# Movies in which nothing happens **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** movies\ **Created:** [July 8, 2026, 4:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513 "2026-07-08T16:37:56Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/21 "2026-07-08T17:48:38Z")
Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s film adaptation of _Waiting for Godot_. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/22 "2026-07-08T17:53:47Z")
An old one (1964) was _Cheyenne Autumn_, a movie that Mad Magazine parodied as _Cheyenne Awful._ Two and a half hours (which was an eternity for a movie back then) of people trudging from one place to another. While the subject matter is compelling, the movie is far from it. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 6:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/23 "2026-07-08T18:05:10Z")
> [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s film adaptation of _Waiting for Godot_. Very different from the stage play, in which much happens. ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/24 "2026-07-08T18:07:48Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > An old one (1964) was _Cheyenne Autumn_ Another oldie that I need to recall with a little help from the Wiki. Some battles and ambushes, people killed, a duel to the death, etc. It may be a boring, turgid film, but “nothing happens” is not a good description. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/25 "2026-07-08T18:09:17Z")
I was 17 when I saw it, so there’s that. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/26 "2026-07-08T18:11:10Z")
Vivian Mercier’s assessment was that “nothing happens, twice.” ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/27 "2026-07-08T18:16:56Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > I was 17 when I saw it, so there’s that. Yeah, I saw it in a revival theater and it has too much exposition, too many scenes about the rotten administration of Indian Affairs, and too much deification of the Indians to rise above “a slog”. One of Ford’s rare misses, probably due to caring too much. > [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](#): > > Michael Lindsay-Hogg’s film adaptation of _Waiting for Godot_. I almost regret not excluding movies that consist primarily of two characters talking. Almost. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/28 "2026-07-08T18:24:09Z")
I think [Gerry](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0302674/) might qualify: Matt Damon and Casey Affleck get lost in the desert and wander around for 100 minutes. The 7-minute scene of them hiking across a dry lake bed into the sunrise is either mesmerizing or incredibly boring depending on your interest level. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/29 "2026-07-08T18:26:06Z")
Don’t all of Jim Jarmusch’s films fall into this category? ---
**Author:** ![peccavi](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peccavi/32/388_2.png) [@peccavi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peccavi)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/30 "2026-07-08T18:29:48Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > I think [Gerry](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0302674/) might qualify Unfortunately, it spoils the plot by including a murder towards the end. Otherwise an almost perfect “nothing happens” movie. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/31 "2026-07-08T18:31:25Z")
> [@terentii](#): > > _ **Emanuelle** _, with Sylvia Krystel. I saw this back in 1977, and had heard about how beautiful the music and photography were. > > I was never so bored in my life. I sat there for over an hour, waiting for something to happen. Nothing did, and even the soft-core porn bits were dull. When the lights finally came back on, I looked around me in bewilderment and said “That’s it? That’s the flick? NOTHING HAPPENED!” 😯 😠 I saw it after Roger Ebert gave it a thumbs up. If you exclude sex from things happening in this kind of movie, pretty much all of them would qualify. Except for _Flesh Gordon_ that is. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/32 "2026-07-08T18:32:11Z")
I think some folks might put _Sentimental Value_ in that category, though I strongly disagree. l thought it was a beautiful film that won an Oscar for best international feature film and a bunch of nominations for acting and for best director. It’s just very subtle and understated. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/33 "2026-07-08T18:57:43Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > If you exclude sex from things happening in this kind of movie, pretty much all of them would qualify. Even the sex (such as it is) in _ **Emmanuelle** _ is boring. 🥱 ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/34 "2026-07-08T19:00:59Z")
Watching most sex is boring. Doing it isn’t. Someone should come out with a Readers’ Digest condensed version of porn movies. It would be far more efficient. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/35 "2026-07-08T19:05:53Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > Someone should come out with a Readers’ Digest condensed version of porn movies. I’ve always just fast-forwarded through most of the dialogue. 😏 ---
**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/36 "2026-07-08T19:32:23Z")
I came into this topic specifically because I knew this would come up… The entire point of My Dinner With Andre is that Wallace Shawn’s character _ **is** _ changed by the conversation. At the beginning, he is unconfident, deferential, and self-wallowing. By the end of the movie, he has a newfound confidence because the conversation exposed that The Great Andre whom he had built up was a very flawed and strange person. He is proud of himself for not getting bowled over and is optimistic for the future. ---
**Author:** ![xizor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/xizor/32/102_2.png) [@xizor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xizor)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/37 "2026-07-08T21:07:45Z")
It has been a few years since I have seen it, but I recall _Everything Must Go_ starring Will Ferrell being nothing more than 90 minutes of a guy sitting in a lawn chair on his front lawn feeling sorry for himself. ---
**Author:** ![Mijin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mijin/32/9369_2.png) [@Mijin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mijin)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/38 "2026-07-08T21:11:52Z")
Hmm, I want to say _The Father_, but there’s an emotional arc. Even if the overall plot is just “man with dementia lives with dementia”. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/39 "2026-07-08T21:14:43Z")
> [@blondebear](#): > > I think [Gerry](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0302674/) might qualify: Matt Damon and Casey Affleck get lost in the desert and wander around for 100 minutes. The 7-minute scene of them hiking across a dry lake bed into the sunrise is either mesmerizing or incredibly boring depending on your interest level. I remember that one. _Really_ boring. ---
**Author:** ![SunUp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea5d25/32.png) [@SunUp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SunUp)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2026, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513/40 "2026-07-08T21:50:54Z")
How about _The Company of Strangers_? > **[The Company of Strangers](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Company_of_Strangers)** > > The Company of Strangers (US release title: Strangers in Good Company; French title: Le Fabuleux gang des sept) is a 1990 Canadian film directed by Cynthia Scott and written by Scott, Sally Bochner, David Wilson and Gloria Demers. The film depicts eight women on a bus tour, who are stranded at an isolated cottage when the bus breaks down. Created in a genre defined as docufiction, semi-documentary/semi-fiction, the film is not tightly scripted. The writers wrote a basic story outline but allowed... This isn’t a movie consisting of two characters talking. It’s a movie consisting of _eight_ characters talking! (oh, and one tour bus breakdown.) I was thoroughly bored when I saw this in my twenties. Perhaps I would like it more thirty years later. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/movies-in-which-nothing-happens/1031513.md?page=3)