The Best Short Movies on Prime Video

What it's about: A group of men travel to the moon by being shot in a capsule from a giant cannon. They are captured by moon-men, escape, and return to the earth. The film was the first film with a self-contained plot and was the beginning of the science fiction genre.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 2 services (Prime Video & PlayStation Store).

What it's about: A police officer faces a personal meltdown following a divorce and the death of his mother.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: A young boy makes a snowman one Christmas Eve, which comes to life at midnight and takes the boy on a magical adventure to the North Pole to meet Santa Claus.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Ameba) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: It takes two or three generations for the monarch butterfly to reach the Canadian breeding grounds, but it is one "supergeneration" that makes the 2,000 mile return trip back south into central Mexico. The documentary film covers Dr Fred Urquhart's interest in monarch butterflies, with perspectives of Urquhart as a child wondering where the butterflies went, his years of research and study into their life and migration, to his time decades-later as a senior scientist looking back at his investigations and discoveries about the insect's life pattern.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Shout Factory TV) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 6 services (iTunes, Google Play & 4 others).

What it's about: "Rakka" is the story of broken humanity following the invasion of a technologically superior alien species. Bleak harrowing and unrelenting, the humans we meet must find enough courage to go on fighting.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $4.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: The magical tale of a mouse who takes a walk though the woods in search of a nut.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: A Pixar short about a lost-and-found box and the unseen monster within.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (Google Play, Prime Video & 2 others).

What it's about: A wandering warrior finds an unlikely friend in the form of a young dragon. The two develop a close bond, until one day the dragon is snatched away. She then sets out on a relentless quest to reclaim her friend, finding in the end that her quest exacts a far greater price than she had ever imagined.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Mr Hublot is a withdrawn, idiosyncratic character with OCD, scared of change and the outside world. Robot Pet's arrival turns his life upside down: he has to share his home with this very invasive companion...

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: A follow up to the 2009 animated feature and adapted from the childrens' book by Julia Donaldson and Alex Scheffler. The Gruffalo's child explores the deep dark wood in search of the big bad mouse and meets the Snake, Owl and Fox in the process. She eventually finds the mouse, who manages to outwit her like the Gruffalo before!

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (iTunes, Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: Australia: Land Beyond Time takes viewers on a breathtaking journey back in time to witness the birth and evolution of a mysterious land that harbors remnants of Earth's earliest life and many of it's strangest creatures that exist nowhere else on the planet.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: A Summer Dress opens with the straitlaced Frédéric criticizing the more flamboyant Sébastien for incessantly prancing around their cabin while blasting his favorite '60s pop singer, Sheila. Frédéric bikes to the beach to escape and meets an older woman named Lucia who, without much conversation, leads him to a secluded spot where they have sex. Frédéric notices an onlooker during their lovemaking; when he returns to the beach, his clothes have been stolen. With no choice but to wear Lucia's spare dress, Sébastien prepares himself for an odd confrontation with Frédéric.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 2 services (Google Play & Prime Video).

What it's about: Stick Man lives in the family tree with his Stick Lady Love and their stick children three, and he's heading on an epic adventure across the seasons. Will he get back to his family in time for Christmas?

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: Having lost a bet with documentarian Errol Morris, Werner Herzog eats his shoe.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & The Criterion Channel) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: The Japanese attack on Midway in June 1942, filmed as it happened.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix, Prime Video & IndieFlix) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Featuring the same charming animation style of the original, and new music by former Razorlight drummer Andy Burrows, this sequel was created to celebrate the 30th anniversary of The Snowman (1982). A family, including young Billy and his elderly dog, is moving into the house from the original story, now in suburbia. As Christmas approaches, Billy stumbles across a box hidden by James, the boy from the original story. Night draws in, snow falls, Billy uses his new find, and a magical adventure begins...

