Everything in the film is essential to the story. You don’t feel like you’re ever getting a filler scene or something inserted by a studio executive. The pacing is so tight and crisp, moving from one scene to the other, that there’s no real fat to trim. The Netflix version is only 39 minutes long, and at no point will you be checking your phone. It also allows Anderson to keep the film incredibly tight, in terms of duration, pacing and cast.
Granted, I think this strategy works best when your source material is a short story or a play - I wouldn’t advocate that Game of Thrones be adapted this way - but by doing Henry Sugar as a play, it allows Anderson to stay incredibly faithful to the source material. Everything in the film is essential to the story.īut it works so well, and more adaptations could take this approach.
The movie is only 39 minutes long, and at no point will you be checking your phone.
