One of the hardest and ambitious filming techniques to execute is a long take: a scene meant to look like a single, uninterrupted take in the final edit. The reason for this is because of all the moving parts needed to get a long take done correctly. Think of it like a stage show where all the actors in their role, big or small, need to know their part and what they’re doing, but now multiply that by a hundred (more or less, depending on the scene) and include the use of expensive equipment and a crew that needs to ensure everything is set and ready for the shot. And that’s just for the easier long takes. Some would include time passage, fight scenes with stunt doubles, elaborate sets, and special effects. If one little thing gets messed up in any way, it’s back to the start with something needing to be reset, which could take time, and will cost the production a lot of money.
A long take requires a mastery of camera work, acting, and choreography. When finally achieved, though, it can not only be an amazing visual for the audience, but it can also give them a level of immersion into the scene that they wouldn’t normally get from short takes. Many shows and movies have been able to pull it off, but others have been able to do it creatively and in a way that enhances the overall story. With that being said, these are a few of the TV shows with the best long takes.
7Daredevil
The (former) Netflix series of the Marvel comic book character,Daredevilhas done long takes twice, once in season one and another in season three, both of which take place in a hallway. The season 3, episode 4 scene is roughly 11 minutes long and shows Matt Murdock (Charlie Cox) taking on prisoners and guards in a prison single-handedly, and pushes you through the fight scene with him. What’s most interesting about the show’s long takes is that Cox tried to use his stunt double less and less as time went on in the show. In the first long take in season one, Murdock, AKA Daredevil, wore a mask that could easily disguise who was fighting in the scene, but in season three, without a mask, it was harder to switch out. And although the scene still used a stunt double with impressive cuts, Cox wanted the audience to still see him in the fight scene.
Related:5 Directors Who Are Masters of the Long Take
6The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel
Amazon’sThe Marvelous Mrs. Maiselis a visually stunning show that is no stranger to long takes. They’ve practically mastered the art form, and M. David Mullet, the director of photography for the show, toldInsiderthat long takes are a part of the show’s language. The opening of the second season flows nicely into a shop and follows a letter down a mail chute and trails the mail worker to the show’s protagonist. The mail chute used CGI for the effect, but afterwards two crew members had to move through a narrow room filled with 12 actors and follow the protagonist, Miriam “Midge” Maisel (Rachel Brosnahan), as she moves quickly around the tight space. To achieve the scene, it required a lot of teamwork between the cast and crew to ensure they were moved out of the way of the camera and that Brosnahan was moved into the right spot for the shot. The shot makes for a very energetic and satisfying scene to watch.
Hulu’s new showThe Bear, which aired July 29, 2025, is another that filmed an entire episode in one take. The show is already known for its realistic depiction ofworking in a kitchen, but the seventh episode, “Review,” is the one that probably hits home the most to anyone that’s worked in a professional kitchen. When Sydney (Ayo Edebiri) accidentally leaves the pre-order option on, on the restaurant’s tablet, they’re swamped with orders coming in as soon as they open. It shows just how bad a bad day working back of house in a restaurant can be with yelling, anxiety, and sometimes even people quitting mid-shift. The one-take technique allows the audience to feel immersed in the kitchen on an awful day. The cast and crew went through floor rehearsals to get the flow right and went over the script multiple times to ensure everything sounded good.
4True Detective
The fourth episode of the first season ofTrue Detectivedoes a long take that moves you through a neighborhood street and through different houses in a six-minute raid that leads to chaos. The scene has about as many moving parts as you can get with multiple sets, a large amount of actors and extras, and even a helicopter that flies over head. The long take works as the climax of the episode, with action and tension, especially when put into consideration the build-up to the scene along with the character development from the two main characters, Martin Hart (Woody Harrelson) and Rustin Cohle (Matthew McConaughey), through the episode. It does more than just provide an impressive visual for the audience, it adds to the story and feeling of intensity.
Related:These Movies Were Filmed in One Take, or Look Like They Were
3Mr. Robot
This drama thriller, which aired for four seasons between June 2015 and December 2019, pulled off something unthinkable: an entire episode as a long take.Mr. Robotfollows Elliot Anderson (Rami Malek), a cybersecurity engineer for the cybersecurity company Allsafe, who gets recruited by a mysterious anarchist, Mr. Robot to join his team of hackers. In the fifth episode of the third season, director Sam Esmail decided he wanted to film the episode in one take “to experience those first few minutes of switching from personality to personality, and we wanted to find the most dramatic way to reflect that experience,” as he toldEntertainment Weekly. But the episode was not filmed in just one take, more like multiple long takes, that were edited to give the illusion of one single take through cleverly timed cuts. It’s impressive to imagine how much time and choreography were needed in every scene to get it just right for editing. And, to maintain that illusion, it was aired without any commercial breaks.
Kidding, a comedy drama about the life and tragedy of Jeff Piccirillo (Jim Carrey), used unique techniques to get their long take for a short scene in episode three of the first season. The crew used a set with hidden doors for the cast and crew to move through and rearrange the set off-camera to show a lapse of time with the main actress of the scene, Riki Lindhome, having to change her outfit multiple times within the almost two-minute scene. This makes for an impressive yet very delicate filming because if one person is late, they’d have to start the shot over. The take was very effective in showing the lapse of time that shows a drug addict, Shaina, getting clean and changing her life after watching an episode of Jeff Piccirillo’s children’s show Mr Pickles' Puppet Time.
1The Haunting of Hill House
The Haunting of Hill Houseused a very similar technique toKidding, except creator and director Mike Flanagan had much bigger and more ambitious ideas. He chose to film episode six, “Two Storms,” in five takes. The episode would focus on two plot lines taking place in the past and present, but unlikeMr. Robot, Flanagan wanted this to be done without editing. Meaning he didn’t use camera illusions to hide the cuts; instead, the crew built the entire set and rehearsed for a month the blocking and camera movements for the scenes. The set included hiding spots for the cast and crew to be placed in so that when the camera turns away, they can move quickly to put things in place or to move actors into place. The filming for the episode was even more delicate as, if a single mistake was made, they’d have to start the scene — which would be about 17 minutes long — over. It’s something similar to stage show magic, but on a much bigger scale, and does a fantastic job at moving you through the horror of the show. It’s no wonder why the show is considered one of thebest horror TV showson Netflix.
