A Glean movie guide
Mind-Bending Movies Like Inception
Go deeper.
High-concept thrillers and cerebral sci-fi that challenge your perception of reality.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Tenet
A high-stakes espionage thriller where time flows in reverse, demanding total focus to track its complex mechanics.
Armed with only one word - Tenet - and fighting for the survival of the entire world, the Protagonist journeys through a twilight world of international espionage on a mission that will unfold in something beyond real time.
- 02
Paprika
A stunning anime masterpiece exploring the blurring boundaries between dreams and reality through shared technology.
When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patient's dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist can stop it and recover it before damage is done: Paprika.
- 03
The Matrix
The definitive cyberpunk epic about a hacker discovering his entire world is a sophisticated digital simulation.
Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
- 04
The Prestige
A dark, non-linear puzzle following two rival magicians obsessed with creating the ultimate, impossible illusion.
A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.
- 05
Memento
A gripping noir mystery told in reverse to mirror the protagonist's inability to form new memories.
Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife's killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.
- 06
Source Code
A fast-paced sci-fi mystery centered on a soldier reliving a simulation to stop a disaster before it happens.
When decorated soldier Captain Colter Stevens wakes up in the body of an unknown man, he discovers he's part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.
- 07
Coherence
A tense, low-budget psychological thriller where a dinner party unravels across shifting parallel realities.
Four couples gather for dinner the night a mysterious and powerful comet passes overhead.
- 08
Dark City
A stylish, atmospheric noir where a man discovers his city is being physically manipulated by mysterious beings.
A man struggles with memories of his past, including a wife he cannot remember, in a nightmarish world with no sun and run by beings with telekinetic powers who seek the souls of humans.
- 09
Predestination
A complex, time-traveling odyssey that weaves an intricate and shocking web of identity and paradox.
Predestination chronicles the life of a Temporal Agent sent on an intricate series of time-travel journeys designed to prevent future killers from committing their crimes. Now, on his final assignment, the Agent must stop the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time and prevent a devastating attack in which thousands of lives will be lost.
- 10
Shutter Island
A haunting psychological thriller that questions the sanity and perception of its lead investigator.
World War II soldier-turned-U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by troubling visions and a mysterious doctor.
- 11
Interstellar
A visually spectacular journey through wormholes that explores the emotional weight of time dilation and physics.
The adventures of a group of explorers who make use of a newly discovered wormhole to surpass the limitations on human space travel and conquer the vast distances involved in an interstellar voyage.
- 12
Arrival
An intellectual sci-fi drama that uses linguistics to reshape the protagonist's perception of time and memory.
Taking place after alien crafts land around the world, an expert linguist is recruited by the military to determine whether they come in peace or are a threat.