Thought-Provoking Movies

Looking for movies with a lasting impression? Movies with a deep, moral message or movies that leave your mind in a pretzel, forcing you to re-evaluate everything you’ve ever thought? Well we’ve summoned our top picks ranging from action-packed thrillers to contemplative thinkers. These movies are guaranteed to force you to think and if you disagree, let us know in the comments. Enjoy!

Veteran Detective William Somerset (Morgan Freeman) teams up with young hotshot David Mills (Brad Pitt) to track a series of calculated, gruesome murders. The impulsive, cocksure style of Mills contrasts with the calculated, coolheaded Somerset but the two manage to strike a balance as they uncover disturbing murders that represent the seven deadly sins. Fincher’s nameless, crime-ridden, green-tinted city (fight-club-esque) only adds to the movie’s disturbing plot. As the movie climbs to its spine-chilling finale you are left with a lot to think about and an uneasiness that will last for days.

12 Angry Men

This courtroom drama takes place inside a room of 12 jurors in charge of reaching a verdict of an 18-year-old accused of murder. The seemingly closed case slowly takes a turn as one brave juror assumes the role of defense attorney and starts to revisit the evidence. As the tide slowly shifts, jurors are forced to look internally as their unconscious bias, allegiance to groupthink, and general disregard for justice begin to surface. This movie will leave you questioning the case but more importantly questioning your own view of justice.

Shutter Island

Two U.S. Marshals are sent to a remote island to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Lead investigator Marshal “Teddy” Daniels (Leonardo Dicaprio) begins to question details of the case. His questioning leads him down a rabbit hole of paranoia that has him questioning his own sanity. The movie builds to a climatic ending that leaves you with an unsettling feeling and a newfound sense of sympathy for the mentally ill.

Her

Like a good episode of Black Mirror, this movie places you in the not too distant future: a world where an operating system, advertised as a conscious, can interact with you as a friend and in this case as a lover. The story is based around Theodore (Joaquin Phoenix), a lonely man who earns a living as a greeting card writer. His impending divorce, struggles with loneliness, and introverted personality lead him to give the operating system a try. As his relationship grows with Sarah, the name he has given to his OS, interesting philosophical questions are brought to our attention. Can AI ever truly replace romantic, human relationships? Do the deterministic algorithms of an AI “conscious” remove the mystique of the unknown synapses of the human mind? As time progresses, how will science bridge the inherit physical gap of having an AI consciousness? This moving storyline will leave you perplexed and contemplating what you’ll do if/when this technology arrives.

The Truman Show

The Truman Show centers around Truman Burbank (Jim Carrey) a man who has lived his entire life inside a seaside town of Seahaven Island. He goes to work, he talks with friends, and spends time with his wife. The catch: he is actually living in a Hollywood set with state-of-the-art technology to simulate weather and give Truman the illusion he is stuck on a real island. Actors play the role of friends, coworkers, and even family. Through a series of strategically-placed cameras, Truman is constantly being filmed and the footage is aired nationally in real time. As Truman gets older, his suspicions rise and the staff, led by Christof (Ed Harris), work tirelessly to keep the façade up. The world watches on as some start a campaign to “Free Truman.” The film comes to a dramatic close and you are left pondering the absurdity of such a show while simultaneously realizing it’s not that far off from some of the shows we have now.

Paterson

This pick is definitely the most indie of the movies on this list and might not be everyone’s cup of tea. However, those who do like it, like it a lot. The movie centers around a young bus driver, Paterson (Adam Driver), whose peaceful poems, and humble routine, sets a tranquil backdrop for an uneventful storyline. Paterson supports his wife’s ambitions, maintains healthy friendships, and dutifully carries out his daily obligations. There is no real climax, or gut punching moment in the movie, which might explain the stark contrast in audience score and movie snobs. Don’t let that deter you though, what this movie lacks in a concentrated punch makes up for in the lasting appreciation you’ll have for stoicism in the modern world.

Arrival

When 12, eerie spaceships touch down across planet earth, the world is faced with many difficult questions, one of which is how do we communicate with aliens? Linguistics professor Louise Banks (Amy Adams) is summoned by the U.S. military and tasked with translating the strange messages from the seven-limbed aliens they call Heptapods. As Banks gets closer to a breakthrough, the U.S. military and nations across the globe grow impatient. This forces Banks to break protocol and take risks that lead to an enlightening discovery. As the movie comes to a close you are left with a few philosophical mind benders and the moral repercussions that come with the knowledge of space-time.

