Reasons I Love Vertical Dramas
Having spent a lot of time over the past 8 months watching verticals I have been trying to work out what it is about the format that I love so much. I spend a lot more viewing time on verticals compared to other options. To be honest the main things I watch besides verticals are live sports (footy and formula one) or comedies. If I want drama, romance or a film I go to verticals.
These are just some of the reasons why:
Too Many TV Series I Have Invested In Are Then Cancelled
This has happened to me far too many times. It can take most of the first season to get into the show and connect with the characters, you just get invested, and then BOOM Netflix or whoever cancels the show. Sometimes if we are very lucky we get a hastily filmed resolution, for instance, Anne With An E and Timeless, but it is rushed and always leaves a lot of the storylines unanswered. This makes me very wary of starting anything new.
With a vertical I know I am pretty much guaranteed to get the resolution at the end of 60-90 minutes.
I Am Fed Up With Mainstream Cinema
The Marvel Universe has imploded on itself. I’m bored of the endless franchises. I’m over the inevitable adaptation of any book that sells well. Just read the book. The book will be much better - case in point A Gentleman In Moscow.
Add in going to the cinema will cost at least £20 and well over an hour’s round trip in traffic, ads at the beginning, and other people MUNCHING LOUDLY; well I would much prefer to stay at home, give my money to an app and watch much better things.
I Want Romance
No one really makes good romances anymore. There are a few bits here and there, The Hating Game was good, but we are not really catered to as an audience.
I found Hallmark early on, back in 2006, but it had become a parody of itself. There are only so many pumpkin pie competitions and tree-lighting ceremonies you can watch. Some are good, but the Hallmark world is almost too safe. The total lack of any friction or drama now irritates rather than soothes me.
Passionflix tries, but there are a lot more hits than misses and a lot of very over-indulgent extended series that come across as vanity projects. Plus Passionflix, as the name suggests, goes down the spicier route. I am English. I don’t need sex on the screen, there is a reason closed-door romances appeal to me. So that rules this option out. (Plus the acting is better in a lot of Verticals! Ouch! Harsh but true).
Verticals are the best option for romance-starved fans. Finally, the universal appeal of a good romance is understood and catered to. Yes, sometimes we may want a high-concept movie or an intimate art house movie. But for many of us vertical fans life is hard. We are juggling work and caring and health and far too many things. And do you know what? We want that dopamine hit of 90 minutes of switching off from reality, watching beautiful people behave badly, fall in love, and find their happy ever after.
My Short Attention Span
After my mixed experiences with Hallmark and Passionflix, I found Chinese and Korean dramas. They are AMAZING. It is very hard to go back to Hollywood after you have found them - the production values, the sumptuous look, and the acting. They deliver romance and drama in spades and always tie up the story. Korean Dramas are usually 16 x 1-hour episodes, while Chinese dramas can be up to 40 x 1 hour episodes. They are brilliant, but a bit time investment. It works at the beginning as you watch the genre classics that everyone recommends. But 40 hours is a massive time investment and not something I always have.
I love the 60-90 vertical time frame, which I know will grab my attention, zip along, and finish the story in a finite amount of time.
Life Is Hard
When I was in my 20’s I worked my way through a lot of critically acclaimed movies and shows. I loved The Sopranos, The Shield, The Wire, The Thin Red Line, Empire of The Sun and more.
But since having kids and post-COVID life is hard. The world is hard. And I have found I want escapism and a dopamine hit when I finally stop work and get to relax. I don’t want something hard-hitting and gritty. My time is much more limited and I was a guaranteed good watch. Maybe in the future, I will be able to return to more demanding shows, but that is not where I am now.
I’m Not Interested In Reality TV
I think reality tv, so shows like Love Island, The Bachelor, Real Housewives, Selling Sunset have been a big draw for a lot of people over the years, delivering that escapism that many of us are looking for. But they have never appealed to me, too manufactured, too fake, and too much about the inevitable influencer sponsorship deals. I do wonder if their time is drawing to a close and if verticals will take a chunk out of this audience. My instinct is that they will.
Verticals Know Their Audience
The best vertical filmmakers understand their audience. I was to watch beautiful people fall in love, have a few villains I love to hate, a put-upon heroine emerge triumphant, and all the other tropes. I’m so sorry to all the actors and actresses but the towel scene and skyscraper heels to deliver. And we very much appreciate you all for doing it.
The Writing, Acting and Production is So Much Better Than People Realise
I worry that there is a lot of industry snobbery about verticals. Go and watch one of the ones I have given a 5 star review to. You will find top-notch writing, acting talent that finds the truth in the role, comic genius, some iconic shots, inventiveness, and much more. All done on a shoestring.
Yes, let’s be honest there is also a lot of dross out there. But the vertical audience is savvy, generally, the shows that get the most views, well they are the 5-star ones.
And it is not as if mainstream Hollywood is a dross-free zone. They may have all the money but if they are going to use that to produce things like Red One and Ant-man and the Wasp: Quantumania (still scarred by this one), I will watch verticals every time.
It’s Genuinely Exciting To Be At The Beginning Of An Emerging Industry
Everything that is happening right now in verticals (I am writing in January 2025) reminds me of the dot.com boom or what is happening in tech with AI right now.
There is an explosion of apps, talent, and crews, and we the audience are being spoilt for choice. It is so exciting to see how it all develops, as creatives experiment with different genres and ideas.
And things evolve, I was watching a BBC adaptation of David Copperfield with my husband last night, and there are some parallels with the beats, the characters, and the storytelling in verticals. Charles Dickens was criticized at the time for over-exaggerated characters and sentimentality. His stories are now regarded as classics. Just saying!
Vertical Drama Love is a fan site celebrating and promoting Vertical Dramas, run by Jen. All thoughts, articles, and opinions are my own!
