A Glean movie guide
Mind-Bending Sci-Fi (Without the Headache)
Smart stories, clear stakes.
High-concept thrillers and reality-warping missions that won't leave you searching for...
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Source Code
A high-stakes mission inside a digital loop that keeps its rules simple and its pace relentless.
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.
- 02
Edge of Tomorrow
An alien invasion time-loop that uses trial and error to build a clear, action-packed narrative.
Major Bill Cage is an officer who has never seen a day of combat when he is unceremoniously demoted and dropped into combat. Cage is killed within minutes, managing to take an alpha alien down with him. He awakens back at the beginning of the same day and is forced to fight and die again... and again - as physical contact with the alien has thrown him into a time loop.
- 03
The Matrix
The definitive reality-bending blockbuster that anchors its complex world in a classic hero’s journey.
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
Looper
A gritty time-travel noir that focuses on character consequences rather than confusing temporal mechanics.
In the year 2044, time travel has not yet been invented but in 30 years it will have been. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target into the past where a looper, a hired gun, like Joe is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good until the day the mob decides to close the loop, sending back Joe's future self for assassination.
- 05
The Prestige
A masterfully crafted puzzle of rival magicians where the mystery is always grounded in human obsession.
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.
- 06
Minority Report
A sleek futuristic thriller that blends high-concept precognition with a traditional murder mystery.
John Anderton is a top 'Precrime' cop in the late-21st century, when technology can predict crimes before they're committed. But Anderton becomes the quarry when another investigator targets him for a murder charge.
- 07
The Game
A tense psychological thriller where the line between reality and a staged conspiracy is expertly drawn.
In honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a cold-hearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad: a gift certificate to play a unique kind of game. In nary a nanosecond, Nicholas finds himself consumed by a dangerous set of ever-changing rules, unable to distinguish where the charade ends and reality begins.
- 08
Total Recall
A fast-paced adventure that questions what is real while keeping the action moving in one direction.
Construction worker Douglas Quaid's obsession with the planet Mars leads him to visit Recall, a company that manufactures memories. When his memory implant goes wrong, Doug can no longer be sure what is and isn't reality.
- 09
Dark City
A visually stunning mystery about a shifting city where the truth is revealed through a steady investigation.
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.
- 10
Limitless
A straightforward look at the power of the mind that uses clear visual cues to track the protagonist's rise.
The life of an unsuccessful writer is transformed by a top-secret 'smart drug' that allows him to use 100% of his brain and become a perfect version of himself. His enhanced abilities soon attract shadowy forces that threaten his new life.