Every once in a while, you see a movie that messes your brain up, and makes you think either you’re crazy or the filmmaker is. Ones that keep you engaged every second you watch. Movies like these are so good, it not only sticks with you long after you finish watching, but it alters the way you view the world moving forward. A mind bending movie is often a combination of science fiction, horror, and fantasy. It takes our preconceived notions about ourselves and reality and turns them on their head and challenges all of our assumptions about what is real.
Here are 10 of the most gripping movies
1. Parasite
Parasite is a South Korean Black Comedy Crime Thriller film directed by Bong Joon-ho. The narrative is absolutely stunning. Combined with the concept the movie is built on and what it explores throughout the movie, with the conflict and contrast between upper and lower cIasses of society. It was just beautiful to watch it play out. Adding to its prevalence within the lives of all the characters. Along with how they overcome their difficulties and how they evolve with their circumstances.
It is an intense psychological thriller which will have your mind running in overdrive as you try to figure out what’s going on in this insane world.
The director controls what the audience perceives in an diligent manner throughout the movie. There are events that are shot with such detail and precision so as to not allow for open interpretation while others are not. The result is a beautiful storytelling with amazing sequences and plot twists that captivates and engages the audience throughout the movie. Every scene plays a role in meaningfully telling the story with many metaphors and subtle hints.
2. American psycho
Based on the 1991 novel of the same name. American Psycho is a 2000 American psychological thriller that focuses on a self-obsessed Wall Street banker named Patrick Bateman. He lives in the narcissistic, self-obsessed and stereotypical yuppie culture of the 80s. He is slowly revealing to life a second life as a serial killer preying on prostitutes, work colleagues and eventually people on the streets.
The film brilliantly establishes the yuppie culture of the 80s. A generation built around of self-deprecation, greed and narcissism, and manages to poke fun at the society that has no individuality on its own. The production values in the film are top-notch, as it manages to bring the 80s setting that the film provides. The set design brings the 80s aesthetic, such as the design for buildings in New York, and the movie has great choices in music, going from Huey Lewis and The News to Whitney Houston.
3. Inception
Inception is a 2010 science fiction film written and directed by Christopher Nolan. Nolan’s cinematic expression is definitely one of the most creative deluge in cliche-ridden Hollywood. At some point in our lives, almost everyone must have imagined they could go and live in their dream world. This movie brings that to life and much more than that and don’t be bothered if your mind doesn’t get it all that Christopher Nolan tried to deliver this time.
An exciting cocktail of espionage and conceptual science with a dash or two of emotion. The complexity may throw some people off. Sip this great movie in and give it the full attention it deserves. Because when you do, you’ll find all the complex layers very satisfying indeed. The film is like being in a washing machine.. always moving and hypnotic. The plot is expertly crafted as is every scene.
4. Shutter Island
Shutter Island is a 2010, American film. Martin Scorsese and Leta Kalogrdis directed and wrote the movie. Based on Dennis Lehane’s 2003 novel of the same name. The depth and psychology of this film is intensely moving and will leave you thinking about it for days. A truly well made movie requires multiple viewings to fully grasp. Shutter Island certainly requires, and demands more than one viewing.
So much thought that has been put into making this movie and it is quite obvious. You should keep your eyes peeled while watching this movie because the music , the colors everything has a deeper meaning. The background music digs deep into the scene and reflects what is happening on screen. The atmosphere that has been created is mysterious, broody, esoteric. Leonardo DiCaprio never fails to deliver his best.
5. Tenet
Tenet is in short an incredible film with deep complex concepts to dechipher after the credits roll. In spite of its complexity, the film is perfectly paced, the actors bring a fluid confidence that assures the audience that at the very least the characters understand “inversion” (even if we don’t fully). The movie, the storyline and its plot with several layers will tell its own tale of the protagonist and how he is being set up to save the world.
The storyline, plot and screenplay of the film is something out of this world. You’ll scratch your heads. But as the revelations occur, it’s something Jaw-Dropping. It hits you in your face. The action is spectacular. Especially the choreography of something or someone is Inverted Backwards while the other is Forward. Hoyte Van Hoytema deserves the Academy Award for his astonishing cinematography. So does Ludwig Göransson for his bone chilling background scores. The entire theatre was shaking with his beats and tunes. The soundtrack created more and more intensity in every sequence.
