Some movies get better when you can watch them a second time, but it’s extremely rare for a movie to continually get better with every rewatch. This usually only works for a movie with plenty of hidden themes and small details that can only be teased out once the audience is familiar with the main thrust of the story.

Watching a movie multiple times reveals things that most people can easily miss the first time round. Of course, not all movies have rewatch value, and the ones that do tend to be entertaining comfort movies. There are only a few movies which can create a different experience with every watch.

10

Burn After Reading (2008)

The Coen Brothers’ Most Underrated Caper Deserves More Attention

Burn After Reading is often placed one rung below the very best Coen brothers movies, like Fargo and The Big Lebowski, but watching it more than once reveals its hidden depths. Although it might not be as eye-catching as other Coen crime capers, Burn After Reading is a deceptively nuanced and intelligent comedy.

Burn After Reading delves into meta comedy at times, especially in the final scene, which interrogates the need for meaning in chaotic comedy movies. It’s just one way that the Coens subvert their formula, but Burn After Reading is filled with scenes that can be read in many ways.

9

Princess Mononoke (1997)

Miyazaki’s Environmental Fable Is Teeming With Life

Princess Mononoke is typical of Hayao Miyazaki’s style, with endless creativity spilling out from every frame. Like Spirited Away or The Boy and the Heron, Princess Mononoke conceals hidden wonders that are waiting to be discovered on every rewatch. It’s a perfect example of what makes Studio Ghibli’s movies unique.

Princess Mononoke is also worth rewatching multiple times to fully absorb the immersive spectacle of Miyazaki’s carefully constructed world. The director demonstrates a light touch, showing just enough of the mysterious forest to give the impression of a rich, lived-in ecosystem.

8

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood (2019)

Tarantino’s Latest Offering Keeps Getting Better

Quentin Tarantino’s movies are famous for their bursts of shocking violence and unique dialogue. Even though Once Upon a Time in Hollywood ticks both of these boxes, it’s still not as immediately iconic as the likes of Pulp Fiction and Django Unchained. It takes a while for Tarantino’s latest movie to work its charms.

Once Upon a Time in Hollywood‘s 1960s style is easy to fall in love with, but it’s worth rewatching for more than just its sun-soaked visuals and swinging soundtrack. While Tarantino indulges in some Hollywood fandom, he also weaves a fascinating narrative of three people trying to cling on to a changing world.

7

Adaptation (2002)

Adaptation’s Multiple Layers Are Worth Returning To

Adaptation showcases Charlie Kaufman’s unique brilliance when it comes to screenwriting. The story is a fictionalized retelling of Kaufman’s own struggles with writing Adaptation, and it’s fascinating to see the ways that his reality simultaneously inspires and takes inspiration from his script.

Each rewatch of Adaptation reveals more depth to the film’s psychological exploration and unique structure. Since Adaptation interrogates and defies every rule of screenwriting, it’s quite unlike any other movie, but it takes a while to fully appreciate the intricacies of its craft.

6

His Girl Friday (1940)

Cary Grant’s Classic Comedy Packs In A Lot Of Laughs

His Girl Friday may be 85 years old, but it can still make audiences laugh. Cary Grant is on top form as a cunning reporter, and Rosalind Russell more than holds her own by his side. Although these two performances are well worth watching, it’s the script that makes His Girl Friday such an enduring classic.

It’s impossible to pick up every one of His Girl Friday‘s rapid-fire jokes the first time round, because the characters speak so quickly, even talking over one another and cutting each other off, that it’s meant to create a humorous, madcap cacophony. Each rewatch reveals that the dialogue is far more than just filler.

5

The French Dispatch (2021)

Wes Anderson’s Comedy Anthology Has A Lot To Offer

The French Dispatch doesn’t get as much attention as many other Wes Anderson movies, but the anthology film is one of his most thoughtful and layered projects. In recent years, Anderson has been probing his own unique artistic tendencies, and The French Dispatch is his way of experimenting within this formula.

Each segment of The French Dispatch has a different look and atmosphere, since they are each supposed to be articles submitted by writers with their own distinct voices. It can take a couple of watches to fully realize how much depth Anderson gives to each writer, and how this reflects his own

4

Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

Kubrick’s Movies Often Hold Up On Multiple Watches

Stanley Kubrick’s movies are often filled with striking images that elicit strong emotional reactions and many different interpretations. Eyes Wide Shut is no different, but it’s always been seen as an oddity. Kubrick described his final movie as his best shortly before his death, so it’s worth another look.

Eyes Wide Shut often looks like a slow-paced family drama, save for one jolt of otherworldly weirdness. The story seems to phase into another reality for a moment, leaving the audience discombobulated right alongside Tom Cruise’s high-society doctor. It’s the kind of movie that lingers in the mind, urging its audience to return for another look.

3

The Long Goodbye (1973)

Elliott Gould Shines In An Offbeat Detective Story

The Long Goodbye is an unusual Philip Marlowe movie, and Elliott Gould’s portrayal of the detective feels barely related to the character played by Humphrey Bogart and Robert Mitchum. Although the story takes place in the ’70s, Marlowe seems like a film noir character in the wrong time period.

The Long Goodbye‘s dark humor, unusual pacing and bold clashing of different styles all benefit from multiple watches. Marlowe’s bumbling approach defies the tropes of most detective stories, but The Long Goodbye is fiendishly clever when it needs to be.

2

There Will Be Blood (2007)

Paul Thomas Anderson’s Historical Epic Deserves To Be Studied

There Will Be Blood is the kind of movie that can blow audiences away on a first watch, but Paul Thomas Anderson’s masterpiece has enough depth to reward multiple viewings. It’s a thematically rich parable with allusions to the Bible that are more than skin-deep.

There Will Be Blood has been the subject of scholarly debate as well as widespread audience adulation, proving that it has more than enough substance to back up its eye-catching style. Anderson has a flair for creating bold, confronting images, but they aren’t just there for show.

1

Nope (2022)

Jordan Peele’s First True Sci-Fi Has Hidden Themes

Get Out was a blistering debut for Jordan Peele, but Us and Nope are just as interesting, even if it’s best to watch them multiple times and ruminate on their themes for a while. Nope adds elements of the Western genre to an alien invasion story, and the tension between the past and the future is just one thing that makes it so unique.

There are several themes just below the surface of Nope, although they all relate to Peele’s masterful broad strokes. After a first watch, it’s common to be left with plenty of lingering questions, perhaps pertaining to Gordy, the true nature of Jean Jacket or what’s next for the Haywoods. Peele leaves enough breadcrumbs for his audience to ponder.