There are few experiences as fulfilling as being taken over by a good movie, but there are a number of factors that can make a difference when it comes to an audience’s maximum enjoyment of a feature film. There’s a faithful formula that’s turned to when studios try to create the next big blockbuster, but it’s hardly an exact science and elements like marketing can have unexpected influences on how a movie is received.
It’s still incredible when a movie is able to pull off a satisfying twist, but it’s increasingly difficult to accomplish this in an age where rampant teasers, trailers, and social media are almost impossible to avoid. Nevertheless, there are still lots of films that hit a lot harder when the audience goes into them with barely any knowledge over what they’re about to see.
10 Parasite Is A Masterpiece On Class Strife That Uncomfortably Transforms
Bong Joon-ho is a prolific South Korean filmmaker who’s been turning out challenging and diverse movies for decades, but it’s his most recent picture, Parasite, that’s helped catapult the director into the mainstream. All of Joon-ho’s movies tackle complex themes through unexpected metaphors, but the Academy Award-winning Parasite hits hard and doesn’t hold back.
The movie begins as an earnest look into a family of grifters’ ability to slowly indoctrinate and take over an unsuspecting wealthy family. Parasite’s story continues to change in surprising ways and its final act is genuinely shocking, yet still consistent with the movie’s agenda.
9 From Dusk Till Dawn Operates Like A Standard Tarantino Crime Drama Until It Doesn’t
Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino have worked together on a number of projects over the years, but From Dusk Till Dawn marks a curious change of pace where Rodriguez directs Tarantino’s script, with Tarantino also playing a lead in the movie.
The film starts out as an unassuming crime story where innocent family members become hostages, but then all bets are off. Part of the running joke with From Dusk Till Dawn is that the movie’s first half is Tarantino’s movie, while the vampire-filled remainder is more reflective of Robert Rodriguez’s sensibilities.
8 The World's End Buries The Lede Over What The Slacker Coming-Of-Age Comedy Is Really About
Edgar Wright has recently been vocal over how he urges viewers to see his upcoming horror film, Last Night in Soho, with as little context as possible. Wright is a dedicated filmmaker who strives to keep the cinematic experience as pure as possible. His previous films connect harder when they’re seen blind, but this is truest for his sci-fi feature, The World’s End.
The movie subtly operates like a Judd Apatow-esque comedy where some friends reunite for an evening of excessive drinks and reminiscing. This occurs, but there’s such a major turn that tests these friendships in more permanent ways.
7 Moon Begins As A Claustrophobic Sci-Fi Story That Mutates Into A Larger Problem
Duncan Jones is a director who’s gone on to tackle increasingly big movies like Warcraft and Mute, yet Moon is a stripped-down, intimate science fiction film that’s largely anchored by Sam Rockwell’s virtuoso performance. Rockwell’s Sam Bell approaches the end of his stint on a lunar mine and is ready to return home.
Sam’s mission grows much more complicated when he’s confronted by a visitor that bears a striking resemblance to himself and throws everything that he knows into disarray. Moon’s story remains small, but it’s at its best when the audience is just as lost as Rockwell’s protagonist.
6 Audition Is A Masterclass In Misdirection & How Horrors Can Lurk Anywhere
Takashi Miike only recently entered his sixties, yet he’s managed to direct over 100 films, a staggering accomplishment, especially when taking into consideration their wildly diverse nature. Miike has been generalized as an extreme horror auteur, which is true, but he’s also responsible for touching romances, hilarious comedies, and passionate anime adaptations.
Takashi Miike’s Audition begins like a flowery, quirky journey into a director’s unconventional quest to find a wife. The director’s ulterior motives backfire and he soon discovers his soulmate selection is the one who’s truly pulling the strings here. It’s a stunning study on power dynamics.
5 Something Wild Subverts Rom-Com Expectations With Its Delirious Journey
Jonathan Demme has made a serious name for himself through movies like The Silence of the Lambs, Philadelphia, and Married to the Mob. Something Wild is a rambunctious comedy that's overflowing with energy, much like the bewildered characters at the center of the movie. Jeff Daniels plays an uptight banker who decides to escape from his responsibilities with Melanie Griffith's manic pixie dream girl, Lulu.
Something Wild kicks off like an opposites-attract romantic comedy, but it gradually warps into a much darker and unpredictable narrative about responsibility, especially after Ray Liotta's unstable character takes over the movie.
4 Collateral Presents A Very Different Tom Cruise With An Unexpected Mission To Finish
There are times where a certain director’s past filmography can be its own form of misdirect for a movie. However, the same can also be true for actors themselves and the roles that they typically occupy. Tom Cruise has found his niche as a heroic action star, which makes his turn as a hitman in Michael Mann’s Collateral such a delightful turn.
Collateral is simple in scope: Jamie Foxx’s taxi driver winds up with the most difficult of fares as he agrees to drive Cruise’s Vincent. The night gets crazier as the full nature of Vincent’s objective comes to light.
3 Mulholland Drive Is A Descent Into Dream Logic That Grows Progressively More Twisted
David Lynch is truly in a league of his own and it’s never safe for the audience to assume that they know what they’re getting in for, even when a movie of Lynch’s seems to function at a surface level.
Mulholland Drive is one of Lynch’s most striking works, but it’s an even more successful package because of how it embraces dream logic, surrealness, and a twisting, overlapping narrative that demands deconstruction. Lynch even features heightened performances and visual cues to throw the audience off and create a picturesque, sanitized version of Hollywood before it all falls apart.
2 A Serious Man Lets The Coen Brothers Dig Into An Intimate Crisis That Gains Life
Joel and Ethan Coen have one of the most eclectic filmographies that exhibit just as much passion for slapstick comedies and odd character studies as they do for gritty crime dramas. A Serious Man is a 2009 movie from the duo that stars Michael Stuhlbarg.
It's a movie that feels small in stature as it digs into a physics professor's midlife crisis and how he feels that the entire universe is crashing down on him. There's such a frantic, domino effect style of energy that powers A Serious Man where it's unclear if the audience should laugh or be terrified.
1 The Prestige Is A Never-Ending Magic Trick That Leaves The Audience In Awe
Christopher Nolan is another filmmaker who’s made a reputation on gigantic, genre-breaking movies where the director’s name is almost a genre in and of itself. Nolan’s movies like Inception, Tenet, and Memento represent the filmmaker at his most chaotic, but The Prestige plays tricks on the audience from the moment that it begins.
The Prestige pretends to be a more restrained movie that analyzes a bitter feud between magicians, but there’s so much more going on in it. The Prestige, just like a good performer, lulls the audience into submission before its big surprise attack.