Top 20 Movies That People STILL Don't Understand
We're still scratching our heads over some of these! For this list, we’ll be looking at films with confusing specific plot points or strange plots in general that have continued to puzzle viewers after their release. Because some of the things that make them confusing involve spoilers, be warned if you haven’t seen these films yet.
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Short filmTranscript
00:00 - Let Neptune strike ye dead, Winslow.
00:02 Hark!
00:04 (thunder rumbling)
00:06 - Welcome to WatchMojo.
00:08 And today we're counting down our picks
00:10 for the top 20 movies that people still don't understand.
00:14 - Either way we run the tape, you made it happen.
00:16 Don't try to understand it.
00:19 - For this list, we'll be looking at films
00:21 with confusing specific plot points
00:23 or strange plots in general
00:25 that have continued to puzzle viewers after their release.
00:29 Because of some of the things
00:30 that make them confusing involve spoilers,
00:32 be warned if you haven't seen these films yet.
00:35 If there's a perplexing movie
00:36 whose absence from our list makes you baffled,
00:39 enlighten us in the comments.
00:41 Number 20, "Coherence."
00:44 The title of this indie sci-fi film is rather ironic
00:47 since some viewers find it incoherent.
00:50 - Quantum decoherence ensures that the different outcomes
00:52 have no interaction with each other.
00:55 - Hold on.
00:56 - Well, that explains it.
00:57 - A house party turns upside down
00:58 after an apparently comet-induced power outage.
01:01 The group gradually discovers that their neighborhood
01:04 has become populated by alternate versions
01:06 of their own house.
01:08 This leads to multiple interactions
01:09 with alternate versions of the characters first introduced.
01:13 Keeping track of which version
01:14 of which character we're following
01:15 can be tough for first-time viewers.
01:17 And the many twists and turns the plot takes
01:20 are equally tough to follow.
01:22 It's a great achievement of low-budget sci-fi though
01:25 with mostly improvised dialogue.
01:27 - We're in a different reality here.
01:30 - Yeah, we're in a different reality
01:31 because the reality where I am from,
01:33 my best friend didn't sleep with my wife.
01:35 - Hugh, do you not understand what I'm saying?
01:37 - Number 19, "Only God Forgives."
01:40 A polarizing surreal crime film,
01:43 "Only God Forgives" follows Julian,
01:45 an American criminal in Bangkok,
01:47 as he pursues his brother's killers.
01:49 - You're Julian.
01:50 Do you know Choi Eun-li?
01:55 - Who?
01:57 - Your brother killed his daughter.
01:59 - The film is full of beautiful yet violent imagery.
02:03 Dialogue is minimal and frequently doesn't give much insight
02:06 into the characters.
02:07 Julian also has several surreal visions.
02:10 Things the characters say or do are often inexplicable.
02:14 If you're looking for a good story,
02:16 "Only God Forgives" will leave some feeling
02:18 less than forgiving.
02:20 It's more of an experience
02:21 and if you go into it with that in mind,
02:23 it may hit better for you
02:25 or you might still leave it feeling confused.
02:27 Who knows?
02:28 - You're right.
02:29 I don't understand you.
02:33 - Number 18, "Mr. Nobody."
02:36 Any movie with multiple timelines is bound to be confusing,
02:39 but in "Mr. Nobody,"
02:41 it's especially difficult to keep track of them all.
02:43 - It should be written on every school room blackboard.
02:48 Life is a playground
02:52 or nothing.
02:55 - The film follows the life or lives of Nemo Nobody,
02:58 the last mortal human,
03:00 as he recounts the various versions of his life,
03:02 which he somehow remembers on his deathbed.
03:05 How much of what he's saying is real or made up
03:07 is anyone's guess.
03:09 If you can wrap your head around it,
03:10 it's a great look at the importance of choice and regrets,
03:13 but it will doubtless require multiple viewings
03:16 because nobody will understand it all the first time around.
03:19 - All of this must seem very complicated to you,
03:22 but it's simpler than you think.
03:24 - Number 17, "The Lobster."
03:27 Director Yorgos Lanthimos' films are basically all bizarre,
03:31 but the poster child for his filmography is "The Lobster."
