Tape (2001)

Tape (2001) is exactly the kind of single-location film I'm obsessed with, three characters, one motel room, ninety minutes, and nowhere to hide. Linklater strips away every crutch a normal film would give you, no cutaways, no B-roll, just raw digital video that makes the whole thing feel less like a movie and more like something you're not supposed to be watching. Ethan Hawke's character starts off as a jittery mess and you think you know where this is going, but the script keeps flipping the power dynamic between the three of them until the "guilty" one keeps changing. It's technically low-budget and stagey, but that's the point, some stories just need a locked door and people forced to actually talk.