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Ameba) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: A lost soul stumbles drunken through the city. In a park, Death finds him and shows him many things.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: A school boy hangs around a mall in order to pick up older men and have sex in the public toilets. When his English tutor teaches him anal sex he is opened up to new experiences despite being caught by his disapproving father. When he meets a 18 year old he goes to the toilets only to be caught by security and charged. Despite his parent's disapproval he finds this makes him dedicated to one relationship but the sexual anonymity of the toilets is a constant lure for him.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Fandor) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: This moving documentary profiles a former Buddhist monk who runs a home for orphaned children in the Himalayas, and his relationship with its newest arrival, troubled five-year-old Tashi.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Filmmaker Marc Fafard examines the historical and cultural significance of the seafaring Vikings.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: When Thomas Overby mistakenly believes Aya is his assigned driver, she spontaneously decides to go along with the charade and drives him to Jerusalem. A stiff and guarded pianist, Overby is intrigued by the impulsive though melancholy Aya. As they slowly begin to connect, the film takes us on a journey we hope will never end.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Fandor & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: The rare original version of the classic underdog holiday story by ace animator Max Fleischer.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, one veteran dies by suicide in America every 80 minutes. While only 1% of Americans has served in the military, former service members account for 20% of all suicides in the U.S. Based in Canandaigua, NY and open 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, the Veterans Crisis Line receives more than 22,000 calls each month from veterans of all conflicts who are struggling or contemplating suicide. This timely documentary spotlights the traumas endured by America’s veterans, as seen through the work of the hotline’s trained responders. CRISIS HOTLINE captures extremely private moments, where the professionals, many of whom are themselves veterans or veterans’ spouses, can often interrupt the thoughts and plans of suicidal callers to steer them out of crisis.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (HBO & Prime Video), stream on a popular TV everywhere service (HBO) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 8 services (iTunes, Google Play & 6 others).

What it's about: Comedian Jim Norton tackles the twisted state of the 21st century, including how modern technology affects everything from free speech to hooking up.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV, Vudu & YouTube), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The Living Sea, a film about the world's oceans, increases sensitivity among peoples around the world to the beautiful, powerful, productive, but ultimately fragile, marine environment. Through the exciting use of marine technology, this vast scientific frontier will be explored with the people who are building a healthy coexistence with Earth's oceans.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $3.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: A paraplegic man leaves home for the first time only to discover that life on the outside is not like he had imagined it.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Powerful short film, which explores human existence at the most fundamental, personal level - what it means to be a conscious individual. Set hundreds of years in the future, a derelict spacecraft, controlled and powered by a human brain, floats aimlessly in the outer reaches of space. Trapped in the cold, mechanical prison of the vessel, the brain, which has no recollection or concept of self, miraculously begins to experience disjointed images of its former life - images it cannot understand. Yearning for freedom and yet unable to move, the brain devises a plan to build itself a mechanical body from parts of the ship. Maybe then it will understand the images it is seeing - maybe then it will feel alive.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & IndieFlix) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Mr Olivares has already recovered, but now he needs a vacation. To go to some heavenly place where he can relax and blithely enjoy himself.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: The tale of a ravenous rat who craves buns, biscuits and all sweet things. Tearing along the highway, he searches for sugary treats to steal, until his sweet tooth leads him to a sticky end.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 3 services (Google Play, Prime Video & Vudu).

What it's about: At an orphanage, the children are sad because they received defective toys as gifts. Professor Grampy sees the children while passing by in his sled and has an idea on how to give them a merry Christmas.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Solar Walk follows the journey of individuals and their creations in space.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, The Criterion Channel & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Trapped in a damaged cryogenic pod, a man is forced to watch a series of horrific science-fiction tales while his life support systems run out. Featuring eight intense stories of the unknown and other-worldly, equally wonderful and terrifying. Visit the GALAXY OF HORRORS, if you dare! Curated from Rue Morgue & Unstable Ground's Little Terrors Festival.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: The silent routine of 5 Nuns living in the West Bank wilderness is disturbed when an Israeli settler family breaks down right outside the convent just as the Sabbath comes into effect.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video, Fandor & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: A young girl who lives in a remote wrecking yard takes on the local bullies when they travel out to torment her father.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Parvaneh is a young Afghan immigrant who recently arrived at a transit centre for asylum seekers in the Swiss Alps. The only things she has got to know yet are the rural area surrounding the centre and the centre itself.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: One summer afternoon in 1907, Abel and his wife (both mice) are picnicking, when they become separated during a violent rainstorm. After flying some distance, Abel discovers himself alone on a river island, unable to swim due to the powerful current. Abel periodically attempts to leave the island by various means: flying on a leaf, rowing a crudely fashioned boat, etc. Meanwhile, he tries to create a normal life of sorts, even learning to enjoy a new hobby: sculpture. Still, Abel's goal is to escape the island and rejoin his wife in the city.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Fandor) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 1 service (iTunes).

