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Recommend Me a Movie: Sci-Fi'ish Psychological Thrillers

josh

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So many amazing cinephiles here on the forum, thought I'd give this a try!

Recommend me a great movie:

Audience:
me, my wife, and two adult kids (25-year old gril, 28 year old boy).

Restrictions: None really... no young kids in our group. Violence and sex stuff are OK if not ridiculously over the top, but too much killing will drive wife from the room (like definitely not a John Wick type thing)

Desired Genre: psychological thriller, optionally with a time travel or sci-fi element... some might call them "mindfuck" movies.

Similar to: we've all really liked most Christopher Nolan and Alex Garland movies/series, and similar things, e.g.: Ex Machina, Memento, Inception, Devs, Severance, Interstellar, and at least the book "Dark Matter" (though didn't think the new Apple TV+ version was up to the level of the book.)

Less appealing to us: anything too "paranormal", definitely no religious themes, not too much into heavy supernatural stuff.

Possibilities / Seeking Opinions:
  • Anyone seen "TimeCrimes" and have an opinion on if it's good given the above preferences?
  • Jacob's Ladder?

What else should be on our viewing list?
Great movies, no "schlock" or silly type movies, but fine if it's lesser known, foreign, or an undiscovered gem you have loved.​

Thanks!
(this discussion is utilizing the rarely-used "question" post type... so anyone reading these can upvote or downvote other people's recommendation with just a click: use the controls to the right of anyone else's recommendation. The list can then be viewed in either chronological order or in order of number of votes a recommendation got)
 
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A few I've seen that lie somewhere on the sci-fi/psychological/thriller spectrum.


MXT
 
You probably must have seen this, but I will leave it here anyways. Fantastic cast. On sale currently on K.

I've seen the original many times, a true 80s/arnold/sci-fi classic. :geek: How does the remake hold up?
 
Uno Mas….

This is one of my all time favorites.

A perfectly executed thriller. I wish I could watch it again for the first time.
 
The original:


The remake:


The original is better. ;)
 
I'm trying to recommend sci-fi only, but this fantasy-ish psychological thriller is a favorite.


Unfortunately it doesn't appear to be available in HD anywhere.
 
Awesome question, and +1 and kudos to all the members mentioning The Prestige, The Game, Moon, Dark City, Solaris (1972), and especially Brazil. All are at least 9/10 in my book and Brazil is one of my top-10 all-time favorite films. Because I am a weirdo.

Not to sound like a broken record but I will recommend Under the Skin (2013), from director Jonathan Glazer, Oscar-nominated for Zone of Interest, starring Scarlett Johansson. I don't even want to describe it, I absolutely love this movie. It does have sexual scenarios, but not over the top in my view. Thrillcat remembering our discussion about A24, this is indeed an A24 movie, amplifying your point that you can have great movies made recently that aren't Top Gun Maverick or Dune! This film is in 4K UHD on K, and merely Blu-ray HD on disc.


These may be a bit more mainstream and already seen, but I've tested these with my teenagers:




And this is a goofy, guilty pleasure, the other Arrival movie!


And on the subject of Others (sadly not on K at all, but a Criterion Collection 4K HDR title):

 
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Not Sci-fi, and unfortunately not on the KScape store, but The Ghost Writer is an excellent thriller.


This is on the Store


Andy
 
Here are a couple mainstream titles that most have probably seen, but definitely worth mentioning in more of the Sci-fi category.




And if you like The Prestige, you'll also love this one:


Andy
 
Bravo @Edgar for mentioning Sixth Sense. I will also throw in Signs, it came from outer space (old classic) along with Inception.





 
I've seen the original many times, a true 80s/arnold/sci-fi classic. :geek: How does the remake hold up?
The futuristic world for this film was well designed. Visually, the film is stunning. Hope it gets a 4k upgrade someday. This may have been influenced by inception, but the world turns upside down a few times, and it's visually interesting.

The plot is not as deep as i would have hoped for a "Total Recall" remake. There were a few cool things thrown in there, but the plot was definitely not the strong point of the film.
 
Your wish is my command…


P.S. Both Timecrimes and Jacob’s Ladder are personal favorites.
We watched this last night as a family movie night, and it was spot-on in terms our movie preferences... we all loved it and it provoked great discussion afterwards. Great recommendation @LoveCinema! You nailed the assignment!

Excited to try the others recommended here.
 
A few I've seen that lie somewhere on the sci-fi/psychological/thriller spectrum.


MXT
Wow, great list @MXT. Thanks! Added several...
 
this thread is 🔥

just watched Looper a few weeks ago and enjoyed it. Edge of Tomorrow is also great. There is an insanely low bass note in the first 30 seconds (literally moved pictures on a wall in an adjacent room), and multiple times I've gotten sucked into watching the movie after testing with it lol.
 
Not to sound like a broken record but I will recommend Under the Skin (2013), from director Jonathan Glazer, Oscar-nominated for Zone of Interest, starring Scarlett Johansson. I don't even want to describe it, I absolutely love this movie.
Have you read the novel upon which it is (loosely) based? I recommend it as well.
 
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So many great tips.
If you liked some of the original ones I liked, have you guys watched the series Devs on Apple TV+? Really great.
Severance gets more attention in the Apple TV+ world (not undeserved), but to me this one might be just as good but gets lost in the shuffle a bit. It deserves a wider audience.

Devs was great. Severance was a slow build, and I've been patiently waiting for season 2. 😴

I almost recommended these, but you said movies, so... ;)
 
So many great tips.
If you liked some of the original ones I liked, have you guys watched the series Devs on Apple TV+? Really great.
Severance gets more attention in the Apple TV+ world (not undeserved), but to me this one might be just as good but gets lost in the shuffle a bit. It deserves a wider audience.

Oh yes, loved both of those as well as everything you referenced: “Ex Machina, Memento, Inception, Devs, Severance, Interstellar.”

Interstellar is one of my favorite films of recent years. Just rewatched on K.
 
Scraping the bottom of the barrel of my sci-fi/psych/thriller watched list...


But how could I forget this!


One of my favorites, and one of the first movies I worked on. Unfortunately you'll need to acquire a Region B Blu-ray to watch it. I'd really love to see this in 4K with immersive audio one day...
 
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