14 Movies That Get You Thinking Even More Than a Book
Some movies are easy to watch, enjoy, and forget a few hours later. Others follow you home and keep running through your head for weeks, or forever. They raise questions about identity, memory, morality, reality, relationships, and the choices people make without giving you an easy out. A good thought provoking movie can leave you questioning what you just saw, noticing details you missed, or completely rethinking the story on a second viewing. These films are especially rewarding because there is something beneath the surface, and sometimes the hardest part is figuring out for yourself what the movie is actually trying to tell you.
Coherence (2013)
A dinner party turns strange when a passing comet causes reality to fracture, leaving the characters unsure which version of events they are actually living through.
The Lobster (2015)
In a society where single people must find a partner or be transformed into an animal, relationships become a bizarre examination of conformity and loneliness.
Enemy (2013)
Jake Gyllenhaal plays a man who discovers his exact double and becomes increasingly obsessed with the strange connection between them.
The Platform (2019)
A vertical prison uses a descending platform of food to explore inequality, selfishness, and what people are willing to do when resources are deliberately limited.
Predestination (2014)
A time-traveling agent follows a criminal through decades, eventually uncovering a paradox that completely changes the story.
Ex Machina (2014)
A programmer is invited to evaluate an advanced artificial intelligence, only to become caught in a psychological game about consciousness, manipulation, and control.
The Man From Earth (2007)
A professor reveals a secret about his identity during a farewell gathering, turning an ordinary conversation into a debate about history, science, religion, and human nature.
Primer (2004)
Two engineers accidentally create a form of time travel and quickly discover that controlling the technology is far easier than understanding its consequences.
Arrival (2016)
A linguist trying to communicate with mysterious extraterrestrials begins experiencing time in a way that forces her to reconsider memory, choice, and fate.
The Double (2013)
A timid office worker encounters a physically identical man who has the confidence and personality he desperately lacks.
Annihilation (2018)
A group of scientists enters a mysterious zone where nature, biology, and even their own identities begin transforming in inexplicable ways.
The One I Love (2014)
A couple visits a secluded retreat to repair their marriage and discovers something impossible waiting in a nearby guesthouse.
The Father (2020)
An aging man struggles to understand what is happening around him as familiar people, places, and memories begin shifting without warning.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
A young woman traveling with her boyfriend to meet his parents finds herself questioning her own memories, identity, and the reality of everything happening around her.