Movies are made with the intention of impressing the audience and grabbing their attention from beginning to end. Filmmaking is storytelling, and stories are meant to keep you engaged. Whether a film has you laughing uncontrollably or racking your brain to figure out what is happening, movies are meant to have you hooked from start to finish. It is true that some movies do not require their viewers topay close attention to every detail, because the narrative is straightforward enough. If you are truly enjoying a film, it is assumed you would want to pay attention anyway. Some movies, however, absolutely demand their viewers' attention from beginning to end.
These movies are filled with imperative details and intertwined plot points that need to be focused on in order to understand what’s going on. You will need to pause and rewind if the viewer looks away for even a minute. Luckily, these movies are also intriguing enough that not paying attention won’t even seem like an option. Without further ado, here are 20 movies that require your full attention from start to finish.
The following list may contain spoilers.
30The Game (1997)
Long considered David Fincher’s most underrated film,The Gameis a thrilling mystery told with stylish flourishes, and you need to pay attention throughout for it all to make sense. Michael Douglas stars as an apathetic rich investment banker who is the kind of man you’re able to’t really buy gifts for — he’s done everything and could buy anything. His brother, though, attempts the impossible and gets him a birthday gift unlike any other. Soon, Douglas is involved in a ‘game’ that infiltrates every part of his life and becomes more and more dangerous.
29Shutter Island (2010)
Shutter Island
Starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo, Martin Scorsese’sShutter Islandmesses with its audience members' minds for its entire runtime. Taking place in the mid-50s, the film follows US Marshal Teddy Daniels as he is assigned to investigate a case at Boston’s Shutter Island Ashecliffe Hospital with his partner. But after they spend some time investigating, Teddy begins to question his reality and even his own sanity.
A Complicated and Beautiful Genre Exercise
Scorsese’s gloomy thriller is a slick whodunit with an impressive cast and a truly mesmerizing plot twist. Looking away from this film for even a second will leave you utterly confused as theplot moves fast and there is so much to be revealed. It’s Scorsese’s best approach to horror.
28Perfect Blue (1997)
Perfect Blue
The brilliant Satoshi Kon only made a handful of films in his life, andPerfect Blueis the most notorious. A psychological horror interlaced with a complicated mystery, the film follows a pop star who chooses to leave her J-pop idol group and pursue acting, a decision which soon blurs her reality when an obsessive fan starts to stalk her. It’s best to go in blind in this one.
27Inception (2010)
Inceptioncenters around Dom Cobb, an expert thief who specializes in the art of self-extraction. He steals valuable secrets from deep within subconscious minds during the dream state, where the mind is the most vulnerable. His profession has made him a wanted fugitive, so when he is offered a chance at redemption, he jumps at it. This requires him not tosteal an idea from someone’s dream, but rather plant one.
A Mindbending Film Like No Other
Similar toShutter Island, Christopher Nolan’sInceptionis another mind-bender that will leave the viewer helplessly confused if their attention doesn’t remain on the screen for the entire runtime. The film is meant to mess with your perception of reality, just as it does with the characters. So, if you don’t devote your attention to the film, you’re going to come back to the story with no idea where you last left off.
26The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
The Killing of a Sacred Deerfollows a surgeon named Steven Murphy who’s going through an awkward situation with patient Martin Lang. Martin is obsessed with Dr. Murphy, and even convinces his mother to seduce him. Murphy rejects everything from Martin, until the 16-year-old reveals his plan: Because of Steven’s inability to save his father, he must kill someone in his family. Otherwise, they will all die.
A Clever Mashup of Horror and Drama
Yorgos Lanthimos' near-perfect exercise in horror requiresa suspension of disbelieffrom the audience from the very beginning. There’s no way that Martin’s influence can be lethal, but when things start happening to the Murphys, you know you’re in the hands of a very sick individual. It doesn’t matter how much you look for it, Martin’s “attack” is merely psychological and not physical.
25Predestination (2014)
Predestination
The Spierig Brothers’Predestinationfollows a skilled temporal agent, simply called The Barkeep, on his finalassignment through timeto pursue the one criminal who has eluded him for decades. His assignment leads him to meet with and team up with a mysterious figure who uses the pen name The Unmarried Mother. Without giving too much away, The Barkeep and The Unmarried Mother slowly reveal important information about themselves through conversation at a bar in 1970 New York City that also reveals connections between the two.
Time Travel as a Concept is an Understatement
This film throws twists and turns at you like it’s nothing and expects you to move right along with them, so your absolute full attention must be given at all times because things get really complicated at some point. Be prepared for the film’s impressive plot twist in the ending. You will be shocked.You can rentPredestinationon Prime Video.
20 Gritty Thrillers With the Bleakest Endings
We like to have fun and relax at the movies, right? But in the case of these gritty thrillers, you will probably have a hard time with their endings.
24Triangle (2009)
When Jess drops her son off at school andsets sail on her friend’s yachtfor the afternoon, she cannot shake the feeling that something is off about their trip. When the boat is damaged after a terrible storm, the group is left with no choice but to board a passing ocean liner for safety. Once on board, Jess can’t shake the feeling that she’s been there before and that someone is aboard and intent on hunting them down.
An Underrated and Clever Thriller
Trianglepurposefully messes with your head from the very beginning. There is always something a bit off about the decisions that characters make, especially Jess, and every situation feels wrong. You spend the entire movie feeling like you are missing information, and even as the plot twists reveal themselves, you will still be left feeling like you are missing something. The entire film is a trip, but the third act in particular will make you completely forget about everything else.
23Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mindfollows Joel, a lonely man whose girlfriend has decided to erase him from her memory after they break up. Joel decides to seek the same treatment, and after the ragtag team of scientists wire up Joel’s brain, the audience enters a chaotic mind of a man whose connection with his former partner is much too strong.
What Does a Chaotic Mind Express?
A story told by the unique filmmaker Michel Gondry,Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mindisa brilliant takeon the theme of dreams, memory and the limits of imagination. While its story seems simple, Gondry complicates things by treating Charlie Kaufman’s script (which won an Academy Award) with an oneiric approach that doesn’t let the audience rest for one second.
22Upstream Color (2013)
Upstream Color
A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.
The second and possibly final movie from disgraced filmmaker Shane Carruth,Upstream Coloris nonetheless a masterpiece of cinema that’s even more complicated than his first film,Primer. The enigmatic film follows a man and a woman who may have been infected by a very specific parasite that a strange man has been creating, and chronicles the three-stage life cycle of the parasite (which may or may not turn people into pigs). It may seem completely impenetrable, but if you watch the film very carefully, everything comes together in a poignant, intensely sad but brilliant way.
21Donnie Darko (2001)
Donnie Darko
Donnie Darkofollows social outcast Donnie, a teenager who doesn’t get along well with his classmates, teachers, or parents. He has one friend, Gretchen, who understands him and agrees to date him. His only other friend is a freakish, human-sized bunny named Frank that only Donnie can see. When an engine falls off a plane and lands in Donnie’s bedroom while he’s not there, it appears that both the event and Donnie’s escape were caused by supernatural events.
The Best Cult Teen Horror Film
It’s an engrossing film from the very beginning. Not that you would want to, because this energetic, hypnotic, mind meld of a movie will have you locked in from the moment you press play to the moment the credits end. It blends all the best aspects of mysteries, thrillers, and sci-fi movies together to make a film that iscompletely mindbendingand gripping.
