Archive · 19 Sep 2026
Ranking All 12 Lust Stories Shorts, From Best to Worst
Lust Stories is a series of movies made from several short stories.
Different directors make each short, and the stories explore love, marriage, attraction, and desire.
The ranking says The Mirror is the strongest short because it mixes romance with ideas about class and power.
Vishal Bhardwaj’s story is praised for its setting in Hyderabad and its well-matched actors.
Dibakar Banerjee’s story gives a surprising twist to a story about cheating.
Some shorts are considered funny or emotionally intense, while others are criticized for being too long or too preachy.
The reviewer thinks Kiran Rao’s short has many interesting details but does not fully explain lust.
Sujoy Ghosh’s short is placed last because the reviewer found its story confusing and poorly suited to the franchise.
The Mirror, directed by Konkona Sen Sharma, is ranked first for its exploration of class, desire, and gender.
Vishal Bhardwaj’s Hyderabad-set short and Dibakar Banerjee’s infidelity story occupy the next two places.
Karan Johar, Shakun Batra, Anurag Kashyap, and Vikramaditya Motwane follow with shorts focused on desire, marriage, and partner swapping.
Zoya Akhtar, Amit R Sharma, Kiran Rao, and R Balki receive more mixed assessments for uneven storytelling or overly direct messaging.
Sujoy Ghosh’s Sex with Ex is ranked last, with the review criticizing its ghost-related premise and execution.
- Who
- The review examines 12 short films directed by Anurag Kashyap, Dibakar Banerjee, Zoya Akhtar, Karan Johar, Konkona Sen Sharma, Amit R Sharma, R Balki, Shakun Batra, Vishal Bhardwaj, Vikramaditya Motwane, Kiran Rao, and Sujoy Ghosh.
- What
- A critical ranking of all 12 segments released across the Lust Stories franchise.
- When
- The franchise began with its first installment in 2018 and has now reached its third installment.
- Where
- The segments are Indian productions, with stories set in locations including Hyderabad and Mumbai.
- Why
- The ranking evaluates the shorts according to their writing, direction, performances, themes, pacing, and effectiveness.
- Franchise
- Lust Stories
- Number of segments
- 12
- Installments covered
- Three
- First release
- The first Lust Stories premiered on Netflix in 2018.
- Highest-ranked segment
- The Mirror, directed by Konkona Sen Sharma.
- Lowest-ranked segment
- Sex with Ex, directed by Sujoy Ghosh.
- Recurring themes
- Desire, marriage, infidelity, class, gender, and sexual compatibility.