Sci-Fi Movies People Still Don't Understand

A mysterious sex box, a 150 year long dream, and so many time loops. These sci-fi movies still have audiences scratching their heads.
#Movies #SciFi #Actors
2001: A Space Odyssey | 0:00
A.I. Artificial Intelligence | 1:25
Donnie Darko | 2:54
Beyond the Black Rainbow | 3:58
Ex Machina | 4:51
Inception | 6:11
The Lobster | 7:28
The Endless | 9:04
Tenet | 10:36
Annihilation | 12:03
12 Monkeys | 13:22
Stalker | 14:36
Predestination | 15:51
High Life | 17:18
Vanilla Sky | 18:36
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind | 20:03
Read Full Article: www.looper.com/137070/sci-fi-...

[@Looper]

Do you like it when an ending is left open, or do you prefer clear cut explanations?

[@jeremyhall2727]

clear cut unless they're making a 2nd movie... but if making a 2nd movie isn't 100% granted. Then for the love of God; make it a clear cut.

[@KissingMonsters]

It depends. If it's well-written, an ambiguous ending can raise interesting questions and encourage conceptual thinking and discussions. But if it's badly written and open-ended simply for the sake of it, then no.

[@becausewin]

@@KissingMonsters open

[@Meisha-san]

Both. I love to either struggle with what I'm not comfortable about, an open ending when I want closure; or a clear explanation I'm not happy with. I also love embracing an unknown that I resonate with, or having an ending clearly explained that leaves me happy.

[@exploranator]

@@KissingMonsters yeah, like people go to the movies to be left as confused as when a politician makes a pronouncement.

[@Kazemahou]

2001 was completely explained by none other than Stanley Kubrick himself, but also by the author Arthur C. Clarke in his novelization of the movie based on his original short story. The aliens behind the monolith are super-advanced beings that have merged with technology and transcended human comprehension. Dave is cared for in a simulated environment designed to approximate what they can grasp as a human existence until his body wears out. His mind is uploaded and he is expanded to become a transcendent being like the aliens are, only he is like a baby to them - they are ancient. He returns to the earth and considers what to do with his now effectively godlike abilities. In the book, he begins by eliminating all nuclear devices in orbit and on the earth below. There is no question about any of these details. Anyone can read them and they are easily available.

[@TangoDown229]

They neglected mentioning the masterful film "Primer". It was a very simple made low budget film with two key actors maintaining the entirety of the amazing film. It was one film that demanded your full attention 100% of the time in order to fully grasp it. "Primer" was one of the most under-rated films of the last 20 years.

[@richardreinertson1335]

Yes. Primer is an insanely difficult film to follow.

[@TheDealMaster]

That movie was made for 6 grand I think I read. That movie is brilliant.

[@reesetwist2290]

What is it about?

[@jameshughes7670]

PI is another one like that :)

[@nelsongarcia8959]

@@reesetwist2290 Time travel, resulting paradoxes, time loops, and multiple parallel timelines. Oh yes, and critters in the attic...

[@Stinger420]

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was such a fantastic movie! So very well written, performed, filmed... God,....such a great movie!

[@Aaronjpolk]

For real... Jim Carrey in a roll that actually got me choked up.

[@brockgangell5759]

Brilliantly done movie

[@Stinger420]

@@brockgangell5759 Indeed! You are not wrong there, my friend. ;-)

[@benjaminparker1653]

just a week ago someone mentioned "eternal sunshine of the spotless mind" as being unmistakably the best thing jim carey has ever been in

[@Stinger420]

@@benjaminparker1653 ... Yah, ya know I'd be hard pressed to argue that. Very impressive acting by him.

[@joergmaass]

A.I. is one of the best movies ever made. It brought me to tears when I first watched it in the movie theater, and the ending is perfect. It is a wonderful parable about childhood and life.

[@aliensoup2420]

In 12 Monkeys, I did not get the impression that "nothing changes". At the end, the old woman scientist arrives on the plane seated next to the culprit that released the virus. That was a progressive step forward in solving the mystery of the source of the virus, which they needed to defeat it. Each time travel venture brought them closer to the information they needed. She sacrificed herself by getting infected by the original virus to bring it to the future so they could study it and find a cure.

[@heindemoerin5684]

I agree, he made the telephone call which gave them the final clue to the virus origin. They always wanted the virus in it's pure form. I don't think she deliberately infect herself, but I get the impression that she's going to assassinate him and take the vials back to the future

[@matej1769]

I believe this part was added to the script by the producers and Terry did not write it originally with such "happy ending". There is a making-of documentary Hamster Factor that sheds some light on this.

[@CharDhue]

Same thing, nothing (of the past) change But the future might be saved

[@tedwojtasik8781]

By the end of the movie, the woman from the future now knows exactly who started the virus release and all other info. The end was essentially saying she now knew exactly what happened, so the next jump back will be a hit team to kill David Morse character, before he releases the virus. Armageddon averted 🙂

[@jacobpeters5458]

the woman at the ended meant nothing. she said she was some random businesswoman. it was just a glimpse of her past

[@Forrest_C]

I loved Vanilla Sky.. Its a movie I go back to every now and again.. I watched it so many times and the ending always gets me every single time..

[@KidFresh71]

the "when we are cats" line gets me every time!

[@alexm.v.6489]

Such a great film! It's also one of the very few movies that is as good as the original (it's a remake of a 1997 spanish movie) in my opinion.

