Mind-Benders
Reality is negotiable. These films twist perception, shatter timelines, and demand you watch them twice -- because the first time, you had no idea what you were really seeing.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
A tax audit becomes the stage for the most inventive film of the decade. Michelle Yeoh jumps between universes -- some absurd (hot dog fingers), some devastating (a universe of rocks) -- in a story that argues love and kindness are the only sane responses to infinite chaos. It swept the Oscars for a reason: beneath the multiverse madness is the most emotionally honest immigrant family story in years.
"In another life, I would have really liked just doing laundry and taxes with you."
More Mind-Benders
Films that refuse to let reality sit still
Annihilation
Dir. Alex GarlandFive scientists enter "The Shimmer" and what they find defies classification. Garland adapts Jeff VanderMeer's novel into something between ecological horror and cosmic wonder. The bear scene is legitimately one of the most terrifying things in modern cinema. The lighthouse finale is pure abstract terror. Paramount dumped it on Netflix overseas, which is a crime.
Ex Machina
Dir. Alex GarlandA programmer wins a trip to his CEO's remote estate to evaluate a humanoid AI. What follows is a three-character chamber drama about consciousness, manipulation, and the male gaze. Alicia Vikander's Ava is magnetic and terrifying in equal measure. The dance scene is iconic. The ending is ice cold.
Tenet
Dir. Christopher NolanNolan's most divisive film is also his most ambitious. Time doesn't just flow backward -- it runs in both directions simultaneously, and the film expects you to keep up. The highway chase with a reversed car is jaw-dropping on a technical level. Yes, the sound mix buries the dialogue. Yes, the plot requires a PhD. But for pure craft and audacity, nothing else this decade comes close.
Honorable Mentions
Worth your time, worth your confusion
Micro-budget dinner party multiverse that predates the trend.
Brandon Cronenberg's body-invasion nightmare.
Benson & Moorhead's time loop cult film on a shoestring.
The Spierig Brothers' ouroboros time-travel puzzle.