What it's about: An English dreamer experiences both the beauty and harshness of nature when he relocates to the Canadian prairie.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Prime Video).

What it's about: A descent into the maelstrom of anguish that tormented Arthur Lipsett, a famed Canadian experimental filmmaker who died at 49. A diary transmuted into a clash of images and sounds charting a prodigious frenzy of creation, a tableau depicting an artist’s dizzying descent into depression and madness: with LIPSETT DIARIES, Theodore Ushev renews his filmmaking aesthetic and explores what happens when genius is on a first-name basis with madness.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & Kanopy) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: A Christmas Carol was a 1949 low-budget, black and white television special narrated by Vincent Price.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $9.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: Comedy Dynamics sits down with Bill Hicks’ brother, Steve, who tells old stories, squashes old rumors and reveals the brother and son behind the late comedian. Told amidst old and rare footage, it’s a must watch for any fan.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (PopcornFlix & Tubi TV), stream on a popular subscription service (Netflix & Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 2 services (iTunes & Google Play).

What it's about: While dissecting a frog in Biology class, a 12-year-old boy speculates about what he would do if he were God.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $1.99 on 4 services (iTunes, Google Play & 2 others).

What it's about: The leopard shall lie down with the goat. The wolves shall live with the lambs. And the young boy will lead them. 12+1 kids and the carcass of a whale washed ashore…

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & The Criterion Channel).

What it's about: This large format film explores the last great wilderness on earth. It takes you to the coldest, driest, windiest continent, Antarctica. The film explores the life in Antarctica, both for the animals that live their and the scientist that work there.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: It is a story that's captivated the imagination of many generations. Mourning the death of Jesus, two first-century travelers were joined by a mysterious stranger. Over the next few hours, the stranger revealed mysteries hidden in the ancient Scriptures. Soon, the purpose of Jesus' life became clear... and the travelers' sadness turned to great joy. Now you can learn what they learned. Discover the key to life on the Road to Emmaus.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $5.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: In this award-winning short documentary, Kenyan filmmaker Ng'endo Mukii, inspired by her interest in the concept of skin and race and what they imply; and in “the ideas and theories sown into our flesh that change with the arc of time”, explores African women's self-image. Through the use of memories, interviews; and mixed media, she describes their “almost schizophrenic pursuit of globalized beauty”.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: In the shadow of a space elevator, Simon Carter must sacrifice everything to save what remains of his family.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).

What it's about: As midnight falls, all manner of terror invades the Earth. demons, cannibals, killers, ghosts and monsters swarm the world in these tales of the supernatural, the fantastic, and the just plain horrific. Featuring nine stories of horror.

Where to Watch: Available to watch free online (Tubi TV & Vudu), stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video) & rent or buy from $2.99 on 5 services (iTunes, Google Play & 3 others).

What it's about: From polar bears in the arctic tundra to black bears in the Northern Rockies, you'll see some of the most spectacular footage ever shot of these enterprising omnivores. Catch salmon with a group of hungry grizzlies on the McNeil River in Alaska. Crawl inside a den with a mother black bear and her cubs. Learn about the challenges facing each of these species as their habitat diminishes.

Where to Watch: Available to stream on a popular subscription service (Prime Video & IndieFlix) & rent or buy from $0.99 on 1 service (Prime Video).