Let’s take a look at a few thought-provoking productions that will stick with you for a long, long time.
Over the years, movies have been steadily growing stronger in our society, to the extent that, these days, they greatly influence us as human beings. From the very first productions we watched as children, movies have been introducing different ideas about love, friendship, and life as a whole that remain engraved in our memories forever, and in many cases, they even make their way into popular culture.
To top it all off, films are many people's favorite source of entertainment, providing all kinds of options to suit everyone's tastes and whatever they are looking for when it comes to watching a production. Are you having a bad day and need a comforting flick to shut down your brain? Movies are there for you. Do you feel lonely and are in need of something to get you through that feeling? Movies can also help you with that. Whether you're feeling stressed out, or just looking for a good laugh, there will always be a film to suit your needs, even if what you're looking for is a thought-provoking production.
Over time, many movies became known for making audiences dwell on them for days, either for their complex stories or for introducing a theme that shakes up the way we think and perceive the world. Generally speaking, these are productions we tend to re-watch several times that spark debates that remain active even years after their release. If you are looking for films that will make you think, here are 20 great options to check out.
The title of this film is quite literal at times, as it is indeed a production that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats while they try to keep track of everything that is happening in a story that blends elements from all genres. Everything Everywhere All at Once is a Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert production released last year that took the world by storm and became one of the most awarded films in history.
In it, Michelle Yeoh plays Evelyn, a Chinese American woman owner of a laundromat who, while attempting to keep her business alive, finds out about the existence of parallel universes and reluctantly becomes the chosen one to protect the multiverse from an evil force.
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The science fiction drama film Never Let Me Go is a 2011 production starring Carey Mulligan, Keira Knightley, and Andrew Garfield inspired by Kazuo Ishiguro's novel of the same name, and reflects on the limits of science and medical developments.
This film by Mark Romanek takes the audience to an alternate timeline in which there are people whose sole purpose is to donate their organs to others until their body no longer allows them to do so. In this reality, three clone friends intertwine in a complex love triangle that tests their bond as they attempt to escape their doomed destiny.
V for Vendetta is a 2005 film with a massive impact on popular culture, to the point where the Guy Fawkes mask worn by the main character became a symbol used by protestants around the world. This film, which marked James McTeigue's directorial debut, is set in a near-future reality where the UK is ruled by fascism and oppression.
In this context, a masked vigilante attempts to ignite a revolution and confront the oppressors by staging terrorist attacks, during one of which he rescues a young woman who will become his greatest ally. Hugo Weaving leads this box-office and critical hit joined by Natalie Portman, Stephen Rea and Stephen Fry.
Fight Club is a film that caused great controversy upon its release back in 1999, but went on to become one of cinema's great cult classics with a plot twist that shocked audiences. This David Fincher film is based on Chuck Palahniuk's novel of the same name, and stars Brad Pitt, Edward Norton and Helena Bonham Carter. It introduces a man with an unfulfilling life who encounters an eccentric soap salesman with whom he sets up an underground fight club to vent their frustrations about their daily lives, unaware that it would turn out to be a huge sensation.
Shutter Island is one of those movies that you have to watch more than once to really appreciate all sides of its complex story. This 2010 mystery thriller is directed by Martin Scorsese based on Dennis Lehane's novel of the same name, and features Teddy Daniels and Chuck Aule, two agents sent to Shutter Island to investigate the disappearance of a woman patient at a psychiatric facility where nothing is what it seems.
Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo lead the cast of this production, joined by Ben Kingsley, Max von Sydow and Michelle Williams.
Christopher Nolan is a director quite famous for spearheading films that leave audiences wondering, and Interstellar is certainly one of these films. This 2014 sci-fi movie that ranks high among his best productions stars Matthew McConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Bill Irwin, and Michael Caine, and features a distant future in which the Earth is close to extinction and a group of scientists and NASA pilots embark on a mission to find a new home for humanity.
Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike lead the cast of this 2014 production that became a box-office and critical hit, garnering a slew of accolades. David Fincher's Gone Girl is inspired by Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name and features Nick and Amy, a seemingly perfect couple who have been married for five years.
But when the woman vanishes without a trace and some dark secrets of the marriage come to light, Nick emerges as the prime suspect in a case that has all the attention of the press and is sure to keep the audience on the edge of their seats until the very end.
Inception is yet another great Christopher Nolan film that needs to be re-watched several times. Moreover, it is another of the masterpieces released in 2010 featuring DiCaprio as lead actor, with Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Elliot Page, Tom Hardy, Ken Watanabe, and Cillian Murphy joining him in the cast.
The film features Dom Cobb, a thief who specializes in extracting secrets by infiltrating the dreams of his targets, something that made him highly sought after but came at a very high price. Suddenly, a businessman makes him an offer that could potentially change his life: to implant an idea in the mind of one of his opponents in exchange for wiping his criminal record clean, which would allow him to safely reunite with his family. But, naturally, this mission will be even harder than it seems.
2001 marked the release of Donnie Darko, a film written and directed by Richard Kelly that over the years grew into a cult classic. This psychological thriller stars Jake Gyllenhaal as Donnie, a troubled young man who, after miraculously escaping a domestic accident, starts hallucinating with a figure in a rabbit suit who manipulates his actions ensuring that the world is going to end in 28 days.
Joining Gyllenhaal in this production are his sister Maggie, Jena Malone, Drew Barrymore and James Duval.
