MIND Expanding
by patrick_delaroute | created - 19 Aug 2017 | updated - 2 weeks ago | PublicSci-Fi, Thriller, Mystery, Religion
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1. District 9 (2009)
R | 112 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Violence ensues after an extraterrestrial race forced to live in slum-like conditions on Earth finds a kindred spirit in a government agent exposed to their biotechnology.
Director: Neill Blomkamp | Stars: Sharlto Copley, David James, Jason Cope, Vanessa Haywood
Votes: 716,944 | Gross: $115.65M
2. K-PAX (2001)
PG-13 | 120 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
PROT is a patient at a mental hospital who claims to be from a faraway planet named K-PAX. His psychiatrist tries to help him, only to begin to doubt his own explanations.
Director: Iain Softley | Stars: Kevin Spacey, Jeff Bridges, Mary McCormack, Alfre Woodard
Votes: 193,048 | Gross: $50.34M
Book version: K-Pax by Gene Brewer; skip the sequels
3. Doubt (I) (2008)
PG-13 | 104 min | Drama, Mystery
A Catholic school principal questions a priest's ambiguous relationship with a troubled young student.
Director: John Patrick Shanley | Stars: Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Viola Davis
Votes: 136,078 | Gross: $33.42M
4. Cube (1997)
R | 90 min | Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A group of strangers awaken to find themselves placed in a giant cube. Each one of them is gifted with a special skill and they must work together to escape an endless maze of deadly traps.
Director: Vincenzo Natali | Stars: Nicole de Boer, Maurice Dean Wint, David Hewlett, Andrew Miller
Votes: 247,671 | Gross: $0.50M
5. Snowpiercer (2013)
R | 126 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
In a future where a failed climate change experiment has killed all life except for the survivors who boarded the Snowpiercer (a train that travels around the globe), a new class system emerges.
Director: Bong Joon Ho | Stars: Chris Evans, Jamie Bell, Tilda Swinton, Ed Harris
Votes: 389,077 | Gross: $4.56M
6. Phenomenon (1996)
PG | 123 min | Drama, Fantasy, Romance
An ordinary man sees a bright light descend from the sky, and discovers he now has super-intelligence and telekinesis.
Director: Jon Turteltaub | Stars: John Travolta, Kyra Sedgwick, Forest Whitaker, Robert Duvall
Votes: 83,814 | Gross: $104.64M
7. Kick-Ass (2010)
R | 117 min | Action, Comedy, Crime
Dave Lizewski is an unnoticed high school student and comic book fan who one day decides to become a superhero, even though he has no powers, training or meaningful reason to do so.
Director: Matthew Vaughn | Stars: Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Nicolas Cage, Chloë Grace Moretz, Garrett M. Brown
Votes: 593,414 | Gross: $48.07M
8. Lucy (I) (2014)
R | 89 min | Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A woman, accidentally caught in a dark deal, turns the tables on her captors and transforms into a merciless warrior evolved beyond human logic.
Director: Luc Besson | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Morgan Freeman, Choi Min-sik, Amr Waked
Votes: 534,416 | Gross: $126.66M
9. Stargate (1994)
PG-13 | 116 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
An interstellar teleportation device, found in Egypt, leads to a planet with humans resembling ancient Egyptians who worship the god Ra.
Director: Roland Emmerich | Stars: Kurt Russell, James Spader, Jaye Davidson, Viveca Lindfors
Votes: 205,120 | Gross: $71.57M
10. Gods of Egypt (2016)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Mortal hero Bek teams with the god Horus in an alliance against Set, the merciless god of darkness, who has usurped Egypt's throne, plunging the once peaceful and prosperous empire into chaos and conflict.
Director: Alex Proyas | Stars: Brenton Thwaites, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, Gerard Butler, Chadwick Boseman
Votes: 125,909 | Gross: $31.15M
11. Apocalypto (2006)
R | 139 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
As the Mayan kingdom faces its decline, a young man is taken on a perilous journey to a world ruled by fear and oppression.
