We’ve all been stumped by a film or two in our time, and you may even have needed further explanation after the credits began to roll – I know I have! Well, that’s what a study by AmazonSlots.com has been looking into.
They took IMDB’s top 4000 movies list and cross-referenced monthly search volumes for queries containing the word “explained” in the past 48 months.
Now, the results are in. Here are the top ten most confusing movies that we’re all having to Google to understand.
10. Memento
Starring Guy Pearce and Carrie-Anne Moss, and directed by Christopher Nolan (the unofficial king of confusing movies), Memento sees a man with short-term memory loss attempting to track down his wife’s murderer.
Where to watch in the UK: Netflix
9. Tenet
Continuing with Nolan (I see a trend emerging here) we have Tenet, the 2020 feature starring John David Washington, Robert Pattinson and Elizabeth Debicki. In it, a CIA operative, is tasked with a dangerous, time-bending mission to prevent the start of World War III.
Where to watch in the UK: Apple TV+
8. The Platform
This beguiling Spanish movie took the world by storm back in 2019. In a dystopian future, prisoners are held in a vertical jail with one cell per level and two people per cell. Every day, a platform full of food travels down the jail stopping briefly in every cell, allowing inmates in the upper cells to feed while those below starve.
Where to watch in the UK: Netflix
7. Us
After the runaway success of Get Out, expectations were high for the next movie from writer-director Jordan Peele. Starring Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke and Elisabeth Moss, Us follows a family who are attacked by a group of menacing doppelgängers, called the Tethered.
Where to watch in the UK: Apple TV+
6. Interstellar
Yet another Nolan feature, Interstellar stars Matthew McConaughey as a farmer and former NASA pilot who is tasked with piloting a spacecraft to find a new planet for humans. This one is sure captivate as much as it will confuse.
Where to watch in the UK: Sky Cinema/NOW
5. Inception
Alright, I know it’s getting silly now, but it should come as no surprise that Nolan’s most famous film still has viewers perplexed to this day. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Cillian Murphy and Elliot Page, the 2010 film follows a professional thief and his team as they attempt to manipulate their targets by invading their dreams.
Where to watch in the UK: Sky Cinema/NOW
4. The Shining
The iconic 1980 horror still has audience scratching their heads. Based on the Stephen King book and directed Stanley Kubrick, Jack Nicholson stars as a writer and recovering alcoholic who loses touch with reality after accepting a new position as the off-season caretaker at a remote hotel.
Where to watch in the UK: Sky Cinema/NOW
3. Donnie Darko
Directed by Richard Kelly, this cult classic from 2001 stars Jake Gyllenhaal as a troubled teen who narrowly avoids being killed by a falling jet engine. In the days that follow, he is stalked by a man in a rabbit suit who manipulates him to committing a series of crimes, and prophesies the end of the world.
Where to watch in the UK: Prime Video via freevee
2. Oppenheimer
Making his fifth appearance on this list, Nolan’s most recent feature film tells the story of J. Robert Oppenheimer, the American theoretical physicist who was a key figure in the creation of nuclear weapons during World War II. The film took home a raft of awards at the recent Oscars, but apparently still has a lot of viewers confused regarding its plot!
Where to watch in the UK: Prime Video
1. Shutter Island
Even though it was released over 14 years ago, this Martin Scorsese movie takes the top stop as the film that has most people reaching for their phones at the end. Starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Michelle Williams and Ben Kingsley, the 1954-set film follows a US marshal in his investigation of a missing person at Ashecliffe Hospital for the criminally insane.
Where to watch in the UK: Netflix