Oscar-Nominated Short ‘The Singers’ Heads to Netflix

Set over the course of one unremarkable evening, The Singers centres on a group of weary bar regulars who agree to settle their differences not with fists, but with song. What begins as playful rivalry gradually exposes deeper insecurities and unspoken longings, using music as a bridge between guarded masculinity and emotional release. In just 17 minutes, the film turns a modest premise into a resonant exploration of how performance can reveal what everyday conversation keeps hidden.

Directed by Sam A. Davis and based on a tale by Ivan Turgenev, The Singers is a 17-minute musical comedy short that has earned an Academy Award nomination. The film follows a group of pub regulars who bond through an impromptu sing-off. Its arrival on Netflix this Friday highlights the streaming service’s commitment to bringing award-season content to a wide audience.

The Singers unfolds inside a modest roadside bar on a lonely night. A handful of downtrodden patrons — men weary from life’s troubles — unexpectedly decide to turn the evening into a singing contest, each taking turns to belt out a tune. What begins as light entertainment quickly reveals an undercurrent of warmth and sincerity. Through its improvised sing-off premise, the film explores how music can break down walls of silence and solitude. Humorous moments of friendly rivalry give way to touching scenes of genuine connection, as characters reveal private longings and kindness behind their boisterous performances. The short plays with tone, mixing comedy with melancholy, and in doing so subtly challenges stereotypes of stoic masculinity by showing everyday men expressing vulnerability through song. Overall, it presents a slice of life that is both entertaining and deeply human.

The Singers - Netflix — The Singers – Courtesy of Netflix

Behind The Singers is filmmaker Sam A. Davis, a two-time Academy Award nominee who previously won an Oscar for his work on the documentary short Period. End of Sentence.. Inspired by George Saunders’s book A Swim in a Pond in the Rain, which analyzes classic Russian stories, Davis chose to adapt Turgenev’s 1852 tale of a barroom singing contest to a contemporary setting. He shot the film on 35mm film stock to capture a warm, textured visual style and recorded all vocals live on set to heighten authenticity. These creative choices — along with Davis’s roles as both cinematographer and editor — give the film a grounded, intimate feel. Festival audiences have praised The Singers for its inventive approach, noting that its simple setup yields surprising emotional depth. The film premiered at South by Southwest in March 2025 and went on to collect multiple festival awards, cementing its status as a standout contender in the live-action short category.

The casting of The Singers is notable for its emphasis on real musical talent rather than established actors. Davis assembled the ensemble by scouring social media and performance spaces for genuine singers. Among the leads is Michael Young, a New York City subway performer better known as Mike Yung, who gained fame on America’s Got Talent. Also featured is Judah Kelly, an Australian singer-songwriter who won The Voice Australia in 2017. These performers, along with the rest of the cast — recruited from viral videos and one-of-a-kind personalities — bring lived-in authenticity to the story. Their real-life backgrounds allow them to infuse the barroom competition with a spontaneous, documentary-like energy. As a result, the characters feel like everyday people letting loose for one night, which reinforces the film’s theme of finding unexpected brilliance and community in humble places.

Though The Singers runs just 17 minutes, its impact is magnified by Netflix’s backing. The film blurs genre lines: it is at once a musical and a character-driven drama, with moments of comedy and pathos. This genre-blending quality has drawn attention as something fresh in the short film format. Netflix’s decision to release the film globally reflects the platform’s evolving strategy of championing short-form content, especially in awards season. In recent years, streaming services have acquired Oscar-nominated documentaries, animations and live-action shorts to bolster their prestige. By placing The Singers on its service, Netflix makes a typically niche festival film accessible to all its subscribers, signaling that even compact stories can command a prime spot in the streaming landscape.

Culturally, The Singers connects a classic literary source to a contemporary audience. While Turgenev’s original is set in 19th-century Russia, Davis’s adaptation feels familiar to global viewers: the rural bar setting and folksy songs tap into universal themes of friendship and escape. Audiences worldwide can relate to the idea that music and humor can unite people across barriers. The film also mirrors modern trends in storytelling by elevating ordinary voices through digital means — just as the characters share their songs in a small tavern, the cast members themselves were discovered on TikTok, YouTube and the streets. This reflects how social media can transform local talent into international phenomena, much like Netflix is doing with the film itself.

As The Singers streams on Netflix, it exemplifies broader shifts in the film industry. Its path—from a festival darling to an Academy Award nominee to a Netflix release—illustrates how short films are finding new life beyond the theater. In an era when streaming platforms vie for awards recognition, even a 17-minute musical tale can play a role in the cinematic conversation. The film’s release coincides with a growing appetite for diverse formats and global stories: viewers are increasingly open to varied voices and shorter runtimes as much as traditional features. In this way, The Singers not only entertains with its catchy barroom duet but also highlights a trend toward embracing concise, heartfelt narratives on the world’s biggest screens. Netflix’s support of the film suggests that concise storytelling and old-fashioned charm still hold power — and that short-form movies may have a larger stage in the digital age.