Primer was the first thing that came to mind. That one’s a puzzle box stuffed into another box with a makeshift key, and it’s a lot of fun to try to figure it out.
It’s a very divisive movie but I thought it was brilliant.
I appreciate you calling it “divisive”.
“But it’s complicated, didn’t you get it?” - yes, I fully understood what they were doing. No, I don’t care.
My take is that a bunch of hateful characters wallow in amateur dramatics, while the director tries to bludgeon the audience to death with self-important screenwriting and direction.
This movie doesn’t really have any redeeming factors, but I do hope it was a learning experience for all involved.
Keep in mind it’s a very different movie. The extreme low budget tends to be an immediate turn-off for some, it uses a lot of technical jargon, it overtly explains basically nothing. But it’s one of the most original and interesting movies to come along in the past couple decades.
Again I like it a lot but you should set some expectations, it isn’t quite like some of the other examples here which are a lot flashier and to a large extent more straightforward.
That’s a fair warning I actually appreciate it. Most people I’ve spoken to about this topic just give me movies without warning so I go in blind and end up feeling disappointed or lost.
There's nothing you can do to prepare for Primer without being lost. Being lost is inevitable. But if you want a movie you can dissect afterwards there's no deeper rabbit hole.
A way more modern version might be Koreeada's movie Monster form 2023, but really this movie has been adapted like a thousand time about unreliable/multiple conflicting narrators. It was just one of the firsts
Maybe that’s why I didn’t enjoy 2001 the first time I saw it since I was younger and didn’t understand it, fell asleep a couple times, and wasn’t sure where to even begin dissecting it. The Shining is on my horror movies watchlist though and I’ve never seen Eyes Wide Shut either.
I’d say many if not most proper drama qualifies. It needs to imply stuff to express adequately the complexity and subtlety of life and give the proper dramatic weight.
- Michael Clayton - the movie doesn’t spell out everything . The ending is a silent random taxi ride. And Reddit reactions show that some people believe it’s a happy ending when there are several indications that he kinda fucked himself /his future is bleak and he knows it. The movie doesn’t sugarcoat the price of integrity but it also trusts you to understand by yourself what situation he’sin a a result of his whistleblowing.
- Apocalypse now - the movie doesn’t tell you that one side is wrong and one side is right. You progressively are shown that the high command are coward and hypocrite about the war. That Kurtz has some honest understanding about the war. But it doesn’t change the fact that Kurtz is damaged beyond repair. He knows it himself. He welcomes death. The movie trusts you to understands that War is hell and that everything is destroyed or twisted , nobody gets out intact.
I think of this question a little differently - as a moral quandary. And the 2 movies that leave me with a moral dilemma are "Gone Baby Gone" and "Passengers."
Yeah. Tennis is a part of it, but it's more of a relationship drama than a sports movie. Its ending falls in this 'different people will have different interpretations' category.
As far as horror and mystery films go, Gore Verbinski's American remake of *The Ring* (2002) does a pretty good job of not spoon feeding you everything about the mystery of the antagonist, Samara. It takes a couple rewatches to piece everything together.
The Beach. It's more like the dilemma at the end of Gone Baby Gone. What would you do if you were in that position.
Would you leave a map to the island to people you just met.
Then the trolley problem. Would you kill one person so you all can stay living there or not kill him and everyone leaves.
One movie that fits this description perfectly is "Inception." Directed by Christopher Nolan, it delves into the complexities of dream manipulation and layers of reality. The ending, particularly the ambiguous spinning top scene, leaves viewers questioning whether the protagonist is still in a dream or has returned to reality.
Shutter island has an ending which can be solved in two ways. No chance to determine which one it is. Could be both for 50%. Or? Anyone found a clue?
A humble suggestion for those who also like to read crime-stories: the Alphabet crime-stories of Sue Grafton never have a spoken-out solution. At least, there is noone who puts it all together in a row for the reader at the end, like for instance, Columbo, who always does a summary of how it went and how he has solved it in the end. Not so in Sue Grafton's books. They do have a culprit in the end, and it is clear, who, but the author doesn't explain everything in the end. The reader has to think back and solve all these little peculiar circumstances along the story himself, after it has become clear, in the end, who it was.