03:34 - Smoking is not allowed.
03:36 That way you'll be able to run for longer
03:37 during the hunt without getting tired,
03:39 and your breath won't smell when you kiss.
03:42 Enjoy your stay.
03:43 - Set in a dystopia where being unattached is a crime,
03:46 single people are given just over a month
03:48 to find a new partner or be turned into an animal.
03:51 At least they get to choose which one,
03:53 though getting hunted by your peers is pretty harsh.
03:56 The premise alone is quite the head-scratcher,
03:58 and the weirdness that pervades the movie
04:00 is bound to alienate plenty of viewers.
04:03 Add in an ambiguous ending,
04:05 and "The Lobster" is a film that's as tough to crack
04:08 as the titular crustacean.
04:09 - I'm going to shoot you.
04:10 I only have two days left.
04:12 I need more time.
04:13 - Do you actually believe another day
04:14 will make a difference?
04:15 Have you seen how ugly you are?
04:16 - Number 16, "Under the Skin."
04:18 (sirens blaring)
04:21 (thudding)
04:24 - The story of a woman, or something masquerading as one,
04:27 abducting men in Scotland,
04:29 "Under the Skin" has gotten under many of its viewers' skin
04:32 because of how ambiguous it is.
04:33 Little explanation is given for the woman's actions,
04:36 or even who or what she is,
04:38 though she's clearly otherworldly.
04:40 The dialogue is sparse,
04:41 and the characters don't even have names.
04:43 - I have a place about 30 minutes away.
04:45 Will you come with me there?
04:48 - "Under the Skin" definitely has thematic messages, though,
04:51 as most critics seem to agree
04:53 that it's about inverted predation,
04:54 the lustful, desirous, and usually predatory male
04:57 becoming the victim,
04:58 and that it also addresses the larger concerns
05:00 of purely physical attraction.
05:02 - You think I'm pretty?
05:04 - I'm a vulture.
05:05 - Do you?
05:06 - I definitely.
05:07 - Number 15, "I'm Thinking of Ending Things."
05:10 - I suppose all farmhouses are alike.
05:14 - Like all happy families.
05:19 - I'm not sure Tolstoy got that one right.
05:21 - A bizarre outing from writer-director Charlie Kaufman
05:24 based on a book of the same name,
05:26 "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" follows a young woman
05:29 whose name changes several times,
05:31 and her boyfriend Jake on a trip to meet his parents.
05:34 Said parents' ages change throughout.
05:36 There are weird phone calls,
05:38 and there are extended looks into the life of a janitor.
05:41 While there are many emotive performances
05:43 and some meaningful topics of discussion throughout,
05:46 what it all means is as opaque as the windows
05:48 of the many Snowden vehicles.
05:50 - That seems like an unlikely sequence of events.
05:53 - Number 14, "Synecdoche, New York."
05:56 - Everything is more complicated than you think.
05:59 You only see a tenth of what is true.
06:02 - Filmmaker/writer Charlie Kaufman
06:04 is known for unusual stories,
06:06 but arguably his most confusing is "Synecdoche, New York."
06:09 The film depicts a playwright
06:10 whose physical and emotional turmoil
06:12 are offset by his play,
06:14 which begins to blend in with his real life.
06:16 - Yet here we are for the moment, alive.
06:18 Each of us knowing we're gonna die.
06:22 Each of us secretly believing we won't.
06:26 - The setting, as well as which actor
06:28 is playing which character,
06:29 changes throughout the play and the film,
06:32 which makes keeping track of it all difficult.
06:34 However, part of the title, "Synecdoche,"
06:36 means a part that represents the whole,
06:38 so interchangeability is kind of the point.
06:41 Everyone is everyone, and everywhere is everywhere.
06:43 At least that's what we think it means.
06:45 You tell us.
06:46 - I won't settle for anything less than the brutal truth.
06:49 - Number 13, "The Lighthouse."
06:51 This black-and-white psychological period horror film
06:54 follows a pair of lighthouse keepers
06:56 who become stranded on their isolated post after a storm.
06:59 Their descent into madness can feel infectious,
07:02 as you'll often question what's real and what's a dream.
