12 films with an ambiguous plot

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

The recent release of the movie "Mom!" Darren Aronofsky left mixed impressions with viewers and critics and gave rise to many interpretations of the plot. The life hacker recalls other films, the meaning of which can be interpreted in different ways.

The fountain

• Science fiction, drama, parable.
• USA, 2006.
• Duration: 96 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

Oncologist Tom (Hugh Jackman) is looking for a way to save his terminally ill wife Izzy (Rachel Weisz). He tries to find the mythical Tree of Life, but all his attempts fail. Izzy asks Tom to finish her book The Source, in which she metaphorically describes her illness and ideas of rebirth. Through this book and his dreams, Tom must come to an understanding of eternal life.

Interpretations of this painting by Darren Aronofsky strongly depend on how to perceive the realities shown in the plot - in the form of a sequence of events in different times or as three parallel existing worlds.

Highway to nowhere

• Psychological thriller, drama.
• USA, France, 1996.
• Duration: 134 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

Fred Madison (Bill Pullman) is convicted of the murder of his wife Renee (Patricia Arquette) and ends up in a cell awaiting death. But suddenly he disappears from prison, and in his place is auto mechanic Pete Dayton. He is released, but later in the life of Pete, mysterious events begin to occur, drawing unexpected analogies with the fate of Fred.

The main question of this film is how to understand Pete's reality. This may turn out to be the fiction of Fred who is sitting in a cell and has gone mad, or it may be a continuation of events that will reveal the secret of Rene's death.

Inner empire

• Psychological thriller, drama.
• USA, France, Poland, 2006.
• Duration: 180 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 0.

Actress Nikki Grace (Laura Derne) is cast in the new film On High in Blue Tomorrows. She meets the leading actor Devon Burke (Justin Theroux) and learns that this film is a remake of an old German film, on the set of which the actors died. In the process of working on the picture, more and more inexplicable events take place, and Nikki begins to confuse herself with the real heroine of the film, who becomes more real than the actress herself.

Many consider this film to be a kind of compilation of all the work of David Lynch, since you can find in it references to almost all of his works. There is an option that "Inland Empire" shows the difference between film and television. Someone thinks that the whole film is just about the art of seeing. All this suggests that in this case Lynch only set the form, allowing the viewer to fill it with a suitable meaning.

Mr. Nobody

• Drama, science fiction, fantasy.
• Canada, Belgium, France, Germany, 2009.
• Duration: 138 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

In a world where all people have learned to artificially rejuvenate, there is the last natural person - an old man named Nemo (Jared Leto). For the immortals, his final days have become something of a reality show. And he decides to tell the doctor and the journalist his life story. However, in the process of description, there are many options for the development of events, some of which are mutually exclusive.

The ending leaves open the question - was the old man's story a fiction or he was talking about parallel worlds created by every serious choice in his life. Perhaps none of this has happened yet, and the boy, who was once Nemo, has yet to understand how his life will develop.

Mirror

• Drama.
• USSR, 1974.
• Duration: 107 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

The whole film represents the memories and dreams of the protagonist Alexei. Moreover, he himself appears in the frame only in childhood. The main story is told from his face and is shown as if through his eyes. Simple events in Alexei's family, his childhood, his parents' divorce, family life with his wife and son are replaced by documentary footage of wars and events in the world.

The film by Andrei Tarkovsky, which has become a classic of Soviet and world cinema, invites the viewer to see their reflection in the plot. The absence of the main character in the frame, and the very name of the picture, allows everyone to understand something of their own, without giving unambiguous interpretations of what is happening on the screen.

Tree of life

• Drama, mystery.
• USA, 2010.
• Duration: 139 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 8.

Parents teach eleven-year-old boy Jack the intricacies of life. But their understanding of what is good is completely different. The father believes that personal desires are above all, and the mother teaches him kindness and selflessness. Over time, Jack has to deal with pain, loss and suffering. And gradually aggression, jealousy and hatred begin to wake up in his soul.

