A drama and/or thriller doesn’t always need a big budget and a big set to engage an audience. In fact, all a movie needs to be engaging is a good script and fine acting. Here are 6 movies that managed to be impressive with relatively tiny budgets and enclosed locations.

1. Phone Booth – starring Colin Farrell. Co-starring Forest Whitekar and Kiefer Sutherland

Cheating husband and overall, not so decent Stu (Colin Farrell) uses a phone booth and becomes the target of a hit man (Kiefer Sutherland), who will kill him if he steps out. It is a very decent thriller. There are other characters and some other locations but overall, it is all about Colin Farrell’s reactions in a tiny phone booth – and the ever charismatic and impressive voice of Kiefer Sutherland.

2. The Man from earth starring David Lee Smith

The Man from Earth is set in a small, one-floor house, and its front yard. The movie is all about a fascinating story told by John Oldman (David Lee Smith) and his interactions with his colleagues who are throwing him a goodbye party. This movie has a tiny budget, great acting, brilliant script and it ends up being an instant sci-fi drama classic. It also has a very decent ending.

3. Tape starring Ethan Hawke, Robert Sean Leonard and Uma Thurman

This movie takes place in a motel room, first between two old friends played by Ethan Hawke and Robert Sean Leonard and then Uma Thurman’s character arrives. Up until her arrival, the movie is a bit slow and not that engaging. However, she comes with an accusation that one of them has raped her. Is it true? And what will she do to get closure?

4. 24th Day starring James Marsden and Scott Speedman

Promiscuous Dan (James Marsden) is happy he is going home with the handsome Tom (Scott Speedman). However as the night progresses, he will find out that sex is the last thing on his mind. In fact, he has planned the perfect revenge. Because Tom has slept with him before once and now has AIDS. Problem? He was married at the time and Dan is the only time he strayed. When his wife caught AIDS because of him and died, he knows there is only one person he could have gotten it from. It is all very simple: He will test Dan for the disease. If he has it, he will kill him. If he doesn’t, he will let him go...

5. Restraint starring Stephen Moyer, Teresa Palmer and Travis Fimmel

An agoraphobic, well-off young man named Andrew (Stephen Moyer) is taken hostage in his house by two criminal lovers Ron and Dale (Travis Fimmel and Teresa Palmer). They couldn’t have found a more ideal hostage, as leaving his house seems more like a torture than being threatened by dangerous criminals. But it is not before their scared but smart prisoner will be playing mind games with them, find out their weaknesses and try using it against them and maybe even going through a little Stockholm Syndrome. But as the movie progresses, lines will get blurry on who the victim is...

The majority of the film takes place in a house.

6. The Killing Room starring Timothy Hutton, Nick Cannon, Chloe Sevigny& Peter Stormare

The movie takes place in a room where 4 people are experimented upon and in the observation room where the scientists are studying the subjects.

The subjects- 3 guys (Timothy Hutton, Nick Cannon and Shea Whigham) and a young woman (Clea DuVall) have joined this experiment, thinking they just need to spend a couple of hours together and make some extra bucks at the end of the day. The man running the project- Dr. Philips (Peter Stormare), however, has very different plans. And the young psychologist, whose observations will serve as her audition to be a part of the project, is about to get the shock of her life when she finds out what’s in store for the subjects. After all, when Dr. Philips was talking about elimination, he actually meant...murder.

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