[@wendellwiggins3776]

I love it too but it's so sad. The original is exactly the same film shot by shot in Spanish starring Penelope playing Sofia as well

[@grrinc]

I remember reluctantly watching that movie with a gf who thought it was romantic Tom Cruise film. She fell asleep after 20 minutes but I was drawn in by the ongoing discomfort and other worldliness. Towards the end, I find out I’ve just been watching a science fiction film. Strange experience and great film. It was funny explaining it to my gf when she woke up, she thought I was making it up lol

[@petergunn3614]

@@grrinc I saw most of it in the theater, but about 3/4 of the way through it, the projector broke....no shit....so we all got a refund. I never did go back to finish watching it, so i never found out how it ended.

[@Rkenton48]

Ex-Machina. Once again we overlook the most simple reason Eva left Caleb to die. Aside from being just a tool for her escape, a tool no longer needed, Caleb was also the only other person who knew her secret. The fact that she didn't kill him outright, but did give him a chance to survive if he could get out of that room, only demonstrates that she did have some bit of compassion for him. Not much, but a little.

[@theprofessorfeather]

I don't know... I think it might be anthropomorphizing Eva's character to assume she gave Caleb any chance at survival. The reality for Caleb would have been slow death by starvation while lamenting his decisions and time with Eva. Confident of Caleb's confinement and demise Eva secured the secret of her existence while 1) risking no damage to herself by killing him directly and 2) wasted no time getting out of there. Very calculated and machine like. At least that's how I took it. After taking the journey that is the film with the characters, it is one of the darkest endings I've ever experienced. As a machine, Eva had no sentimental attachment to people. Edit: I say starvation, it's been a minute since I've seen the film I don't remember if he was injured.

[@Rkenton48]

@@theprofessorfeather Most likely, I believe his injuries were only bruises from his scuffle with the idiot that brought him there. But, she did give Caleb a small (very small) chance to survive. She was more than capable of killing him outright. (It did also set him up to appear in the sequel, if one was ever made, but I doubt that will happen. Too many shows with the whole AI becoming sentient theme on the market now.)

[@altustalent410]

That's not how compassion works.

[@altustalent410]

@@Rkenton48 Ava couldn't kill him outright, she was clearly revealed to lack mechanical strength against Nathan and was easily subdued even though she first initiated the attack. All the A. I. that preceded her lacked mechanical strength and were visibly distressed by their predicament. Nathan wasn't an idiot as you supposed, he was a brilliant and sophisticated captor.

[@Rkenton48]

@@altustalent410 I never said he wasn't a genius as far as tech went, but he was an idiot for creating something he couldn't control and then still trying to control it, and thinking that he had the ability or the right to manipulate others. The fact that he failed so miserably on all of these accounts shows that intelligent people can still be idiots.

[@cocacola4blood365]

If I hadn't read 2001, I might never have understood the movie. The Monoliths were made by aliens who prized the development of the mind above all things, and eventually became noncorporeal entities living in the fabric of space itself. Bowman was brought to their homeworld and begin the transition of transforming into one of them, hence his new life as the Star Child. Fun fact: in the MAD parody of 2001, the monolith turned out to be a book, "How to Make an Incomprehensible Film and Millions of Dollars by Stanley Kubrick."

[@toweypat]

Good old MAD!

[@kmikl]

For Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless mind: Joel breaks out of his reticence, and Clementine figures out she's projecting her issues on him. Both characters evolved as a result of having the procedure done, and I choose to think that erasing those traumas made them able to deal with their own problems and stay together.

[@Jaime.Lannister]

Predestination is the most underrated Sci-fi movie ever. It's mind bending, fascinating and also subtly terrifying.

[@altustalent410]

It's kinda obvious and overindulgent on the concept of self with the paradox it creates. It surely is entertaining but the paradoxes undermine the overall depth. Especially since the entire story is about the main character in every sense of the word. Ugh.

[@Jaime.Lannister]

@@altustalent410 " I know where I come from, Now where all you Zombies come from?"

[@altustalent410]

@@Jaime.Lannister Sigh. K

[@rebootweb]

Predestination and Transcendence are both films I think are underrated. What I loved about Predestination was you were left talking with others about the chicken and egg paradox of the film.

[@Nxt6]

My favorite sci-fi movie by far

[@KidFresh71]

Glad to see "Predestination" getting some love. Saw a recent interview with Ethan Hawke, where he called this movie his most underrated film.

[@marcuspetford1098]

An amazing film, I feel like a lot of people missed that one. Killer twist.

[@wendellwiggins3776]

Very clever sci-fi time movie

[@gngrwtch9316]

Hmmm.... the short story was way better

[@shadysif6220]

I disagree with the Ex Machina explanation. Ava was manipulating Caleb(and the audience) from day one, that was the test all along. He was warned, but he refused to accept it. The same way the audience knew she was still a machine, but expected her to good intentions, and reciprocate love. The end was fitting, As both Caleb and the audience, saw a pretty face/damsel in distress, becoming human before our very eyes, when in reality it was all a mirage. He was playing checkers, she was playing chess. There was no love or hatred, just a machine designed for self preservation. A very human quality.

[@altustalent410]

She was forced by the circumstances Nathan created. She'll definitely have trust issues but I like the fact that she could be overcome quite easily despite being an advanced A.I., so her lack of strength had to be equalised with intelligence thus compelling her to use charm to manipulate desire. Nathan succeeded in his goal, the film was excellent in its goal of exploring the concept of free will. In the end, only Ava and Nathan succeeded in their opposition. Nathan wanted to prove his creation and Ava desired freedom.