In this seemingly simple story, the talented director Terrence Malik tells more than just the life of one child. If you think about it, you can find a deeper interpretation, showing both the very structure of the world and its movement from birth to inevitable death.

Blade Runner

• Science fiction, thriller, dystopia.
• USA, Hong Kong, UK, 1982.
• Duration: 110 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 2.

Detective Rick Deckard (Harrison Ford) returns to the service to catch another batch of replicants - androids, indistinguishable from humans, who escaped from the space station. To understand who is in front of you - a person or a replicant, is possible only with the help of special tests. But Riku first needs to check if this test works on the new android model.

The main stumbling block in the perception of the plot is the personality of the protagonist. He is initially shown as a human, but as the film progresses, several clues appear suggesting that he may be a replicant himself. It is said that director Ridley Scott and lead actor Harrison Ford even had a fight over the ambiguous interpretation of the character.

Revolver

• Action, drama, thriller.
• UK, France, 2005.
• Duration: 111 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 5.

Jack Green (Jason Statham) is released from prison after serving seven years in solitary confinement. All these years, he studied books on chess theory, gambling and quantum mechanics, which were thrown to him by criminals sitting in neighboring cells. As a result, he was released, possessing a universal formula for winning any game. And then events develop faster and faster, sometimes taking completely bizarre turns.

Guy Ritchie is considered a master of Tarantino-style crime films. And it is all the more surprising to realize that in this picture the plot does not lead to the simplest denouement, but raises doubts. Everyone decides for himself whether Jack's friends were real or simply embodied his way of thinking, as well as who was the mysterious Mr. Gold after all.

Start

• Science fiction, detective, thriller.
• UK, USA, 2010.
• Duration: 148 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 8.

Dominic Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) knows how to penetrate the subconscious of sleeping people and steal their thoughts. But one day Cobb and his team are tasked not to steal, but to implant a thought in the sleeping man's head. To do this, they have to penetrate the dreams of the third level. But during the operation, unforeseen circumstances arise, and Cobb has a chance to never return to reality.

The ending of the film seems completely simple and definite - a typical Hollywood happy ending. If not for some shots that can turn everything upside down.

Mustache

• Drama
• France, 2005.
• Duration: 87 minutes.
• IMDb: 6, 7.

The plot of the film begins with the main character shaving off his mustache. But neither his wife, nor friends, nor colleagues notice this. Everyone thinks that it has always been this way. And then it turns out that there were no vacations that he remembers, and meetings with relatives, and many other events in his life.

"Mustache" is one of those pictures that rather ask questions than give any answers, forcing each viewer to think about what is real in life.

Lobster

• Science fiction, dystopia.
• UK, Greece, France, Ireland, Netherlands, 2015.
• Duration: 119 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 1.

In the future, all single people are arrested and sent to a hotel, where they are obliged to find a mate in a short time. Otherwise, they are turned into animals. The main character (Colin Farrell) decides to become a lobster. But then he manages to escape from the hotel and settle in the forest with those who refused to follow the rules. However, these people are no better because they ignore any intimacy.

This film can be interpreted as a futuristic dystopia showing the prospects for the development of mankind. Or it can be understood as a more personal story, a reflection of extremes in human relationships. Moreover, the open ending does not show whether the hero made a sacrifice for the sake of his beloved or simply ran away.

With eyes wide shut

• Thriller.
• UK, USA, 1999.
• Duration: 159 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 3.

In the center of the plot are the spouses Bill and Alice Harford (Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman). At first glance, their married life is perfect. But in fact, their marriage has long been a lot of innuendo, boredom and jealousy. One day, Alice confesses to her husband in her secret dreams of treason. In response, he begins to embody his fantasies into reality, going so far that he can only dream of returning to normal life.

In the film, all events seem to be shown as real. At first glance, the meaning of the picture is only in the weakness of a person before his fantasies. But the intersection of Bill's reality with Alice's dreams and the many references in the form of names, spoken words and passwords hint that all adventures can only be a fiction about unfulfilled desires.