WALL-E

When looking for a thinker, a Pixar movie isn’t usually what comes to mind, but there are layers of depth to this movie that you don’t typically find in most animated movies. The story centers around Wall-E (Waste Allocation Load Lifter – Earth), the last robot on Earth in charge of cleaning up the trash-filled, abandoned wasteland that is planet Earth. His monotonous days of cleaning up trash are interrupted one day by EVE (Extraterrestrial Vegetation Evaluator) sent to test the planet’s ability for plant life. WALL-E reveals his seedling and sneaks his way back onto the probe that leads back to the mothership. On the mothership (Axiom), the regression of humanity is revealed, humans left Earth centuries ago and the trend of mass consumerism and reliance on robots to fill our every need, is extrapolated. A series of events take place between Wall-E and Eve but the heart of the films comes from the disturbing dystopia of life on Axiom. This movie will leave you thinking about the repercussions of our consumeristic lifestyle while enjoying an interesting story about an earnest robot. 

Before Sunrise

Set in Vienna, this romantic film follows the love story of a young American man Jesse (Ethan Hawke) and a young French woman Celine (Julie Delpy). The plot is pretty simple: two young adults meet on a train and decide to take a spontaneous long walk around Vienna which lasts until sunrise. The dialogue is essentially one long conversation between the two of them with the occasional input of a few side characters they run into. If you were just to read the plot summary it may not sound intriguing but there is a reason why they turned this movie into a trilogy and a reason why this movie earned the coveted 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. It’s one of those movies that is so painfully relatable that it is impossible not to get drawn in. The couple feels the thrills of young love and the excitement of a stranger who you’re infatuated with, but at the same time they maintain this mature understanding of the moment. The couple slowly explore the city, pour out their innermost thoughts, and fall in love in a manner that is way too real, painfully mature, and leaves you with this unexplainable appreciation of love.

Fight Club

Arguably the best movie on this list, Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club delivers a rebellious message that raises countless philosophical questions and a twist that will leave your head spinning for days. Set in an unspecified, downtrodden city, the unnamed narrator finds himself unsatisfied with his job as an automobile recall specialist and stuck in a continual haze due to his inability to sleep. Seemingly, his only escape is the high he gets from attending support groups meant for people who have incurable, fatal diagnoses. His luck changes when he meets a soap salesman on a flight by the name of Tyler Durden. The carefree, unapologetic lifestyle of the salesman inspires the narrator. The two meet up again after the flight and a partnership is born. They move into an old abandoned house together and through their newfound love for fighting, fight club is born. Their movement grows and the narrator rapidly distances himself from his old life. The comfortable, boring life he once had begins to dwindle and with it so does a portion of his sanity. The movie’s climatic twist is one for the ages and has set Fight Club apart as a timeless, cinematic masterpiece.

La Dolce Vita

There is perhaps no real climax, heroic moment, or intentional message behind the film except to share in the confusion, chaos, and apprehension of the main character. In a series of seven days and seven nights, the movie follows the misadventures of Marcelo Rubini, a journalist for gossip magazines, who falls in and out of love, contemplates the meaning of life, and constantly second guesses what he wants. While movie critics disagree on the hidden meaning, symbolism throughout, and significance of the final scene, there is no dispute on the importance of this movie and the genre of film it essentially pioneered. Its dream like allure and timeless relatability makes this movie a must-watch for the existentially anxious.

Inception

A must-see for this genre, Inception sets the standard for mind-twisting plots, stunning cinematography, and an escapist feel that will leave you contemplating the significance of your dreams. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio), an idea thief, makes a living invading people’s subconscious through dreams and stealing valuable information. He is commissioned by a Japanese businessman who wants Cobb to implant an idea into a competitor’s head in exchange for a clean criminal record that would allow Cobb to return home to his family. Cobb agrees to the seemingly impossible task and assembles a team to get the job done. As the team is assembled and the task is attempted, haunting subconscious memories creep back from Cobb’s past. These memories mixed with the various difficulties of the task make for an interesting storyline and ending that’ll have you questioning reality itself.

Crash

One of the most underrated, overrated movies of all time. It did win an Oscar but it’s the lowest ranked (74% Rotten Tomatoes) Oscar winner in the modern era. Why all the controversy surrounding this movie? Well it’s a lot about race, which naturally is going to make it a contentious pick. It follows seemingly unrelated storylines that later “crash” into each other. With this setup, you are piecemealed various backstories and when their storylines overlap you find yourself sympathizing with all the characters despite their horrendous actions. Perhaps it is in this sympathy, granted to almost all storylines, where the movie critic elites get turned off. It is possible that the movie is too forgiving and misconstrues the complexities of race dynamics. It’s also possible that this movie was ahead of its time and its painful look at the motivations that drive us to act in certain ways is much more relatable than we would like to think. Overall, despite its controversies, it is an incredibly clever movie that forces you to think twice before you judge. An Oscar winner where the audience score tramples the movie critic’s score is rare recipe that truly challenges the status quo.

