I recently watched two movies for the first time and was struck by the difference after the first twenty minutes,
IF (2024): Long drawn out scenes with cryptic conversation alluding to some emotional buildup we're supposed to be feeling, which ultimately rings hollow. There's no chance to actually get to know who these characters are or why we care. I gave up after Bea returned to the hospital for a ten second scene of finding her father in the medicine cabinet. I couldn't help but feel like the twenty minutes could be accomplished in one four minute scene.
Nimona (2023): Despite a quite a bit of exposition, the characters are intriguing and multifaceted. By the end of the twenty minutes I felt like I understood the characters' motives, I was eager to see how the story plays out, and I genuinely enjoyed the action and comedy along the way.
It was a stark contrast in the way the movies attempted to get the audience into the story and it made me wonder what other movies out there were particularly good or bad in those first twenty minutes