Director: Mel Gibson | Stars: Gerardo Taracena, Raoul Max Trujillo, Dalia Hernández, Rudy Youngblood
Votes: 331,356 | Gross: $50.87M
12. The Last Mimzy (2007)
PG | 90 min | Action, Adventure, Drama
Two siblings begin to develop special talents after they find a mysterious box of toys. Soon the kids, their parents, and even their teacher are drawn into a strange new world and find a task ahead of them that is far more important than any of them could imagine!
Director: Robert Shaye | Stars: Joely Richardson, Rainn Wilson, Timothy Hutton, Chris O'Neil
Votes: 22,221 | Gross: $21.47M
13. City of Ember (2008)
PG | 90 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker.
Director: Gil Kenan | Stars: Saoirse Ronan, Toby Jones, Bill Murray, David Ryall
Votes: 69,748 | Gross: $7.87M
14. Leap of Faith (1992)
PG-13 | 108 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
Fake faith healer Jonas Nightingale is stranded in a small town where he finds he can't fool all of the people all of the time.
Director: Richard Pearce | Stars: Steve Martin, Debra Winger, Lolita Davidovich, Liam Neeson
Votes: 14,451 | Gross: $23.37M
15. The Ledge (2011)
R | 101 min | Drama, Romance, Thriller
A police officer looks to talk down a young man lured by his lover's husband to the ledge of a high rise, where he has one hour to contemplate a fateful decision.
Director: Matthew Chapman | Stars: Charlie Hunnam, Terrence Howard, Patrick Wilson, Liv Tyler
Votes: 20,406 | Gross: $0.01M
16. X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014)
PG-13 | 132 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
The X-Men send Wolverine to the past in a desperate effort to change history and prevent an event that results in doom for both humans and mutants.
Director: Bryan Singer | Stars: Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Hugh Jackman, James McAvoy
Votes: 745,273 | Gross: $233.92M
17. The Man from Earth (2007)
Not Rated | 87 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.
Director: Richard Schenkman | Stars: David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, John Billingsley, Ellen Crawford
Votes: 200,209
18. Edge of Tomorrow (2014)
PG-13 | 113 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A soldier fighting aliens gets to relive the same day over and over again, the day restarting every time he dies.
Director: Doug Liman | Stars: Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson
Votes: 737,039 | Gross: $100.21M
19. The Dark Tower (2017)
PG-13 | 95 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A boy haunted by visions of a dark tower from a parallel reality teams up with the tower's disillusioned guardian to stop an evil warlock known as the Man in Black who plans to use the boy to destroy the tower and open the gates of Hell.
Director: Nikolaj Arcel | Stars: Idris Elba, Matthew McConaughey, Tom Taylor, Dennis Haysbert
Votes: 145,831 | Gross: $50.70M
Pending: listen to audiobook version
20. The Umbrella Academy (2019–2024)
TV-14 | 60 min | Action, Adventure, Comedy
A family of former child heroes, now grown apart, must reunite to continue to protect the world.
Stars: Aidan Gallagher, Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda
Votes: 275,350
Season 1 only!
21. iBoy (2017)
TV-MA | 90 min | Action, Crime, Sci-Fi
After being shot, Tom awakens from a coma to discover that fragments of his smartphone have been embedded in his head--and worse, that returning to normal teenage life is impossible because he has developed a strange set of superpowers.
Director: Adam Randall | Stars: Bill Milner, Maisie Williams, Miranda Richardson, Rory Kinnear
Votes: 24,400
22. The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
R | 100 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A computer scientist running a virtual reality simulation of 1937 becomes the primary suspect when his colleague and mentor is murdered.
Director: Josef Rusnak | Stars: Craig Bierko, Gretchen Mol, Armin Mueller-Stahl, Vincent D'Onofrio
Votes: 77,292 | Gross: $15.50M
23. The Gift (2019–2021)
TV-MA | 40 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A painter in Istanbul embarks on a personal journey as she unearths universal secrets about an Anatolian archaeological site and its link to her past.
