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Which mind-bending story is right for you?

Every title here says who it's good for, and who it isn't, including whether you'll need a second watch.

Not sure yet? Start with these.

  1. Inception 2010

    Film

    Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.

    The sides of Inception

    • Dreams inside dreams
    • The heist crew
    • A man who can't let go
    • Folding cities and that music

    Good for you if

    • you like a plot you have to hold in your head, layer by layer.
    • you want images you've never seen, like a city folding over itself.
    • you like catching on the second watch what you missed on the first.

    Bad for you if

    • you need every question answered before the credits.
    • nearly two and a half hours is too much for your evening.

    About: dreams · grief · guilt · ideas

    Explore its sides
  2. Dark 2017

    Series

    A missing child sets four families on a frantic hunt for answers as they unearth a mind-bending mystery that spans three generations.

    The sides of Dark

    • A puzzle across time
    • A small town with a buried secret
    • Fate against free will
    • Four families, one knot
    • Grey rain and a heavy score

    Good for you if

    • you like a family tree you need to draw on paper.
    • you like a cold, patient mystery.
    • you like a series you understand better the second time.

    Bad for you if

    • you need some hope. In Winden, families lose their children, then everything else.
    • you won't read subtitles. It's in German (a dub exists).

    About: time · fate · family

    Explore its sides
  3. In 1954, a U.S. Marshal and his new partner go to a psychiatric hospital on an island to find a patient who escaped from a locked room.

    The sides of Shutter Island

    • A mystery that turns on you
    • Gothic dread on an island
    • A man haunted by loss

    Good for you if

    • you love a story that makes you question everything you just saw.
    • you like a film you want to restart as soon as it ends.
    • you like a mood that gets under your skin: storms, cells, a lighthouse.

    Bad for you if

    • grief and mental illness hit too close for you.
    • you want to be sure what happened when the credits roll.

    About: grief · guilt · madness · the truth

    Explore its sides
  4. Memento 2000

    Film

    Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife's killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.

    The sides of Memento

    • A man who can't make new memories
    • Notes, photos and tattoos
    • A story told backwards

    Good for you if

    • you like assembling a story in reverse.
    • you like a man investigating his wife's murder with Polaroids and tattoos.
    • you like a film you need to see twice.

    Bad for you if

    • you want to know for sure who is lying. Even the ending won't tell you.
    • you need some hope. Leonard's hunt for his wife's killer can never end.

    About: memory · revenge · self-deception

    Explore its sides
  5. Donnie Darko 2001

    Film

    After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.

    The sides of Donnie Darko

    • A troubled teen and a giant rabbit
    • A jet engine falling on a house
    • Twenty-eight days until the end

    Good for you if

    • you like strange, dreamy films with a dark edge.
    • you like piecing together a story that won't explain itself.
    • you like arguing about the ending afterwards.

    Bad for you if

    • you need some hope. Donnie's world counts down to the end from the first minutes.
    • you want something soft and safe. A jet engine crashes into Donnie's bedroom early on.

    About: fate · time · adolescence

    Explore its sides
  6. Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.

    The sides of 2001: A Space Odyssey

    • Apes discovering tools
    • A computer that won't open the doors
    • A journey beyond the infinite

    Good for you if

    • you like spaceships waltzing to the Blue Danube in perfectly composed frames.
    • you like a film that moves like a symphony.
    • you want to feel small before the universe.

    Bad for you if

    • you need characters to warm to. Dave and Frank stay cool and calm, and the computer HAL shows the most feeling.
    • you want something to happen. Long stretches are silent.
    • you want a clear explanation of the ending.

    About: evolution · technology · the unknown

    Explore its sides
  7. Tenet 2020

    Film

    Armed with only one word - Tenet - and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.

    The sides of Tenet

    • A spy learning to move backwards in time
    • A plane crashing into a building
    • A fight going both ways at once

    Good for you if

    • you like a film you'll need to think about for days.
    • you like fights played forwards and backwards.
    • you want huge practical stunts.

    Bad for you if

    • two and a half hours of it is too much for one evening.
    • you need to care about the people. The hero is only ever called the Protagonist.

    About: time · fate · friendship

    Explore its sides
  8. Mr. Robot 2015

    Series

    A young programmer, Elliot, suffers from a debilitating anti-social disorder and decides that he can only connect to people by hacking them. He wields his skills as a weapon to protect the people that he cares about. Elliot finds himself in the intersection between a cybersecurity firm he works for and the underworld organizations that are recruiting him to bring down corporate America.

