10 Movies to Make You Think

Movies are meant to entertain us. As a medium of entertainment that spurned from the ruins of 19th Century Theatre, the cinema was a means of expanding whatever was left of the remnants of the decadent ancestor of fin-de-siecle stage productions. But, as film has evolved, we have been looking for things to challenge us mentally. In our own day of the 2010s, there is little to look at and practically no films which fit the thought-provoking needs of some of its audience members.

If we are to take movies as an entertainment medium then we must take it as one that is subjective to whoever is viewing it as well. Some people believe that movies need to make you think as well as entertain you. This is how some people become more invested in the film and therefore, pay more attention to it.

When we watch a movie that makes us think, it sticks with us and it makes us re-watch it in some cases. There are many movies that do this, famous directors who are responsible for these movies are: Stanley Kubrick, M. Night Shymalan, Christopher Nolan, Quentin Tarantino and even Ron Howard.

However, we can't fit them all on the list at once and so - I'm going to countdown the ten films that, in my opinion, make you think more than others. I have chosen these carefully and I suggest you watch them all before making your final judgements on the films themselves.

So, without further introduction - let's countdown the ten films that really do make you think.

10 Movies That Will Make You Think

10. Cloud Atlas (2012)

This is one of my favourite films and books of all time. The entire film is completely insane with the theme that everything is connected there are characters who are actually other characters in a different time and place. For example: Robert Frobisher is actually also Luisa Rey etc. It is a visually stunning film and I love everything about it. It is such an incredibly interesting movie, one you must watch more than once to understand.

9. The Matrix (1999)

The Matrix (1999) was one of the greatest films of end of the 20th century. It was by far the greatest film of the 1990s and still is, to this day, respected as one of the greatest films ever made. I'm not going to lie but the first time I watched this film, I had no idea what it was about - I didn't know what was going on but in my defence, I was five. The only evidence I have of me watching the film is a video tape where it's playing in the background and I'm brushing a doll's hair. The way in which this film makes you think is that many people state that it is based on Plato's Cave. Now, I don't know whether it is true but there is many pieces of evidence to suggest that this is the case throughout the film. I studied Plato's Cave in first year post-graduate philosophy and yet I still didn't get it. Oh well, maybe after a billionth time, I'll get it.

8. Memento (2000)

Memento is a film I have seen about ten times but seriously the timeline makes me feel queasy. It's like watching a movie backwards then forwards, then backwards and then forwards again until it ends at the end which is the beginning and now, let's be sick. The acting doesn't make it any easier when that geezer is writing his notes all over the place - I'm not gonna lie but my house is like that with people labelling shit all the time. There's notes all over the cupboards and doors so every time I watch this film, I can damn well relate.

7. Dr. Strangelove (1964)

One of my favourite films of all time, there are many subplots in this film which you have to follow very carefully in order to work out why the film even happens at all. The last fifteen minutes or so is the most important. But I'm going to be honest, I didn't get it the first time I watched it. There was something really quite addictive about the film and well, I watched it about fifteen times afterwards and there was still stuff left unread. I thought that there was something based on stuff written by Aristotle in there but maybe I was looking so deep.

6. The Machinist (2004)

The Machinist (2004) is one of those films which damn well doesn't make sense at all. I keep watching it over and over again, the stuff with the guy's hand in the machine and the hangman. There is so many different symbols in there that if you try to follow them, it still doesn't lead you to the end of the film. Oh my god, how I can I tell you how complex this film is. The only way to describe this is a total mindfuck.

5. The Prestige (2006)

The Prestige (2006) is a movie I remember watching at least five times and then, I watched it again I kind of realised that the entire movie is that canary analogy at the beginning and that the canary at the start is Angier but the canary at the end is Borden. Oh Christ there are so many things I have to learn still! The only good way to describe this movie is when you think you’ve got it, you really haven’t

4. Synecdoche, New York (2008)

Synecdoche, New York (2008) is one of those films I recommend to a lot of people and everyone just goes “alright, so any clue what we have been watching for the past few hours?” Not a clue, I will tell you that. I think it has something to do with that weird microcosm they built inside the empty building but the one line that always made me feel a bit sick was “when are we gonna get an audience, we’ve been here for 17 years...” I screamed. The best way to describe this film is by saying that I watched it a few times and gave up because it hurt my brain.

3. The Sixth Sense (1996)

Yeah so my family decided to let me watch this when I was about five. They thought it would be a good challenge for my brain. What actually ended up happening was pure confusion. Not fright, not knowing - just flat out confusion. Needless to say, I now know exactly what the movie is about but please to god don’t show this to your five year old expecting to get a decent reaction. This movie is best described as that one that has sort of become a family tradition but you have no idea how to explain it to anyone.

2. Vertigo (1958)

Vertigo (1958) is that film I watched whilst it was on Film 4 and I just felt like someone had put my head through a wall. It was like there were many things all going on at once and 13/14 year old me did not understand a single one of them. The beginning is pretty easy to decipher but the bell tower scene at the end really puts everything into perspective. This film is best described as that one you have to watch every minute of or you will literally lose it.

Films That Didn't Make The List:

- Split (2016)

- 12 Monkeys (1995)

- Shutter Island (2010)

- Donnie Darko (2001)

- Midsommar (2019)

- Psycho (1960)

- The Game (1997)

- American Psycho (2000)

- The Stanford Prison Experiment (2015)

- Predestination (2014)

Number One:

1. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

And now everyone has the theme tune stuck in their heads. I am not gonna lie when I said I watched this film back to back at least five times about ten years ago and revisited it recently to...well, you know how I am. This is that film where you think you’ve got the entire plot because we all know how HAL is supposedly bad because he’s hiding something about the mission. But in all logic I think that David character is just as bad because he seems to follow the monolith even when he is well aware of what has happened to monolith followers in the past. Anyways, the whole film can be summed up like this: no matter what you do, that big black box will confuse the hell outta you.