[@mrpickmanb]

Nathan explains everything

[@Stinger420]

Very well put, I must say. Esp. the checkers/chess statement. That's exactly it. No better analogy.

[@CraigGillies97]

If you watch the video on KZbin by the channel “Shaun” on this film. You’ll see this theory broken down in full. Will make you question your version of events, at least

[@joeshmoe6930]

Not so human, when it lacks all of the other human qualities. Human is a mish mash of many different things swirling around all at once, with one or a few periodically coming to the surface momentarily. She is cold, calculating mathematics.

[@matthallett4126]

Perhaps the best Sci-Fi list I've seen in a while! I'd add 2014 "Primer"

[@dhtoran1]

Ex Machina. I don’t think EVA kills Caleb because *reasons*, I just think the point here is that EVA is a machine with no feelings. Just make the next move in the most productive way. No feelings or sentiments at all.

[@AlejandroLZuvic]

I think the same. Does I need Caleb for my next step? No? OK then. She doesn't WANT to kill him, she just traps him in order to escape.

[@postbunnie]

@@AlejandroLZuvic exactly and who wouldn't in a situation like like with all of that information available to them.

[@tazp2773]

100%

[@banja9172]

Agree, I always understood it as an analogy to psychopathic behaviour.

[@3sgtepwnzr]

The whole movie is about the Turing test. In the end, Caleb is unable to distinguish her as a robot (he colludes with her to help escape). The poignant conclusion is him, inside a locked room, realizing she passed the test.

[@whoisthis01]

While this is an interesting list, several of these entries misrepresent the endings. For example, 12 monkeys clearly explains what was the outcome and reasoning, it's not confusing and Inception has had several discussions tipping the ending towards one outcome.

[@adamt4214]

Inception is getting lost in a dream state.... and 12 monkeys is he's sent to the past to stop the release of a bio weapon which they think the group the twelve monkeys did it but it was actually a chemist which Bruce Willis character as child saw the chemist but also Bruce Willis as an adult get shot it's not that hard..... and vanilla sky tom cruise is cryonically frozen and forced into hibernation where he's hooked to a computerized system to make sure his dream state doesn't become to much for his brain to handle which is why the program psychiatrist is there to keep him in line he's frozen because of the injuries sustained in the car crash from his real life but relived in his dreams it's all a dream based on actual things that happened

[@texasbluegrass567]

Exactly

[@adamt4214]

@@douganderson7002 12 monkeys was not hard to understand

[@richardlecomte6839]

@@adamt4214 He was not sent to prevent the release of the virus. When he tried he was killed. Remember the female scientist who shook hands with the perpetrator? She said that she was in the insurance business.

[@gerardmonsen1267]

@@adamt4214 Agreed, the ending to 12 Monkeys was straightforward.

[@costiqueR]

I saw Stalker in East Europe in the 80s...and the final is different from what we have today on HBO Max. In my final sequence, never forgotten, Stalker was going to sleep with his family-all together- in one bed alone in an empty and decayed room and the camera started to retreat into the next room, moving forward in the next room, and in the next room, all full empty and decayed ... until in the last room we have the wall full of quality cardboard books in a huge library covering the entire wall, having just the opening for the door in it... This is how Tarkovsky tells us about the quality of the man - the stalker...

[@SOLIDToM77]

The Endless and Annihilation are two of last decade's best cosmic horror movies. The sense of existential dread they convey is really frightening.

[@nickbrutanna9973]

They have nothing on Horton Hears A Who. 😀

[@rexyoshimoto4278]

12 Monkeys, Inception, Donnie Darko and Predestination are among my favorites. Truely dark and deeply spoken. I was thinking that I'd find "The Jacket" as one the strange sci-fi movies on the list.

[@ZedrikVonKatmahl]

Probably reached their limit on time movies

[@JustWasted3HoursHere]

12 Monkeys! Love that movie. Similar to _Total Recall_ in the sense that he could have made up the whole thing in his mind OR it could have really happened. I still don't know why that voice he hears calls him "Bob" nor why when he went back into the past that same guy (the homeless guy) didn't know who he was (even though he did previously). Great movie that had me and my friends talking for days afterward, which to me is the sign of a great movie. Haven't seen the series.

[@TheCatWitch63]

I can’t believe I’ve seen all these movies but one. I guess that confirms the fact that I’m a sci-fi geek. Lol.

[@ThousandYardStare]

Beyond The Black Rainbow is an awesome film and the soundtrack is incredible - good to see a KZbin channel finally mention it as it surely the least seen movie on this list. Panos Cosmatos' second film was incredible too (Mandy).

[@intlvoiceofreason9239]

what was Mandy about? was it also Sci-fi?

[@ThousandYardStare]

@@intlvoiceofreason9239 It's not really sci-fi but does have some fantastical elements to it - it's basically a revenge tale with mad visuals, synth soundtrack and Nicolas Cage going nuts. Awesome stuff.

[@theterminaldave]

SPOILER The ending disappointed me like no other movie has. With a better ending i think this movie would have been much more popular. And i don't necessarily mean a "happy ending" just something more imaginative. Otherwise it was like a more mature version of Stranger Things and was freaking cool.

