Thinking movies and TV shows
The list contains the best, new and most relevant thinking movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out clever, psychological, thought provoking, thinking, inspirational and philosophical films and TV shows about / with storytelling, dialogue, death, philosophy, existentialism, mentor, imagination, twists and turns, trippy and moving plots mostly in Drama, Thriller and Sci-Fi genres shot in USA, UK, Canada and other countries.
366
TOP 10 movies tagged as thinking: The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Shutter Island (2010), Inception (2010), Seven (1995), Mulholland Drive (2001), Requiem for a Dream (2000), V for Vendetta (2005), The Fountain (2006), American History X (1998), Memento (2000).
Best films
New films
| Dark (2017) | 8.7 | |
| Embrace of the Serpent (2015) | 7.8 | |
| Spotlight (2015) | 8.1 | |
| Mirage (2018) | 7.4 | |
| 7 Years (2016) | 6.7 |
List of thinking movies
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 142 min.
Story:
Framed in the 1940s for the double murder of his wife and her lover, upstanding banker Andy Dufresne begins a new life at the Shawshank prison, where he puts his accounting skills to work for an amoral warden. During his long stretch in prison, ...
Style:
clever, uplifting, inspirational, touching, twist ending ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, teens, kids, family friendly ...
Plot:
prison, prison escape, freedom, friendship between men, hopes, friendship, corruption, human spirit, justice, prison life, life, stephen king ...
Time:
1940s, 1950s, 90s, year 1994, 2010s ...
Place:
usa, maine, columbus ohio, persia, iran ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 138 min.
Story:
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 his troubling visions and also by a mysterious doctor.
Style:
psychological, surprise ending, twist ending, suspense, confusing ...
Audience:
chick flick, date night, adult
Plot:
twists and turns, plot twist, investigation, mental illness, insanity, psychology, memory, paranoia, mental institution, schizophrenia, psychiatrist, mental patient ...
Time:
1950s, year 2010, year 1954, 1940s, year 1945 ...
Place:
iran, persia, america, boston
Is relevant?
2.8M
Genre: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 148 min.
Story:
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another ...
Style:
psychological, mind bending, cerebral, clever, twist ending ...
Audience:
date night, teens, adult
Plot:
dream, virtual reality, memory, alternate reality, teamwork, imagination, subconscious, philosophy, twists and turns, fictional reality, existentialism, lucid dream ...
Time:
year 2010, future, 2000s, 2010s, near future
Place:
japan, paris france, los angeles, iran, tokyo ...
Is relevant?
2.0M
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story:
Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. ...
Style:
suspenseful, surprise ending, neo noir, detective, bad ending ...
Audience:
chick flick, adult
Plot:
serial killer, investigation, twists and turns, psychopath, psychology, mind game, police investigation, police, police detective, sin, maniac, murder ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, year 1995
Place:
los angeles, usa, persia, iran, america ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 147 min.
Story:
After a car wreck on the winding Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesic, she and a perky Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
Style:
surreal, psychological, neo noir, art house, disturbing ...
Audience:
date night, adult
Plot:
surrealism, twists and turns, amnesia, lesbian, obsession, dream, alternate reality, parallel universe, hollywood, filmmaking, lesbian sex, nightmare ...
Time:
2000s, year 2001, 20th century, future, 21st century
Place:
los angeles, persia, usa, california, mulholland drive
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story:
The hopes and dreams of four ambitious people are shattered when their drug addictions begin spiraling out of control. A look into addiction and how it overcomes the mind and body.
Style:
psychological, disturbing, bleak, depressing, atmospheric ...
Audience:
kids, adult
Plot:
addiction, drug abuse, heroin, drug addiction, insanity, drug, junkie, loneliness, mental illness, depression, dream, subculture ...
Time:
year 2000, future, y2k, 20th century, 90s ...
Place:
britain, america, new york, usa, coney island brooklyn new york city ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story:
In a world in which Great Britain has become a fascist state, a masked vigilante known only as 'V' conducts guerrilla warfare against the oppressive British government. When 'V' rescues a young woman from the secret police, he ...
Style:
futuristic, philosophical, intense, captivating, neo noir ...