By the way, from the letter U on, the crime stories become different...still high class. But to get the picture, i'd recommend to start with the "A" and move on alphabetically.
It’s not ambiguous. The treatment worked and he’s remembered who he is and why he is there. He pretends that it doesn’t in order to receive the lobotomy, preferring to exist without the memories of what happened and the things his wife did. The Tip Of The Hat is in his last line to Chuck before walking off for the procedure:
“Which would be worse: to live as a monster or die a good man?”
He makes his choice.
Primer was the first thing that came to mind. That one’s a puzzle box stuffed into another box with a makeshift key, and it’s a lot of fun to try to figure it out. It’s a very divisive movie but I thought it was brilliant.
I worked at Blockbuster when that came out. We used to have to warn people ahead of time: It's a great movie...but it's gonna make your brain hurt.
I appreciate you calling it “divisive”. “But it’s complicated, didn’t you get it?” - yes, I fully understood what they were doing. No, I don’t care. My take is that a bunch of hateful characters wallow in amateur dramatics, while the director tries to bludgeon the audience to death with self-important screenwriting and direction. This movie doesn’t really have any redeeming factors, but I do hope it was a learning experience for all involved.
Adding it to the list since it does look very interesting and it came out the same year as Eternal Sunshine so that’s cool.
Keep in mind it’s a very different movie. The extreme low budget tends to be an immediate turn-off for some, it uses a lot of technical jargon, it overtly explains basically nothing. But it’s one of the most original and interesting movies to come along in the past couple decades. Again I like it a lot but you should set some expectations, it isn’t quite like some of the other examples here which are a lot flashier and to a large extent more straightforward.
That’s a fair warning I actually appreciate it. Most people I’ve spoken to about this topic just give me movies without warning so I go in blind and end up feeling disappointed or lost.
There's nothing you can do to prepare for Primer without being lost. Being lost is inevitable. But if you want a movie you can dissect afterwards there's no deeper rabbit hole.
One of the older and best examples of this is Rashoman right? Basically who was telling the truth and in the end does it even matter type deal?
Looked it up and yeah this film is pretty old I’ve never seen it but looks worth the watch.
Kurosawa is the GOAT
A way more modern version might be Koreeada's movie Monster form 2023, but really this movie has been adapted like a thousand time about unreliable/multiple conflicting narrators. It was just one of the firsts
There's an extremely likely chance you've seen another movie copy this style or a TV show that did a riff on it.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things Nope on a light level (the amount of people who didn't get the purpose of the monkey scenes was surprising).
I didn’t get the purpose of the monkey scenes.
Memento for me. I had to digest it a bit after it was over and think about how it was structured.
2001 : A space odyssey The Shining Eyes wide shut
Maybe that’s why I didn’t enjoy 2001 the first time I saw it since I was younger and didn’t understand it, fell asleep a couple times, and wasn’t sure where to even begin dissecting it. The Shining is on my horror movies watchlist though and I’ve never seen Eyes Wide Shut either.
I don't think there's any way to fully understand 2001 without reading Clark's accompanying novel. Too much of the ending is impenetrable.
Enemy Dual The Art of Self-Defense
Parasite sort of does this. The message is kind of obvious, but two people could take it differently.
Fight Club has layers. Even more if you have read the book too.
I didn’t even know there was a book but now I’ll have to check it out since I adore that movie.
The book is great, and has a different ending to the movie which is really great.
Me too!! Always wanted to read the book, too...which is unique
I didn’t even know there was a book but now I’ll have to check it out since I adore that movie.