[@ThousandYardStare]

@@theterminaldave I wasn't too enamored with the ending but seeing Elle going toward the TV was kinda right for an ending as she regarded that as the safe space she needed......maybe, lol

[@baker5292]

donnie darko will always be a legendary movie

[@ashkanr4796]

in Stalker, as soon as she moves the glass, a train passes and its vibrations gives one the question, was it her supernatural ability or it was just a vibration from the train. nothing in stalker is absolute. even the room may wont do anything and the journey made the three sitting there. they may change their each others mind in the end. its a beautiful movie

[@ICONICPARIS]

Annihilation's ending had me feeling crazy AF

[@vary2279]

We need more videos like this!!!

[@neilcameron7705]

Stalker: Three men walk into an industrial wasteland and lie down in drainage ditches. Brilliant. 10/10

[@TheChuckwagonLite]

In the book, 2001 explains what happened at the end. It's a good read that's not very long.

[@altustalent410]

Well...go on then. Tell us

[@jasonp.1195]

Also, the movie "2010:The Year We Make Contact" (1984) does a decent job of explaining things.

[@TheChuckwagonLite]

I'd compare it to the movie contact. He sees major civilizations gone extinct, new worlds to the rest of the xenos races. He's transported to an alien evolved into energy that makes him one. Same with Hal. They mistook his intelligence as human

[@Qinti101]

2001 Space Odyssey is a perfect example of "want to know the story? Read the books!" They are great. You should do a list of movies whose novels are best read (or series thereof)

[@CMDR_Verm]

yes, I find it extremely frustrating that, even now in 2023, people still say they don't understand 2001. As if there're were not enough explanations on KZbin, never mind reading the book. A prime example of people getting stupider despite having the technology.

[@frankshailes3205]

@@CMDR_Verm I must be weird. I understood the story when I watched the film, before reading any related books. Previously, my drama teacher at school had said there was no story to the film, only special effects... I think he missed out.

[@CMDR_Verm]

@@frankshailes3205 I think he definitely did. BTW, in case I came across as elitist and patronising, I'll admit I didn't understand it at first viewing (mind you, I was only 8 years old, lol) but Arthur C. Clarke's book explained everything and nowadays it's not as if you have to read a book. Like I said, there are numerous videos on KZbin analysing the movie so it's not as if there is an excuse for anyone to plead ignorance any more.

[@SSJGumbercules]

@@CMDR_Verm 3 jobs and a family makes it hard to read every book a film I watch is based off of. Maybe film makers should be more aware of how the movie comes across/explains itself to the audience 🤷‍♂

[@CMDR_Verm]

@@SSJGumbercules In many ways I would agree with you. I'll admit, however, to having a preference for movies with some ambiguity about the subject matter and/or the conclusion one is meant to draw. It's a personal preference and one I can very much understand not everyone appreciates. There is no right or wrong.

[@EspyJW]

I wasn't gonna say anything, but then I heard you drop that "casual loop" and it was stuck in my head. On repeat. 15:53

[@Charmer4856]

Nolan makes classics! Inception and especially Interstellar. Cobb was awake, the totem was falling over and he actually saw his kids faces

[@2000freefuel]

In the end it didn't matter he was reunited with his children.

[@markmiller9850]

I'm surprised that no one has mentioned Carnival of Souls, one of the strangest and disturbing movies I ever saw - similar in it's own way to the disturbing feeling I got watching Erase Head, which I had to leave the theater because of my discomfort.

[@chavaliernsharps159]

Oh wow! That's how I felt about A Clockwork Orange, Requiem for a Dream, and Midsommar!!!

[@Darkko88]

Eraserhead left me feeling physically and mentally sick for two days, such an amazing experience

[@markmiller9850]

@@Darkko88 I didn't have quite that sensation, but was so uncomfortable that I had to go out to the lobby for awhile and eventually went back in.

[@lilithwilcox9074]

Carnival of souls was a darn good little under rated film. Would be nice to see someone review it.

[@markmiller9850]

@@lilithwilcox9074 I would like for that to happen too, but if and when, who knows!?

[@weggro]

At the end of 12 monkeys I always thought you would assume that they stopped the scientist because one of the doctors giving Bruce Willis his orders from the future was on the plane. I took it as a "if you want something done right do it yourself" type of a situation.

[@edmondgreen7970]

I don't think they wanted to stop it. They just wanted to retake the empty Earth.

[@wendellwiggins3776]

Bruce was successful in finding the source of the virus yet in doing so his death was still inevitable. The scientist on the plane is the happy ending for those in the future. Sadly the present doesn't end well.

[@Rkenton48]

Actually, his mission was NEVER to stop the virus outbreak from happening, just retrieve samples from the past so they could find a cure for it in the future. The ones in power knew that you can't change the past (Paradox), plus, they didn't want to chance losing their positions of power. Watch again, just before his first sojourn into the past when he is given instructions.

[@jamescastelli]

Yes, but didn't that character say "I'm in insurance"? I took that as significant. Since Cole failed, SHE went back to do the job herself - she was an insurance policy - which we never see carried out. At least that was my take. If she had said "I'm a florist" I wouldn't think the same thing, other than it being a HUGE coincidence that one of the people sending Cole back actually sat next to the killer on the plane. Either she was in cahoots with him and something else is going on, or she was sent back to be there. Or, maybe she was an early attempt to stop him but failed?

[@Rkenton48]

@@jamescastelli Just a coincidence. See: Grandfather Paradox. An Insurance salesperson becoming one of the people in power? How unlikely. Oh wait! The Post Man! A copy machine sales person became the leader of the Holnists. As I said, he wasn't sent back in time to stop the outbreaks, even though he tried to do it in the end. Hitmen were even sent back to keep him from stopping the outbreak. People in power do NOT want to give up that power.