Audience:
manly, chick flick, teens, adult
Plot:
revolution, distopia, revenge, vengeance, fighting the system, dystopia, vigilante, freedom, anti hero, protest, society, masked man ...
Time:
future, year 2005, 2000s, distant future, near future ...
Place:
london, england, britain, big ben london, europe ...
Is relevant?
257K
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 97 min.
Story:
Spanning over one thousand years, and three parallel stories, The Fountain is a story of love, death, spirituality, and the fragility of our existence in this world.
Style:
surreal, melancholic, atmospheric, philosophical, artsy ...
Audience:
teens, adult
Plot:
afterlife, surrealism, metaphysics, buddhism, cancer, spirituality, immortality, multiple storylines, death, love, alternate reality, obsession ...
Time:
future, 2000s, year 2006, 16th century, 21st century
Place:
spain, tibet, latin america, europe, guatemala ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min.
Story:
Derek Vineyard is paroled after serving 3 years in prison for killing two thugs who tried to break into/steal his truck. Through his brother, Danny Vineyard's narration, we learn that before going to prison, Derek was a skinhead and the leader ...
Style:
cerebral, rough, serious, clever, disturbing ...
Audience:
boys' night, date night, teens, teen drama
Plot:
gang, skinhead, racism, prison, neo nazism, neo nazi, character change, nazism, juvenile delinquency, murder, politics, african american ...
Time:
20th century, year 1998, 90s
Place:
los angeles, usa, california, america, north america ...
Is relevant?
1.4M
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
Suffering short-term memory loss after a head injury, Leonard Shelby embarks on a grim quest to find the lowlife who murdered his wife in this gritty, complex thriller that packs more knots than a hangman's noose. To carry out his plan, Shelby ...
Style:
psychological, surprise ending, twist ending, neo noir, confusing ...
Audience:
teens, adult
Plot:
memory, vengeance, memory loss, plot twist, revenge, murder, amnesia, whodunit, twists and turns, paranoia, murder mystery, manipulation ...
Time:
year 2000, year 2001, future, 90s, 20th century ...
Place:
los angeles, california, iran, america, usa ...
Is relevant?
213K
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min.
Story:
A love-lorn script writer grows increasingly desperate in his quest to adapt the book 'The Orchid Thief'.
Style:
philosophical, satirical, cerebral, clever, absurd ...
Plot:
depression, satire, twins, filmmaking, siblings relations, writer's block, mentally unstable, imagination, loser, existentialism, loner, writers ...
Time:
year 2002, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
florida, new york, california, usa, new orleans
Is relevant?
121K
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 77 min.
Story:
Friends and fledgling entrepreneurs invent a device in their garage which reduces the apparent mass of any object placed inside it, but they discover that it has some highly unexpected capabilities - ones that could enable them to do and to have ...
Style:
philosophical, independent film, mind bending, confusing, surreal ...
Plot:
time travel, time machine, time loop, science, changing the future, parallel universe, changing the past or future, inventor, invention, time, time traveler, experiment gone awry ...
Time:
future, year 2004, distant future, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
texas
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
765K
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story:
Renton, deeply immersed in the Edinburgh drug scene, tries to clean up and get out, despite the allure of the drugs and influence of friends.
Style:
disturbing, psychedelic, captivating, dark comedy, black comedy ...
Audience:
boys' night, teens, teen drama
Plot:
addiction, heroin, drug addiction, drug abuse, existentialism, dark humor, counterculture, junkie, life is a bitch, subculture, dialogue, social misfits ...
Time:
90s, 20th century, year 1996
Place:
scotland, edinburgh scotland, london, england, britain ...
Is relevant?
416K
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Switzerland, UK, USA, Mexico
Duration: 146 min.
Story:
Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she's kidnapped he's consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save ...
Style:
suspense, tense, brutal, bloody, harsh ...
Audience:
manly, chick flick, boys' night, adult
Plot:
revenge, vengeance, kidnapping, vigilante, vigilantism, child in peril, lone hero, mercenary, cia, justice, violence, bodyguard ...
Time:
year 2004, 20th century, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
mexico, latin america, south america, mexico city
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 166 min.
Story:
Tells the story of Benjamin Button, a man who starts aging backwards with bizarre consequences.
Style:
touching, philosophical, sentimental, dramatic, melancholic ...
