The best movies are the ones that play with your mind.
They resonate with us long after the credits roll, and we can’t help but think about them for days after watching them. Heck, I’m still thinking about some of these movies years after watching them.
The Prestige
The best part about Christopher Nolan’s classic is that it tells you everything that’s happening as it happens.
Yes, the twist ending still blew me away the first time I saw it, but on subsequent rewatches, it’s pretty telegraphed. That’s the beauty of The Prestige: like a good magic trick, it distracts you from the truth.
The Sixth Sense
Speaking of watching things happen in front of our eyes, we see Bruce Willis die at the beginning of The Sixth Sense, yet refuse to acknowledge it.
Instead, we’re too busy captivated by Haley Joel Osment’s character while trying to piece together the mystery puzzle with Willis’ character’s marriage, even though we already know the answer.
12 Monkeys
Terry Gilliam’s sci-fi masterpiece had me on edge the entire time.
There are so many twists and turns, from realizing that Brad Pitt’s character is a huge nobody, to the realization that Bruce Willis saw himself die as a child messesd with my mind on the first, second, and even third viewing.
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Donnie Darko
Is the movie a bit confusing at times? Yes. Was the Director’s Cut even more confusing? Absolutely.
However, once things click, they really do click. Realizing that Donnie is stuck in a spice-time conundrum where he has to die to save the world blew my teenage mind back in the day.
Nightcrawler
Long after his performance as Donnie Darko, Jake Gwyenhall solidified his legacy as one of today’s best actors with his unnerving performance in Nightcrawler.
It feels like we’re being dragged along for the ride through his descent into madness.
Mulholland Drive
It’s David Lynch, expect anything less than a complete mind trip?
Mulholland Drive is one of Lynch’s most acclaimed films. Don’t be surprised if you get lost in rabbit hole theories after finishing the movie.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Eternal Sunshine has one of my favorite opening scenes in cinematic history.
The cut from Joel Barish and Clementine Krucyznski having a wonderful, spontaneous first date before driving through their relationship in reverse, as Joel erases her memory, is the driving force that hooked me from start to finish.
There are so many little things that tie all the characters together, too, that you may miss the first time.
Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky is no stranger to cinematic masterpieces that play with our minds. Black Swan is his best work.
Natalie Portman deserves her Academy Award for Best Actress. She makes the movie thanks to her jaw dropping and frightening performance.
Midsommar
I sure hope Ari Aster is okay.
Hereditary is another valid choice here, but Midsommar is such a trip that you can’t help but sit in silence by the time the movie ends.
Jesus Camp
The 2006 documentary highlights a Christian summer camp where children are told they can, and I quote, “take back America for Christ.”
It aims to be a non-biased depiction of the evangelical Christian community and delivers on that promise, even if we’re feeling a little freaked out afterward.
The Mist
That ending, man. That ending does such a good job of not just messing with your mind, but also breaking you as a person.
They were all so close to surviving, and watching Thomas Jane’s David Drayton anguish is equally heartbreaking.
Get Out
Jordan Peele’s horror thriller masterpiece is built on successfully messing with our minds.
Not only does it play on our stereotypical horror trope expectations, but it also masterfully ties in the themes of modern racism.
A Clockwork Orange
Stanley Kubrick’s 1971 film is a masterpiece, but my god, is it ever disturbing.
It’s a massive mind trip from start to finish that leaves you speechless. This is not a movie for the faint of heart or mind.
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