Loving Vincent

In this first, fully painted animated feature film, you are given a unique perspective into the life and final days of Vincent van Gogh. Postman and old friend of Vincent, Joseph Roulin, appoints his son, Armand, to deliver Van Gogh’s last letter to Vincent’s brother Theo. Armand sets out to deliver the letter only to be met with a host of new information that leaves him suspicious about the alleged “suicide” of his father’s friend. After a discussion with an art collector in Paris, Armand is redirected to a small town where Van Gogh spent his final days housed by a Doctor and his family. Armand meets with everyone who knew him in town and through a series of beautiful flashbacks the life of Vincent Van Gogh is presented. The movie leaves you with an appreciation and revived perspective of the troubled genius that was Vincent van Gogh.

The Matrix

It would be hard not to include this one on this list as it in many ways pioneered a mainstream appeal for this genre of film. The movie centers around Neo (Keanu Reeves), a curious computer programmer/hacker, that notices one too many glitches in the “reality” that surrounds him. His curiosity gets him into trouble with the police and connects him with the “known terrorist” Morpheus. Morpheus presents him with the now popular decision of the red pill or the blue pill. The red pill gives Neo insight into the actual, objective world and the blue pill allows Neo to return to the ignorance of the simulation. Neo takes the red pill which alters his life for good. He is “reborn” out of the Matrix only to realize his actual body was just being used for energy by a world full of intelligent robots and the simulation (the Matrix) was created to keep human brains active. The movie then launches into an interesting storyline as Neo joins Morpheus and his team of rebels who fight to unplug enslaved human beings. This timeless masterpiece brings with it a wave of philosophical questions. It is a fun, thrilling thinker that forces you to question the blue pill/red pill world around you.

Memento

This movie is a true mind bender. The story is told backwards from the point of view of Leonard (Guy Pearce), a guy with anterograde amnesia, who struggles to recall anything from his short-term memory but can recall everything prior to his incident. The movie “begins” with Leonard killing a man in an abandoned building. As the movie progresses (moves backwards) you slowly uncover details into Leonard’s life and his hasty pursuit to find the killer of his wife. You are also given a series of chronological flashbacks (in black and white) that give you a glimpse into Leonard’s condition and life before the incident. Leonard keeps notes, tattoos, and photos to help him with his condition and remind himself of who he can trust. His quest to avenge his wife’s killer is noble yet, given his condition, problematic. As details unfold you are equally suspect of his own memory as you are with the suspicious people he is surrounded by. You are left with this haze of confusion, sifting through testimonial evidence that may or may not be trustworthy. It is a dizzying masterpiece that really sets the standard for psychological thrillers.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

The movie begins at the start of their relationship where a shy, soft-spoken Joel (Jim Carrey) meets a free-spirited Clementine (Kate Winslet) on a train. The two immediately feel drawn to each other despite their contrasting personality types. The movie then flashes forward to Joel attempting to reconcile with his now ex-girlfriend Clementine. Through his failed attempt, he stumbles upon a note that indicates she’s had a procedure to erase him from her memory. Joel decides to do the same. However, as he relives the memories, starting from most recent to first encounter, he finds himself second guessing whether he should’ve gotten the procedure done. His futile attempts to evade memory deletion make the procedure more complicated than usual. As Joel dodges the deletion process a second storyline brews between the medical staff who are in charge of Joel’s memory deletion. As details unfold through Joel’s memory, various abuses of power with the medical staff are revealed. What you are left with is a brilliant thinker: a movie that touches on the hardships and lapsed memories of love, while raising interesting philosophical questions about the repercussions of brain alterations.

Vertigo

Like most Hitchcock films this psychological thriller leaves you with a combination of horror, confusion, and existential uneasiness. The plot centers around ex-detective John “Scottie” Ferguson (James Stewart) whose fear of heights led him to early retirement. He encounters an old college friend who proposes Scottie comes out of retirement to watch his wife claiming she’s acting abnormal and could do something dangerous. Scottie reluctantly agrees and so begins a series of twist and turns and a climatic ending that will leave your head spinning. A true Hitchcock masterpiece that has stood the test of time to make this list of deep thinking movies.

Manchester by the Sea

Like a few others on this list, this movie is less of a mind bender with multiple twists and turns but more of an emotional gut punch. After the death of his brother, Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is surprised to find out he is the sole guardian of his teenage nephew Patrick. Lee returns to Manchester, his hometown where Patrick currently lives, where he is forced to make arrangements for the funeral, sort out the future of his nephew, and face the horrors of his tragic past in Manchester. This movie tells a sad story by exploring how regular, blue-collar people of all ages and various relationship dynamics deal with loss, tragedy, and living with grief. The blue-collar town, relatable characters and dialogue, make the emotional heartbreak of this movie all the more real. Like all good movies, this one will sit with you weeks after watching.