While it’s always rewarding to watch a movie that tests our intelligence, there are some films that you have to be a genius to truly understand. In an age of so many dumbed-down blockbusters, mindless action movies, or simplistic superhero stories, it’s usually a breath of fresh air when we encounter films that test us intellectually and force us to turn on our brains and pay attention. Recent releases from auteur directors like Christopher Nolan, Charlie Kaufman, and Yorgos Lanthimos prove that thought-provoking cinema is alive and well in Hollywood if you know where to look for it.

Some movies are so confusing that you have to watch them several times to fully understand them. Other films are so cryptic and complex that even after multiple viewings, audiences are still left scratching their heads and asking what it’s all about. Even though the most successful films of all time aren’t always the most intellectually stimulating, the enduring appeal and cult status of many of these movies prove that audiences still like to be challenged every now and again.

10

Inception (2010)

Directed by Christopher Nolan

For many, Christopher Nolan’s Inception will be the first film they think of when it comes to cryptic, difficult-to-decipher movies. As a blockbuster hit starring Leonardo DiCaprio, the dream-traversing themes of this action-thriller pushed mainstream audiences outside of their comfort zones when it came to tackling richly philosophical ideas around consciousness and reality. Inception was a heist story about infiltrating and extracting information from people’s dreams, and this meant that we could never be truly sure what was real and what was simply happening inside the characters’ unconscious minds.

As Nolan’s impressive follow-up to the Dark Knight trilogy, Inception helped solidify his reputation as one of the smartest and most ambitious directors in Hollywood. As a blend of sci-fi, heist, and film noir, Inception was a genre-spanning adventure that forced viewers to really pay attention and think in a way that most action movies never do. While Nolan has other films that are even more difficult to understand than Inception, the dream-within-a-dream logic of its narrative was the perfect example of this director’s uniquely puzzling and intellectually rewarding filmmaking style.

9

Donnie Darko (2001)

Directed by Richard Kelly

As the psychological story of a troubled teen, many young viewers encountered the puzzling potential of cinema for the first time with Donnie Darko. With Jake Gyllenhaal as the тιтular sleepwalking teen, this cult hit saw its тιтle character have visions of a mysterious figure in a rabbit costume named Frank, who informs him that the world will end in 28 days. As a film that was packed with meaning and symbolism, part of the joy of watching Donnie Darko was trying to figure out how it could all make sense as a cohesive whole.

Part of the appeal of Donnie Darko was that it hinted at a depth hidden behind the narrative and that if viewers thought hard enough about it, they could piece it all together. However, there are also those who feel that Donnie Darko thought it was a lot smarter than it actually was and that all this hidden meaning was actually pretentious rambling. Kelly’s later movies, like Southland Tales and The Box, supported this, as they failed to match the intriguing insight that made Donnie Darko so compelling.

8

The Lobster (2015)

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

Before the Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos was making mainstream critical hits like The Favourite and Poor Things with Emma Stone, he made several other absurd and hard-to-understand movies. One prime example of this was The Lobster with Colin Farrell, a strange black comedy about a single bachelor who has 45 days to find a romantic partner or risk being turned into an animal forever. As a clever deconstruction of modern society’s obsession with relationships, The Lobster shone a harsh light on the soulless, almost transactional nature of contemporary courtships.

The Lobster perfectly captured Lanthimos’s offbeat sensibilities and was a movie packed with stunning visuals of all the strange and unusual animals that people had been turned into. With a stripped-back performance from Farrell as David, a man whose wife had left him for another man, he’s already decided that if he does not find love, he’ll be turned into a lobster. The Lobster was a wild movie whose meaning comes from its rich symbolism, and if viewers don’t suspend their disbelief and simply accept its strange world, they’ll be left scratching their heads about what it all means.

7

Paprika (2006)

Directed by Satoshi Kon

Four years before Christopher Nolan left audiences perplexed with the dream-spanning cinematic event that was Inception, Japanese filmmaker Satoshi Kon explored eerily similar topics with Paprika. This adaptation of the 1993 novel of the same name by Yasutaka Tsutsui was a surreal sci-fi about the research psychologist Dr. Atsuko Chiba and the dream detective Paprika fighting back against dream terrorists who have stolen a device that allows them to infiltrate other people’s subconscious.

Paprika combined awe-inspiring animation reminiscent of Studio Ghibli with a deeply psychological story that rewarded viewers paying keen attention. It’s easy to get lost in Paprika and be overwhelmed by its narrative complexity and truly outstanding visuals. However, for those willing to put the work in and unpack this movie’s mysteries, Paprika was also a deeply rewarding exploration of the nature of selfhood and consciousness.

6

I’m Thinking Of Ending Things (2020)

Directed by Charlie Kaufman

The acclaimed writer and director Charlie Kaufman has been involved with some of the most difficult to decode and intellectually rewarding films Hollywood has ever seen. From his early scripts like Being John Malkovich to directing the odd animated psychological story, Anomalisa, when Kaufman’s name is on the credits, viewers know this isn’t the type of movie to turn your brain off for or mindlessly look at your phone throughout. With his adaptation of Iain Reid’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things, Kaufman invited viewers into a strange and surreal world where nothing was certain.

