edit: this “supergenre”, if that exists, could simply be “this is a list of movies you shouldn’t know anything about prior to watching, aside maybe from their genre”.
I recently set out to identify a genre of films that is diverse, broad, but badass in delivering everything I personally want out of a film. They can be comedies like Groundhog Day, time paradoxes like Triangle or Timecrimes, or horror films where you just basically need to survive while trying to figure out what is happening, like The Void, Existenz, and the like. So with Reddit’s help, I compiled a list.
I might say this is the most complete list of “Rubber Reality” genre films that has ever been compiled! =)
For a little background, in general rubber reality (AKA expanding reality, collapsable reality, alternative reality) films are where it starts out in a generally acceptable version of reality, and then the characters are sort of thrust into dealing with both staying alive, whilst watching the entirety of their universe and reality begin to collapse, at almost incomprehensible speeds. I was joking that the new Driver / Johannsen Netflix “Marriage Story” could count (watched it, tho not my normal type of movie. It was absolutely brilliant, and it’s amazing… reminds me of powerful and boring 1970s/80s character studies). I do think this list is going to be more Lovecraftian, in a sense, and yes I am super excited about Cage’s new “Color Out of Space“.
If you haven’t seen Mandy yet, and don’t like Quentin Tarantino (the Director is named Panos Cosmatos) on Acid & Gore, just watch the bathroom scene.
A really easy and accessible one is Deep Rising, which actually became a comedy as everyone tried to just deal with WTF. lol
Annihilation could be one, but honestly they *aren’t* dealing with the collapsing reality. They’re just sort of passive observers of it. And this is one of my favorite movies in recent memory, BTW FWIW.
I wonder if Aniara would count? ouch.
So without further speculation, a wonderful list of mind-bending and reality ending films.
nb: I hyperlinked to what has been a life changing app/service for me, which automatically hones in what service it is streaming on for free, or where you can rent/buy. It’s an aggregator that lets you even filter by service, year, etc. It’s unbelievable, and I’ve no investment or interest in the company other than finding it REALLY useful, and an easy way to catalog and figure out what content you want to watch. Cheers!
(Please suggest any that might be missing!)
BEST ADVICE: If don’t know anything about the film, just take a leap and don’t spoil by reading the synopsis.
For these sort of films, the less known, the better. I’ll likely move this into a spreadsheet and add subgenre (action, horror, drama), and actors.
12 Monkeys (thinking any Gilliam lol)
Altered States (I wonder if Joe Rogan has seen this. LOL Tripping, flotation chambers, etc)
Boxing Helena (wiki, no listing)
Charlie & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Climax (? Gaspar is always out there…)
Color Out of Space (wiki, not released at time of posting)
Cube (series)
Daemon & Freedom (Daniel Suarez book series that should be fascinating when adpated / rights have been secured)
Dark (German Netflix TV Series)
Dark City (Director’s Cut)
Dawn of the Dead (2004)
Dr. Strange (a bit)?
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Frequently Asked Questions About Time Travel
Ghost in the Shell (original)
Jacob’s Ladder (1990, why o why did they remake this?)
Jumanji (1995, Robin Williams’ of course)
Neon Genesis: The End of Evangelion
Night of the Living Dead (1968)
Oldboy (2003)
Open Your Eyes (Original Vanilla Sky)
Planet of the Apes (1968)
Providence (wiki, no listing)
Run Lola Run (a stretch?)
Serenity (?)
Shallow Grave (?)
Society (1989)
Sucker Punch (2011)
The Cabin at the End of the World (Book, rights have been secured, I can say I am looking forward to every single thing about this, especially casting)
The Crying Game (stretch?)
The Fly (1986)
The Kingdom (1994 French series)
The Lighthouse (2019)
The Mist (2007)
The Ritual (2017)
The Signal (2014)
The Thing (1982)
Upgrade (Logan-Marshall Green in a better version of Tom Hardy’s Venom)
Wormwood (TV Show)