6. Arrival
A modern classic of the sci-fi genre, Director Villeneuve overturns viewer expectations at every stage and turns a theme rudimentary to humans into something even deeper. The story, at first glance appears to be a cliche tale of aliens arriving on Earth as they have in so many movies before morphs into a tale about the long-overdue ‘arrival’ of empathy and transparency in communication within the people directly involved in the events of the movie. The nuance with which the aliens in the film are portrayed as a peaceful people is largely unheard of.
The sheer intelligence and thought-provoking concepts all beautifully portrayed sets this movie way on the top. I don’t think any person would have felt bored while watching this movie. From start to end, it will hold your attention, you’ll stop munching on that popcorn kernel, and start rationalizing; something we have stopped doing amidst our heavy usage of technology. The premise of this film is also refreshingly original. 12 extraterrestrial pods land in 12 random locations on Earth, and it is up to a brilliant linguist and a theoretical physicist to determine who sent the pods, and what their plans are.
7. The Machinist
It’s a dark, brooding tale that is told in Brad Anderson’s movie starring Christian Bale, a role & extraordinary performance that would set him on a platform reserved only for the best actors & thespians in the business. This movie serves you a psychotic thriller with suspense comedy as side dish. It’s based on a character called Trevor (Christian bale) who hasn’t slept in months and the effects of insomnia build up when he meets with accidents and disbelief. He starts being followed by a imaginative character.
It’s based to inflict suspense as the entire movie is shown through first person perspective. Simultaneously, we experience what Trevor is experiencing and learn all the things happening with him. This helped the story unfold very neatly. By the end of the movie you grasp the protagonist’s severe trauma and how his intense insomnia changed how he perceived his surroundings.
Truly, the dark, melancholy undertones of the movie help illustrate the heavy, horrific twists of the mind. Each scene is shot with significant purpose and valuable symbolism.
8. Predestination
‘Predestination’ is a borderline genius movie that promised so much more from the filmmakers who have since not been able to match the standards of this gem. However, the experience of watching a great movie should not begin and end within the cinema house itself. It should spark debates, excited discussions, urge countless recommendations and leave you thinking about it for days after. This film accomplishes all of these things and more.
Plot is extremely complex, not easy to understand the first time .The film has a perfect blend of well-choreographed action, touching drama and surprising twists as it unfolds. The best thing about the film is it’s not too convoluted or hard to follow.
9 . Interstellar
This isn’t just a movie, It’s an emotion. Hans Zimmer music created a huge impact in this movie. Plot is not only about finding new home for humanity in interstellar destinations but it’s an emotional sci fi drama, potraying an unbreakable relationship between father & daughter which has been displayed in such a memorable manner never before done by any other director.
Theme of movie is about a space mission where a team of astronauts have been assigned a project to find out a new home for human race in vast infinite interstellar distances which also have been sewed with emotional father daughter relationship . Indeed, this great sci fi will leave you in the deepest portion of your mind where science & emotion collide with each other . From script to screenplay , cinematography, original score , editing , visual effects , performances , direction everything is 5/5. Just give heed to extraordinary directorial skills of Nolan the way he shot space travel sequences which looks so real that you can feel them
10. Source Code
Colter Stevens (Jake Gyllenhaal) an American soldier who’s an airline pilot serving in Afghanistan, wakes up as a different man in a train to Chicago, which is about to blow up in eight minutes, accompanied by a lovely lady (Michelle Monaghan) who thinks he’s her friend.
Though disorienting at first, but in a compelling way, the movie changes things up just when you start getting comfortable with what you think the storyline is. However, Director Duncan Jones keeps things quick and subtle. The movie is filled with suspense and strong revelations. It is deeper than “science-meets-superhero” tenor leaving you no room to blink. Throughout the movie you will find your eyes glued to screen. The best part of the movie is it’s ending, the ‘feel-good’ end will definitely leave you teary eyed and speechless.