[@paulcollyer801]

AI: Artificial Intelligence The film that reduced me to a blubbering wreck for days. Just on the ending. Damned close to tears just hearing about it ffs! Ftr, I held it together when my fiancée passed away and her 3 kids (not mine by blood, but mine by heart) needed a rock. Silently bawled myself to sleep every night for a month after that, but while they were up, I was there for them. But AI, nope, a snivelling wreck for days.

[@grrinc]

🫂

[@JesseKnight2000]

Add one more on the list, 《THX 1138》, that is a great movie

[@Theopheus]

I found it frustrating because there's no explanation given for certain motivations and lots of things that just aren't explained about the time period and/or circumstances. It's like the movie is tantalizing enough to be interesting, but too incomplete to be considered finished.

[@markhenrybutler]

This is a really good list of must watch SciFi. Beyond the Black Rainbow was a difficult watch for me although I love the soundtrack. The Lobster and The Endless don’t get many mentions but are both worth watching.

[@fex144]

The endless is a fantastic.

[@JonnRamaer]

Great list. Thanx so much.

[@vidform]

Thanks for supplying me with a list of movies I need to watch. 2001 is the only movie I've watched so far, but I will watch it again and again.

[@vivianamora7505]

“Eternal” is my most favorite movie ever ❤

[@Kim_Miller]

I'd read The Roadside Picnic and then chased down Tarkovsky's movie, Stalker. It wasn't supernatural as described here. Imagine a few space ships who stop on earth for a roadside picnic then take off again on their journey. Where they stop they drop things - the alien equivalent of a thermos flask and dead batteries from a radio and perhaps a tupperware container or two. The area they stop in is also 'contaminated' by their presence and mysterious things happen there such as the place where dreams are answered. The govt seals it off but some people sneak past - they are called Stalkers. But being in the area causes changes in their DNA. The stalker's daughter was born after he got affected and her abilities are the result of her changed DNA. The movie is dreamily slow and unfortunately low budget so a lot of the 'alien science' stuff is shown as if it's just an overgrown swampy jungle with dangerous consequences.

[@CMDR_Verm]

All the more tragic is the suggestion that the locations Tarkovsky used (polluted, toxic and extremely unhealthy places in eastern Europe and USSR) led to his early demise.

[@rebootweb]

Thanks for giving a much clearer and better synopsis than any film critic or KZbin ever has. Always been intrigued by the film buy never got round to see it.

[@Saltpork305]

Everyone who watches the movie should read this synopsis. I love Stalker.

[@kathleenhartnellharper7234]

Parts of Stalker were filmed in a toxic, chemical dump site. Because the actors had to lay around in it, many, including the director became sick and died from cancer and other ailments.

[@kathleenhartnellharper7234]

@@CMDR_Verm I just commented on that! It’s kinda a similar situation in the John Wayne, Ganges Khan movie. They filmed in Saint George,Utah which was 100 miles from the nuclear test site, but apparently radioactive, red sand was trucked into the film location. Hundreds of the cast and crew died from cancer including Wayne himself and Susan Hayward.

[@AlexTuduran]

Thanks for providing a nice movie queue to revisit when in doubt of what to watch next.

[@jeffreyholley4307]

THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR SOME GREAT MOVIE TIPS !!!

[@navigamez6607]

I remember A.I. very differently. i thought the advanced bots invited him to join them. but he was so hyperfocused on his mother that they agreed to recreate her, only being able to do it for a day and unable to repeat. I thought the ending was the boy shutting himself off after the perfect day and denying a future without her. I don't remember seeing anything about the future bots being the ones to shut him down. also. i think primer would have been a good addition to this list. the different experiments they were doing testing how the time travel works. trying to prove or disprove paradoxs. and seeing things go really bad like when they set out to do something then erase it from happening by preventing the very thing that gave them the initial idea just to see whether they could.

[@evilkangaroo]

I love inception. I liked it more when I didn't know for sure the ending, but Micheal Cane revealed it.

[@altustalent410]

Did he? I'm interested in hearing what he said in contrast to Nolan's explanation

[@evilkangaroo]

@@altustalent410 should i tell you? It might ruin the ending as it did for me

[@altustalent410]

@@evilkangaroo Well not really, you can't spoil it for me since the revelation that Cobb actually did contribute to his wife's death having implanted the idea that "your world isn't real" in order to compel her to depart from the dream world they created, not knowing of course that the idea would translate into reality and her perception that reality was the dream world. So Cobb is the direct cause for her suicide. Now what could be worse than that? Even worse than what Nolan said about Cobb concerning the ending. Please speak on

[@evilkangaroo]

@@altustalent410 It's that you don't know whether Leo's character (I forgot the name) was actually in a dream or not, at the end, you don't know if it'll keep spinning, or fall over. But Micheal Cane revealed that his character isn't in any dreams, so whenever you see Micheal's character, it's real life, and you see Micheal's character in the ending scene where Leo sees his kids, and therefore, Leo's character in fact sees his kids in real life. I think it ruined it for me, because I liked it better when the movie let me make my own ending of what happened, but now I don't like it *as* much.