Just one year after working together on the 2005 superhero film Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan reunited with Christian Bale and Michael Caine to collaborate on The Prestige, a psychological thriller in which they star alongside Hugh Jackman and Scarlett Johansson.
In this acclaimed production, which also features Andy Serkis, David Bowie, and Rebecca Hall, Bale and Jackman are Alfred Borden and Robert Angier, two magicians from the 1890s who, following the fatal outcome of a stunt, become bitter enemies who go to great lengths to outdo one another, engaging in a very dangerous competition.
Requiem for a Dream is a 2000 drama film directed by Darren Aronofsky based on Hubert Selby Jr.'s 1978 novel of the same name. This production, starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans, follows several characters who suffer from different addictions, and how these alter the way they perceive reality and lead them into a spiral out of control.
Requiem for a Dream became a highly acclaimed film that, although not performing well at the box office, went on to earn many nominations and awards.
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The Shining is one of the most iconic movies in Jack Nicholson's career. This horror film by Stanley Kubrick took a while to consolidate as the classic it is today, but it is still a production worth watching. Inspired by Stephen King's novel from 1977, The Shining introduces Jack Torrance, a man who moves with his family to the Overlook Hotel in Colorado after taking a position there as a caretaker for the winter season.
But what Jack hopes is merely a seasonal job to help him pay the bills while he deals with his writer's block will turn out to be a dangerous experience, as the hotel harbors dark secrets that will take their toll on the entire family. Joining Nicholson in this production are Shelley Duvall, Danny Lloyd and Scatman Crothers.
The Matrix is one of the films that propelled actor Keanu Reeves to stardom, and its success back in 1999 kicked off one of the most successful franchises in the science fiction genre. This production by the Wachowskis takes the audience to a dystopian future in which humans are unknowingly trapped inside a simulated reality run by artificial intelligence to feed off their energy.
It introduces Neo, a hacker who seems to be the chosen one to lead the revolution against the machines in pursuit of freedom. Reeves is joined in this acclaimed production by Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving, and Joe Pantoliano.
Ex Machina is another great classic of the science fiction genre, although this one was helmed by Alex Garland in his directorial debut. This 2014 production that stars Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac, and Alicia Vikander features Caleb, a computer programmer who, having won a contest at work, gets to spend a week at the luxurious home of the company's CEO just to find out that he has also been selected to take part in a groundbreaking test: interacting with a female-like humanoid robot in order to determine its capabilities and how well it can engage with humans.
Ex Machina was widely acclaimed upon its release and went on to win an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects, among many other accolades.
Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet star in what many consider to be one of the best films of all time. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 movie directed by Michel Gondry and written by Charlie Kaufman that, besides becoming a box-office hit, was the recipient of many awards.
In it, the main actors play Joel and Clementine, a couple who, following a breakup, undergo a procedure to erase their memories and thereby forget their shared moments. However, over the course of these treatments, they will come to understand that, at times, science can't fight what the heart desires.
2001: A Space Odyssey is yet another Stanley Kubrick masterpiece that made it to this list. This 1968 production is inspired by some of the works of author Arthur C. Clarke, who serves as screenwriter alongside Kubrick himself, and became a pioneering film with great influence on the film industry and the entire world.
Starring Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, and Douglas Rain, 2001: A Space Odyssey takes us on a journey through different periods of human history that seem to be connected by the constant presence of an alien monolith.
What defines love? This is one of the major questions that Her, the 2013 film written, directed, and co-produced by Spike Jonze, presents to the audience. In this production, Joaquin Phoenix stars as Theodore, a writer with an unremarkable life who finds himself struggling with a painful divorce. But the man's life is turned upside down when he purchases a new operating system for his electronics that includes an artificially intelligent virtual assistant named Samantha, who quickly stirs up feelings in Theodore.
Joining Phoenix in this acclaimed production are Scarlett Johansson as the voice of Samantha, Amy Adams, Rooney Mara, Matt Letscher, and Chris Pratt.
Guy Pearce stars in Memento as Leonard, a former insurance investigator who devotes his life to hunting down the man who murdered his wife. But, as if his quest wasn't complicated enough, Leonard has to deal with a medical condition that affects his memory and prevents him from making new memories, making it impossible for him to move forward in his investigation and repeatedly triggering in his mind the image of his wife on the day she died.
Christopher Nolan heads this 2000 production whose non-linear structure was acclaimed by critics and audiences alike. Pearce is joined in the cast by Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano, and Mark Boone Junior.
The Truman Show is, for many, the best film in Jim Carrey's career. In it, he stars as Truman Burbank, a man who believes he is leading an ordinary life but, unbeknownst to him, is the main character of a TV show with millions of viewers worldwide who have been following his every move.
This 1998 film by Peter Weir became a widely acclaimed cinema classic, earning nominations at the Academy Awards and Golden Globe Awards, among many other accolades. Supporting Carrey in this film are Laura Linney, Ed Harris, Noah Emmerich and Natascha McElhone.
As expected, Christopher Nolan's latest production also managed to keep audiences on the edge of their seats with a story that sparked many discussions. Oppenheimer, one of the most eagerly awaited films of 2023, hit theaters less than a month ago, and it is already emerging as one of the top contenders for the awards season.
Cillian Murphy stars in this production that follows the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer and his quest to develop the atomic bomb, alongside Emily Blunt, Matt Damon, Robert Downey Jr., and Florence Pugh.

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