List everyone's suggestions, set tonight's rules, then spin the reel or hold a ranked vote. No sign-up; your list stays on this device.
5 of 7 films fit tonight's rules. Longest that finishes by 21:45: 2 h 5 min.
Admit one · Tonight's feature
Spin the reel or hold a vote
Each person taps the shortlisted films in their order of preference and casts a ballot. Rank as many or as few as you like; the count below updates with every ballot.
Sam
Dev
Kit
Mia
Priya
Alex
Lou
Jo
Admit one · Vote winner
The Owl Who Forgot Tuesday
The Owl Who Forgot Tuesday wins with 4 of 7 ballots in round 4, from 8 ballots.
| Film | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pancake Heist | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 |
| The Owl Who Forgot Tuesday | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 ✓ |
| Haunted Laundromat | 2 | 2 | 2 ✕ | |
| Snowed In at the Llama Farm | 1 | 1 ✕ | ||
| Grandma's Last Waltz | 0 ✕ | |||
| No films left (exhausted) | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
Pancake Heist
Fits · ends 21:18The Owl Who Forgot Tuesday
Fits · ends 21:04Haunted Laundromat
Fits · ends 21:32Snowed In at the Llama Farm
Fits · ends 21:21The Lighthouse Diner
Out: ends too late (2 min over)Robots of Rainy Street
Out: ends too late (16 min over)Grandma's Last Waltz
Fits · ends 21:15After a vertical bar, in any order: the runtime, who suggested it and tags. Or end a plain line with a runtime such as 104 min and #tags.
Saved on this device as you go. A share link carries the whole list after its #, so nothing is uploaded anywhere.
Add the films people suggest, with a runtime, who suggested them and a few tags. The example list is made up: type any titles you like, or paste a whole list at once. The picker never looks films up anywhere.
Tonight's rules narrow the lineup to a shortlist. "Must finish by" works backwards from your start time: start at 19:30, finish by 21:45 with 10 minutes of trailers and snacks, and the longest film that fits is 2 h 5 min. A finish time earlier than the start counts as after midnight. Films without a runtime drop out once a time limit is set, because the picker can't check them.
Every film on the shortlist has the same chance. The pick uses your browser's built-in secure random number generator, and the reel skips its animation if your device asks for reduced motion.
Each person ranks the shortlist in order. In every round, each ballot counts for its highest-ranked film still in the running. A film with more than half of those ballots wins. If none has, films nobody put first go out together, or else the film with the fewest votes goes out, and its ballots move to their next choice. A ballot with no films left is exhausted and sits out the rest of the count, so the majority is of the ballots still in play. Ties for last place go to whichever film had fewer votes in an earlier round; if they were level all along, lots are drawn from a shuffle seeded by the ballots, so a recount always gives the same answer.
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Try WebTraceCheckYes. Each film on the shortlist has an equal chance, picked with the secure random number generator built into your browser. The spinning reel is just for show: the film is chosen the moment you press the button.
Instant runoff looks for a film that more than half of the room can live with. In the example, Pancake Heist has the most first choices, but the ballots of the films knocked out move to The Owl Who Forgot Tuesday, which ends with 4 of the 7 ballots still in play.
No. Rank only the films you would happily watch. If all of them are knocked out, your ballot is exhausted and stops counting, and the winner needs more than half of the ballots that are still in play.
Press "Copy share link" and send the link. The films and tonight's rules are written into the link itself, after the # sign, which browsers never send to a server. Opening the link loads that list; your own list is kept and can be restored.
In your browser's local storage on this device, so it is still there next time. Nothing is sent to Reel Picnic. Clearing your browser's site data, or pressing "Clear lineup", removes it.