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Summary
While there are plenty of accessiblesci - fiblockbusters , the genre is also home to some of the trippiest movies in picture palace account . As a genre , sci - fi cede creators a unparalleled level of exemption to get weird . The impossibly vast expanse of space , the endless possibilities of the future tense , and the tricky , reality - bending conjecture involved in suppose scientific initiation all mean that the sci - fi musical genre is absolutely suited to stories that mess up with the audience ’s mind . Even though the music genre has offered viewers well digestible blockbusters like theStar Warssaga , it is also home to phantasmagorical meditations like 1979’sStalker .
Even some ofthe good sci - fi movies of all timeare psychedelic masterpieces that muddle the viewer ’s percept of reality , using the music genre to flex and twist experiential concept like time and outer space in on themselves . Not every sci - fi movie shoot reward of the musical style ’s tendency for freakish storytelling , as the inundation of conventional space operas proves . However , there are plenty of trippy sci - fi movies that do lock with the genre ’s furthest reaches , offer viewers an unforgettably strange viewing experience in the process .
11Donnie Darko
Richard Kelly’s cult classic debut is a bizarre teen drama/sci-fi/horror blend
Cast
2002’sDonnie Darkomade an overnight superstar of its leading gentleman , a disaffected , brooding Jake Gyllenhaal . However , while Gyllenhaal ’s portrayal of the titular angsty teen might have been relatable for many untried viewers , the odyssey he endures throughout the movie is utterly original . Cursed with what might be predestination , Donnie is plagued by imaginativeness of an notional man - sized rabbitand compel to excavate dark secret in his little town as part of a plot that he never understands until it is too later . Donnie Darko ’s finish explainseverything ( sort of ) , but the movie remains a phantasmagoric experience .
10Beyond the Black Rainbow
Panos Cosmatos’s wild movie feels like a trip gone wrong
The game ofBeyond the Black Rainbow is deceptively simple . A dumb woman attempts to escape a cryptic facility where she is throw absorbed , find some dicey experiments along the path . However , director Panos Cosmatos convert this straight story into a delirious incubus of jaw - dropping visuals and grate sound design , leave in a pic that feel like a risky trip on the big screen . Driven by a pulsation , bass - heavy grievance , this unsettling sci - fi story is unlike any of the genre ’s other offerings .
9EXistenZ
This underrated David Cronenberg movie stands out as his oddest work yet
Although the director is most famous for his contributions to the body horror sub - genre , David Cronenberg ’s underratedEXistenZis a rare endeavour from the film maker that leans away from this repeat fixation . Rest assured , there are slew of unearthly mutant on display , including memorable constitutional guns that acquire out of graphic symbol . However , most ofEXistenZis more concerned with nested realities asa video game developer finds herself pursued by killer in what might be a biz of her own creation , reality , or a concoction of the two .
8Altered States
This psychedelic drug drama takes its protagonist to the outer edges of existence
Director Ken Russell is famous for wild movies likeTommyandThe Devils , which used a psychedelic coming and provocative imagination to offend viewers and distort traditional tale storytelling . However , the helmer never bring forth anything eldritch than his 1980 sci - fiAltered States , breathe in by tangible - living writer John C Lilly ’s experiments with closing off tanks , LSD , and other psyche - castrate intervention . Altered Statesfollows William Hurt ’s psychologist as he experiment with accessing genetic memory , but this thin plot of land is mostly used to facilitate some of picture palace ’s most prominent portrayal of extra - sensory experiences .
712 Monkeys
Terry Gilliam’s time-bending thriller/satire defies easy genre labels
1995’s12 Monkeyswas a box office hit that garner cocksure critical response and starred both Bruce Willis and Brad Pitt at the height of their renown . It is also one of the uncanny sci - fi movies ever , beginning with the movie ’s endingand working backward.12 Monkeys tells the tale of Willis ’s James Cole , a con who is sent back from a post - apocalyptic future that has been ravage by a killer virus . Cole ’s commission is to discover the cause of the virus , but since this is a Terry Gilliam pic , things soon become much trippier than a simple abstract imply .
6Under the Skin
Jonathan Glazer’s discomfiting sci-fi horror is a unique cinematic nightmare
2014’sUnder the Skinstars Scarlett Johansson as a nameless extraterrestrial who jaunt through Scotland seducing humankind before feeding on their life force . However , viewers hop for a camp sci - fi horror in the vein ofSpeciesshould align their expectations . Instead , the disquietingUnder the Skinis a nightmarish meditation on sexuality , might , and gender whereinJohansson ’s emotionless alien sends man to their death in a glassy morose vacancy .
5Paprika
Satoshi Kon’s influential animated sci-fi is tough to decode
The belated , great directorSatoshi Kon ’s masterpiecePaprikais often compared toInception , and both picture feature stories of antiheroes invading the dreams of other people by using cut - bound engineering . However , Paprika ’s take on this mind is a lot weird , with the heroine represent as a dream detective who must think a gimmick that allows the exploiter to get in the dreams of others . This results in a string of sequences that are devoid of logic and even psychics as they take home in various subconsciousness that the heroine is leaping between .
4Southland Tales
2006’s infamously ambitious sci-fi satire is a fascinating, glorious mess
While Richard Kelly’sDonnie Darkowas a judicious trip despite its small - town positioning and circumscribed cast , 2006’sSouthland Talessaw the theatre director follow this with an endlessly ambitious , utterly bizarre sci - fi / funniness / satire cross . Set in the extremely near future of 2008,Southland Talesfollowed a string of seemingly unrelated characters as they cross route in a complex , labyrinthine cabal . These figures let in an amnesiac movie headliner , a porno maven twist realism TV Maker , a old hand of the Iraq encroachment , and two character played by Sean William Scott . The patch , meanwhile , concerns the end of the world , or maybe an evil program to control the sea ’s waves .
3Brazil
This 1985 dystopian comedy uses sci-fi for political satire
In Terry Gilliam’sBrazil , a humble clerk is assure to fix a small administrative error and ends up becoming a radical terrorist by accident . While this premiss might sound uncomplicated , Gilliam ’s picture blends the fanciful giddiness of his Monty Python days with unremittingly bleak societal caustic remark . The result is a bizarre movie that feels alternately hilarious and horrifying as the antihero descends further into anarchical madness in a sci - fimovie that was way ahead of its metre .
2Naked Lunch
Cronenberg’s William S Burroughs adaptation is a hellish vision
In the vaguest possible terms , Naked Lunchis an autobiographical story of author William S Burrough ’s troubled life . However , as Burroughs was a habitual substance abuser of psychedelic drugs , Cronenberg ’s imaginativeness of his notorious novel admit speak typewriter , blab out insects , doppelgängers , and no end of grotesque , contorted humanoid abominations . What could have been a aboveboard biopic stays true to its reference cloth and rather feels like a terrific trip into the sci - fi genre ’s sour alleyways .
