Is ReelShort Worth It? (Review)
Universe, save us all from vertical drama ads
Advertisements for vertical dramas have overrun my feed with over-the-top plotlines delivered with the nuance of a bull in a China shop. Ads have bombarded me, but none as eye-catching as the ones produced by ReelShort. These ads are bite-sized pieces of shows formatted as short-form video content. Each episode is just under two minutes, making it easy for users to share off-the-wall clips. If we were playing ReelShort bingo, we could easily check off characters getting slapped and bulldozed by cars on the bingo card.
The rundown
ReelShort shows are 50 to 64 episodes, but some of them are very reasonable and not at all troubling, 105 episodes. After doing the math, I realized each mini-series is equivalent to the runtime of a movie. Just do the math: 2 x 64 = 128 and 2 x 105 = 210. The products of those equations amount to a runtime longer than the average movie. 128 minutes is equivalent to 2 hours, and 210 minutes is equivalent to 3 hours and 30 minutes.
The average television miniseries lasts a minimum of 150 minutes, to be fair. However, other shows on streaming platforms don’t trick you into believing you haven’t been staring at your screen for hours. I never thought I would say this, but at least Netflix has the decency to check if you’ve rotted away. The length of the episode is visible to Netflix subscribers from the jump. ReelShort only shares the number of episodes in the series, leaving the viewer to do the math.
Who has time to calculate how many two-minute clips equal an hour of television? Only math nerds and control freaks. ReelShort doesn’t disclose how long their shows are, so the viewer won’t bother to fit screentime into their schedule. It’s like TikTok; the company wants you to open their app every time you have free time. They want you to get sucked into a black hole of admittedly entertaining, nonsensical screaming matches.
The paywall
I wouldn’t mind the TikTokification of TV shows if all the juicy bits weren’t behind a paywall. As consumers, we shouldn’t be beholden to the troll under the bridge to cure our chronic boredom. Corporations know that we’re all addicted to dopamine; that’s why apps like Reelshort serve you vertical crack before they ask you to cough up the cash.
ReelShort runs on coins, how appropriate considering the troll/bridge analogy. The money required to unlock an entire show is also behind a wall, but the good news is that you don’t have to pay to discover that secret. In January of 2024, IndieWire estimated that it takes between $10-$20 to finish a show, but that’s just an estimation.
Regardless of the amount, users don’t have to worry about it because the app will automatically use their coins to unlock an episode. The app is programmed to rob you blind like a warped version of Robin Hood. If you touch grass, then you’ll probably miss that ReelShort has episodes on auto-unlock. That means locked episodes will be automatically unlocked if you have coins. To turn off this function, go to Profile > My Wallet > Detail > Episodes on auto-unlock. If you don’t turn this off, you run the risk of spending 60 coins each episode of a show you’re not invested in.
The rewards/gems
A Refill refers to a coin purchased through the app. These coins don’t expire, but reward coins do. There are numerous coin packages available on the app, ranging from low to high. The cheapest option is 200 coins for $1.99, and the most expensive option is 5000 coins for $50. Users under an Ursula-level spell can buy a VIP subscription for $20 a week or $200 a year.
The VIP subscription offers unlimited viewing, a daily VIP reward, 1080P resolution, and an ad-free experience. The subscriptions are on Auto-renewal in hopes that you’ll forget you’re taking an extra $988 ($19 per week x 52 weeks = $988) out of your hard-earned paycheck by the end of the year.
Those who don’t want to scavenge for coins like a peasant can upgrade from Rewards to VIP Gems. This option unlocks premium content, features, and episodes for $19 a week. 3000 gems are granted to users, but they can earn additional gems by completing tasks like logging in for five consecutive days or renewing their subscription.