I’d say many if not most proper drama qualifies. It needs to imply stuff to express adequately the complexity and subtlety of life and give the proper dramatic weight. - Michael Clayton - the movie doesn’t spell out everything . The ending is a silent random taxi ride. And Reddit reactions show that some people believe it’s a happy ending when there are several indications that he kinda fucked himself /his future is bleak and he knows it. The movie doesn’t sugarcoat the price of integrity but it also trusts you to understand by yourself what situation he’sin a a result of his whistleblowing. - Apocalypse now - the movie doesn’t tell you that one side is wrong and one side is right. You progressively are shown that the high command are coward and hypocrite about the war. That Kurtz has some honest understanding about the war. But it doesn’t change the fact that Kurtz is damaged beyond repair. He knows it himself. He welcomes death. The movie trusts you to understands that War is hell and that everything is destroyed or twisted , nobody gets out intact.
I think of this question a little differently - as a moral quandary. And the 2 movies that leave me with a moral dilemma are "Gone Baby Gone" and "Passengers."
Definitely ,Gone Baby Gone. I still flip flop on that one.
I've seen that movie many times, with many different friends and family. I still don't know which choice I would've made at the end
Skinamarink Men Lucky (2020) Interstellar Twin Peaks (+ the TV Show) Legion (TV Show) Peppermint Candy
Skinamarink was both terrifying and boring to me
Several films have done that. The most recent and quite popular example is arguably open-ended Challengers.
Challengers? That new Tennis movie? Unless there’s another one I haven’t heard of.
Yeah. Tennis is a part of it, but it's more of a relationship drama than a sports movie. Its ending falls in this 'different people will have different interpretations' category.
Alright you convinced me I’m watching it tonight. Been looking for an excuse to get out of the house anyway. Thanks!
Sure. Be aware that it isn't a philosophical fantasy drama like Eternal Sunshine though. It is a tense, psycho-sexual drama.
As far as horror and mystery films go, Gore Verbinski's American remake of *The Ring* (2002) does a pretty good job of not spoon feeding you everything about the mystery of the antagonist, Samara. It takes a couple rewatches to piece everything together.
Most recently for me this would be Monster (2023), but only just hit cinemas here because Australia gets all the small things late lol.
The Beach. It's more like the dilemma at the end of Gone Baby Gone. What would you do if you were in that position. Would you leave a map to the island to people you just met. Then the trolley problem. Would you kill one person so you all can stay living there or not kill him and everyone leaves.
Never seen these before but I’ve heard good things about Gone Baby Gone so I’ll add them both to the watchlist
One movie that fits this description perfectly is "Inception." Directed by Christopher Nolan, it delves into the complexities of dream manipulation and layers of reality. The ending, particularly the ambiguous spinning top scene, leaves viewers questioning whether the protagonist is still in a dream or has returned to reality.
The most recently one that gave me a similar sensation was Past Lives
I missed this one in theaters unfortunately. I’ve heard great things about it though and was looking forward to it. Maybe I’ll watch it later tonight.
Watched it in theaters two times. Two amazing experiences. Highly recommend this one
Shutter island has an ending which can be solved in two ways. No chance to determine which one it is. Could be both for 50%. Or? Anyone found a clue? A humble suggestion for those who also like to read crime-stories: the Alphabet crime-stories of Sue Grafton never have a spoken-out solution. At least, there is noone who puts it all together in a row for the reader at the end, like for instance, Columbo, who always does a summary of how it went and how he has solved it in the end. Not so in Sue Grafton's books. They do have a culprit in the end, and it is clear, who, but the author doesn't explain everything in the end. The reader has to think back and solve all these little peculiar circumstances along the story himself, after it has become clear, in the end, who it was. By the way, from the letter U on, the crime stories become different...still high class. But to get the picture, i'd recommend to start with the "A" and move on alphabetically.
I never thought the end of shutter island was meant to be ambiguous at all, I thought he was definitely a patient at the ward
The other way to interprete this is that he only imagines this all, the boat trip to the island never took place, it's all in his imagination
It’s not ambiguous. The treatment worked and he’s remembered who he is and why he is there. He pretends that it doesn’t in order to receive the lobotomy, preferring to exist without the memories of what happened and the things his wife did. The Tip Of The Hat is in his last line to Chuck before walking off for the procedure: “Which would be worse: to live as a monster or die a good man?” He makes his choice.
Thank you for this! I gonna rewatch the movie with your hints😃
I might rewatch it too. Such a good film.