If you love thinking, and even over-thinking, then this list of movies is for you! Who are we? Where did we come from? What else is there? These existential movies toy with all of these questions and more. They guarantee to leave viewers thinking completely outside of the box in new, different ways.
Donnie Darko (2001)
This movie follows the adolescent protagonist, Donnie Darko, who sees reality in a different light. The film can be very confusing, especially through the first viewing. Essentially, the whole film takes place in a tangential universe. Donnie died in the primary universe and his whole life and the entire plot of the movie occurs in the tangential universe. In order to save the universe, Donnie must fix the alternate reality before it corrupts the fourth dimension and creates a black hole that may destroy everything. The movie toys with many existential concepts, including time travel, tangent universes, death and existence. This leaves viewers questioning their own reality.
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Being John Malkovich (1999)
In this film, a man discovers a portal that leads whoever crawls through it into the mind of actor John Malkovich. The protagonist is then able to see and sense whatever it is John is experiencing for fifteen minutes. After a while, he is able to control the actor like a puppet and live life through him. This film brings up ideas such as our body being a temporary vessel for our spirit, and the possibility of transferring vessels and reincarnation. By the end of the film, viewers will be wondering if they are truly in charge of all of their own thoughts and actions. This is truly an existential thriller to behold.
Boyhood (2014)
This film is more of a coming-of-age story, as is literally depicts the life of the protagonist from childhood to adolescence. Viewers are able to watch Mason Evans Jr. grow up in front of their eyes. By seeing his family dynamics, environment and entire life - from an eventful childhood to his departure to college - we are able to get a glimpse into his life from his lens. Viewers gain empathy and are better able to think about their own life and experiences in a more objective manner. This film puts life and the daily challenges of reality into perspective and hindsight. What gives life meaning? What’s the point of it all? What should we be doing? These questions and more are brought up and mused in this imaginative film for the ages.
Her (2013)
This is a romance science-fiction drama in takes place in the distant future. The film follows Theodore, an introverted middle-aged man who recently got out of a marriage. Upon installing a new interactive operating system on his computer with its own programmed personality, he starts a personal relationship with the computer. The computer is so intelligent that it is conscious of its own being, though it is still aware that it’s only technology and not a human. Still, the two form a special bond. The computer has a persona and name (voiced by Scarlett Johansson), but is not confined by a body or the restraints of time and space in aging and death. This film brings up questions such as what it means to be human, as well as what it means to love and be loved.
Waking Life (2001)
This film is an artistic piece that asks questions which will change one’s life. It is completely animated with a dream-like feel to it. In fact, the psychedelic film largely asks questions about dreams and existence. What are dreams? What do they tell us? Can we control them? Viewers travel through the dreams of one man, as he asks these hard-hitting questions and discusses the mysteries of the world. Ontological questions, as well as the nature of birth and death are brought up, leaving the viewer tantalized in deep thought.
The Truman Show (1998) He
Jim Carey plays a character that discovers his whole life is nothing but a television show for other’s viewing pleasure. He is the star of the show, and his life is the plot. Everyone he knows is an actor and everything that he believed he knew was a lie. As the movie progressing, it touches base on key existential questions. He searches for the true meaning of life, love, and existence. This movie will undoubtedly change the way you view the world.