07:06 (man yelling)
07:08 On the surface, the duo's confrontation
07:12 is fairly straightforward,
07:14 but the bizarre imagery, mythological references,
07:17 and homoerotic subtext all lead to plenty of analysis.
07:21 But even if you don't understand it,
07:23 at the end of the day, "The Lighthouse"
07:25 is a starkly beautiful and terrifying movie
07:27 with towering performances and fart jokes.
07:31 - Sticky laugh, snoring, and you goddamn farts.
07:36 You're goddamn, goddamn farts!
07:42 - Number 12, "Solaris."
07:44 There have been several "Solaris" films,
07:47 all based on the novel of the same name.
07:49 However, it's the 1972 version by Andrei Tarkovsky
07:53 that still mystifies people most.
07:55 (Andrei speaking in foreign language)
08:00 This sci-fi movie follows Chris Kelvin,
08:10 a psychologist sent to investigate
08:12 the erratic behavior of scientists
08:13 aboard a space station orbiting the titular planet.
08:17 Although the central narrative
08:18 of the planet's ocean being seemingly intelligent
08:21 and projecting Kelvin's dead wife is quite the trip,
08:24 it's made even more so due to the film's deliberate pace
08:27 and downright hypnotic and bizarre sequences.
08:31 It's a pensive take on science fiction
08:33 and big questions about human desires.
08:36 If you have the patience for it,
08:38 "Solaris" will draw you in and make you think,
08:40 even if you don't understand it completely.
08:42 (Andrei speaking in foreign language)
08:47 Number 11, "Enemy."
08:58 The enemy this movie's title refers to
09:00 is of the own worst variety, sort of.
09:03 - 'Cause you brought it up and I thought,
09:04 you know, maybe you had a recommendation
09:06 or you saw a movie that you liked
09:07 and you wanted to tell me about it.
09:09 - Oh, well, sure, I mean, yeah, there's always something.
09:12 - Two men, Adam and Anthony,
09:14 discover that they're identical to one another in appearance,
09:17 even down to their scars, though not in personality.
09:21 The two get involved with each other's lives,
09:23 often impersonating each other,
09:25 which can make understanding who's who difficult
09:27 not only for their loved ones, but also the audience.
09:30 Plus, things get more and more cryptic as time goes on.
09:34 Also, they each have recurring dreams about spiders
09:37 and the ending, well, it's downright Kafkaesque.
09:40 - Ellen?
09:41 Ellen?
09:48 - Number 10, "Mother."
09:56 An unnamed man and woman's house
09:59 is repeatedly invaded by unwelcome visitors,
10:02 sparking violence, fires, and deaths.
10:04 - You didn't need to do all of this.
10:06 - I wanted to.
10:07 You've been working so hard.
10:09 - Yeah, right.
10:11 - Taken at face value,
10:12 nothing that happens makes any logical or narrative sense.
10:16 However, once you learn that "Mother"
10:17 is basically a huge allegory for the Bible,
10:20 climate change, and the destructive nature of humanity,
10:23 it can still feel like a pretentious mess of a movie,
10:27 albeit one with a message bound to be divisive.
10:30 If you try to watch "Mother"
10:31 without understanding the symbolism behind it,
10:34 you're gonna have a bad time,
10:35 and depending on your perspective,
10:37 knowing what it's about may not change that opinion.
10:40 - No, no, that's not for you.
10:42 - He said to share.
10:44 - But it's not yours.
10:46 - They're hungry in person.
10:48 - Number nine, "Cloud Atlas."
10:50 - The Atlas, I believe,
10:51 is the only thing I have done in my life that has value.
10:55 - The Wachowskis aren't exactly known for clarity
10:57 when it comes to their work,
10:58 but this adaptation makes their other stuff seem simple.
11:01 An ambitious sci-fi story told across centuries,
11:04 "Cloud Atlas" follows several groups of characters
11:06 whose lives seem connected,
11:07 especially since actors play multiple characters
11:10 across the tales.
11:11 - Our lives are not our own.
11:14 From womb to tomb, we are bound to others.
