For some reason, many people like to watch horror movies and feel fear. Others like to watch romantic ones and cry their eyes out. So, what is being sought when one picks out a "mind bending" movie? Perhaps it's the same idea as completing a puzzle or a riddle; the enjoyment of being confused but then sorting things out. Maybe it's just a way to force our heads outside of the boxes, so to speak, to just say "woah!" Whatever it is, there are fortunately hundreds of amazing movies that serve the purpose. Additionally, there are thousands of users on Letterboxd that can help sort through to the very best of them.
If you're unfamiliar with the site, users can rate films from zero to five stars—with half-star options available—and also contribute things like keyword tags to films or compile clever lists. Below are the highest-rated films that have been tagged with the term "mind-bending" that have the highest average rating, with 2,500 ratings as a minimum qualifier. Thus, the below rankings are not reflective of the most mind-bending movies, but the best ones that are mind-bending. If all that is too confusing, then these might not be the movies for you.
10 Se7en
Movie twists have existed just about as long as movies, but, in the independent film frenzy of the 1990s, they seemed to be particularly in vogue. Shifting away from the big-blockbuster 80s, Hollywood was suddenly more excited about relatively bare-bones stories and scripts, often written by the same Quentin Tarantino and M. Night Shyamalan types who would also direct. While not a screenwriter himself, David Fincher brought to the screen Se7en, The Game, and Fight Club all during this period. Talk about mind-bending!
At this point, most are familiar with the gruesome reveal at the end of this movie. It's one of the most famous cinema moments of all time. That said, the whole film is always worth revisiting, especially as recent months have brought a new Fincher film and a similarly-stacked crime drama our way.
9 La Jetée
You probably haven't heard of this short French film, and, though it's the oldest on this list, it has a strong argument for being the most mind-bending! La Jetée is a story of nuclear war and time travel. That's a lot to pack into twenty-eight minutes! What's more, it's executed using almost entirely still images. Watching La Jetée pull it all off is a delight.
The film is a product of what was called the "Left Bank" of the French New Wave movement. As it goes, there was an explosion of innovative films coming out of France in the 50s and 60s. However, even within this hip artist collective, there was an even more hip subset! Those who weren't as financially successful and even more "out there" among French New Wave filmmakers were dubbed the Left Bank, per their preferred locale. In other words, the Left Bank was for the real mind-benders of the French New Wave.
8 Mirror
Andrei Tarkovsky is a Russian art icon up there with Tolstoy and Tchaikovsky. Each one of his stupendous films pokes at massive existential questions with a combination of otherworldly narrative and unmatched cinematographic beauty. Mirror, a film about the haunting memories of a Russian soldier, is no exception. By its end, as a viewer, you are psychologically altered.
Tarkovsky's Stalker may be his most famous work, though it did not register a "mind-bending" tab on Letterboxd. His space film Solaris is an adaptation of a fascinating 1961 novel. A later one was directed by Steven Soderbergh and starred George Clooney. If you're prepared to brave the "one-inch tall barrier of subtitles," this list presents plenty of opportunities, but Tarkovsky deserves a spot atop the list.
7 Perfect Blue
Perhaps the most common plotline in the "mind-bending" genre is the identity crisis. Characters like Tyler Durden and Malcolm Crowe have taught us well that when odd things start happening the first person you should look at is probably yourself.
The anime showcase Perfect Blue combines such a conundrum with the personality-fracturing nature of show business and fame. While that's not something all of us can relate to exactly, the conflicts that the film presents are actually quite familiar, as the 20+ years since its release has seen us all adopt forms of outward-facing media profiles.
6 2001: A Space Odyssey
Widely-renowned as one of the greatest films of all time, Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey goes far beyond intriguingly mind-bending to more commonly be referred to as things like "epic" or "masterpiece." Kicking off with the mighty "Also Sprach Zarathustra" followed by twenty or so minutes of scenes of only primates, to call it ambitious would be an understatement.
For those whose minds can navigate the bending, the 164 minutes—even the ones featuring just monkeys—are rewarding. 2001 is the story of all humankind; over the entirety of our existence, the only constant has been progress. This is what allows us to triumph over the beasts, ourselves, and even our own creations. Simple enough, right?
5 Neon Genesis Evangelion: The End of Evangelion
Originally a television show that only ran in 1995 and 1996 in Japan, Neon Genesis Evangelion was adapted for several wildly successful, and now Letterboxd-dominant, films.
This universe is from the "mecha" camp of anime, meaning things like robots and technology are prominently featured. In Evangelion in particular, a battle ensues in a dystopian version of Tokyo where beings called "Angels" threaten humanity and civilization as we know it. As is common in famous anime tales, none other than a young child is the best hope for saving the day! It's also a sequel to another fairly infamous film fans should expect to see further on.
4 Persona
Beginning with a Rorschach-like series of disturbing images, legendary Swedish director Ingmar Bergman's Persona does not pretend to be anything other than an arthouse thinker. This surreal opening and an identity-bending finale that provides some explanation sandwich a tale of two women getting to know one another, getting into one another's heads, and getting under one another's skin.
The film stars Bergman favorites Liv Ullmann and Bibi Andersson in some of the best work of their careers. Ullmann's character packs an emotional punch without saying nearly a word for about eighty percent of the film.
3 Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse
The amount of hugely-successful superhero films that are released every year in modern Hollywood is what made 2018's Into the Spider-Verse's dazzling success so impressive. It's an animated, off-kilter Spider-Man story with only about half the star power that the MCU usually presents in its releases.
Fans know, of course, that this movie isn't even about Peter Parker! Miles Morales is every bit Spidey, just from a different reality than Peter. Watching the film explain it all is bundles of fun. Recently, there's been a flurry of speculation about whether this concept provides an excuse to get Tom Holland, Andrew Garfield, and Tobey Maguire onscreen together.
2 Neon Genesis Evangelion
Neon Genesis Evangelion is both a literal and meta-story of salvation. In a scenario all too familiar to fans of popular culture, the finale of the popular television show left fans polarized. Its experimental style and lack of focus on the "answers" was impressive to some, but unfair and dumfounding to others.
Enter this film that is essentially a mega-summary of the entire magnificent series tied up with an improved ending that also announced the continuation of the story! Talk about fan service. More than closure, the film brought new life to the Evangelion world. It is no exaggeration to say that the anime would be familiar to far fewer people if not for this exciting, redemptive move. It is also worth noting the ingenuity in repackaging the show as a movie. These producers in mid-90s Japan were onto something we're still wrestling with today.
1 Parasite
There has rarely been more consensus on the battleground that is Twitter than during the most recent Academy Awards. As Parasite shockingly won award after award, film fans celebrated across the globe.
As for how Parasite bends the mind, viewers will have to wait until the third act. Picking up speed as a thrilling oddball caper, one revelation takes things in a totally new direction, which is ultimately paid off uproariously. The film even contains an epilogue, adding to it certain canon lore. All in all, Parasite far exceeds the sum of these many parts. It is not only the highest-ranked "mind-bending" movie on Letterboxd; it's currently the site's all-time number one.
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