Donnie Darko. Fight Club. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Amazing movies everyone has seen–and probably loved.
Other than being cult classics, these films all have a mind-twisting quality to them that warrants more than one viewing, if only to understand the plot or to better appreciate what you just witnessed.
But there are movies out there that f*** with your mind just as much as these three, and should be just as beloved. Here’s a brief list of some of the best mindf*** movies that you’ve probably never heard of.
The Fall
Tarsem Singh wrote, produced and directed The Fall after his work on The Cell. Set in a Los Angelos hospital in the 1920s, child actress and unknown Catinca Untaru plays Alexandria, a little girl with a broken arm whose pure view of the world doesn’t quite match up with reality. She befriends injured stuntsman Roy Walker, played by Lee Pace, whose stories beguile her.
The lines between reality and fantasy blur, which characters from real life bleeding into the stories and vice versa. Alexandra’s imagination mixes with Roy’s and it becomes impossible to tell whose story it really is. Singh, who in addition to creating and directing The Fall, also financed most of it himself. Shot in 18 different countries, the incredible landscapes and scenery will awe you. Every scene was shot on location rather than green screen, which only makes The Fall that much more breathtaking. It’s worth watching simply to see Singh’s vision take life. Untaru, who was 6 years old when filming began, will steal your heart as the young actress masterfully matches the amazing Lee Pace line for line. While The Fall isn’t really a mindbender like the others on this list, its final moments, played out on an old style film reel, will give you an “Aha!” moment that you won’t find watching
any of these other selections.
If you like this, watch: Closer, The Science of Sleep, Hard Candy
eXistenZ
eXistenz, released in 1999, centers around technology and the not-so-mutually exclusive relationship between reality and fantasy. Jennifer Jason Leigh stars as Allegra Gellar, a worshipped creator of videogames that morph you into a different world, or perhaps an alternate reality— wherever you go is not so clear, and that’s the point. Fearful that her newest game has been damaged, Allegra enters the simulation with her clueless security guard Ted Pikul (Jude Law).
As the two go deeper into the game, with Allegra teaching Ted how to play successfully, the game world blends with the real world so much so that you can no longer tell the difference. By film’s end, we are left having to choose what we believe actually happened versus what was merely the game in full effect. Perhaps it is a little of both all at once.
eXistenZ shares some similarities with Christopher Nolan’s 2010 film Inception, in terms of the struggle between reality and fantasy, or more specifically in Inception’s case, dreaming. Tense, challenging and frightening, with a strong sexualtone, eXistenZ comes from the mind of the great David Cronenberg. For those sadly unfamiliar, Cronenberg’s directorial credits consist of science fiction/horror classics such as The Dead Zone and The Fly. If we’re strictly talking about mind-bending films, you could consider Cronenberg the master.
If you like this, watch: Spider, Videodrome, Inception (obviously)
The Fountain
Hugh Jackman stars alongside Rachel Weisz in The Fountatin. There’s no simple way to describe the plot, except that in three separate but connected stories, Jackman plays Tommy, who is trying desperately to preserve Weisz’s character, Izzi.
In each storyline is a Tommy (Tomás in one, Tom in the last) and an Izzi (Isabella). Jackman’s incredible acting drives the movie forward; he portrays a neurosurgeon trying to save his wife from cancer, a conquistador who is the main character in a story she wrote and a cosmonaut who is perhaps more real than either of them. Each character is obsessively bent on holding on to Izzi; in three different eras, spanning a thousand years, none of them can let their Izzi go.
Director Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan, The Wrestler) wrote and directed The Fountain. With every viewing, your interpretation of the meaning will change; between the storytelling and the cinematography, you’ll never look at the color gold again. Clint Mansell, who composed the score to Requiem for a Dream, worked alongside Aronofsky again for The Fountain and deserves nothing but awards for one of the most intense and dramatic scores you’ll ever hear. Nothing will mess with your head more than trying to figure out whether Jackman is ultimately successful.
If you like this, watch: The Prestige, Memento, Being John Malkovich
12 Monkeys
In the early to mid 90’s Brad Pitt had yet to prove his acting chops, but 12 Monkeys (along with Se7en) was one of the first films to showcase Pitt as a serious actor.
In 12 Monkeys, a group of scientists in the post-apocalyptic future send Cole (Bruce Willis) back in time to the present day (or 1995). Cole has to track down the Army of the Twelve Monkeys, the terrorist group that launched the virus that wiped out mankind. After being thrown into a mental institution he meets Brad Pitt’s character, Jeffrey. The psychotic
Jeffrey goes from companion to Cole to the eventual founder of the Army of the Twelve Monkeys.
12 Monkeys is worth watching, if only for Pitt’s performance. While subplots such as Cole’s recurring dream are predictable, and you’ll see the resolution of it coming a mile away, the actual main plot itself is wellpaced and full of twists. Bruce Willis delivers enough action for anyone and the concept of time travel is explored differently than most conventional scifi films.
If you like this, watch: Primer, Cashback, PAGE 20
Sunshine
Before he was getting Oscar recognition for Slumdog Millionaire and 127 Hours, Danny Boyle directed
a deeply intriguing science fiction film in 2007 titled Sunshine. The movie, set 50 years in the future, features a talented young cast highlighted by Cillian Murphy, Chris Evans and Rose Byrne as part of a team of astronauts on a mission to reignite the dying sun. This mission has been attempted several years prior, but the first team (traveling on a craft called Icarus I) was unsuccessful and has never been located since.
What begins as your fairly straightforward sci-fi movie quickly turns into a clusterf***. En route to the sun and no longer with methods of communication back to earth, the crew picks up a signal from Icarus I. They decide to take the detour in hopes of finding useful materials for their own mission, which of course ends up being one of many huge mistakes made by these budding young astronauts. From this pointon, crew members begin dying and Sunshine’s plot goes into complete insanity mode.
Sunshine will have you deeply immersed in the storyline and fate of its characters. And the nerve-wracking action is set to a perfectly engrossing score done by John Murphy. (Tip: YouTube “Adagio in D Minor by John Murphy”, listen to it while doing everyday activities, feel invincible then thank us later.) Credit must also go to writer Alex Garland for concocting a screenplay that makes relative sense in the context of a science fiction thriller.
If you like this, watch: Moon, K-PAX
Following
We’ve made a big deal about Christopher Nolan by already mentioning a number of his movies, but the first feature-length film he ever made actually may be his best. Following, made in England in 1998, uses a puzzle piece narrative similar to that of Memento’s (Nolan’s second film), in which scenes are not placed in a linear order.
A young writer with the obsessive hobby of following and observing people becomes all the more interesting when he meets a thief named Cobb. The young man, looking for inspiration to write, is recruited by Cobb to work alongside him in the thievery business. People and situations aren’t always as they seem, though, and Following seamlessly exploits our expectations with impressive twists and turns.
At just 69 minutes long, Following packs as much suspense and intrigue into the story while leaving out all the unnecessary fluff. And despite working on a heinously low budget, Nolan’s storytelling abilities completely overshadow that. If you’re a fan of being perplexed, or appreciate Nolan’s work, then Following is a mustsee.