The Academy Awards often lead to debates on the state of filmmaking in general, and 2025 has reopened the long-running debate about whether intermissions still hold a valuable place when it comes to structuring longer films’ runtimes. One of the primary movies to garner multiple nominations in 2025 houses the rare inclusion of an unavoidable intermission edited directly into the actual film, making it the best candidate to revive this old Hollywood trend.
As it stands,some of the best films of all time have included intermissions due to their incredibly long runtimes. Not only do these intermissions allow for bathroom breaks and breathing space in the middle of complex plotlines, but some of them actually serve to break the narrative into nearly standalone segments that work as effectively as divvying up episodes in a miniseries. The following are just a few great examples of films with built-in breaks, as well as why these intermissions better the storytelling experience of the films in question.
The Brutalist
Cast
Architect László Toth and his wife Erzsébet flee Europe in 1947, seeking a fresh start in America. Their fate shifts after meeting a wealthy, enigmatic client.
Although it’s hardly the least of reasonsThe Brutalistmade it onto the list of2025’s Oscar controversies, the inclusion of an intermission halfway throughThe Brutalist’s more than 3-hour runtime did spark debate.The intermission falls right after Adrien Brody’s Laszlo presents his plans for the Van Buren Community Center, cementing his burgeoning success as an architect. As it turns out, this falls at a highly pivotal turning point for the film.
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The first half of the film ends with Erzsebet writing Laszlo about a photograph of their wedding, something actually shown onscreen during the intermission.Erzsebet and Zsofia enter the film in a major way following the intermission, leading to a number of incredibly tense and tragic plotlines. Because the back half of the film is so fraught with tension, this intermission allows viewers to spend some time basking in Laszlo’s success before the rug is ultimately ripped out from under them by the incredibly troubling story beats leading up toThe Brutalist’s ending.
Stanley Kubrick’s2001: A Space Odysseydoesn’t run much longer than two hours, sothe inclusion of an intermission at nearly 90 minutes is actually somewhat odd. The intermission occurs just after HAL starts to go rogue, right when the average viewer would expect the action to ramp up in pace rather than halting entirely for several minutes. Although unexpected, this placement works incredibly well for the film in question.
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First, there’s the sheer fact that this placement allows viewers to return to their seats right when HAL begins increasing in aggression. But there’s also an intriguing2001fan interpretationbehind this intermission, which is thatthe black screen and its accompanying suspenseful music are meant to symbolize the monolith being toppled over in front of the screen. It fits the themes of the film, and the unnerving experience of listening to the intermission music before experiencing the first half raises the tension for those who don’t step away during the intermission’s runtime.
The intermission for Stanley Kubrick’sSpartacusoccurs roughly halfway through the film, and it marks an extremely important turning point for the narrative. The film takes a break right afterSpartacus wins a major victory for the slave army and sets an ultimatum for the senate to give the slaves their freedom. When the film returns after intermission, the senate is left with the question of whether to give into his demands or fight against the slaves.
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This turn of events also notably leads to Crassus declaring his retirement because he feels guilty about choosing how to punish Marcus Glabrus for failing to neutralize the slaves. The repercussions of this announcement ripple through the senate, andthe entire film goes from being a film about the circumstances of an uprising to feeling like more of an earnest war movie. Thanks to this intermission, viewers are given a moment to breathe as the movie changes focus from politics to all-out war.
The intermission forBen-Hurisn’t set until more than two hours into the film, which makes it feel even more oddly set than that of2001. However, this still benefits the narrative.Ben-Hurbreaks right after Esther lies to Judah about the fate of his family.This lie is integral to setting up Judah’s revenge plot, which takes precedence for the rest of the film.
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This not only helps set the first part of the movie aside from the rising action, but it also works narratively because it gives viewers a chance to sit with the question of whether Judah will learn the truth about his family.The main draw of the movie occurs during the action in the second half, and it’s likely executives knew this going in. Giving audiences a chance to step away before getting into Judah’s vengeance against Messala allows viewers to come back re-energized rather than potentially losing interest after several hours of setup.
It shouldn’t be that surprising from a narrative standpoint thatCleopatrasets its intermission right after Julius Caesar’s betrayal, but this is also what sets the movie apart from anything else on this list.Director Joseph Mankiewicz originally intendedCleopatrato be two separate films, and the placement of this intermission showcases that perfectly.
