A Glean movie guide
Mind-Bending Sci-Fi Thrillers
Question everything.
Dive into complex narratives, shifting realities, and puzzles that demand your full attention.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Tenet
A secret agent masters time-inversion mechanics in this high-stakes, non-linear espionage thriller.
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
This visually stunning film explores dream-sharing technology and is often cited as a precursor to Inception.
Dr. Atsuko Chiba is a research psychologist who uses a device called the DC Mini to enter her patients' dreams, wherein she adopts the alter-ego "Paprika". When the device is stolen, she must stop rogue elements from merging the dream and waking worlds.
- 03
The Matrix
A hacker discovers his entire reality is a simulation, sparking a philosophical and action-packed revolution.
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
Memento
A man with short-term memory loss tracks a killer through a brilliant, reverse-chronological narrative.
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.
- 05
Shutter Island
A U.S. Marshal’s investigation into a missing patient spirals into a haunting psychological maze.
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.
- 06
Arrival
A linguist’s attempt to communicate with extraterrestrials unfolds into a profound meditation on time.
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.
- 07
Coherence
A simple dinner party descends into chaos when a passing comet triggers a reality-bending event.
Four couples gather for dinner the night a mysterious and powerful comet passes overhead.
- 08
Source Code
A soldier must repeatedly relive the final minutes of a train bombing to identify the culprit.
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.
- 09
The Prestige
Two rival magicians engage in a lifelong, obsessive battle that blurs the line between illusion and reality.
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.
- 10
Dark City
A man wakes up in a city where the sun never rises and reality is physically altered every night.
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.