According to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, a feature film is any film that has a run time of more than 40 minutes. Incidentally, a run time of 40 minutes or less is considered a short film.

Today, narrative feature films cover countless genres of storytelling, including:

• Action
• Comedy
• Drama
• Fantasy
• Horror
• Mystery
• Romance
• Thriller
• Science Fiction (Sci-Fi)
• Sports Film
• Western

To provide some clarity, we should back up for a moment and define exactly what a genre is. A film genre is a categorization of movies based on similarities in storytelling, visuals and tone (there are also subgenres within genres, more on this in the next section). Simply put, it’s the type of movie being made. Let’s take a deeper dive into each of these classification genres.

Action movies are high-octane and swiftly-paced. They typically are loaded with big, expensive set pieces which can include chase sequences, fight scenes and loud, colorful explosions. Categorized by conflicts between good vs. evil, these are generally tentpole audience pleasers, meant to generate blockbuster revenue for the film industry.

Some subgenres of action films are Martial Arts, Spy, and War and Military. A few examples of action films are the FAST AND THE FURIOUS films, the DIE HARD series, and movies from the Marvel Cinematic Universe.

Comedy films are intended to elicit laughter from an audience. Comedy features can range from broad, physical humor (like ACE VENTURA) to more introspective uses of language, wherein puns, wordplay and clever twists on dialogue drive the tone and narrative (think WHEN HARRY MET SALLY).

Comedies usually move at a faster pace than dramas and have a tendency to focus on the idiosyncrasies of their characters. Plot tends to be of lesser importance in comedies, letting interplay and contrasts between its players become the main focus of these types of movies. Slapstick, Parody, Screwball and Black are all subcategories of comedy.

Films in the drama genre are rife with high stakes, richly drawn characters and a plethora of conflict. What sets drama apart from all other genres is its serious tone. Dramas are meant to be think pieces and can span the gamut of emotions. Commonly, dramas are the films that sweep at the Academy Awards, although over the years there have been some exceptions.

Some famous dramas are ONE FLEW OVER THE CUCKOO’S NEST, ORDINARY PEOPLE, and SCHINDLER’S LIST (it’s notable to add that all three of these films won the Academy Award for Best Picture in their respective years).

Fantasy films are defined by fantastical elements such as mythology, folklore, wonder, escapism and magic. They often transcend the boundaries of possibility and physical laws. Frequently in fantasy films, protagonists play smaller parts in much larger worlds, which pit epic forces (usually good vs. evil) against one another.

In this genre, the scope tends to be enormous, stakes are archetypally at an all-time (think world-shattering) high, our hero (or heroes) has their back against a wall and they’re the one chance at survival, not just for them, but for the entire universe the film is set inside.

Fantasy features can also fall under the categories of High, Urban, and Sword and Sorcery. PRINCESS BRIDE, LABYRINTH, and the LORD OF THE RINGS films are all examples of fantasy films.

Horror is a genre that means to shock, scare, terrify and/or disgust its audience.  The topics and tone of horror films are typically dark and disturbing.

As with many other genres, there is a range of horror, which spans from slasher films (like the HALLOWEEN and FRIDAY THE 13^TH franchises) to found footage (THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT and the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY movies) to psychological horror (PSYCHO and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS would be examples of these) to zombie films (George Romero’s NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD series and the RESIDENT EVIL movies).

Mysteries focus on the solution of a crime or a puzzle. Classically, they feature a detective or investigator of sorts who showcases great deductive reasoning and analytical prowess. Through several twists, turns and a multitude of surprises, they’ll eventually solve the case (although that doesn’t always guarantee a happy ending).

Noir, Gumshoe, Crime and Caper are different types of mystery films. KNIVES OUT, THE BIG SLEEP, and CHINATOWN are among the most renown mystery features.

Romance movies are love stories between two (or sometimes more) protagonists. Most commonly, romance films will focus on aspects of love (forbidden love, love triangles, love at first sight etc.) and then further, the role it can play in everyday adversities and circumstances like tragedy, betrayal, and sickness.

Some subcategories of romance features include Historical, Comedy, and Chick Flick. CASABLANCA, TITANIC, and THE NOTEBOOK are all examples of romance films.

Thrillers typically exist somewhere in the crossroads between mystery, horror, and action (and will usually incorporate elements of all of those, to varying degrees).

These films tend to have a lot of action, but are also rife with dread, anxiety, and overall pulse-pounding tension. Their chief aim is to create both excitement and fear in an audience.

Subgenres of thrillers are Conspiracy, Legal, Spy, Crime, and Supernatural. NORTH BY NORTHWEST, SE7EN, and MEMENTO are all model thrillers.

Science fiction films rely on hypothetical, imagined science to tell fantastic, out-of-this-world stories. They typically will involve robots, space travel, cyborgs, extraterrestrial beings, and time travel.

Thematically, science fiction is known for taking cultural, social, political, and technological issues of the era and offering some degree of insight on them. They’re a bit like a morality play disguised behind a background of deep space.

Cyber-punk, Space Opera, and Science Fantasy are sub-categories of the science fiction film. STAR WARS, STAR TREK, and DUNE are all examples of science fiction films.

Films that feature any specific sport (or sports) that plays a key role in the overall narrative are considered sports films. These types of movies are typically categorized by an athlete who needs to face great challenges and/or vast odds in a climactic game or event.

Underdog stories are often utilized in sports films, where audiences can be taken on a journey along with the film’s protagonist. Sports features have been made about boxing, hockey, golf, football, and basketball, among many others.

THE BAD NEWS BEARS, ANY GIVEN SUNDAY, and TIN CUP all qualify as sports films.

Set in the American West roughly from the 1850s to the end of the 19^th century, westerns are a genre of features full of melodramatic conflicts, ideas on taming the wild and basic views on morality. The clear-cut idea of good vs. evil typically drives many westerns on a thematic level.

They’re primarily rooted in the American fascination with the Western frontier. They’re also categorized by sprawling vistas and vibrant musical scores. Spaghetti and Space are some western subgenres. Some examples of westerns are THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY, TRUE GRIT, and TOMBSTONE.

These aforementioned genres represent general groupings of movies. But demarking lines of categorization in movies are often blurred. Dramatic features will typically have moments of comedic levity, thrillers will contain elements of drama, fantasy will have its share of action, etc., but when films fully cross genres, they can create something entirely different and new.

There are many genre crossovers in feature films, such as action/comedy (BEVERLY HILLS COP and GHOSTBUSTERS), comedy/drama (PULP FICTION and FARGO), sci-fi/comedy (MEN IN BLACK and GALAXY QUEST) and horror/comedy (EVIL DEAD 2 and SHAUN OF THE DEAD).

This is something of a highwire act to pull off though, as the movies that effectively succeed in mixing genres are some of the most iconic films ever made. When mixing genres doesn’t work, the results are liable to fall resoundingly flat (we’ll not list examples of those films here).

The term “feature film” dates back to the days of Vaudeville. The feature was promoted as a special film, designed to be presented between short advertising clips. It was literally the “feature” of the show’s program.

In 1906, THE STORY OF THE KELLY GANG, a sixty-minute silent Australian film was the first feature length film ever released¹. In 1908, A VISIT TO THE SEASIDE  was the first movie to be released in color (contrary to popular belief, THE WIZARD OF OZ wasn’t the first film ever produced in color) ². And in 1926, DON JUAN was released as the first feature to incorporate sound.