The rise of movie recap videos in a fragmented media era

This paper explores why movie recap videos on short-video platforms have become so popular. Using both a questionnaire survey and a case study of the Douyin influencer City in My Heart, the study finds that recaps are watched much more often than full movies, mainly because they save time, deliver the plot quickly, and highlight the narrators style. While many viewers sometimes let recaps replace watching the original film, most still see them as temporary substitutes rather than full replacements. The findings suggest that recap videos are reshaping how audiences consume and share movies in the era of fragmented media.