As an undeniably complex movie that’s full of symbolism, I’m Thinking of Ending Things tells the story of a young woman going on a trip to meet her boyfriend’s parents. While this premise may seem like great fodder for a lighthearted comedy like Meet the Parents, the results were a deranged odyssey into the very depths of the meaninglessness of existence.

5

Solaris (1972)

Directed by Andrei Tarkovsky

The Soviet filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky is widely considered one of the greatest directors of all time, whose thought-provoking work forces us to reckon with the most complex aspects of human existence. With Solaris, Tarkovsky explored grief, memory, idenтιтy, and the unknowability of other consciousnesses as a psychologist was confronted with a space station crew who had fallen into a state of existential crisis. With their ship orbiting the planet Solaris, this celestial body was emitting frequencies that were harshly affecting the psychologies of the human astronauts.

Tarkovsky made Solaris as a conscious endeavor to bring emotional depth to the sci-fi genre (via Criterion), as he felt many releases in it lacked genuine pathos. Even acclaimed works like Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey were shallow in Tarkovsky’s eyes, as they focused more on technological innovation than true psychological insight. As a film that explored topics of existentialism with unflinching tenacity, Solaris was a deeply rewarding film that requires a viewer’s total, undivided attention.

4

Mulholland Drive (2001)

Directed by David Lynch

While some clever films require advanced analytical intelligence to properly understand, the work of David Lynch was much more ethereal and dreamlike. As a filmmaker whose work was deeply psychological and walked the fine line between reality and surrealism, to fully understand and appreciate Lynch’s work, a viewer needs to be in touch with their shadow self. This was certainly the case for Mulholland Drive, the movie widely considered Lynch’s magnum opus and the one that was voted the best movie of the 21st century in a BBC poll.

Mulholland Drive starred Naomi Watts as an aspiring actress arriving in Los Angeles whose idenтιтy becomes increasingly fractured throughout. As a deeply thoughtful cinematic experience, like most of Lynch’s work, Mulholland Drive was the kind of movie that needs to be experienced more than it needs to be fully understood. With a dreamlike logic throughout, those who claim to understand absolutely everything within Mulholland Drive are either true geniuses or they’re lying.

3

Tenet (2020)

Directed by Christopher Nolan

One of the best things about the filmography of Christopher Nolan is that, even though his films were always difficult to decipher, they were never impossible to understand. However, one film that stands in opposition to this was Tenet, Nolan’s time travel thriller that was so convoluted even Robert Pattinson said he didn’t know what was going on (via Indiewire.) As a visually stunning showcase of Nolan’s clear talents as a director, the complex nature of Tenet’s narrative meant that even though it was an entertaining watch, most viewers left the theaters without fully knowing what had happened.

Tenet tells the story of a CIA agent tasked with tracing the origins of an attack through time, and although it’s clear Nolan put a lot of thought into the mechanics of how this world worked, it was just too complex for most to understand. The challenging nature of Nolan’s work is a big reason his films are among the most H๏τly anticipated new releases today, but Tenet was a rare misstep that just asked too much from its viewers and was too convoluted to appeal to general audiences.

2

Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Directed by Charlie Kaufman

Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut, Synecdoche, New York, just might be the most ambitious debut a writer-director has ever attempted. Even though Kaufman’s Hollywood credentials include the scripts for acclaimed Spike Jonze films like Being John Malkovich and Adaptation, Synecdoche, New York was a whole new level of clever, as it starred Philip Seymour Hoffman as a theater director attempting to stage a grand representation of his entire life.

The unwieldy premise of Synecdoche, New York meant that Hoffman’s Caden Cotard’s attempt to depict his life on stage grew wildly out of control. With a need to cast not only actors to play everyone in his life but also actors to portray those actors, Caden’s plans soon turned into an endless Russian Doll of creative ambition. By addressing themes of life, death, meaning, and uncertainty, Synecdoche, New York was the kind of grand, epic film that has viewers rethinking their entire lives.

1

Primer (2004)

Directed by Shane Carruth

Primer is a cult favorite time travel movie that was complex in a way that pushed past most moviegoers’ normal understanding of cryptic. To describe Primer as simply confusing would do it a disservice, as this was a film that you truly needed to be a genius to fully get. With a script so dense and complex it will take multiple viewings to even start to get a handle on, Primer was written, directed, produced, and starred Shane Carruth, who managed to capture his singular vision on a shoestring budget of just $7,000.

Carruth fully utilized his mathematics degree and experience as a former engineer to tell the story of two guys named Aaron and Abe who invent a time machine in their garage. By exploring scientific topics using real-world science, it’s striking just how much other sci-fi movies dumb down concepts to make sure viewers don’t get confused. As a surprise hit, Primer earned the Grand Jury Prize Dramatic at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival, proving you don’t have to underestimate the audience’s intelligence to find success.

Source: Criterion, BBC, Indiewire