The Singers

Eighteen minutes is all this one asks for, and it spends them well. An impromptu singing contest breaks out in a dive bar, and what begins as a gimmick, a man walks into a bar as the tagline has it, turns into something unexpectedly open-hearted, with strangers trading verses and revealing more than they meant to. The short form suits the premise perfectly: one room, one night, and the particular alchemy of people singing in front of each other.

Perfect for viewers who love small, contained stories with a musical pulse and a soft spot for barroom camaraderie. There is no time for subplot here, so the film goes straight for feeling, moving from comic to tender in a handful of scenes. If you have a spare twenty minutes and want something that leaves you warmer than it found you, this is an easy, generous little pick, the kind of short you end up recommending to someone else the same week.