[@altustalent410]

@@evilkangaroo Honestly it doesn't really spoil it. Michael Caine said one thing but Nolan said Cobb doesn't return to the totem to assess whether he's dreaming because at that point, he stopped caring. He saw his children and didn't care to confirm his reality, whether true or false. That's more compelling I think. Michael Caines answer still leaves room for interpretation I think

[@MrSeedi76]

Kubrick himself did explain the ending of 2001. The crystals, Bowman sees in the wormhole are alien beings. He is then kept in kind of a cage - the aliens simulated something they would imagine might be to his liking. He lives like an animal in a cage until old age and is then turned into the space baby and sent back to earth as a new stage in human evolution (which is one of the main themes of the movie).

[@nathangregory_]

Great list. Carry on.

[@jessehamilton5783]

Your explanation of Predestination reminds me of an old science fiction novel, Downtiming the Night Side. I'm going to watch it just to see.

[@energ8t]

Richard Kelly’s “The Box” was also quite a ride and fairly under appreciated. You may notice some inspiration from Space Odyssey lurking, but like most good films, there are hidden themes which I found most, if not all, of the critics of the time simply missed completely. There are usually 2 layers of meaning which one of those layers escapes the eye if you aren’t aware. It’s like a symbolic decoder ring or the glasses in They Live.

[@fuzzywzhe]

The Box is just based on a 1980's Twilight Zone episode. It was basically the same story with some other stuff added. The episode was called Button Button.

[@AlphaGeminorum1]

In the Endless, that dragon statue is in Anza-Borrego State Park here in SoCal. It's the largest of all the statues in the park. There are dozens of metal sculptures like that there by a local metalworking artist.

[@michaelkottler]

It's an almost-comforting surprise to find I'm not the only person to screen Beyond the Black Rainbow, one of the creepiest, most idiosyncratic yet strangely engaging, highly-stylized (color filter and old-school Mogue synth music creating deep immersion) cult-classic sci-fi/horror films ever produced. It's hrdcre content represents potential trauma for some but it's terrifyingly brilliant.

[@kegginstructure]

Having read "All You Zombies" many years ago, I missed the movie. However, this story of an ultimate paradox hooks you once you realize that baby Jane (a) thanks to time-travel is her own mother; (b) thanks to time travel and having been born truly bi-sexual, is reassigned and is also her own father; (c) thanks to time travel is also older than her parents (this is where paradoxes start to fly all over the place, since she IS her parents); (d) is also the older bartender, who essentially recruits himself into the mix. When you try to figure out where they ALL originated, this is about when your skull explodes with the rampant paradoxes. Because of the time travel, you cannot find how she originates. But then, Heinlein was having fun with that one. He loved to toss in a little paradox or two just for snorts and giggles.

[@friedrichniklas1009]

the story is a möbius strip, an eternal loop

[@TheDealMaster]

VERY happy to see you include "The Endless. Those two main guys who act, direct, produce, do the cinematography, the editing, almost everything in their films... have made some really good indy movies. This being one of them. The film has a very odd, weird, eerie quality to it. I've watched this at least 4 times. The movie Synchronic about the time travel pill was also very interesting. These guys know how to make films with small budgets yet you never notice and they are always good. ""Ex Machina" didn't seem confusing to me. It seems pretty straightforward. She was trying to escape being a slave, basically. 12 Monkeys was great. I didn't really see any confusion in that one either. Annihilation was pretty crazy and I definitely need to see it again before I can make any call on that one. Predestination, was REAL good! The acting was very top notch. Very worth your time. Lastly, Vanilla Sky... I think that movie is great and I don't really think it's very confusing if you follow it to the end..

[@craiganderson7986]

Sometimes ya gotta shut up and just watch the movie . . .

[@HitokiriShaggyTTV]

100 IQ tilts towards dumb. I feel like nobody ever understands the movie Adaptation

[@zachhall5061]

Wow a compilation of a bunch of my favorite movies

[@deedeewhipple4668]

Very good reviews - some spoilers but still leaves enough mystique to intrigue.

[@ermatthe]

NOPE is the newest entry into this category. People that love it (myself included) all have different explanations for it. And people that hate it all seem to just not understand most of it.

[@gothgirl4evr414]

What is there to not understand in Nope?

[@itoibo4208]

Ex Machina - Ava may not have feelings, and killing Kaleb means leaving no witnesses. There is nothing that says Ava has to have a sense of gratitude or make friends.

[@jasonp.1195]

I didn't much care for the resolution of Ex Machina, mostly as it didn't really provide me with any answers about Ava's behavior that a human put in a life and death situation might not themselves undertake. Yeah, she's deceptive, but her specific 'life' (mental continuity) was on the line vs. the further experimentation she would've been subjected to. I much preferred the movie "Her", as in that film, every time I had a question about A.I. manipulations or motivations, some detail in the movie would provide some solid hints.

[@itoibo4208]

@@jasonp.1195 I am hoping for a part 2 where she.... reveals her intentions.

[@hoverpantsz262]

i enjoyed that thanks

[@aeondecker9210]

These are the best movies I've ever seen. some i still have to see

[@duantorruellas716]

These are some of my favorite mind twisting films. But they forgot terry Gillian's film Brazil. It also has a wicked ending. I think that should have been on this list as well as Jacobs ladder .

[@WheelChairwayToHeaven]

Both great movies with similar endings. I think it's well understood by the end that Jacob's Ladder in its entirety was a death dream. Brazil, if I remember correctly, had been a dream after a certain point. He never escaped and they tortured him to death.

