Film
One Last Thing
Other titles called One Last Thing: the 2020 film.
A four-minute film about an ex arriving to collect her belongings—a tense, intimate encounter that unfolds in real time. It's a masterclass in how much emotional weight can fit into moments of silence and loaded conversation. For anyone who's ever rehearsed what they'd say to someone they used to love.
If you liked this
Before Sunrise1995
Two strangers meet on a train and spend one night walking Vienna, talking about everything that matters. Like One Last Thing, it proves that conversation and presence can sustain cinema entirely, with no plot machinery required.
But It's dialogue-heavy and plotless, which means it lives or dies on chemistry and writing. If you find yourself impatient with people just talking, this won't change your mind.
Chungking Express1994
Wong Kar-wai captures the ache of almost-connection and urban loneliness in fragments—a brief encounter that reshapes someone's life. Both films understand that the smallest moments can contain entire relationships.
But It's visually gorgeous but deliberately oblique; the plot barely exists. Some viewers find the style overwhelming or the emotional distance frustrating.
A Ghost Story2017
A ten-minute scene of a woman eating a pie becomes a meditation on grief, time, and what remains. It shares One Last Thing's willingness to let scenes breathe and its understanding that departures (and presences) carry enormous weight.
But Extremely slow and contemplative. The ghost-under-a-sheet aesthetic is deliberately silly. If you want narrative momentum, you're looking for the wrong film.
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The wildcard
Something you would not have found on your own.
Oxenfree2016
Both use real-time or near-real-time constraint to create intimacy and weight. Both are about the moment of separation and what you choose to say when you have one chance.
A 24-minute animated short about a group of teenagers and a supernatural encounter that comes down to one person having to say goodbye to someone they love. It has the same economy of storytelling—enormous feeling in a small space—and a devastating final moment.
But Animated, so some expect it to be lighter; it isn't. Also very strange tonally, mixing teen comedy with genuine horror and grief. Not a cartoon for comfort.
More like this (8)
Her2013
A film about connection, distance, and what it means to try to reach someone. The loneliness of the protagonist mirrors the vulnerability in those goodbye conversations we all dread.
But The romance with an AI sounds gimmicky and feels precious to some viewers. It's also melancholic in a way that can feel heavy-handed.
Moonlight2016
Told in three acts across one man's life, it captures unspoken feelings and the weight of presence between two people. It understands how much goes unsaid between people who matter to each other.
But Very quiet and introspective; there's no conventional plot. If you need a story with forward momentum, this will feel static.
The Worst Person in the World2021
A romantic drama that devotes real time to the small, aching moments between couples—misunderstandings, silences, the things said and unsaid. It's honest about how relationships actually feel.
But Norwegian, subtitled, and deliberately unglamorous about modern romance. Some find the protagonist's choices frustrating.
Stalker1979
Tarkovsky's meditation on desire and the things we pursue. Like One Last Thing, it trusts viewers to sit with mood and implication rather than spelling everything out. Haunting and very strange.
But Nearly three hours of minimal plot and long takes. Hypnotic for some, impenetrable and boring for others. You need patience and silence.
Manchester by the Sea2016
Kenneth Lonergan captures grief and the inability to say what needs saying. The power is in what the characters don't articulate—the damage lives in gesture and avoidance.
But Relentlessly bleak and emotionally exhausting. The restraint can feel cold rather than moving, depending on your mood.
Boyhood2014
Filmed over twelve years, it's about the accumulation of small moments—conversations, farewells, the texture of time passing. One Last Thing captures one crucial moment; Boyhood is made of them.
But Three hours long with minimal plot. Some find Linklater's dialogue overly precious. It requires genuine investment and patience.
Scenes from a Marriage2021
Both prioritize dialogue and presence over plot. Both are about the distance between two people who once knew each other. Both treat the domestic space as a stage for emotional truth.
Bergman's five-hour miniseries is composed almost entirely of conversations between a married couple—sometimes tender, often brutal, always unflinching. It proves that cinema of pure dialogue and emotional presence can sustain an entire work.
But Black and white, Swedish, from 1973. Five hours. If you don't like watching people argue about their relationship with nowhere to hide, this will feel like punishment.
Safe1995
Both depict the failure of communication in enclosed domestic spaces. Both find the horror in small moments. Both suggest that some separations are permanent and unbridgeable, leaving both parties changed.
Todd Haynes's film about a woman who becomes increasingly isolated as her body rebels—incomprehensible to those closest to her. It's also about the apartment as a prison, the slow death of connection, and how little people can truly reach each other even when they're trying.
But Deeply unsettling and strange; some find it more alienating than moving. Not a film that provides comfort or resolution. Extremely bleak.
People
Cast
Directing
- Kirby SloanDirector
Writing
- Kirby SloanWriter
Production
- Ben FudgeProducer
- Ethan SherrittProducer
- Kirby SloanProducer