Have you ever watched a movie that felt needlessly complicated and almost gave you a headache just by trying to contemplate what was going on? There are movies out there that, in the attempt to appear intellectual and complex, are bound to confuse a lot of people and keep them wondering what in the hell they just watched. With some of these movies, the attempt is warranted since the movie is eventually seen to be quite intelligent and has threaded the main point throughout its length that finally comes to fruition and gets people to say ‘oh, so THAT’s what it meant’. Some simply crumble the moment the main point is discovered, while some grant a revelation to the audience that leaves them at ease and wanting more. But with a lot of complex movies, it’s hard to get to that point since to be fair, they’re made for those that think on a different level that a lot of us just can’t match. In some ways it feels as though these movies are trying to separate those that understand from those that don’t, meaning they’re less for enjoyment and more for determining just who’s a deep thinker and who isn’t. It sounds very divisive, but at the same time, it’s quite genius if it works.
Here are a few of the most complex movies of the 21st century thus far.
5. Cloud Atlas
Cause and effect take place in a lot of intellectual movies and if a person can find this thread then they usually can find their way from point A to B and so on and so forth. This movie has confused a lot of folks since it was released, but somehow it’s not unlike the melody that is seen throughout its length, complex and yet resonant in a manner that’s bound to capture and bind certain individuals that are pertinent to the story as the rest exist as supporting characters and background props that are there for a purpose but unaware of the grand design that’s taking place. All in all this movie is great once it really gets going, but it’s not one you can start in the middle if you want to understand it.
4. Interstellar
In some ways, this movie felt needlessly complex at times since the overall threat is that the earth is no longer an inhabitable place and the idea is that the species needs a new home where they can flourish. But the continual injection of science, or pseudoscience as many have claimed, kind of takes away from the main point again and again. This is because once a person leaves the surface of the earth the many different variables and ideas that go into traveling among the stars make it hard to grasp the wide and very difficult ideas that tend to come with this method of travel that fantasy tends to take hold of so often.
3. Mr. Nobody
A movie based on ‘what ifs’ is one that a lot of people might enjoy since it explores more than one reality that could have happened had one thing or another taken place instead of what might have happened. But where this movie really starts to take people down a twisting rabbit hole is when it attempts to show the lives that a single person might have had if he had decided upon one course over another, thereby making it difficult to know what’s real and what is the absolute truth for a life that is split in more ways than one individual could possibly keep up with, or would want to.
2. Synecdoche, New York
There are moments when a movie appears to outsmart itself and seeks obscurity rather than the fame that most attempts desire. It doesn’t make sense, does it? That’s okay because this movie didn’t appear to make sense for a lot of people, other than to show the madness inherent in creation and the fact that many can take it to a place that isn’t wrong, or bad by any means, but is still something that a person can’t possibly expect to do anything but drive them mad. The overall feeling in this movie is that the creator eventually becomes the victim of the creation by their own design. That’s one perspective at least.
1. Primer
Time travel is a hotly debated issue in the movies, and it’s probably right that it remains a discussion that’s bound to be the cause of many an argument rather than a reality. Just imagine what might be possible if time travel was a capability that humans possessed, and think about it falling into the irresponsible hands of those that would gladly use it for personal gain or to right wrongs that despite being terrible were still important to history. It’s a bit of a conversation to be certain, but it can become increasingly complex depending on the story.
Sometimes a movie just needs to be a movie from point A to Z.
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