    The sides of Mr. Robot

    • A lonely hacker at a security firm
    • A group of hackers named fsociety
    • A plan to erase all debt

    Good for you if

    • you like piecing together a hacking plot against the giant E Corp.
    • you like the floor dropping out from under Elliot.
    • you like living inside one troubled man's head.

    Bad for you if

    • you can't stand drug use, trauma and depression on screen.
    • you need momentum, and some episodes sit inside Elliot's silence.

    About: loneliness · reality · revolution · trauma

    Explore its sides
  9. Perfect Blue 1998

    Anime

    Rising pop star Mima Kirigoe quits singing to pursue a career as an actress. After she takes up a role on a popular detective show, her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered. Harboring feelings of guilt and haunted by visions of her former self, Mima's reality and fantasy meld into a frenzied paranoia.

    The sides of Perfect Blue

    • A pop singer who becomes an actress
    • A fan website that knows her daily life
    • Murders around her film set

    Good for you if

    • you like a stalker thriller where you can't trust what you see.
    • you like a story where dream, filming and reality blur.
    • you like being scared by your own reflection.

    Bad for you if

    • you'd rather not see a staged rape scene and a nude photo shoot.
    • you can't stand stabbings shown up close.
    • you don't watch anime.

    About: fame · identity · obsession

    Explore its sides
  10. Paprika 2006

    Anime

    Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a research psychologist who uses a device called the DC Mini to enter her patients' dreams, wherein she adopts the alter-ego "Paprika". When the device is stolen, she must stop rogue elements from merging the dream and waking worlds.

    The sides of Paprika

    • A psychologist who enters her patients' dreams
    • A stolen dream machine
    • A parade of objects marching out of dreams

    Good for you if

    • you like a dream that spills into the waking city.
    • you want every frame packed with shifting images.
    • you like not knowing whose dream you're in.

    Bad for you if

    • you don't watch anime.
    • you need a machine to follow rules. This one runs on dream logic.

    About: dreams · identity · technology

    Explore its sides
  11. At the turn of the century, the Angels returned to Earth, seeking to wipe out humanity in an apocalyptic fury. Devastated, mankind's last remnants moved underground to wait for the day when the Angels would come back to finish the job. Fifteen years later, that day has come... but this time, humanity is ready to fight back with terrifying bio-mechanical weapons known as the Evangelions. Watch as Shinji, Rei, Asuka and the rest of the mysterious shadow agency Nerv battle to save earth from total annihilation.

    The sides of Neon Genesis Evangelion

    • A boy ordered by his father to pilot a giant robot
    • Angels attacking Tokyo-3
    • A final two episodes inside his head

    Good for you if

    • you like a series that leaves you with more questions than answers.
    • you care more about the pilots' minds than the robot fights.
    • you like an ending that goes somewhere no one expected.

    Bad for you if

    • you can't take depression and self-loathing on screen.
    • you don't watch anime.

    About: depression · fathers and sons · loneliness

    Explore its sides
  12. Fight Club 1999

    Film

    A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.

    The sides of Fight Club

    • The twist
    • A satire of the life you're sold
    • The rush of breaking free

    Good for you if

    • you love a story that makes you rethink everything you just watched.
    • you can laugh at a man selling soap made of something awful.
    • you like a film you want to restart to look for the clues.

    Bad for you if

    • bare-knuckle fights and bloody faces ruin it for you.
    • you want to feel good after. This one leaves you uneasy.

    About: masculinity · consumerism · identity

    Explore its sides
  13. The Matrix 1999

    Film

    Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.

    The sides of The Matrix

    • Reality isn't what it seems
    • Slow-motion bullets and kung fu
    • The red pill or the blue pill

    Good for you if

    • you like fights that feel new: bullets in slow motion, kung fu on walls.
    • you like a film with its own look, all green and black.
    • you like questioning whether the world around you is real.

    Bad for you if

    • long gunfights in a lobby are too much for you.
    • you need the science to hold up. Here you learn kung fu in seconds through a plug in your neck.

    About: freedom · control · choice

    Explore its sides
  14. Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his mistake.