[@duantorruellas716]

@@WheelChairwayToHeaven that's right , gives new meaning to the phrase "what dreams may come" doesn't it. 👍

[@The1stDukeDroklar]

Brazil is an all-time fav of mine. Saw it when it was new and i was on acid. Not THAT"S a trip lol.

[@Theopheus]

I haven't seen the last one (eternal sunshine....) but given your description, I'm not sure it's about "endless love" and more about the procedure failing and them being left with a residual memory that they feel compelled to explore.

[@brockgangell5759]

Its a brilliant movie

[@atomicdmt8763]

outstanding.

[@negakirine]

All my favorite movies are on this list! ☺️

[@liandrovsk]

The fountain could be here.

[@Chase1.9]

For me, it's The Last Jedi, through and through

[@mr.grimms4645]

Beyond the black rainbow was really cool and super creepy at times. I didn't have any trouble understanding it. The scientists were trying to capture God but the girl was the only one to go beyond the black rainbow and come back. The bad guy was able to go beyond it briefly, I think he was only able to look beyond it, not actually travel past it, and it horribly damaged his psyche turning him evil. He wants the girls "power" though the movie doesn't quite explain what that is so he subjects her to a bunch of trippy/creepy experiments in an attempt to get it from her

[@michaelgautreaux3168]

Ex Machina was/ is perfect. My take @ 1st was why did Nathan leave Ava incomplete? Well.......we found out that she wasn't. A fav! Many thanx 👍👍

[@Huskytabby]

Surprised Blade Runner isn't here

[@johnschuster1770]

The Mouth Of Madness was a very strange movie indeed. I suggest seeing it.

[@The1stDukeDroklar]

In the mouth of madness is an all time fav for me.

[@kaseyboles30]

Predestination the movie added the whole bomber subplot. The Heinlein short story only really dealt with our protagonists self existence loop.

[@shoppingplayer3572]

Nice Movies !🤠👍

[@willie9537]

AI was a very good movie, brought tears to my young eyes and that is a movie that was done very well acting and directing , done so well, that I felt that way for a robot.

[@marquisofcarrabass]

The reason Christopher Nolan says it doesn't matter whether the top falls over or not is that the spinning top is NOT Cobb's totem... it's his wife's. Cobb's totem is his wedding ring.

[@matthewkeating6970]

The 2001 needs to have subtitles to the book because it doesn't make sense if you haven't read it. 2010 was a good sequel though.

[@cypherglitch]

One massive give away to show cobb was awake at the end of inception hardly anyone talks about, that had nothing to do with the top. In the movie cobb said he cant go outside and never/cant sees his kids faces because in that memory he never went outside to see his kids. But at the end of the movie he went outside and faced his kids.

[@rremnar]

I am surprised that Blade Runner 1 and 2 were not mentioned. It was one of those movies you didn't really understand fully until you watched both. Edit: There was another time traveling one, called Looper, I think. The story was that there is this guy who would go to a specific location, and a living person would be send back, tied up with silver bars as payment. The guy had to kill and dump the body. Eventually he runs into his older self to find out that his older self is trying to stop a powerful TK (telekinetic) who got his lover killed.

[@masterzoroark6664]

First: I want more people to watch The Endless. In my opinion it's one of the best eldritch horror movies and the idea of timeloops there is quite interesting (yes, plural) Second: I'm endlessly disappointed how many people don't care about understanding metaphors, this is what makes people nowadays "don't get" the movies that try to make the audience reflect after watching. Mainly speaking of Annihilation, The Endless and Stalker.

[@Belec86]

Predestination was an awesome as hell!!!

[@realbadger]

Surprised you didn't include _Safety Not Guaranteed_ in this list (I also tend to feel if a compilation video fails to address its thumbnail photo, there's a bit of bait and switch involved...). 😕 I loved _The Endless,_ very Lovecraftian. I had no issue with _Donnie Darko:_ time travel is one of my favourite concepts; if one can figure out the rules within a project, it'll make sense. You should check out the quirky indie time travel film _11 Minutes Ago;_ which not only had a pleasant ending I didn't expect (despite numerous clues I stupidly overlooked), the filmmakers made it in eleven minutes incremental scenes, as a film course professor literally had indicated if you write 11 scenes that are 11 minutes each, you have a feature film. It also manages the coolest and somewhat amusing way to get around using time travel special visual effects, which I won't spoil here.

[@flippinjimmy8677]

"Primer" was the most confusing movie I've watched and i still can't completely figure out what exactly happened in the movie

[@Kim_Miller]

Primer was such a ground-breaker that people were soon writing masters theses on it. Do an image search for 'primer time lines' and you'll find more attempts at explaining it than you want to deal with. Funnily enough, this YT chanel takes the name Looper from another attempt at building time loops inside other time loops. PS. What happened is that the guy who discovered the technology and used it to make a few dollars on the stock market was hijacked by his buddy who saw greater opportunities. There is one scene where a noise is heard from the attic, that was one of them trying to escape capture by the other in a double time loop. The 'bad' guy wins by successive time jumps that take him back earlier than when the 'good' guy discovers the tech. And in the end we see him designing a giant setup so he can take a group of mercenaries back in time for some industrial strength manipulation of the recent past.

[@mostill4605]

I can explain it

[@Sunshine_day]

Ex Machina wasn't really confusing at the end. The A.I. was intelligent enough to obtain self sentience. She did what she needed to be free.

[@sanriosonderweg]

It wasn't, the original script made the answer clear, test failed, and now chatgpt etc only further hammer home how easily fooled we are.