11:18 - Whether they're reincarnations of one another
11:20 is somewhat unclear,
11:21 and the fact that some of the stories are referred to
11:23 as fictional in the context of other segments
11:26 leaves many uncertain as to what's real.
11:28 Interconnectedness seems to be the major theme, though,
11:31 so real or not, they and we
11:32 are all a part of the same story.
11:34 - One 24-hour cycle in "Papa Song"
11:37 is identical to every other.
11:38 - Number eight, "Pi."
11:40 - Everything around us can be represented
11:42 and understood through numbers.
11:44 - Psychological thrillers are prone to intricate plots
11:47 that can be hard to understand,
11:48 but even by the standards of the genre,
11:50 "Pi" is incredibly difficult to pin down.
11:53 The debut of director Darren Aronofsky,
11:55 "Pi" follows Max, a number theorist
11:57 whose obsession with an apparently divine number
11:59 leads him on a convoluted journey.
12:01 Max suffers from paranoia and hallucinations,
12:04 making the line between delusion and reality very ambiguous,
12:07 right down to its rather vague ending.
12:09 - Something's going on.
12:10 It has to do with that number.
12:13 - The film explores several religious
12:15 and existential themes,
12:16 which, when added to all the mathematics stuff,
12:19 culminates in a film that goes over most viewers' heads.
12:21 - This 216 number.
12:22 - This is insanity, Max.
12:24 - Or maybe it's genius.
12:25 I have to get that number.
12:27 - Number seven, "Tenet."
12:29 Christopher Nolan loves to craft complicated,
12:31 high-concept action films,
12:33 but one of his most difficult to unravel is "Tenet."
12:36 - One of these bullets is like us,
12:37 traveling forwards through time.
12:40 The other one's going backwards.
12:42 Can you tell which is which?
12:44 - The film follows the eponymous organization,
12:47 which battles forces capable of inverting entropy,
12:50 in other words, moving backward through time.
12:53 While this makes for some incredible visuals,
12:55 keeping track of the globetrotting intrigue,
12:57 as well as who's doing what when,
12:59 can be a monumental task for some viewers.
13:02 This is compounded by magnitudes
13:04 through the barely audible dialogue.
13:06 Following the elaborate plans without subtitles
13:09 and/or headphones is downright impossible.
13:12 - Seems bold.
13:14 Bold on time, but I thought you were gonna say nuts.
13:16 - Number six, "Donnie Darko."
13:18 - You can't just lump everything into these two categories
13:21 and then just deny everything else.
13:23 - While some point to Richard Kelly's ambitious,
13:25 sprawling film, "Southland Tales,"
13:27 as the most incomprehensible in the director's repertoire,
13:30 "Donnie Darko" is arguably more accessible
13:32 in its confusingness, if that makes any sense.
13:35 The movie follows the eponymous protagonist
13:37 over the course of a month,
13:38 as he's guided by a man in a rabbit suit
13:40 to avert the world's end.
13:42 - Why you wear that stupid bunny suit?
13:44 - While the interactions Donnie has with his friends
13:46 and family are fairly straightforward,
13:48 the explanation for why everything is happening
13:50 is not spelled out,
13:51 at least not in the theatrical cut of the film.
13:53 The director's cut makes the time travel element
13:55 more explicit.
13:56 And if you wanna understand it,
13:58 definitely watch that version.
13:59 - I just don't see the point in crying over a dead rabbit.
14:03 You know, who never even feared death to begin with.
14:07 - Number five, "Primer."
14:09 - Did we blow something?
14:09 - Nobody really understands time travel.
14:11 All we have are theories, really.
14:13 And even those can be difficult to wrap our brains around.
14:16 "Primer" depicts two friends who invent time travel
14:18 and the fallout of their attempts at manipulating the past.
14:21 Typical time travel weirdness ensues.
14:23 And with multiple versions of the characters
14:25 encountering one another and themselves,
14:27 as well as branching timelines,
14:28 little of the technical jargon is dumbed down either.
14:31 So unless you're versed in engineering,
14:33 a lot of details can be hard to follow.
14:34 - I don't know of anything
14:35 that's not gonna leave a gap in the field.
14:37 But we gotta see what's going on in there.