Audience:
date night, chick flick, teens, girls' night, adult
Plot:
destiny, true love, life philosophy, life & death, aging, existentialism, love and romance, life changing, melancholy, magic realism, love, life lesson ...
Time:
50s, 1940s, 20th century, 1930s, year 2008 ...
Place:
southern usa, cambodia, usa, new orleans, russia ...
Is relevant?
748K
Genre: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: South Africa, USA, New Zealand, Canada
Duration: 112 min.
Story:
Aliens land in South Africa and, with their ship totally disabled, have no way home. Years later, after living in a slum and wearing out their welcome the 'Non-Humans' are being moved to a new tent city overseen by Multi-National United ...
Style:
serious, biting, suspense, tense, breathtaking ...
Audience:
chick flick, manly, boys' night, adult
Plot:
alien, extraterrestrial, distopia, space and aliens, alien encounter, metamorphosis, mutation, ufo, alien invasion, first contact, social commentary, transformation ...
Time:
year 2009, future, 2000s, year 2000, year 1982 ...
Place:
africa, south africa, johannesburg south africa
Is relevant?
439K
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: Spain, USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
The Machinist is the story of Trevor Reznik, a lathe-operator who is dying of insomnia. In a machine shop, occupational hazards are bad enough under normal circumstances; yet for Trevor the risks are compounded by fatigue. Trevor has lost the ...
Style:
psychological, twist ending, surprise ending, depressing, surreal ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
insomnia, insanity, uncover truth, obsession, mysterious character, paranoia, losing-it hero, twists and turns, schizophrenia, life is a bitch, secrets, alienation ...
Time:
year 2004, 2000s, 21st century
Place:
usa, america, persia, los angeles
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: New Zealand, USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
Chris Neilson dies to find himself in a heaven more amazing than he could have ever dreamed of. There is one thing missing: his wife. After he dies, his wife, Annie killed herself and went to hell. Chris decides to risk eternity in hades for the ...
Style:
surreal, philosophical, touching, inspirational, spiritual ...
Audience:
chick flick, teens, family friendly, teen drama
Plot:
afterlife, heaven and hell, redemption, life & death, life philosophy, heaven, destiny, metaphysics, hell, love, fantasy world, female artist ...
Time:
90s, 20th century
Place:
cuba
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
140K
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
I Origins follows a molecular biologist studying the evolution of the human eye. He finds his work permeating his life after a brief encounter with an exotic young woman who slips away from him. As his research continues years later with his lab ...
Style:
thought provoking, mind bending, spiritual, philosophical, enigmatic ...
Plot:
reincarnation, eye, metaphysics, genetics, buddhism, religion, atheism, death, spirituality, love story, sex scene, elevator ...
Time:
year 2014, 2010s, 90s, year 1998, year 2005 ...
Place:
india, usa, new york, asia, delhi ...
Is relevant?
310K
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 150 min.
Story:
Contact is a science fiction film about an encounter with alien intelligence. Based on the novel by Carl Sagan the film starred Jodie Foster as the one chosen scientist who must make some difficult decisions between her beliefs, the truth, and ...
Style:
inspirational, philosophical, cerebral, emotional, thought provoking ...
Audience:
teens, adult
Plot:
science, nasa, space travel, scientist, alien encounter, astronomy, first contact, religion, space and aliens, intelligence, alien contact, research ...
Time:
future, 90s, 20th century, distant future
Place:
puerto rico, new mexico, florida, washington d.c., usa ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 149 min.
Story:
Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.
Style:
futuristic, philosophical, mind bending, cerebral, psychedelic ...
Audience:
family outing, kids, teens, adult
Plot:
space travel, artificial intelligence, astronaut, outer space, space, moon, computer, scientist, human versus computer, extraterrestrial, deception, spacewalk ...
Time:
future, year 2001, 20th century, 2000s, stone age ...
Place:
persia
Is relevant?
14K
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Italy
Duration: 105 min.
Story:
The fates of an apparently random group of strangers who each come into contact with a mysterious figure who they believe possesses the power to grant any wish, in return for which they must carry out a task he assigns them.
Style:
philosophical, intellectual, thought provoking, inspirational, clever ...