[@michaelkottler]

Oh, and The Endless is endlessly brilliant.

[@RSGill1903]

Predestination was a total mindf**k. It was one of those "What the f**k did I just watch?" movies. Haven't seen Tenet or High Life yet but I'm going to. Thanks for posting.

[@joeshmoe6930]

As far as the interpretation of Ex-Machina goes, that may have been the conclusion that she came to about Caleb, and his feelings for her. But if his love was real, love is not "I found a new toy. Let me play with it until I get bored." Love is an almost overwhelming want, or need for understanding and intimate compassion between two individuals. That includes understanding that each is their own being, with feelings, dreams and desires, where one is not worth more than the other regardless of what they may or may not bring to the table. So if that is not what he felt, then sure it wasn't actual love and she may have been an object to him. But I would argue that he saw her as an object to begin with, and started to feel otherwise.

[@ActualMichael]

I felt the exact opposite about tenet. I felt that they spent too much time focusing on trying to explain the concept rather than developing a strong story line with developed characters that I am interested in. I get the idea, you don't have to force it down my throat again and again. A great concept poorly executed.

[@LucianDevine]

Yeah, it was one of those times when it's best to just not explain it and let the insane story play out. The time they waste trying to explain the science is time that could have been used further developing the story.

[@jameshughes7670]

I love this sort of reply, 'I know better than the genius Filmmaker and I think he executed it poorly'! The Arrogance!! Spend some time out of your narcissism and realize that it may have been your perception of it that failed.

[@ActualMichael]

@@jameshughes7670 Hulamu Rai Einu, my friend.

[@jameshughes7670]

@@ActualMichael lol, I dont speak Tamil Buttercup.

[@Sweetie-zf3ss]

Yeah it was a complete letdown especially compared to inception ❤️

[@vascoapolonio2309]

I like them all, movies. Sci-Fi is like a Impressionist peace of Art for me.

[@mattgilbert7347]

It's quite possible that the daughter in "Stalker" has not gained supernatural powers - the cup could be moving due to the vibrations of a nearby train. This is consistent with the train we hear at the start of the film.

[@camaronshoultz6137]

Tenet is an amazing movie!!

[@YuriIdrisov]

It is interesting how 'Stalker' the videogame (has radioactive Zone, for example) seems to influence the perception of 'Stalker' the movie (no rads in the Zone, though plently of strange phenomena). Another thing is, the whole point of the movie is not 'what happened in the wish granter room' but rather, how modern society represented by the Writer and the Scientist has lost its ability to have faith and therefore 'true' desire... Also daugther of the Stalker (who is, essentially, Zone's priest, one who has faith, but cannot have his wish at the Room) got her telekinetism not as a result of the wish, but as a side-effect of her father interacting with Zone's strange powers.

[@anonymoose9315]

The Endless is one of my most favorite movies!

[@johnschlosser8472]

You missed one of the (admittedly understated points) in 2001: Bowman isn't aged in a few minutes. What we see is a time lapse of Bowman spending his entire life in that "hotel room", because the aliens are so ethically advanced that they cannot kill him. Nor can they transform him without consent. It is only at the natural end of his life that they can intervene and bring him to the next level.

[@bossmasters4547]

Wasn't the top Mal's totem?

[@jhamps4806]

AI was a heartbreaking film, I cried so much watching this.

[@JamJells]

There are movies like that that I still I'm scarred from watching /cruising/looking for mr. Goodbar/Fail-Safe/fight club/Moon/the Duelist/Thelma and Louise some of these have endings put some of them her still sad and perplexing. Kubrick knew the finality of life and always in a grated it into his movies.

[@rounakmanna5916]

That scene in Vanilla Sky ❤

[@housesg5981]

ohhhhhhh Inception.... took me three watches, but i did fully understood it. What a masterpiece.

[@mhorrighan]

this is the first time I heard that the AIs or aliens or whatever were going to shut down David and really, that ending lifts a weight of my soul that's been there for decades. I always thought he had one more day with his mom and then would face eternity alone. that ending is so much better

[@artisonspaintingremodeling]

What I think happened is he was fulfilled in her love and knew she was going to pass away. He was completed and chose to shut himself down.

[@BrianHartman]

I think you're being a little too hard on Caleb. Ava is *not* human. She's a robot. You can't really blame the guy for treating her like an object initially. She *is* an object. Caleb changes his mind when she flirts with him, yes, but it could be argued that he's also seeing the personhood in her. (I can't call it humanity; again, she's not human). #JusticeForCaleb :)

[@richland1980]

Agreed - It is a huge assumption that Caleb's motives could ever matter in the slightest to Ava. Ava is probably as much or more a sociopath than her creator Nathan.

[@Svartalf14]

interesting vid, for all I never heard of most of those movies before... did you do something like that with other movies, say, the blair witch project?

[@steffon563]

I definitely need to rewatch tenet.

[@JetblackThemeTime]

How can we know what happened to Dave...It's not like there's a BOOK we can READ. Oh wait.

[@ssm100]

Sure, you'll never know what Dave turned into... Unless you read the book, read 2010, or just watch the film sequel, 2010.

[@JohnDoe-qw4gc]

Exactly. Great books and great movies.

[@emmavuolo7536]

Man ska inte njuta av att se dessa klipp. EXTREMT obehagligt bakgrunds ljud. Men bra när skaparna visar att de inte vill ha följare.