You can find the rules for the VIP Gem system by clicking on Earn Rewards > VIP Gems > Rules & Info. The details are at the bottom of the page. Below are the rules written exactly as they are:
1. ReelShort reserves final interpretation.
2. VIPs can get random gem reward per day.
3. Gems can only be used to redeem items.
4. You can check VIP Gems records for details.
5. Your new rewards will update at 12 AM per day.
6. Daily tasks refresh at 00:00 every day, and weekly tasks refresh at 00:00 every Sunday.
Any of these rules can be changed or interpreted differently by the company. They reserve the right to final interpretation, which means that they hold the ultimate right to interpret a contract or situation. It’s the equivalent of your parents saying, “Because I said so.” The user can’t argue with the company’s interpretation of their terms of service because they agree to their rules.
Users can earn free coins through various methods, including collecting drama and quest coins. The objectives require the viewer to keep their eyes glued to the screen for 2 to 30 minutes. Watching two minutes of video content equates to 12 coins, five minutes earns 18 coins, ten minutes earns 30 coins, 20 minutes earns 80 coins, and 30 minutes earns 100 coins. You can gain up to 240 coins at most with specific stipulations. The rules state that the user won’t earn their reward if they rewatch a drama, quickly switch between dramas, or pause playback.
You can also collect coins by taking advantage of Today’s Benefits. You’ll be in advertisement hell, but what else is new? Watching 17 ads will get you 340 coins at most (20 coins per ad). There are 15-second load periods between each ad, so you can question every decision that led you to that moment. Each ad is less than a minute long, lasting between 23 seconds and 60 seconds. I got ads for games such as Merge World: Drama and Story, Chai: Chat AI Platform, and Galatea: Books & Audiobooks. Benefits also include logging into the app, binding your email, watching new dramas, following ReelShort on social media, and playing games to earn coins.
Claiming the daily reward is the last way to earn coins. The app sends one or two push notifications a day to remind users to collect daily coins. There are seven opportunities to collect daily coins, one for each day of the week, with a Streak Bonus that gives you extra coins when you open the app every day. Users are eligible to earn ten coins on days one and two, 80 coins are available on day three, 20 coins are available on day five, 30 coins are available on day six, and 200 coins are available on day seven. The Reward Coins History tab catalogs the expiration date of the free coins. As of the date I’m writing this article, I claimed my last reward on October 22nd, 2025, but my coins expire on October 30th, 2025. Reward coins are usable for eight days, which has the potential to breed a sunk cost fallacy mindset.
The war on human physiology
A sunk cost fallacy refers to a person’s reluctance to abandon a behavior or endeavor after making a significant investment, be it time, money, or energy. The crucial thing to know is that this concept hinges on the personal belief that you should continue this behavior or endeavor despite the risk. It’s harder to stop harmful behavior once you’re emotionally invested in it. It’s one of the many reasons why gamblers play slots or toxic exes get back together.
A knowledgeable design and marketing team banks on the hope that the consumer will make emotional rather than logical decisions. In this case, ReelShort has created a loop that encourages their users to become emotionally invested by accumulating Rewards/Gems. The gamified system incentivizes users to empty their bank account by presenting valuable assets (video content) to justify their initial investment (time/energy/money).
They also send push notifications to boost engagement and target users. This practice exploits the mere-exposure effect. Humans are more likely to favor things that they are exposed to frequently, according to the psychological principle. The notifications increase the consumer’s familiarity with a brand, thus improving brand visibility. This repeated advertisement is an accessible way to create subconscious preference. Push notifications are all about building trust when your phone pings. It’s a free method to remind you that the app exists, and you should click on it.
The ReelShort app is exceedingly efficient at sending out push notifications. I recorded the number of push notifications the app sent me from October 30th to November 2nd. I received six notifications on October 30th, and seven notifications on October 31st, November 1st, and November 2nd. They lasted from morning till late afternoon, but varied in hour-long increments. Within four days, I acquired 26 notifications, some for new programming and some for established programming.
I got four reminders to claim my daily rewards. I received nine advertisements for "Was the Heiress Switched at Birth?" A show I had seen before. I got seven ads for “Why My Contract Ex-Husband Keeps Chasing Me,” a show I only clicked on once. I got six ads for new shows that I had never seen before.