Stars: Beren Saat, Mehmet Günsür, Melisa Senolsun, Metin Akdülger
Votes: 24,054
24. Freaks (2018)
R | 105 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A bold girl discovers a bizarre, threatening, and mysterious new world beyond her front door after she escapes her father's protective and paranoid control.
Directors: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. Stein | Stars: Emile Hirsch, Bruce Dern, Grace Park, Amanda Crew
Votes: 40,499
25. Messiah (2020)
TV-MA | 43 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
When a C.I.A. officer investigates a man and his followers who attract international attention through acts of public disruption, she embarks on a global high-stakes mission to uncover whether he is a divine entity or a con artist.
Stars: Michelle Monaghan, Mehdi Dehbi, John Ortiz, Tomer Sisley
Votes: 46,919
26. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)
R | 88 min | Action, Fantasy, Horror
Brother/sister duo Hansel and Gretel are professional witch-hunters who help innocent villagers. One day they stumble upon a case that could hold the key to their past.
Director: Tommy Wirkola | Stars: Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton, Peter Stormare, Famke Janssen
Votes: 216,759 | Gross: $55.70M
27. 9 (I) (2009)
PG-13 | 79 min | Animation, Action, Adventure
A rag doll that awakens in a postapocalyptic future holds the key to humanity's salvation.
Director: Shane Acker | Stars: Elijah Wood, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Christopher Plummer
Votes: 147,679 | Gross: $31.74M
28. Rise of the Planet of the Apes (2011)
PG-13 | 105 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A substance designed to help the brain repair itself gives advanced intelligence to a chimpanzee who leads an ape uprising.
Director: Rupert Wyatt | Stars: James Franco, Andy Serkis, Freida Pinto, Karin Konoval
Votes: 559,218 | Gross: $176.76M
29. Doctor Sleep (2019)
R | 152 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Years following the events of The Shining (1980), a now-adult Dan Torrance must protect a young girl with similar powers from a cult known as The True Knot, who prey on children with powers to remain immortal.
Director: Mike Flanagan | Stars: Ewan McGregor, Rebecca Ferguson, Kyliegh Curran, Cliff Curtis
Votes: 218,519 | Gross: $31.58M
30. WandaVision (2021)
TV-PG | 39 min | Action, Comedy, Drama
Blends the style of classic sitcoms with the MCU, in which Wanda Maximoff and Vision - two super-powered beings living their ideal suburban lives - begin to suspect that everything is not as it seems.
Stars: Elizabeth Olsen, Paul Bettany, Kathryn Hahn, Teyonah Parris
Votes: 370,172
reminds me of the Creation Story (other version), Flower Of Life (use of a hexagon) and Chaos Theory...and that life could just be a "big dream" or a simulation
31. The Matrix (1999)
R | 136 min | Action, Sci-Fi
When a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Laurence Fishburne, Carrie-Anne Moss, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 2,053,544 | Gross: $171.48M
The philosophy & dialogues are interesting and many concepts to explore that are still relevant to this day. Sequels explain more about the Matrix but not as good as this.
32. Room (I) (2015)
R | 118 min | Drama, Thriller
A little boy is held captive in a room with his mother since his birth, so he has never known the world outside.
Director: Lenny Abrahamson | Stars: Brie Larson, Jacob Tremblay, Sean Bridgers, Wendy Crewson
Votes: 450,589 | Gross: $14.68M
The little kid may also represent humankind living in a 3D world - small, simple & time is slow. When confronted with the truth, he gets angry & unreceptive. But when he tries to accept the possibility of what's beyond and finds courage to escape, he gets to live in the real world which is so much bigger, complicated & where time flies so fast.
33. Undone (2019–2022)
TV-MA | 377 min | Animation, Drama, Fantasy
After she very narrowly survives a serious car accident, a woman discovers that she has a new relationship with time.
