If A24 Made YouTube Videos, They'd Look Like These

If you don’t know A24, imagine Wes Anderson and gothic royalty had a baby raised on existential dread and perfect lighting. Think: Euphoria, Uncut Gems, Lady Bird, and Everything Everywhere All At Once—projects whose taste could cut glass.

Their aesthetic? It translates beautifully to YouTube, a platform now stealing 8.1% of all TV eyeballs in the US (thanks, Nielsen). While most YouTube creators are still editing like they're on amphetamines, these five know something profound: the algorithm doesn't just reward engagement—it rewards feeling.

Here are 5 YouTube videos that could double as A24 trailers, served with my usual blend of admiration and gentle intimidation.😉

5. "i locked myself in a room until i made $1M"

Jamie Robbins | 1.2M Views | 1.6K Glazed Saves | x22 Outlier Multiplier

Most entrepreneurship content on YouTube feels like watching someone practice their TED talk in a bathroom mirror.

Jamie took the tired "how I made money online" format and turned it into psychological thriller.

The YouTube thumbnail shows Jamie alone in dim lighting with stark shadows—no bright colors or excited faces.

Thumbnail: claustrophobic lighting, stark shadows—less "business guru," more "descent into obsession."

This is YouTube strategy for people who understand that vulnerability sells better than authority.

Instead of positioning himself as the expert, Jamie positioned himself as the experiment.

The difference? Experts teach; experiments make you lean forward.

4. "the ideas we lose by morning"

leo | 1.1M Views | 734 Glazed Saves | x59 Outlier Multiplier

Leo nailed that emotional whiplash between midnight optimism and morning inertia.. This video shouldn't work according to traditional how to grow on YouTube wisdom—it's contemplative, melancholy, refuses to promise solutions.

But it does, because recognition beats information.

People clicked to feel understood.

The seductive lowercase title, the sexy cinematic thumbnail, the lack of artificial energy. Just honesty. (how ground breaking).

But it performs because it operates on the psychology of recognition rather than information.

This is what happens when creators stop trying to be helpful and start trying to be honest.

Sometimes the most valuable thing you can offer isn't a solution; it's "dude, me too".

3."For those waiting for life to happen"

Life of Riza | 4.4M Views | 2.1K Glazed Saves | x8.3 Outlier Multiplier

Riza hijacked a universal fear (wasting your life) and paired it with cinematic delivery that made viewers feel seen rather than sold to.

The visual treatment uses natural lighting and wide shots that give subjects room to breathe, not harsh studio lighting or cramped framing.

But it's not JUST that Riza can create stunning shots. It's in her ability to write a script that says:

1. Here's a universal pain that I've experienced

2. Here's how I wrestled with it

3. Here's why I feel better about it now.

Riza understands that viral YouTube videos don't just entertain—they reach down into peoples guts and metabolize their anxiety into something beautiful and clarifying.

The video doesn't solve the problem of feeling stuck; it transforms the experience of being stuck into something the viewer can clearly understand.

Her YouTube thumbnail is nice; simple, minimal with a clear focal point.

2. "HOW TO EDIT LIKE A PRO"

Gawx | 2.4M Views | 4.7K Glazed Saves | x1.9 Outlier Multiplier

Educational content typically has the aesthetic appeal of a corporate training video.

But Gawx did a thing…

He made tutorials Netflix-worthy.

Instead of sitting down in front of camera and explaining a listicle, he immerses the viewer in the editing process.

The pacing is addictive… like a pistachio croissant (warm), a delicate espresso, a fresh, crispy, cigarette or meth.

The video packaging promises entertainment and STYLE as much as education.

Comments praised it as "basically a Netflix show": the highest compliment YouTube content can receive.

If you want to compete with the masses sit down in front of the camera and teach. One scene, one take, zero wonder… :(

Instead of sitting in editing software explaining techniques, Gawx demonstrates them in real-time throughout the video. You see the editing happening as he teaches it, making the lesson visceral rather than theoretical.

This is what happens when creators stop asking "How can I teach this?" and start asking "How can I make this information impossible to ignore?"

1. "nothing, except everything."

Wesley Wang | 8.6M Views | 4.2K Glazed Saves | x106 Outlier Multiplier

Wesley crafted a teen existential crisis into a universally resonant cinematic time capsule.

The chaotic Gen Z humor, emotional honesty, disjointed structure resembling actual memory.

The genius is in ONE thing thought… trusting viewers' intelligence and patience and not sanitizing the story.

The YouTube thumbnail uses muted colors and avoids obvious emotional cues (no shocked faces or pointing arrows).

This is viral YouTube videos at their most sophisticated: content that trusts viewers to be intelligent enough for nuance, patient enough for payoff, human enough to recognize their own reflection in someone else's story.

Chef's pash.

The A24 Effect: What Makes Cinema-Grade Content

These videos embody A24's visual intoxication and emotional resonance. Color grading moves fluidly through moody palettes; cinematography feels intentional (every frame a still worth saving).

Sharp edits engage without whiplash.

But the real magic? They tap universal struggles with brutal sincerity. They're pretty and true. Effective packaging isn't just aesthetics—it's emotional clarity.

Combine sophistication with emotional intelligence, and you have content worth streaming on the big screen baby ;)

TL;DR — What We Can Steal

• Emotional Architecture: Tap into universal feelings/pains/struggles. Prioritize feeling over facts. Viewers remember how you made them feel long after they forget what you taught them.

• Cinematic Confidence: Shot lists and thumbnails as movie posters—promise depth, trust viewer sophistication.

Universal experiences + eloquent execution = algorithmic gold.

These creators didn’t just create videos—they crafted experiences.

They had an idea and instead of shooting it on whim, they asked "How can I make this information impossible to ignore?"

And darling, that’s how you create content worth stealing.

Explore more cinema-grade YouTube brilliance in our curated collection—where taste meets performance and mediocrity quietly dies into the depth of hell.