These strategies are commonplace sales tactics that exploit the customer’s relationship with the brand. It motivates them to make a purchase that seems low-risk and high-reward, or to add to their existing purchase. Other apps, such as my favorite, Rollercoaster Tycoon, use sales to attract in-app purchases and mark some packages as Most popular to make the offer more attractive (admittedly, I take the bait sometimes). ReelShort makes it easy to invest in their app by making their purchases only an easy click and an auto-renewal away. Whether the tactic is ethical is another conversation, but it is common among most companies.
Disclaimer
I don't want to harshly criticize the actors or crew because I acknowledge their efforts. Filmmaking is exceedingly complicated. Madonna may not be an Academy Award-winning actor, but she was absolutely correct when she said, "When you make a movie, it seems like there's nothing but resistance. It's kind of a miracle that any movie ever gets made." Countless moving parts, from on-screen talent to off-screen production staff, impact the quality of the final product. So, I take my hat off to the actors and crew who worked on these projects because I'm sure they didn't have it easy.
The filmmaking
Users who can afford to give up their light bill funds are treated to paragons of filmmaking such as “Claimed by the Alpha I hate,” “Was the Heiress Switched at Birth?” And “The Billionaire Married a Homeless Girl.” These are all real titles that focus on the most extreme plots a person could imagine. ReelShort shows tend to flit in the romance genre. They make content that appeals to people who enjoy the grade-A trash found in the back of the bookstore. The plots are scandalous, but I was locked in from start to finish.
I won't pussyfoot around; the plots are ridiculous, but the visual presentation is nothing to write home about. The shows are, for the most part, visually appealing with lighting that illuminates everything in frame. Evocative stylization seems to be a foreign concept for ReelShort projects. I don't blame the lighting department for this mistake because they're obligated to follow the director's instructions. In this case, I have a sneaking suspicion that the director is under the thumb of studio executives. The lighting lacks the color and variation needed to create expressive qualities through texture.
Mood-making is non-essential for ReelShort principles, which prioritize profit over creativity. The programs are allergic to the fundamentals of immersive filmmaking. It seems that they take the camera and prop that sucker on a tripod. Don't expect Martin Scorsese's energetic whip pans or Ava DuVernay's subtlety when the camera moves. Don't get me wrong, I love static shots and have used them in my short films. Static shots are great; you can look at the imaginative world of Wes Anderson's films to see how a tripod can be a filmmaker's best friend.
Anderson is a functional filmmaker, but functional doesn’t have to equal boring. Anderson's distinct style, which bursts with color and whimsy, is heightened by center framing and flat planes. The nature of functional filmmaking is experimentation. It's a style that challenges the limits of cinema conventions by experimenting with composition, movement, and editing. Vertical videos are a medium with infinite potential for experimentation, especially in terms of time and editing. They have been a vehicle for storytelling, but their full potential is unrealized.
ReelShort's overreliance on satisfying social media algorithms won't crack the code to innovation within the vertical video market. Granted, the company's goal isn't to reinvent the wheel, at least in terms of art. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but it would be nice to see them push the boundaries beyond the standard. I know they won't, because they're in it for the money; their programming is repetitive for their platform and derivative of others. However, a girl can dream about a brighter future where creative potential isn't wasted.
Other aspects of ReelShort productions are acceptable. The hair, makeup, and wardrobe department put their best foot forward. Some of the wigs are rough with a capital R, but I found myself admiring the costuming. The costumes are appropriate for the characters, but not groundbreaking. The sound is competent, although there were instances where the audio was questionable. I’m looking at you, “30 Years Frozen, 3 Brothers Regret,” a show that has mysteriously disappeared after fellow vertical drama app, DramaWave, released a show of the same name with different actors.