Plot:
human nature, desire, mysterious man, coffee, kidnapping, remorse, moral dilemma, restaurant, death, moral ambiguity, occult, thoughtful ...
Is relevant?
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: Austria
Duration: 108 min.
Story:
Two psychotic young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic "games" with one another for their own amusement.
Style:
disturbing, suspense, psychological, psychological thriller, bleak ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
psychopath, serial killer, bad guy wins, home invasion, torture, sadism, torment, family in danger, husband wife relationship, evil wins, violence, holiday horror ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, near future, year 1997
Place:
austria, germany, europe
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
225K
Genre: Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story:
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.
Style:
neo noir, suspense, atmospheric, tech noir, mind bending ...
Audience:
adult
Plot:
memory, investigation, alternate reality, cyberpunk, distopia, amnesia, alien race, dream, virtual reality, mind control, memory loss, dystopian future ...
Time:
future, year 1998, distant future, 1940s, 90s ...
Place:
persia
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: New Zealand
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
After a top-secret experiment misfires, a scientist may be the only man left alive in the world.
Style:
philosophical, sexy, cerebral, surreal, apocalyptic ...
Plot:
post apocalyptic, post apocalypse, alone, apocalypse, male nudity, end of the world, vestiges of humanity, survival, dystopia, love triangle, disaster, parallel world ...
Time:
future, year 1985
Place:
new zealand
Is relevant?
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi
Country: UK, West Germany, Netherlands
Duration: 113 min.
Story:
George Orwell's novel of a totalitarian future society in which a man whose daily work is rewriting history tries to rebel by falling in love.
Style:
disturbing, thought provoking, psychological, cult classic, political ...
Plot:
distopia, dystopia, politics, totalitarianism, dystopian future, brainwashing, technology, fascism, totalitarian state, satire, surveillance, political corruption ...
Time:
future, 80s, year 1984, near future, 20th century ...
Place:
london, england, europe, britain, united kingdom
Is relevant?
895K
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 91 min.
Story:
Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first Shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The Shuttle is destroyed, leaving ...
Style:
suspense, atmospheric, suspenseful, scenic, breathtaking ...
Audience:
teens, chick flick, kids, girls' night, adult
Plot:
isolation, survival, space travel, astronaut, outer space, sole survivor, space station, space, disaster, life & death, survivor, spacecraft ...
Time:
year 2013, 2010s, future, 21st century
Place:
persia, seattle, los angeles, houston texas
Is relevant?
734K
Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min.
Story:
A narcissistic TV weatherman, along with his attractive-but-distant producer and mawkish cameraman, is sent to report on Groundhog Day in the small town of Punxsutawney, where he finds himself repeating the same day over and over.
Style:
feel good, romantic, philosophical, humorous, sentimental ...
Audience:
date night, kids, chick flick, teens, family outing ...
Plot:
time loop, existentialism, small town, redemption, time travel, groundhog day, life & death, life philosophy, time warp, fall in love, time, destiny ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, year 1993, future
Place:
pennsylvania, usa, america, persia, pittsburgh
Is relevant?
344K
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min.
Story:
Science fiction drama about a future society in the era of indefinite eugenics where humans are set on a life course depending on their DNA. The young Vincent Freeman is born with a condition that would prevent him from space travel, yet he is ...
Style:
futuristic, thought provoking, intellectual, neo noir, clever ...
Audience:
teens
Plot:
distopia, genetics, fighting the system, discrimination, dystopia, philosophy, society, paraplegic, eugenics, hopes, dystopian future, twists and turns ...
Time:
future, near future, 20th century, 90s, 1900s ...
Place:
detroit, riviera, french riviera
Is relevant?
192K
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 84 min.
Story:
The debut film from Darren Aronofsky in which a mathematical genius Maximilian Cohen discovers a link in the connection between numbers and reality and thus believes he can predict the future.
Style:
surreal, atmospheric, mind bending, cerebral, cult classic ...
Audience:
date night
Plot:
mathematics, insanity, obsession, paranoia, computer, conspiracy, surrealism, alienation, psychology, eye, cyberpunk, mental illness ...
Time:
20th century, 90s, year 1998, future
Place:
new york, america, middle east, usa, coney island brooklyn new york city ...
Is relevant?
Related movie lists
