Filmsthatmakeyouthink

“… when I first started trying to make [Inception] happen it was very much pulled from that era of movies where you had The Matrix, you had Dark City, you had The Thirteenth Floor and, to a certain extent, you had Memento too. They were based in the principles that the world around you might not be real.” – Christopher Nolan, Los Angeles Times, April 11, 2010.

Films that make you think is about films with a thought-provoking premise (“what would happen if…?”) or narrative, or both. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) is a perfect example of the latter, as it tells the story of what could happen if you had all your memories of your ex-lover erased AND does so in a non-chronological order. Films that makeyou think is NOT about films that make you think about social injustice or the meaning of life (unless you are a robot…). Also no films here about conspiracy theories, secret histories, fantasy or magical realism, and – not if I can help it - films that include aliens. All films contained in this website somehow have their base in reality and are about things and technologies that COULD happen. In that sense most of these films can be called science fiction. Among today’s physicists even time travel is no longer completely out of the question.

With films that target your brain rather than your heart or your gut it is remarkable that they prove to be so popular. Most of the films that are listed here can easily be found in any high street store or rental. In fact, since repeated viewing is rewarded by this type of film, it is arguably no coincidence that this genre blossomed after VCR and DVD players found their way into every household. Of course intelligently made blockbusters have been made before. One name from an earlier age that springs to mind is that of Alfred Hitchcock, who directed numerous ‘thinking man’s films’ that would not be out of place on this website. A director like Christopher Nolan places himself consciously in the tradition of Hitchcock. For his films Hitchcock used some of the biggest stars of his era. Similar, some of the highest-grossing directors (Steven Spielberg) and actors (Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, Bruce Willis) of the last twenty years are associated with the films presented here.

So where to go when you like films like Inception, Being John Malkovich and Fight Club and want to find simular ones that provide the same kind of intellectual challenge? Then Films that make you think is the best place to start.