If you’ve spent any time on social media in recent years, then you know that vertical videos are growing in popularity. We’re not talking just about standard, user-created short form content like you might encounter from your favorite content creator on TikTok or Instagram Reels. We’re talking about entertainment content specifically made or reformatted to fit the vertical short format. There’s been a real rise in the prevalence of microdramas intended for short video mobile platforms, like ReelShort and DramaBox and it was recently announced that HBO Max is dipping their toes into the format with the recent test of HBO Max Shorts offering select iOS app users access to content pulled from the HBO Max library and reformatted into that vertical short form style, though for the moment it’s more a highlight feed than anything particularly original.
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But if the idea of vertical, short-form content meant to be enjoyed on your device in small, manageable “bites” sounds familiar to you, you’re not wrong. Back in 2020, there was Quibi. Quibi — a portmanteau of “Quick Bites” — launched at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, offering up a library of content delivered in short, 10-minute episodes. And, as content libraries go, it was actually pretty stacked. There were thrillers, horror, sci-fi, comedy, unscripted series, and more. Unfortunately, Quibi didn’t take off. The platform announced in October 2020 that they were shutting down and it officially ended that December. While some of the content found a new home on The Roku Channel, most ended with Quibi. Now, with HBO Max and others starting to look towards vertical video as a new content outlet, it’s starting to look a lot like Quibi wasn’t necessarily a bad idea, just one that was ahead of its time and, if that’s the case, there are some Quibi shows that deserve a second chance. Here are three Quibi programs that were actually very good and deserve to be revisited as vertical, short-form content grows in popularity.
3) 50 States of Fright
Horror is a genre that feels like a natural fit for vertical content and 50 States of Fright honestly proved that to be true. The horror anthology series was executive produced by Sam Raimi and featured self-contained horror stories each located in a different state across the United States. Each story was spread across multiple episodes to accommodate the short format and while only 9 individual stories ever aired spread over 24 total episodes, they were absolutely stacked with talent. Rachel Brosnahan, Ming-Na Wen, Jacob Batalon, Travis Fimmel, Karen Allen, Rory Culkin, Ron Livingston, Taissa Farmiga, and many, many more starred in different episodes and the talent was behind the camera as well — Raimi wrote and directed the very first episode, “The Golden Arm”, while Lee Cronin directed “13 Steps to Hell”. This was serious horror, just on a small scale.
And that was largely how critics saw the series as well. The response to the series was that they were good stories and done well, but at the time it was frequently noted that Quibi was the wrong platform. At the time, the idea of very short form vertical content was still a bit of a foreign concept and platforms like TikTok were only starting to grow in popularity because everyone was stuck at home thanks to the pandemic lockdowns. Now, as verticals start to go mainstream it would be nice to see the 50 States of Fright concept revisited, but even if we don’t get a new take on the anthology, new vertical platforms might make for a good place for the existing episodes to stream. Currently, 50 States of Fright is entirely unavailable to watch thanks to Quibi being defunct.
2) Wireless
If you’ve ever found yourself in a situation where you really needed your phone but didn’t have much in the way of battery charge, then you know how problematic that can be. Now take that idea and make the situation one of life or death and you’ve got Wireless, a 10-episode thriller executive produced by Steven Soderbergh. The series followed a self-obsessed college student (played by Tye Sheridan) who ends up stranded in the Colorado mountains after crashing his car in a blizzard. In addition to Sheridan, the series starred Lukas Gage, Francesca Reale, Sydney Park, Andie MacDowell, Eric Dane, and Froy Gutierrez.
Realistically, Wireless wasn’t a series that was cut short because of Quibi’s demise — though it’s worth noting that it debuted just about a month before it was announced that the platform was shuttering. Wireless was able to tell its complete story over its 10 episodes, but it was a good show, one that balanced the existential threat that Sheridan’s Andy faces after crashing his car in the blizzard with the more social concerns he’s dealing with that, to an extent, takes priority for him over his dire situation. As the series unfolds (each episode reduces his phone’s battery by 10%, a bit of clever framing), we find out just how messy Andy’s life is, how self-obsessed he is, and how that obsession and superficiality leads him to make nearly fatal choices. We’d love to see a new take on this with a new series, perhaps one in an anthology format that explores different ways technology impacts our lives.
1) Don’t Look Deeper
It is no mystery that I think Don’t Look Deeper is a great sci-fi series. Debuting in July 2020, the series was directed by Twilight’s Catherine Hardwicke and, like many Quibi series, had an incredible cast. The series starred MCU star Don Cheadle, Emily Mortimer, Ema Horvath, Jan Luis Castellanos, Kaiwi Lyman, Harvey Zielenski, and Helena Howard and followed Aisha (Howard), a high school senior who starts experiencing some very strange things and, in the process discovers she’s not actually human. The series explores Aisha’s quest to find out exactly what is going, what she is, and in the process sets off a series of events that endangers not only herself, but everyone who matters to her. Even for being a short-form content and just 14 episodes, Don’t Look Deeper was a thrilling, fast-paced story that explored themes of artificial intelligence that are shockingly of the moment now. It also ended on a cliffhanger.
Currently, there are several places you can actually watch Don’t Look Deeper (it’s notably available to stream in its entirety on Tubi for free) but given how the story ended without complete resolution, this is a series that definitely needs to be revisited in some fashion in the future. It’s themes are timelier than ever and there is something really engaging about stories that make us question what it is to be human.
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