Everyone likes a good laugh or a nice romance movie once in awhile. It’s good to sit back and just enjoy laughing during a movie or being swept away in a classic romance. However, some people like movies that really make you think.These are the movies that get you wondering about the meaning of life or why we exist. Or maybe they explain some phenomenon or teach a life lesson. In any case, here are my choices for the top ten mind-bending thinking movies.
1. Flowers for Algernon (2000). Matthew Modine plays Charlie Gordon, a man of little intelligence. He gets by working and doing the simple things in life, and he even lives in his own apartment. Unfortunately, that’s where it ends. Well, until he gets the chance to become the subject of an experimental operation that will make him smarter. That it does, but he soon finds out that the previous subjects (mice), soon lost the intelligence they had gained and went back to their previous stupidity. Will this be Charlie’s fate, or can he find a way to stay smart? For those of you who like the romance, you’ll get a love story mixed in. The reason I put this movie as number one on the list is because of the character development. Not only does Charlie become smarter, but he realizes lessons about human beings in general. People of less intelligence tend to be nicer, and not worry about things that don’t really matter. They work more from their hearts instead of their heads. This movie gives a wonderful life lesson and gets you thinking about what’s really important.
2. Limitless (2011). Bradley Cooper plays the part of Eddie. Eddie has writer’s block, and he just lost his girlfriend. Things aren’t going well for him and he seems just not to be able to accomplish anything. He runs into a friend who is a drug dealer, who gives him a sample of a new drug that lets people access all of their brain’s power instead of just the 20 percent we usually use. Who wouldn’t want to be able to do this? So, of course Eddie’s going to try the drug. And, then he’s going to want more so he can keep these new mental abilities. The problem is, that everyone who has taken the drug wants more, and there are serious side effects including death. So, Eddie’s getting ready to encounter some major problems. Can he be smart enough to survive all of this and to stay smart? This film, I would imagine, was based at least in part on Flowers for Algernon, since it has a similar idea. I love this mind-bending movie, because it makes you think what extremes you’ll go to in order to get what you want. Will you kill someone? How about steal?
3. Memento (2000). Guy Pierce is Leonard Shelby. He is unable to store new memories. So, he has to go around with pictures and notes to himself reminding him of everything. The beginning of the movie shows the end, and we then are shown more and more of the plot in reverse order, trying to find out how this man got shot. Leonard’s wife was killed, and he is trying to find out the killer. This is the main story of the movie, at least to Leonard. However, the literary value extends far beyond this, as we see the effects of someone who can’t form new memories and how others can take advantage of someone in this state. Unlike Limitless and Flowers for Algernon, others are trying to use their intelligence, or ability to form memories, to take their own gains from someone who doesn’t have this ability. Add to this the movie’s genius format, where parts of the film are shown in reverse order and others in chronological order, and we get a truly mind-bending thinking movie. Don’t blink, because you might miss something important!
4. The Machinist (2004). You may remember Christian Bale from Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. You may not, however, recognize at first that it is Christian Bale in The Machinist. He has lost significant weight for his role in the film, making his character incredibly realistic. Bale is Trevor Reznik, a guy who works as a machinist with chronic insomnia. He is so thin that it’s disturbing, as he also doesn’t eat. This thought-provoking movie pulls out a twist at the end that you probably never would have imagined. We find out why Trevor has had insomnia and all of the hallucinations and mind games finally make sense. It’s amazing what guilt can do to a person.
5. A Crime (2006). A Crime is another mind-bending movie about the extents in which people will go to get what they want. Emmanuelle Be’art’s character Alice is in love with the guy in her building, Vincent (played by Norman Reedus). He’s emotionally unavailable due to the fact that his previous girlfriend was murdered and the police haven’t yet found the killer. Can you imagine someone actually trying to make it look like he has found the killer by using another human being? Can you imagine loving someone enough that you will destroy your own morals to be with him or her? It’s unbelievable what the heart, and mind, will do.
6. Dark Harbor (1998). If you enjoyed Norman Reedus’ character in A Crime, then watch Dark Harbor. I included Dark Harbor in the top ten mind-bending movies list because the ending is totally unexpected. You’ll never know what hit you! Norman Reedus is this mysterious young man who a couple finds on the side of the road, beaten up and in need of care. He comes to stay with the couple for a few days, and it seems as if the wife is falling for his young charm. The couple get in an argument, and the wife asks the husband to leave (it turns out she’s the one who owns the property). But is this what really happens? Of course not! Watch to find out what the actually back plot was the whole time.
7. Secret Window (2004). Johnny Depp seems to have the amazing ability to portray any type of character well. In Secret Window, he is a reclusive writer who has gone to a cabin to avoid dealing with divorcing his cheating wife and to get past his writer’s block. It’s also amazing what the mind can do to protect itself when it goes through a trauma. Depp’s character Mort is faced with a dilemma when he is visited by a farmer who claims that Depp plagiarized him in his book Secret Window. But the dilemma is not what it seems, as we find out that this farmer doesn’t really exist, but was created in Mort’s mind. Watch this thinking movie to find out the details!
8. The Chaos Experiment (2009). Val Kilmer’s character James Pettis wants to be heard. He thinks that global warming is going to kill everyone, and wants his specific theories published by the press. When he can’t accomplish this the right way, he comes up with a wrong way to get people to listen to him. It involves locking six people in a steamroom, thus showing the effects of extreme warming on humans directly. This is yet another example of the capabilities of humans to bestow evil for their own gains. Or, perhaps in this case, it’s the gains of all mankind if his experiment proves successful? Watch to find out if the six survive, and whether everyone learns the lesson Pettis was trying to convey.
9. Mr. Brooks (2007). We usually find Kevin Costner playing the role of the good guy. That’s not the case in Mr. Brooks, where he is a serial killer. This thinking movie made the list because it shows you how someone can seem to be a great person, but actually he or she is not. Mr. Brooks is a revered member of society, a wealthy business man who has been named as Man of the Year in his local region. But he has another side. Don’t they all? This classic Dr. Jekkyl and Mr. Hyde syndrome shows how a seemingly normal person can kill people in cold blood and then return the next morning to regular functioning in society as a loving father and husband. What makes things even more interesting is that Mr. Brooks is so flawless in his killings, so he has avoided being caught. Will one mistake allow the whole truth about his double life to be discovered?
10. Splice (2009). Splice really gets you to think about the morality issues involved in cloning, especially the cloning of human beings. In this mind-bending movie, two scientists decide to introduce human DNA into an experiment where they have been splicing the genes of animals to come up with new species. You can imagine what problems will result when you create a being that is part human and part who-knows-what-else! Watch as the drama, and tragedy, unfold in this story about an innocent being Elsa, who was created by science. We get a dose of what can happen when people start playing with genes. This movie can give us insight and forethought into the whole idea of human cloning, and even altering genes when scientific breakthroughs in the future allow for it.
What are your favorite mind-bending movies?
Reference:
- voices.yahoo.com/ten-greatest-psychological-thriller-6094442.html?cat=40
- voices.yahoo.com/top-ten-survival-movies-5728768.html?cat=70
- voices.yahoo.com/top-ten-offbeat-strange-movies-5726474.html?cat=72
