Credit: Warner Bros. Pictures
madame web I didn’t mean to confuse the few people who saw it. We may never know why a comic book movie ended the way it did due to incompetence, lazy filmmaking, or some other reason.
However, many of the films made by the director aim to confuse the audience, demanding that moviegoers unravel the plot threads to find the true message of the story. Often they succeed. However, some movies leave the audience feeling frustrated and still searching for the meaning of the movie even after the end credits are over. Here are more than a dozen films about bakers with a reputation for perplexing and perplexing audiences.
doctrine (2020)
A number of blog posts and YouTube videos have been posted that claim to explain the plot of Christopher Nolan’s time-travel adventure. There are some spectacular action set pieces, but even the Oscar-winning director admits that “not everything makes sense,” so the film, starring John David Washington and Robert Pattinson, is If you’re looking to watch a mind-bending thriller, enjoy the ride.
Where to stream: digital rental
dunes (1984)
Honestly, almost any film by surrealist director David Lynch could fit into this list, but none require a glossary to explain the world Lynch created from Frank Herbert’s science fiction masterpiece. There was no. Also, considering that director Denis Villeneuve created two of his hit films from the same novel, it begs the question: Mulholland Drive It’s really complicated.
Where to stream: Max, digital rental
enemy (2014)
Speaking of Denis Villeneuve, the follow-up to the grumpy director. prisoner He reunites with that movie’s star, Jake Gyllenhaal. This absolutely shocking doppelgänger film, like most of A24’s non-horror films, received little attention when it was released. (The company’s marketing team doesn’t seem to understand how to sell a movie without a cool hook.) Although it has achieved cult status in the decade since its release, the Canadian-born director has branched out into big-budget films. did.film production with arrival and his pair dunes Adaptation.
Where to stream: canopy, cinemax, digital rental
barton fink (1991)
The Coen brothers’ film, about a pretentious screenwriter trying to unleash his creativity, won numerous awards at the 1991 Cannes Film Festival, including the top prize, the Palme d’Or. but why? Is it because it’s a good satire of Hollywood, or because it’s a metaphor for heaven and hell? Probably both, but when you see John Goodman running down a burning hotel hallway with a shotgun at the end of the movie, you wonder what message the directors were actually trying to convey. Maybe.
Where to stream: digital rental
unique sub (2014)
Joaquin Phoenix plays an investigator trying to find his missing ex-girlfriend and her wealthy new lover, but with a great ’70s rock soundtrack, baffling inconsistencies, and a movie that requires multiple viewings. That one incident grows into three in an interesting movie packed with a labyrinthine plot. . The good news is that Paul Thomas Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s equally complex novel is actually a movie you’ll want to see again.
Where to stream: Paramount+ and Showtime, digital rental
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Your favorite movie by your favorite director has an ending so unusual and mysterious that you’re forced to watch a subpar sequel. 2010: Year of our contact, to understand what it means. The groundbreaking special effects from Stanley Kubrick’s masterpiece are still (rather surprisingly) still there, making it well worth seeing.
Where to stream: Max, digital rental
tinker taylor solder spy (2011)
The film has a cast that includes all the great British actors of the last 30 years, but condensing John le Carré’s complex spy novel into something easy to understand is a film that Something the producers were unable to achieve. Instead, look for the 1979 BBC version starring Alec Guinness as ex-spy George Smiley. It tells a story of double agents and betrayal in just over five hours.
Where to stream: stars, digital rental
subcutaneously (2014)
There are many subreddits dedicated to commentary on movies directed by Oscar winner Jonathan Glazer. An alien (Scarlett Johansson) seduces humans and harvests them (supposedly), but eventually begins to sympathize with them (hypothetically). It all boils down to a powerful scene of a baby alone on a beach, which for some nails the theme of the film and for others confuses the plot.
Where to stream: canopy, max digital rental
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the avatar of Charlie Kaufman, the film’s writer and director. He is struggling to stage a play inside a life-size replica of New York City that he built using an award-winning MacArthur grant. As the years pass, the distinction between the play and the real world becomes blurred, leaving actors (and movie viewers) struggling to understand what’s really going on.
Where to stream: digital rental
extinction (2018)
As evidenced by the over 20% divide between critics and audiences on Rotten Tomatoes, this visually stunning but bizarre sci-fi movie starring Natalie Portman and Oscar Isaac will leave moviegoers with more questions than answers. also left many questions. It’s the story of a biologist trying to figure out what happened to her husband during a phenomenon called “The Shimmer,” but the film’s ambiguous ending likely left audiences perplexed and frustrated. .
Where to stream: pluto tv, digital rental
asteroid city (2023)
It starts out as another kitschy Wes Anderson movie, with aliens coming into contact with humans in a small titular desert town. As the characters deal with the uncertainty of this development, it suddenly becomes…a meta-satire about storytelling? If you’re already a fan of Anderson’s style, there’s a lot to like here. If not, it is doubtful whether this loose star-studded jewel will impress you.
Where to stream: prime video, digital rental
fountain (2006)
Brad Pitt reportedly left the film because he felt the script, co-written by Darren Aronofsky, was illogical. Pitt will be replaced by Hugh Jackman, who will explore eternal life in three different timelines. The story never coalesced for the few who saw it, and it’s now considered one of the biggest box office failures of all time.
Where to stream: digital rental
naked lunch (1991)
Critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert praised David Cronenberg’s adaptation of William S. Burroughs’ novel about paranoia and addiction in a televised review, but did not recommend it. He said he couldn’t do it. It’s not difficult to understand why. Cronenberg incorporates elements of the Beat writer’s life and work into the script, but the film’s mystical elements and talking insects make the plot nearly incomprehensible.
Where to stream: Max
