If you haven't already seen Martin Scorsese's newest flick, Shutter Island, yet, then I seriously suggest you do so. The entire film is one of the most mindbending reality trips you'll probably see all year (perhaps next to Inception, Christopher Nolan's newest, due out this summer). It's the latest in a long line of such films that feature such huge twists that alter the viewer's perception of the film - or, on rare occasions, of their own lives.
MovieOvermind has compiled a list of what we deem to be some of the greatest "mindf*ck" movies - films that do just that with your mind. They may not all have the single great Aha! moment, but each film has a great, perception altering storyline. Feel free to contribute in the comments section with your own list, or simply comments about the films in this list.
These films are arranged in alphabetical order, due to the fact that I simply cannot pick some over the others.
Fight Club, 1999
Do I even really need to explain why I chose this film? It's a classic example of the mindf*ck, and that's not even the best thing about it. The film features an unnamed narrator (Edward Norton) who meets a mysterious, charismatic man named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), who introduces him to a new way of channeling his emotions: through fistfighting. This "therapy" catches on, and before long, hundreds of men are part of these underground fight clubs. However, Tyler doesn't intend to limit these organizations to fighting -- he's planning on doing something else entirely.
This film is my personal favorite of all time, simply because of its way to immerse the viewer into the perspective of the narrator. You believe what he believes - even when he isn't sure what he believes - and you eventually come to see things through his perspective, which becomes increasingly confused and unreliable. It all builds to a very shocking conclusion, and if you haven't already seen it, I suggest you drop what you're doing right now and go rent (if not buy) this film.
Memento, 2000
The turn of the century produced many great creative works, and Memento is certainly one of the greatest, along with Fight Club and several others. However, when it comes to innovative storytelling, Memento takes the cake. Forget linear storytelling -- the story progresses in two different directions, and both at the same time. Confused yet? It gets more confusing, don't worry.
The film concerns a man named Leonard Shelby, who has auteriograde amnesia, meaning that he loses his memories shortly after he makes them. This means that half the movie is told in reverse, while the other half of the mive (intercut with the reverse story) is told linearly. Of course, since Leonard as a memory problem, it's obvious that there's a twist coming - but it's such an interesting and unique twist that you never see it coming until the end, when the two storytelling directions meet.
Moon, 2009
The most recent film on this list, Moon is my favorite film of last year, hands down. It's a very, very small and tight film. Sam Rockwell plays a character named Sam Bell, who is working for a mining company and is the only man living on the moon. As his three-year term on the moon comes to a close, Sam prepares himself to go home, then realizes that he might not be the only man on the surface of the moon, after all.
There are about three or four solid twists in this film, but like Fight Club, they're not the important part. Rockwell carries the movie as the only actor (save for a few characters in flashbacks), and his reaction to the events that unfold around him is masterfully played. Director Duncan Jones, son of famous musician and actor David Bowie, is planning a film that takes place in the same universe, titled Mute, that has an as-yet unscheduled release date.
Revolver, 2005
Yes, it's pretentious. Yes, it's convoluted. But Guy Ritche's mob thriller Revolver is a full-out gangster film that features absolutely crazy plot twists that make you question your own way of life, and they make you question that voice in your head. The film stars Jason Statham as Jake Green, a man who has been recently released from prison. Upon his release, he goes to take his revenge on Dorothy Macha (Ray Liotta) the gangster who landed him in prison. However, as he's doing so, he's met by two loan sharks: Avi (OutKast's Andre Benjamin) and Zach (Vincent Pastore), who begin to bleed his money from him, while teaching him valuable life lessons.
I won't pretend to understand the entire film (perhaps it's not meant to be completely understandable), but what I do get, I like. The tagline, "Your mind will not accept a game this big," may seem a bit too self-assured at first glimpse, but after a view of the movie, your mind probably won't accept it either.
The Sixth Sense, 1999
Did you really think you could make it through this list without seeing The Sixth Sense on here somewhere? M. Night Shyamalan's third (and best) film has one of the most well-known (and spoiled) plot twists of all time, but if you've somehow managed to escape the knowledge of what happens at the end of the film, go ahead and watch it now. Its ending contains a spark that Shyamalan's later films simply weren't able to replicate.
