Man do I love a brilliantly crafted MindFuck movie. Just adore everything about it. Whether because it’s surprising, or super twisty, or unreliable… what have you, I just love a good Mind Job movie.
So much so that, years ago, a bunch of us worked on pulling together a comprehensive list of Mind Fuck movies. Way back then (2017) I turned that list into a spreadsheet and just kept adding to it, year after year after year.
And yesterday, I decided to give some thought to what makes a movie a really good Mind Fuck film. Like, what are the intrinsic characteristics necessary to place it on a great mind job list. And I came up with six criteria:
- Reality is Untrustworthy
- The Ending Reconstitutes Everything
- Identity is Unstable
- Time is Fractured
- Psychological Dread
- Moral Inversion
And I decided, that for a movie to make it to this list, it was required to have at least TWO of the above criteria. Only one? I booted it from the list. So, over the next several weeks, I will be posting the next edition of ten Mind Job movies from this list. Today we are starting with #166-157. Please note, I’ve ranked these entries based on their IMDB rankings, not my own personal preferences… I mean, I wouldn’t start with Birdman at the bottom if it was my rankings, that’s for sure. But I digress.
Mind Fuck Ranking: #166 of 166
Birdman (2014)
IMDB Rating: ★ 5.1 | Director: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Genre: Drama / Comedy
Mind Fuck Categories: Reality Untrustworthy, Identity Unstable, Psychological Dread
Synopsis: A faded superhero actor attempts to mount a Broadway comeback while dealing with his alter ego and a crumbling personal life.
Mind Fuck Ranking: #165 of 166
Eden Log (2007)
IMDB Rating: ★ 5.2 | Director: Franck Vestiel
Genre: Sci-Fi / Thriller
Mind Fuck Categories: Reality Untrustworthy, Identity Unstable, Psychological Dread
Synopsis: A man wakes up in an underground cave, next to a dead body. He has no memory of how he got there and starts to try and work his way to the surface and escape from the network of tunnels, which seem to be some kind of ancient civil…
Mind Fuck Ranking: #164 of 166
Gazer (2024) – Read My Review
IMDB Rating: ★ 5.6 | Director: Ryan J. Sloan
Genre: Mystery / Thriller
Mind Fuck Categories: Reality Untrustworthy, Ending Recontextualizes, Identity Unstable, Psychological Dread
Synopsis: Frankie, a young mother with dyschronometria, struggles to perceive time. Using cassette tapes for guidance, she takes a risky job from a mysterious woman to support her family, unaware of the dark consequences that await.
Mind Fuck Ranking: #163 of 166
Cuckoo (2024)
IMDB Rating: ★ 5.7 | Director: Tilman Singer
Genre: Horror / Mystery
Mind Fuck Categories: Reality Untrustworthy, Ending Recontextualizes, Psychological Dread
Synopsis: A 17-year-old is forced to move with her family to a resort where things are not what they seem.
Mind Fuck Ranking: #162 of 166
I Saw the TV Glow (2024) – Read My Review
IMDB Rating: ★ 5.8 | Director: Jane Schoenbrun
Genre: Horror / Drama
Mind Fuck Categories: Reality Untrustworthy, Identity Unstable, Psychological Dread
Synopsis: A teenager just trying to make it through life in the suburbs is introduced by a classmate to a mysterious late-night TV show.
Mind Fuck Ranking: #161 of 166
Eileen (2023)
IMDB Rating: ★ 5.9 | Director: William Oldroyd
Genre: Thriller / Drama
Mind Fuck Categories: Ending Recontextualizes, Identity Unstable, Psychological Dread
Synopsis: A young woman working at a boys’ corrections facility becomes mesmerized by the new female psychologist, but their budding relationship soon takes a sinister turn.
Mind Fuck Ranking: #160 of 166
Vivarium (2019) – Read My Review
IMDB Rating: ★ 5.9 | Director: Lorcan Finnegan
Genre: Sci-Fi / Thriller
Mind Fuck Categories: Reality Untrustworthy, Psychological Dread, Moral Inversion
Synopsis: A young couple looking for the perfect home find themselves trapped in a mysterious labyrinth-like neighborhood of identical houses.
Mind Fuck Ranking: #159 of 166
Circle (2015) – Read My Review
IMDB Rating: ★ 6.0 | Director: Aaron Hann, Mario Miscione
Genre: Sci-Fi / Drama
Mind Fuck Categories: Psychological Dread, Moral Inversion
Synopsis: Held captive and faced with their imminent executions, fifty strangers are forced to choose the one person among them who deserves to live.
Mind Fuck Ranking: #158 of 166
Infinity Pool (2023) – Read My Review
IMDB Rating: ★ 6.0 | Director: Brandon Cronenberg
Genre: Horror / Sci-Fi
Mind Fuck Categories: Reality Untrustworthy, Identity Unstable, Psychological Dread, Moral Inversion
Synopsis: James and Em Foster are enjoying an all-inclusive beach vacation in the fictional island of La Tolqa, when a fatal accident exposes the resort’s perverse subculture of hedonistic tourism, reckless violence and surreal horrors.
Mind Fuck Ranking: #157 of 166
Men (2022) – Read My Review
IMDB Rating: ★ 6.0 | Director: Alex Garland
Genre: Horror / Drama
Mind Fuck Categories: Reality Untrustworthy, Identity Unstable, Psychological Dread, Moral Inversion
Synopsis: A young woman goes on a solo vacation to the English countryside following the death of her ex-husband.
Alrighty! There you have it. Ten free movie recommendations from the world of Mind Jobs and Mind Fucks! All ten of these are an enjoyable watch, and all ten will have you thinking long after you finish them. Can’t wait to bring you the second installment of this magical movie list. Make sure you keep coming back to get the entire list.
