The Singers Review: Netflix’s Oscar-Nominated Short That Turns a Dive Bar into a Stage for Redemption

Sometimes the smallest films hit the hardest.

The Singers doesn’t arrive with explosions, prestige monologues, or sweeping orchestras. It walks in quietly — like a regular at a neighborhood dive bar — and then, without warning, grabs you by the collar and makes you feel something real.

Directed by two-time Academy Award nominee Sam A. Davis, this 18-minute musical comedy short follows a group of down-on-their-luck men who stumble into an impromptu singing competition. What begins as a joke turns into something far more vulnerable: a night of unexpected connection and emotional release.

With its Best Live Action Short Film nomination at the 98th Academy Awards, and Netflix releasing it globally on February 13, 2026, The Singers is about to reach a much bigger audience. And honestly? It deserves it.

🎤 A Dive Bar, A Broken Crowd, A Shared Song

The premise is deceptively simple: a group of men, each carrying their own quiet disappointments, gather at a local bar. Someone suggests a singing contest. It’s messy. It’s improvised. It’s not polished.

And that’s the point.

As the contest unfolds, bravado fades. Ego cracks. What emerges isn’t about winning — it’s about being heard.

There’s a rawness to these performances that feels almost documentary-like. That’s partly because the cast, including Mike Young and Judah Kelly, was discovered through viral videos and street casting. They don’t feel like actors “performing emotion.” They feel like real men caught in an unexpectedly honest moment.

🎬 Direction & Style: Intimate and Unfiltered

Sam A. Davis doesn’t overcomplicate this film. He directs, edits, and handles cinematography himself, giving the short a cohesive, almost handmade texture.

The camera lingers just long enough on uncomfortable silences. It doesn’t glamorize the setting. The lighting is dim, the space is cramped, and the characters are flawed.

But within that tight 18-minute runtime, Davis finds surprising emotional depth.

It’s no accident that the story draws inspiration from a 19th-century Russian work by Ivan Turgenev. Like classic literature, the film explores pride, masculinity, humiliation, and dignity — but reframes it through music instead of dialogue-heavy drama.

🎵 Music as Catharsis

The music, composed by Island Styles, doesn’t dominate the narrative — it unlocks it.

The sing-off sequences are awkward at first. Off-key notes. Nervous laughter. Forced confidence. But gradually, vulnerability seeps in. You can almost feel the shift in the room as the men realize they’re no longer competing — they’re connecting.

That’s the emotional trick The Singers pulls so effectively.

It turns performance into confession.

🏆 Awards Buzz & Festival Reception

South by Southwest Film & TV FestivalAcademy Awards

The film had its world premiere at the 2025 South by Southwest Film & TV Festival in the Narrative Short Competition. It didn’t take long for critics and audiences to respond.

Soon after, it secured an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short Film — a significant achievement in a fiercely competitive category.

Netflix acquired global streaming rights on January 16, 2026, positioning The Singers for a much wider audience. For a short film, that’s a major leap.

And it speaks to something important: short-form storytelling, when done right, can hit just as powerfully as feature-length cinema.

🎭 Performances: Raw Over Refined

The cast — Michael Young, Chris Smither, Will Harrington, Judah Kelly, and Matt Corcoran — delivers something rare.

There’s no showboating. No overacting. Just deeply human performances.

Judah Kelly, in particular, carries an emotional vulnerability that lingers long after the credits roll. Mike Young balances humor with heartbreak in a way that makes the film’s tonal shifts feel natural rather than forced.

This is musical comedy stripped of spectacle. The humor lands because it’s rooted in discomfort and authenticity.

🔍 Themes That Resonate

At its core, The Singers is about:

• Masculinity and emotional repression

• Community in unlikely spaces

• The healing power of shared art

• Loneliness in modern life

It asks a simple but powerful question: When was the last time you let yourself be heard without armor?

For an 18-minute short, that’s an ambitious emotional target. Yet somehow, it sticks the landing.

📅 Release Date & Streaming Details

• World Premiere: March 8, 2025 (SXSW)

• Netflix Release: February 13, 2026

• Runtime: 18 minutes

• Genre: Musical Comedy / Drama Short

• Distributor: Netflix

This makes it a perfect watch for audiences looking for something meaningful without committing to a full-length feature.

⭐ Final Verdict: Is The Singers Worth Watching?

Yes — and not just because it’s Oscar-nominated.

The Singers works because it doesn’t try too hard. It trusts its characters. It trusts silence. It trusts imperfection.

It proves that sometimes the most powerful stage isn’t a grand theater — it’s a sticky-floored bar where pride melts into harmony.

On paper, it’s about a singing contest.

In reality, it’s about men learning how to feel.

And that quiet emotional honesty is what makes it one of Netflix’s most compelling short releases of 2026.