Netflix launches ‘Short-Ass Movies’ category inspired by Pete Davidson SNL sketch

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Netflix has launched a new category, Short-Ass Movies, inspired by Pete Davidson’s latest sketch for Saturday Night Live.

In the musical skit– which aired on 2 April – the comedian, along with Chris Redd, musical guest Gunna, and actor Simon Rex, raps about films he considers to be unnecessarily long. He then asserts his preference for “a short ass movie. A really short movie. Like, at most, an hour 40 [mins].”

“‘Cause I’m a simple man with no attention span,” Davidson jokes to explain his preference.

Movies including Once Upon a Time in America (1984; 4h 11m), The Batman (2022; 2h 56m) and Sex and the City 2 (2010; 2h 26m) are all lampooned for their long duration during the skit.

In contrast, shorter films such as The Lion King (1994; 1h 29m), Good Time (2017; 1h 41) and the Austin Powers movies (all under 1h 40m) are praised, as well as the three-minute short films that appear at the start of Pixar features.

@NetflixIsAJoke – the streaming service’s comedy branch – retweeted the sketch, commenting “good idea” and linking to the new category.

A range of titles are featured, from rom-coms such as Bride Wars (2009; 1h 29m) and Easy A (2010; 1h 32) to horror films including Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022; 1h 23) and Halloween (1978; 1h 31m).

The sketch ends with Rex asking Davidson “How long was The King of Staten Island?”, referencing the 2020 comedy written by and starring Davidson, with a running time over two hours.

Davidson stutters in reply: “It was like two hours and 17 minutes – but we needed all of those minutes.”

You can find a full list of all the films and TV series arriving on Netflix in April here, and everything leaving the streaming service this month here.