fancy a day trip to New York or Berlin? Do so from the comfort of your couch! Here are my 4 all-time favourite dramas that take place in just one day. Even though there are almost 20 years between each of these two films, two set in Berlin and two set in New York City, their shocking storylines are strikingly similar… and show that some things just never change…
Kids (1995) – New York City
The "Kids" in New York (1995) © Miramax
The title is actually misleading. These are not kids, but (very) sexually active and very lost teens. You'll probably feel slightly uneasy as you follow these wannabe-gangsters around while they are hustling, partying and shagging through their day in New York City…
In the opening scene of Kids, Telly (Leo Fitzpatrick), a self-declared "virgin hunter" who doesn't like to use condoms, persuades a 12-year-old girl to take her virginity. Afterwards, he meets his friend Casper (Justin Pierce) with whom he spends the rest of the day stealing, taking drugs, skateboarding, swimming, partying… and trying to get yet another virgin into bed.
At the same time, Ruby (Rosario Dawson) and Jennie (Chloë Sevigny), get their HIV test results back. While Ruby tested negative, Jennie is horrified when she hears that she tested HIV positive. She soon realizes that there can only be one person to blame as she has only had sex once – with Telly.
Now, Jennie's only mission for the rest of the day and the following night is to find Telly somewhere in NYC… and hopefully to prevent him from infecting yet another person with HIV…
Nerve (2016) – New York City
The new kids in New York must prove that they have some "Nerve" (2016). © Lionsgate
Same city, same age group, 21 years later: In a world where everyone is connected to everyone, all the time, it's not drugs or Aids that are posing the biggest dangers to youngsters anymore… it is the Internet!
One thing that will probably never go away is peer pressure among teens. So, just like 20 years earlier, teenagers Vee (Emma Roberts) and Ian (Dave Franco) find themselves in a similar situation of having to prove themselves to others.
Only this time, you don't do that by taking illegal substances or having sex with virgins, but by doing something that's forbidden or extremely risky while everyone else is watching! Like riding a motorbike through NYC blindfolded or hanging from a skyscraper's crane – with one hand!
And these are just some of the challenges of "Nerve" – an online reality game, for which you can either sign up as a active "player" or a passive "watcher". What started as a fun evening out in New York City, soon turns into a nightmare for Vee and Ian…
Run Lola Run (1998) – Berlin
Lola in Berlin (1998) © X‑Filme Creative Pool GmbH.
Nowadays considered a "classic", this Berlin heist thriller was a huge hit around the globe. As such, it paved the way for German star Franka Potente (Lola) to become a household name in Hollywood by securing a role in The Bourne Identity (2002) just four years later. Watch her running with fire-red hair through Berlin in these nerve-racking "20 minutes"…
Lola (Franka Potente) receives a panic phone call from her boyfriend Manni (Moritz Bleibtreu), a small-time criminal who has just lost a bag with 100,000 Deutsche Mark (German currency prior to the Euro) on a Berlin subway train. Manni tells Lola that if he doesn't come up with 100,000 DM within the next 20 minutes, his boss Ronnie will kill him.
To get the money, Manni plans to rob a nearby supermarket, but Lola has a better idea: She wants to ask her father, a bank manager, for help. But to do that she has to run through half of Berlin first…
Victoria (2015) – Berlin
Victoria in Berlin (2015). © Jour2fête
Almost 20 years after Run Lola Run, a similar heist story thriller came from the streets of Berlin to our cinema and home screens around the globe… And although the story is a different one, there are – once again – some striking similarities to both Run Lola Run and Kids.…
The story in short: Just like in Run Lola Run, a good-natured girl (Laia Costa) tries to help a guy (Frederick Lau) who has messed things up…
What's special about Victoria is that, unlike any of the other one-day movies mentioned in this post, the actual filming was a one-day event, too! Director Sebastian Schipper decided to shoot Victoria in one single take without any cuts at all and a lot of improvised dialogue by the actors instead. This and the unusual camera movements, which follow the actors through their night in Berlin, give the film a very realistic feel. As a viewer, you feel very close to the action, almost as if you're there yourself.
In that way, Victoria is similar to Kids, where we follow the gang of youngsters around in New York. Also, when watching both of these films for the first time, I had no idea what would happen next. So it was a very uneasy film experience as I didn't want anything bad happen to the characters, but I did know that something bad was coming… In Kids it's the fact that "the kids" could infect others with HIV and in Victoria, an adventure-seeking Spanish girl could get dragged into a very serious crime. In both films, lives are at danger…
Want to know more about the film and Victoria-inspired sightseeing in Berlin? Read my full film review of Victoria and check out the original film locations by following my Victoria walk through Berlin.
Other films that take place in one day are Pompeii and New Year's Eve. Pompeii is a great movie for a time travel trip into the Roman city of Pompeii and recounts the day prior to the outbreak of Mount Vesuvius in 79 AD. Meanwhile, New Years Eve has already become something like a contemporary classic to watch on the last day of the year as well as a great inspiration for exploring New York City as it follows a handful of different characters through their day in the city.
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