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Originally,Cleopatrawas visualized as one film exploring the titular Egyptian queen’s relationship with Caesar and another film exploring her relationship with Marc Antony. Sincethe director’s vision for the film ultimately never came to light,Cleopatrainstead needs a narrative break with two different relationship stories on either side of the intermission. This intermission also works because it sets Cleo and Antony at odds with each other, establishing a major source of tension for the back half of the movie to resolve.
The exploits of Kubrick’s social-climbing conman take just over three hours to depict onscreen, and the intermission occurs at just over the precise halfway point. Similarly toThe Brutalist,the intermission inBarry Lyndonnearly dissects the movie perfectly between the character’s rise and ultimate downfall. While he doesn’t take the name “Lyndon” until after the intermission, Barry’s collapse into ruin is all but set leading into the second half.
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This again bisects the movie in a way that works perfectly from an audience perspective. AlthoughBarry Lyndonis largely comedic in tone,the film takes on a somewhat depressing narrative once the intermission concludes. Barry’s story is far from aspirational, and giving audiences the chance to enjoy his apparent success allows them some amount of joy before they’re faced with the less victorious parts of his story.
Not every film with an intermission received one with its theatrical release.Quentin Tarantino’sThe Hateful Eightonly included an intermission during its 70mm roadshow release, but the echoes of that intermission can still be felt across every other release of the film. Based onThe Hateful Eight’s timeline, it’s clear that the “fifteen minutes” mentioned in the narration during chapter four are meant to reflect the same fifteen minutes that viewers would have spent at intermission.
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The film already makes it easy to step away from a home viewing with its chapter-based plot structure, butthe intermission originally set between chapters three and four say a lot about how this film would play out if watching the roadshow version. The third chapter ends with a major character death, while the fourth sets off a chain of events that ultimately leads to the most significant rising action of the film. If viewed with an intermission, there’d be no better place to insert it.
Richard Attenborough’s 1982 biopicGandhiwould have accomplished enough when it bisected its runtime with the Amritsar massacre, butthe film goes a step further by having General Dyer admit onscreen that he knew he was ordering his troops to fire on women and children. This not only establishes a major turning point in Mahatma’s fight for independence, it also splits the film by setting up Gandhi’s impending fight among those who disagree with his stance on peaceful protest.
Setting the intermission here allows viewers to process the terrible events they’ve just witnessed while preparing themselves for the ultimate repercussions of such a heinous atrocity.
Following the massacre,Gandhi finds himself at odds with Jinnah in ways that affect the entire second half of the film. The two can no longer agree on what form their protest should take in light of the horrific actions taken against their people, and this continues to affect Gandhi until the movie’s finale. Setting the intermission here allows viewers to process the terrible events they’ve just witnessed while preparing themselves for the ultimate repercussions of such a heinous atrocity.
There will naturally be disagreements about the inclusion ofOnce Upon a Time in Americaon this list, sincewhether viewers of this film experienced an intermission will ultimately depend on how they saw the film. Thanks toOnce Upon a Time in America’s truncated theatrical cut, not all viewers experienced the film in precisely the same way.
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In the official cut of the film,the intermission takes place right after Noodles attacks Deborah and essentially sacrifices his purest connection to the non-criminal world. Noodles then watches Deborah take off for Hollywood, setting him up for another return to crime that will ultimately spell his downfall. Despite being set nearly three hours into the film, this is still an important narrative break. More importantly, it gives audiences a chance to breathe after watching an incredibly problematic scene that might have otherwise made Noodles an impossible protagonist to support.
“I’ll never be hungry again” stands as one of themost famous lines fromGone With the Wind, and the fact that it’s set right before the intermission likely plays a role in that. Not only does this scene set the narrative apart,this scene also marks a major point of character growth for Scarlett. This is the point where Scarlett unquestionably evolves from a woman of status to a woman willing to do anything possible to protect those closest to her.
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Gone With the Windis full of tragedy from beginning to end, butit’s Scarlett’s relationship with those tragedies that marks a turning point for the film. While some films on this list separate tragedies by intermission, this particular pre-intermission dialogue establishes who Scarlett’s becoming as a person. The line itself may have stood the test of time on its own, but it’s by allowing audiences to spend time with this line that the movie truly succeeds in building a relationship between Scarlett and her viewers that will continue to be a part of film history for decades to come.
