5 Best Movies Shot Entirely On iPhones, Ranked

Filmmaking techniques continue to expand, with the new IMAX cameras used in Christopher Nolan's "The Odyssey" serving as an important example of how hardware continues to improve and evolve. But sometimes taking it back to the basics can be just as effective. Smartphones have also become more capable and powerful, which has led creatives to utilize the brick in their pocket to create feature films. 

Not to be confused with the found footage genre, smartphones are simply the camera used during production and are not a reflection of the narrative. In particular, iPhones have been used to make everything from indie movies to blockbuster features across all genres. Sometimes more than one phone is used, and other times, additional equipment like stabilizers or lenses are incorporated, but the phone itself is the camera. 

What this filming style does have in common with found footage is that there is a spread in the quality of the projects created. However, some great movies were filmed on an iPhone. Ranked based on a combination of their Rotten Tomatoes scores and how effective the iPhone use is, all of these flicks are worth a watch.

"Sleep Has Her House" is an experimental film in simple terms, but it's much more than that. For the duration of the project, you're treated to beautiful, dynamic landscapes, set against what can be described as a haunting soundtrack. While there are no actors present within the movie, there is very much a story happening as night falls and the outdoors chooses a course.

While some might consider it a nature documentary, there is a more supernatural component coming to life as the sun sets, which causes "Sleep Has Her House" to lean into the realm of horror or science fiction. If you give it a chance, watching the narrative play out in its entirety, it's worth the end result. There's plenty up for interpretation. And it was all filmed entirely on an iPhone 6+ in a way that makes you feel completely surrounded by the darkness, like you're watching it all through your own phone screen.

"Sleep Has Her House" does not have enough ratings for a score on Rotten Tomatoes, however, that hasn't stopped audiences from sharing their thoughts online. Letterboxd user Karsten describes the movie as "one of the most terrifying horror films" and "so abstract yet so focused that it can really fit into any genre."

Steven Soderbergh's sports drama "High Flying Bird" takes you on the journey of a sports agent working a deal for his client, a rookie NBA player. The problem is that the league is in a lockout, which affects the players' ability to make money and the agents' ability to negotiate deals and contracts. 

Initially, this doesn't seem like the kind of movie that would be filmed on a smartphone, but it was. "High Flying Bird" is Soderbergh's second project shot on an iPhone, and this time, the director used an iPhone 8, an added lens, and a stabilizer to achieve a different look than his first smartphone flick, "Unsane." The small camera allows for interesting angles and pans, which add to the drama and intensity of the situation, making the film incredibly stylish.

Critics gave "High Flying Bird" a 91% on Rotten Tomatoes, with reviews enjoying the overall look and feel of the movie. "Using his iPhone to create urgent, luminous images of power-brokering amid gleaming glass-and-steel buildings, Soderbergh gives the intricate, pugnacious drama a mighty sense of swing," Richard Brody wrote in a review for The New Yorker.

The psychological thriller "Unsane" features Claire Foy as Sawyer, a woman who believes she's being stalked. Even after moving to a new city, she's still concerned that she's seeing her stalker everywhere, and decides to speak with a therapist. However, she ends up involuntarily signing herself into a 24 hour psychiatric hold, which turns into a week-long stay at the decision of the hospital staff.

Directed by Steven Soderbergh and shot entirely on an iPhone 7s Plus, "Unsane" is an eerie movie because of the smartphone use. At times, you feel like Sawyer's stalker, watching her from across spaces, and then there are times where you feel incredibly uncomfortable because of how close to her face you are. It's a kind of framing that only works with a smaller camera, like a phone.

While reviews weren't favorable for "Unsane," giving it a rotten score of 59%, critics enjoyed it, awarding the project an 80% on Rotten Tomatoes. Reviews highlight Foy's performance, the claustrophobic nature of the filming style, and the social commentary at the movie's core. The Toronto Star's Bruce DeMara describes it as "a well executed cat and mouse game between Sawyer and her stalker" in which "Foy is so awfully good in the role."

"Ghost," also called "Ghost of My Father," is a day-in-a-life feature following a man's first day out of prison. He walks around with his grown son, talking to him about life, while also trying to avoid the crowd that helped put him behind bars.

The use of an iPhone in "Ghost" makes the film feel more personal. In "Unsane," it's like you are Sawyer's stalker, but in "Ghost," it's like you are an observer, watching two men try to understand each other. It feels intimate, but not intrusive, even during moments that feel like they should be had behind closed doors. It's a great use of a smartphone, allowing you to feel like you're there, living the day with them.

"Ghost" has a 100% from critics and a 75% from audiences on Rotten Tomatoes. For the latter, learning it was filmed on a smartphone added to the viewing experience, with Letterboxd user Patrick writing that they "only learned after watching the film that it was shot on an iPhone, and that made it much greater than what [they] already thought it was."

Sean Baker, writer and director of the critical hit "Anora," tried his hand at capturing a movie entirely with an iPhone with his 2015 project "Tangerine." The film details the life of a transgender sex worker as she works through her boyfriend's infidelity while she was away in jail. She and her friend go around town, trying to figure out who he cheated with, all while working and dealing with their own lives.

While this may not seem like the kind of story that would benefit from being shot on an iPhone 5s, it works well because the project shows what the life of sex workers looks like on a different level than other films. It creates a more personal, intimate experience with the subject, even coming across blog-like at moments because of the camera angles and unsteadiness of the framing. It utilizes the iPhone to the fullest in a way that makes the narrative better and arguably the best example of a movie filmed with a phone.

"Tangerine" boasts a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes from critics and a 76% from audiences. Reviewers enjoy Baker's use of the smartphone and filmmaking as a whole, with David Lewis writing in a review for the San Francisco Chronicle that the project is "a textbook example of how indies can tell groundbreaking stories in a way that Hollywood simply can't match." For audiences, the "iPhone aesthetic provide[s] such an incredible feel of authenticity," according to Reddit user Scratchy13.