    The sides of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

    • Loving someone when you know how it ends
    • A mind-bending premise
    • Tender, lonely melancholy
    • Memory as the plot

    Good for you if

    • you like a love story that hurts in a true way.
    • you like memories collapsing around the characters.
    • you like messy, real couples more than perfect ones.

    Bad for you if

    • you want a story told in order. This one jumps through memories.
    • you want a light romantic comedy.

    About: memory · love · regret

    Explore its sides
  15. Annihilation 2018

    Film

    A biologist signs up for a dangerous, secret expedition into a mysterious zone where the laws of nature don't apply.

    The sides of Annihilation

    • Five scientists entering the Shimmer
    • Nature mutating into something else
    • A bear that screams

    Good for you if

    • you like science fiction that feels like a nightmare.
    • you like rainbow-coloured, mutated landscapes.
    • you like an ending that refuses to explain itself.

    Bad for you if

    • body horror and one terrifying creature are too much for you.
    • you need momentum. The expedition moves slowly and quietly through the Shimmer.

    About: self-destruction · change · grief

    Explore its sides
  16. In the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and forced the survivors into underground communities. But when Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990 instead of 1996, he's arrested and locked up in a mental hospital. There he meets psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly and the son of a famous virus expert who may hold the key to the Army of the 12 Monkeys; thought to be responsible for unleashing the killer disease.

    The sides of Twelve Monkeys

    • A prisoner sent back in time to stop a virus
    • An asylum and a raving patient
    • An airport memory

    Good for you if

    • you like a time loop you piece together.
    • you like a feverish, strange atmosphere.
    • you like a wild, twitchy supporting role.

    Bad for you if

    • you want clear answers about what's real.
    • you need some hope. A plague has already wiped out most of humanity before the story starts.

    About: fate · madness · memory

    Explore its sides
  17. An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save what's important to her by connecting with the lives she could have led in other universes.

    The sides of Everything Everywhere All at Once

    • Absurd on the surface, sincere underneath
    • A mother, a daughter, an immigrant family
    • Kung fu and genre mashups
    • Meaninglessness answered with kindness

    Good for you if

    • you like a film where anything can happen, hot dog fingers included.
    • you like absurd jokes and kung fu with a fanny pack.
    • you like a mother and daughter story that hits hard under the chaos.

    Bad for you if

    • jumping between universes is hard for you to follow.

    About: family · meaning · kindness

    Explore its sides
  18. Westworld 2016

    Series

    A dark odyssey about the dawn of artificial consciousness and the evolution of sin. Set at the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, it explores a world in which every human appetite, no matter how noble or depraved, can be indulged.

    The sides of Westworld

    • A Wild West theme park run by robots
    • Hosts who start to remember
    • Guests who pay to do anything

    Good for you if

    • you like a plot you have to piece together across timelines.
    • you like a story that keeps changing what you think you know about the park.
    • you like a show where the first season hides clues for the second viewing.

    Bad for you if

    • you can't stand graphic shootouts and violence against the hosts.
    • you'd rather skip the nudity and sex scenes, or you watch with others.

    About: consciousness · free will · memory · control

    Explore its sides
  19. Severance 2022

    Series

    Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs.

    The sides of Severance

    • Office workers with their memories split in two
    • The endless white corridors of Lumon Industries
    • A team sorting numbers they don't understand

    Good for you if

    • you like piecing together what Lumon really does.
    • you like goats in an office basement and a waffle party as a reward.
    • you like Mark slowly realising what his other self lives through.

    Bad for you if

    • you need things to move fast from the first episode.
    • you want answers at the end of every season.

    About: work · identity · grief · control

    Explore its sides
  20. SEELE orders an all-out attack on NERV, aiming to destroy the Evas before Gendo can advance his own plans for the Human Instrumentality Project. Shinji is pushed to the limits of his sanity as he is forced to decide the fate of humanity.

    The sides of Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion

    • An armed assault on the NERV headquarters
    • A boy who refuses to pilot
    • The end of humanity as one shared mind

    Good for you if

    • you can take the end of the world shown without mercy.
    • you like giant surreal images, live-action shots and a sea of orange liquid.
    • you like a finale you argue about for years.

    Bad for you if

    • you can't stand soldiers gunning down staff or Eva Unit 02 torn apart.
    • a teenager's despair and self-hatred on screen are too much for you.
    • you don't watch anime.

    About: loneliness · the end of the world · the fear of others

    Explore its sides