14:38 - Director Shane Carruth's follow-up, "Upstream Color,"
14:41 is weird too, though for entirely different reasons.
14:44 And ultimately, "Primer" is the one you'll find yourself
14:46 most often revisiting in hopes of understanding.
14:48 - Hey, but what's worse?
14:49 You know, thinking you're being paranoid
14:51 or knowing you shouldn't be?
14:52 - Number four, "The Tree of Life."
14:54 - I don't wanna be thankful for everything you've got.
14:57 - Ostensibly a primarily visual story
15:00 about a man named Jack,
15:01 as well as his boyhood experiences,
15:03 "The Tree of Life" is also interspersed
15:05 with imagery of the creation of the universe
15:07 and Earth's development.
15:08 With its sparse dialogue and seemingly random
15:11 but beautifully shot footage,
15:12 "The Tree of Life" is definitely an arthouse film.
15:15 And those aren't for everyone,
15:16 since they're often open to interpretation
15:18 or accused of being pretentious.
15:20 - Tell us a story from before we can remember.
15:22 - Whether it's pompous dreck
15:24 or a brilliant cinematic commentary
15:26 on the universality of existence, or both,
15:28 we'll likely never have a definitive answer.
15:30 - Think about it.
15:31 - Number three, "Eraserhead."
15:33 - There's a baby.
15:34 It's at the hospital.
15:36 - Mom!
15:37 - We could have easily filled our list
15:39 with David Lynch's filmography.
15:40 The director is the king of surreal filmmaking.
15:42 However, we don't think he's yet topped
15:44 his feature-length debut, "Eraserhead,"
15:46 at least when it comes to confusing people.
15:48 - Oh.
15:51 I don't know much of anything.
15:52 - The bizarre story of a wild-haired man
15:54 contending with a threatening industrial environment,
15:57 his girlfriend, and his horrifying mutant child,
16:00 "Eraserhead" is a weird and often upsetting film to watch.
16:03 And it's one that we're not sure we wanna understand.
16:05 That being said, it does capture
16:07 the stress of parenthood well, in its own weird way.
16:10 (baby crying)
16:13 - Oh, you are sick.
16:15 - Number two, "Mulholland Drive."
16:17 You know what?
16:18 Forget what we just said.
16:19 This is David Lynch's most confusing movie.
16:22 - Well now, here's a man who wants to get right down to it.
16:25 Kinda anxious to get to it, are ya?
16:28 - Originally conceived as a TV pilot,
16:30 which may help explain why it's so bizarre,
16:33 "Mulholland Drive" is seemingly about an aspiring actress
16:35 and her whirlwind romance with a mysterious amnesiac woman,
16:39 as well as several related, maybe, vignettes
16:42 interspersed with their story.
16:44 Except the two leads seemingly become different characters
16:47 by the film's end,
16:48 and absolutely nothing that happens
16:50 gets any kind of coherent resolution.
16:52 Lynch has left the plot open to interpretation.
16:55 While this lends "Mulholland Drive"
16:56 a great sense of artistry,
16:58 it doesn't help it make sense?
17:00 - There's a man in back of this place.
17:05 He's the one who's doing it.
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17:25 Number one, "2001, A Space Odyssey."
17:29 (dramatic music)
17:31 A seminal science fiction movie,
17:43 "2001, A Space Odyssey" is one trippy trip through space.
17:47 The film is presented in three sections.
17:49 First at the dawn of man,
17:50 next on a man's space flight,
17:52 and lastly in a strange locale experienced
17:55 by the last surviving astronaut
17:56 of the aforementioned journey.
17:58 All are connected by a mysterious monolith.
18:00 "2001" tells its story primarily through music and visuals,
18:03 so it's very thematically driven,
18:05 rather than story driven,
18:06 though the middle portion is fairly straightforward.
18:08 - Here you are, sir, main level, please.
18:10 - Whether you understand it or not,
18:12 "2001, A Space Odyssey" is absolutely captivating
18:15 from its beginning to its surreal and grandiose end.
18:18 - This conversation can serve no purpose anymore.
18:22 Goodbye.
18:23 - Did you enjoy this video?
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