diff --git a/render/root.go b/render/root.go
index 423c58ec51..7f1ccb017f 100644
--- a/render/root.go
+++ b/render/root.go
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ package render
 import (
 	"image"
 	"image/color"
+	"runtime"
 	"sync"
 
 	"github.com/tidbyt/gg"
@@ -38,18 +39,51 @@ type Root struct {
 	Child  Widget `starlark:"child,required"`
 	Delay  int32  `starlark:"delay"`
 	MaxAge int32  `starlark:"max_age"`
+
+	maxParallelFrames int
+}
+
+type RootPaintOption func(*Root)
+
+// WithMaxParallelFrames sets the maximum number of frames that will
+// be painted in parallel.
+//
+// By default, only `runtime.NumCPU()` frames are painted in parallel.
+// Higher parallelism consumes more memory, and doesn't usually make
+// sense since painting is CPU-bouond.
+func WithMaxParallelFrames(max int) RootPaintOption {
+	return func(r *Root) {
+		r.maxParallelFrames = max
+	}
 }
 
 // Paint renders the child widget onto the frame. It doesn't do
 // any resizing or alignment.
-func (r Root) Paint(solidBackground bool) []image.Image {
+func (r Root) Paint(solidBackground bool, opts ...RootPaintOption) []image.Image {
+	for _, opt := range opts {
+		opt(&r)
+	}
+
 	numFrames := r.Child.FrameCount()
 	frames := make([]image.Image, numFrames)
 
+	parallelism := r.maxParallelFrames
+	if parallelism <= 0 {
+		parallelism = runtime.NumCPU()
+	}
+
 	var wg sync.WaitGroup
+	sem := make(chan bool, parallelism)
 	for i := 0; i < numFrames; i++ {
 		wg.Add(1)
+		sem <- true
+
 		go func(i int) {
+			defer func() {
+				<-sem
+				wg.Done()
+			}()
+
 			dc := gg.NewContext(DefaultFrameWidth, DefaultFrameHeight)
 			if solidBackground {
 				dc.SetColor(color.Black)
@@ -60,7 +94,6 @@ func (r Root) Paint(solidBackground bool) []image.Image {
 			r.Child.Paint(dc, image.Rect(0, 0, DefaultFrameWidth, DefaultFrameHeight), i)
 			dc.Pop()
 			frames[i] = dc.Image()
-			wg.Done()
 		}(i)
 	}