All things considered, ReelShort's filmmaking is strictly utilitarian. The camera positions are basic, and the lights are present out of necessity. I suspect the crew works this way because of budget constraints, which dictate that they stay under the $300,000 mark. If you would like to learn more about the company’s business practices, check out my article, "ReelShort: The Cost of Vertical Video Shlock."
The writing
As a veteran fangirl, I find the absurdity of the stories reminiscent of late-night Archive of Our Own and Tumblr reads. Honestly, it scratches an itch in my brain for mind-numbing content when knee deep in research. Sometimes my adult sensibilities need a healthy dose of cringe every time a male character growls “You’re mine” to a female character. For that reason, I won’t harp on the writing because it resembles the worst (or best) of bad fanfiction. Instead, I’m going to inquire about why the writers don't receive credit for their work.
After conducting research for this article, I question whether ReelShort has a writing team. Crazy Maple Studios, a Chinese content creation and distribution company, owns ReelShort. Writing jobs were posted on their LinkedIn profile; however, the target audience was creatives for their app game, Chapters: Interactive Stories. Additionally, there were no writer’s credits on the ReelShort app, nor were they present on IMDB. Either the company is using AI to write their scripts, or writers are opting to omit their name from the credits. A Redditor who worked with CMS acknowledged that they had asked to have their identity concealed from the credits.
The acting and storytelling
Actors can only work with the script they have. If the dialogue is stilted, then the delivery will be stilted. It’s as simple as that. Some actors are working with better material than others, but none are delivering performances of the caliber of Denzel Washington or Meryl Streep. I don’t expect them to because these dramas require grandiose, soap opera acting.
That’s not to say that soap actors are bad or untalented. My point is that the genre of TV requires a specific skillset to bring a script to life. There’s nothing subtle about the way the actors go about their performances. They deliver their Neil Breen-style monologues with Tommy Wiseau levels of flair. If you loved the internal monologues in Mean Girls, you won’t find anything of that quality in a ReelShort show. I’m just letting you know that internal monologues are ordinary plot devices used in their programming.
These shows are ridiculous, poorly written, soap operas only concocted for attention, and *cough, cough* revenue. The issue with ReelShort is that they linger on plot points for so long that I started to feel like I was in TV purgatory. The same dialogue and storylines are recycled until they’re completely bled dry. Once the show drains the A-plot of all life, the plot moves onto something outlandish to ensure the audience.
In “Was the Heiress Switched at Birth?” the story revolves around a secretary seeking revenge on her wealthy boss by swapping their daughters at birth. She intends to secretly torment her boss’s daughter while her boss unknowingly raises her actual daughter in the lap of luxury. When the girls reach the age of 18, the secretary plans to reveal the truth to secure any assets gifted to her real daughter, thereby elevating her family’s social and financial status.
Spoiler alert! The story goes off the rails after the A plot is “resolved.” The show abandons the A plot for a random B plot about marital betrayal. The main character’s husband is a mastermind who executes his evil plan to murder his wife and daughter, although his scheme was never mentioned or hinted at. Never has the phrase, “This town ain’t big enough for the both of us,” been so applicable. Suddenly, the A plot about an abused child is inconsequential. Remember, folks, you don’t need to follow through even when money is involved.
The takeaway
Honestly, I'm not sure how to end this article. I've spent two weeks with my head buried in research, sharing opinions in between breaks of Physical: Asia. With my head in the present, I neglected to consider the future. Usually, I don't write conclusions for the "Worth It?" articles because I don't want to tell readers how to feel. However, I do think it's important to consider the entire picture when it comes to ReelShort.
The app is mindless video content, but the people who make it are not. There are real people in front of and behind the camera getting underpaid for the value of the work. While it's fun to watch these ridiculous shows while waiting in your dentist's lobby, I urge you to consider the cost of labor. What does it mean when a company under a billion-dollar conglomerate is making low-budget productions that allegedly rake in $33 million a year? It doesn’t equal fair pay or benefits; I’ll tell you that.
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