Paul Thomas Anderson’s much anticipated stoner noir, Inherent Vice, takes Joaquin Phoenix, Josh Brolin, Katherine Waterston, Reese Witherspoon, Benicio Del Toro, and Owen Wilson on a wild, nostalgic trip through 1960/1970’s California.
Based on the novel by Thomas Pynchon, this quirky, plot-dense ride is sure to leave audiences with plenty to talk about! So, if you love your movies with narratives that twist and buck like an unbroken stallion, then join us as we take a look at some of the most complex plots in movie history …
Inception
Written and directed by Christopher Nolan and starring an impressive cast, this 2010 science-fiction heist-thriller has one of the most intriguing yet confusing plots out there. Dom (DiCaprio) is a highly skilled thief who steals corporate secrets through innovative ‘dream-sharing technology’. When given the ultimate task of planting an idea, rather than taking one, his team must risk everything to get the job done.
Donny Darko
Jake Gyllenhaal plays Donnie, a troubled teenager whose constant companion seems to be Frank – a creepy man-sized rabbit – who only Donnie can see. As the movie progresses, we find ourselves travelling through worm-holes, re-writing the past and changing future possibilities.
Cloud Atlas
Based on the 2004 novel of the same name, Cloud Atlas consists of six interrelated and interwoven stories spanning different time periods, between the years of 1949-2200’s. With the same lead actors playing different characters within each time period, you have to be on the ball to catch every detail in this complex film.
Eternal Sunshine Of The Spotless Mind
In this gentle sci-fi romance, we meet Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet), who are immediately drawn to one another, after Joel uncharacteristically ditches work and gets on the train to Montauk. Later we find that they are past lovers, but after hitting relationship troubles Clementine decides to erase Joel completely from her memory. Devastated, Joel gets the same procedure, but as his memories begin to vanish, he believes he is making a mistake …
Pulp Fiction
This classic Tarantino crime movie follows three separate yet interrelated stories, divided into seven. Boasting an impressive cast, we meet hit-men partners (John Travolta and Samuel L. Jackson), double-crossing boxer (Bruce Willis), and the out of control wife (Uma Thurman) of a man you wouldn’t want to mess with (Ving Rhames) to name a few.
Fight Club
We follow a time-bomb insomniac and a foolhardy salesman who, after a chance meeting, create a new way to channel their aggression. With huge plot twists, unexplained flickers on screen, and questionable character relationships, Fight Club is the film where nothing makes total sense until the end.
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Set in 1973, a British Intelligence mission to Budapest goes badly wrong, resulting in the head of intelligence resigning. An investigation begins, looking into the idea that one of four senior figures within the service is a Russian agent, and has been working as a mole. A film with double-crossers, thrills and spills, you are kept guessing, and always on the edge of your seat as to what twist is going to come next.
2001: A Space Odyssey
Stanley Kubricks’s late 60’s sci-fi phenomena dubbed as the best sci-fi movie ever follows two astronauts, aided by a sentient computer, on their Jupiter mission. When the computer learns of his companion’s doubt, it decides to take matters into its own hands. With separate preludes and epilogues to the main story, we are brought to the beginning of mankind, and surrounded by mysterious space beings, this tale twists and turns down a multitude of paths.
Inherent Vice is in UK cinemas from 30th January.