Natalie D.C.
Short films are a magical genre of moviemaking, but rarely do these oftentimes widely creative, yet bite-sized stories get the chance to be adapted into fleshed-out features. Even rarer are the times when these indie shorts-turned-features make a name for themselves in the midst of blockbusters spearheaded by even bigger names.
To celebrate short, humble beginnings, and the art of independent filmmaking as a whole, here are five wildly different, yet equally underrated features ranked not only by their content, but also by their ability to adapt their original shorts into their better-known feature-length versions.
#5: D.E.B.S. (2003 and 2004)
American director, writer, and editor Angela Robinson had the idea for D.E.B.S. (which stands for Discipline, Energy, Beauty, and Strength) when she was in college, but didn’t get the chance to make this campy lesbian spy comedy an 11-minute reality until 2003 when she received a grant from POWER UP, a nonprofit dedicated to supporting queer women in entertainment.
The short film follows Amy (Alexandra Breckenridge) who achieves a “Perfect Score” on a test run by a secret paramilitary academy. After joining the D.E.B.S., Amy befriends three other girls and, despite being the perfect spy, falls head-over-heels in love with a supervillain known as “Lucy in the Sky,” often pretending to be captured so the two can briefly be together. While the editing style is reminiscent of an infomercial and the story is paced at a breakneck speed, the original D.E.B.S. is a witty spoof of the spy thriller genre, turning the “damsel in distress” trope on its head.
After premiering at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, a representative from the production company Screen Gems gave Robinson the green light to expand the story into a 90-minute film. While the feature directorial debut deviates from the short in many ways—Amy (Sara Foster) falls in love with “Lucy Diamond” (Jordana Brewster), the film is much better paced to allow for worldbuilding, and Dominique’s character (Devon Aoki) has an incredibly bad French accent—the heart of the story is still the same and, most importantly, Amy’s queer relationship is never sidelined, making for a fun lesbian cult classic that has mostly stood the test of time.
#4: Short Term 12 (2008 and 2013)
Based on American filmmaker Destin Daniel Cretton’s experiences as a staff worker at a group facility for teenagers, Short Term 12 (2008) served as the director’s thesis project at San Diego State University. The 22-minute short follows head counselor Denim (Brad William Henke) who—alongside pursuing a relationship with fellow counselor Natalia (Tania Verafield)—manages the daily lives of troubled adolescents like nearly-18-year-old Mark (LaKeith Stanfield).
After winning the Jury Prize at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, Cretton expanded this brief, yet heartwrenching story into an award-winning just-over-90-minute feature, kickstarting the careers of actors Brie Larson and LaKeith Stanfield, the former who auditioned over Skype and the latter who had quit acting before being reached out to by Cretton in 2012. The biggest difference between the short and feature are the genderbent lead roles—Larson plays fiercely protective head counselor Grace—as well as the room to explore character dynamics, backstories, and arcs previously uncharted in the original short.
Star power is in sheer abundance in this feature as Kaitlyn Dever plays emotionally closed-off Jayden, Rami Malek plays clueless, yet well-meaning newbie Nate, and LaKeith Stanfield plays traumatized adolescent Marcus. While Short Term 12 is primarily from the adult characters’ perspectives, the young talents truly make this timeless story of mental health and found family shine.
#3: Monster (2005) and The Babadook (2014)
After working under Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier as he filmed his 2003 drama Dogville, Australian writer and director Jennifer Kent completed her 2005 black-and-white horror short Monster which follows a single mother (Susan Prior) plagued by her son’s—and, soon, her own—not-totally-unfounded fears of a monster lurking inside their home. In 2009, Kent began expanding the story for what would later become her directorial debut, The Babadook, gaining inspiration from a variety of horror cult classics.
After significant challenges with funding—production relying heavily on government grants and crowdfunding—the 90-minute film premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival, garnering international attention. While essentially the same story as its 10-minute predecessor—the only major change in plot being the inciting incident coming from a children’s book rather than a doll—the feature feels like a much more polished version of Monster, with claustrophobic close-ups, an anxiety-inducing pace, and a horrifying stop-motion creature.
Kent’s former classmate and star Essie Davis brings her scream queen A-game as she plays grief-stricken single mother Amelia. Her dramatic portrayal contrasts beautifully with child star Noah Wiseman’s innocent Samuel, a purity that is completely genuine as Kent and crew worked tirelessly to shield the young boy from the darker subject matter of the film during production. An homage to classic horror and the trials of motherhood, The Babadook remains an enduring mascot of the genre.
#2: Piggy (2018 and 2022)
Spanish director and screenwriter Carlota Pereda’s coming-of-age/horror short film Piggy (or Cerdita) won the Goya Award for Best Short Film in 2019, encouraging the filmmaker to expand the story into a feature, with lead actress Laura Galán reprising her role as plus-size teenager Sara. In the 15-minute film, Sara is bullied for her weight by a group of popular girls while swimming at her local pool and, when she’s forced to walk home in only her bathing suit, she finds her tormentors have been abducted by a violent, yet mesmerizing stranger.
Dark in all the right places, the original Piggy gives a taste of this tantalizing story of an ostracized girl’s bloody revenge while the 100-minute version develops Sara’s home life as well as her strange connection to this even stranger kidnapper. After premiering at the 2022 Sundance Film Festival, the feature rightfully earned newcomer Galán Best New Actress at the 37th Goya Awards for her extraordinary performance as the horror’s lonesome leading lady.
Underrated and underseen, Piggy (2022) is a wholly original addition to the revenge slasher genre as well as a smart interrogation of bullying and bodyshaming’s toll on a teenage girl’s psyche.
#1: Shiva Baby (2018 and 2020)
American writer-director Emma Seligman created her 2018 short film Shiva Baby for her thesis project at NYU. Fellow Tisch student and star Rachel Sennott encouraged Seligman to expand the 8-minute story of Danielle—a Jewish college student who runs into her sugar daddy at a shiva—into a full-blown feature. After a year of securing funding and finding a suitable cast to work alongside Sennott, production on what would become Seligman’s feature directorial debut began.
While the short and feature follow virtually the same plot structure, there are many key changes that significantly enhance the story in Shiva Baby (2020). For instance, the inclusion of Danielle’s bisexuality via Molly Gordon’s ex-girlfriend character adds another layer to the young protagonist’s web of deception. Similarly, while the film isn’t meant to be a horror, the anxiety-inducing score from Ariel Marx keeps viewers on the edge of their seats as Danielle attempts to survive her incessant family member’s many attempts to pry into her life.
Shiva Baby (2020) is not only a fantastic drama that provides much-needed representation for queer Jewish girls everywhere, it’s also a masterclass on how to adapt an underdeveloped, yet full-of-potential story into 80 minutes of pure comedic gold that will surely remain relevant long after Rachel Sennott’s already storied career has come to an end.
