Movies where what you see isn't happening.

[Lionel Mandrake]

It's the movie equivalent of an unreliable narrator. You see what one of the characters thinks is happening, or thought was happening, or said was happening. The character may be delusional or just plain lying. Sometimes it is only at the end of the movie that you learn what is (or was) really going on.

Examples:

Rashomon
Mulholland Drive
Mirage
The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
The Sixth Sense

I love this stuff!

[NightWatcher]

1. Fight Club

[Lionel Mandrake]

3. Thanks.

I'll check it out.

[Baitball Blogger]

31. Refresh my memory. What was the twist in that one?

[bluesbassman]

2. Shutter Island and Gothica.

Shutter Island is the Leo DiCaprio film and Gothica is with Halle Berry. Both tight suspense plots.

[Lionel Mandrake]

10. Shutter Island sounds intriguing.

I'll take a look at it.

Gothica - not so much. The critics hated it. I usually depend on critics to help me choose movies to watch.

But not always. I liked the beginning and end of the 1962 remake of Caligari, which the critics hated. (The middle part was s...l....o......w....)

[bluesbassman]

11. I felt the same way about Gothica, but it happened to be on one day so I watched it.

Actually a pretty good movie with some great plot twists.

Shutter Island is very good for the genre.

[Lionel Mandrake]

18. Okay, I watched Gothika.

I should have stopped after this bit of dialog:

Pete Graham (Robert Downey, Jr.): "I don't believe in ghosts."

Miranda Grey (Halle Berry): "Neither do I, but they believe in me."

What kind of writing is that? It makes no sense, and no plot twist could possibly rescue it.

Good movies that seem absurd make sense at the end. Not this one.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

4. Keyser Soze? Was that the name of a movie? Or was it just a character in some movie?

But that movie, whatever it was called, was another one where what you saw wasn't happening.

[ohiosmith]

7. Usual Suspects

[CaliforniaPeggy]

8. D'oh! Of course. Thanks!

[ohiosmith]

12. My pleasure!

[Lionel Mandrake]

13. ** Spoilers ** Right. What you saw was mostly a pack of lies.

Kevin Spacey's character was being interrogated.

In the crucial scene, the camera panned around the room focusing on objects containing the words that "Verbal" Kint (Spacey) had woven into his narrative.

[surrealAmerican]

5. Inception.

and also Total Recall.

[ohiosmith]

6. Memento.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. I really loved that movie! Time travel always intrigues the hell out of me!

ohiosmith!

[RedStateLiberal]

25. Memento is exceptional...

...but it's not about time travel. The protagonist has memory loss and the entire film happens in a sort-of reverse-time. Genius premise because the viewer experiences events like he would.

Directed by Christopher Nolan - yes, the Batman guy.

I highly recommend it!

[Baitball Blogger]

32. A standalone movie. Exceptionally good.

[MorningGlow]

14. Brazil n/t

[warrior1]

15. The Amazing Spiderman (reboot)

Boring.

[CBGLuthier]

16. Jacob's Ladder, Angel Heart

[pa28]

19. Jacob's ladder is the best example.

Great movie.

[yardwork]

20. Angel Heart is a little different. It's all really happening.

One character doesn't realize that he's the one causing it.

[nolabear]

17. The Wizard of Oz

It was all a dream...wasn't it?

[BrendaBrick]

21. Mulholland Drive

frustrates the crap out of me!!!

I swear, I've watched it two times alone and had no one to turn to and ask...is she the same one that...yada, yada, yada...?

I just don't get it. Too many look-a likes for my particular taste.

I really like and appreciate movies across all genres...but I don't want to really work that hard in trying to figure them out!

[Duer 157099]

22. 2001: A Space Odyssey

At least I think it wasn't happening. But hellifiknow.

(the ending sequence)

[Lionel Mandrake]

26. I assumed it was happening.

There seem to be multiple Dave Bowmans at the end. We see the action from the point of view of one (or more) of them. The unseen aliens are trying to replicate (and perhaps improve upon) the original Dave Bowman, but having trouble keeping him (or them) alive. Their final effort produces a floating baby who will become the Star Child and will visit Heywood Floyd and a few other characters in the sequel.

[fishwax]

23. The Others

[RedStateLiberal]

24. Identity

I didn't care for it much but it is a good example of what you're talking about.

Isn't this going to spoil some movies for you if you haven't seen them? It's usually a lot better to not know that some big twist is coming.

[darkstar]

27. Hitchcock's "Stage Fright"

[solara]

28. A Beautiful Mind

with Russell Crowe

[Frank Cannon]

29. The Conversation n/t

[Lars39]

30. The Game

Accidentally started watching it at about the middle without knowing the name of it. Absolutely irked me to find out how it ended.

[Baitball Blogger]

33. Does Sucker Punch fall in this category?

[WilmywoodNCparalegal]

34. I'd argue for The Machinist and American Psycho

both starring Christian Bale.