Stars: Rosa Salazar, Angelique Cabral, Constance Marie, Bob Odenkirk
Votes: 23,463
Season 1 (funny & philosophical):
-"am so bored of living...terrified this is all there is....Don't you believe there has to be more?"
-"I don't know, we're sitting here watching a beautiful sunrise... the trees, birds, clouds...real life is also pretty amazing."
Season 2 (more drama & describes generational trauma in an interesting way):
"part of life is accepting that bad things are gonna happen...and finding ways to move thru them, together."
34. The Wave (2019)
R | 87 min | Sci-Fi, Thriller
An insurance lawyer goes out on the town to celebrate an upcoming promotion with his co-worker, Jeff. But their night takes a bizarre turn when Frank ingests a hallucinogen that completely alters his perception of the world.
Director: Gille Klabin | Stars: Tommy Flanagan, Justin Long, Sheila Vand, Katia Winter
Votes: 6,709
35. Escape Room (I) (2019)
PG-13 | 99 min | Action, Adventure, Horror
Six strangers find themselves in a maze of deadly mystery rooms and must use their wits to survive.
Director: Adam Robitel | Stars: Taylor Russell, Logan Miller, Jay Ellis, Tyler Labine
Votes: 141,903 | Gross: $57.01M
36. Avatar (2009)
PG-13 | 162 min | Action, Adventure, Fantasy
A paraplegic Marine dispatched to the moon Pandora on a unique mission becomes torn between following his orders and protecting the world he feels is his home.
Director: James Cameron | Stars: Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez
Votes: 1,386,638 | Gross: $760.51M
37. The Man Who Fell to Earth (2022)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
An alien arrives on earth with a mission: to learn to become human and find the one woman who can help save his species. Together they discover that in order to save his world, they must first save ours.
Stars: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Naomie Harris, Annelle Olaleye, Clarke Peters
Votes: 10,377
Watch especially Episode 6: Changes - shares the complexities of becoming human
38. Pantheon (2022–2023)
TV-14 | 41 min | Animation, Action, Drama
A young woman starts to get messages from an unknown number that claims to be her deceased father. Trying to uncover the truth, she stumbles upon a larger conspiracy involving the singularity.
Stars: Katie Chang, Paul Dano, Aaron Eckhart, Rosemarie DeWitt
Votes: 6,569
I would have rated this as 9, if it wasn't for the last 2 episodes. I am more interested with the conflict & resolution, and although the ending has a deep message, it felt off & out of place, it's as if you're in a great adventure only to wake up & realize it's just a dream.
Lesson: You can be immortal & super intelligent and have all these technological developments, but if you don't have someone to live for or share your life with, it's pointless & meaningless.
39.
Black Mirror (2011– )
Episode:
USS Callister
(2017)
TV-MA | 76 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Capt. Robert Daly presides over his crew with wisdom and courage. But a new recruit will soon discover nothing on this spaceship is what it seems.
Director: Toby Haynes | Stars: Jesse Plemons, Cristin Milioti, Jimmi Simpson, Michaela Coel
Votes: 59,886
40. The Artifice Girl (2022)
93 min | Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
A team of special agents discovers a revolutionary new computer program to bait and trap online predators. After teaming up with the program's troubled developer, they soon find that the AI is rapidly advancing beyond its original purpose.
Director: Franklin Ritch | Stars: Tatum Matthews, Lance Henriksen, Sinda Nichols, David Girard
Votes: 9,258
Interesting dialogue. need to rewatch
41. The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2010)
PG | 109 min | Action, Adventure, Family
A protege of the magician Merlin must train his teacher's successor - an introverted but resourceful physics prodigy - in the art of sorcery to prevent the return of Morgana le Fay.
Director: Jon Turteltaub | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Jay Baruchel, Alfred Molina, Teresa Palmer
Votes: 170,019 | Gross: $63.15M
42. Jupiter Ascending (2015)
PG-13 | 127 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
A young woman discovers her destiny as an heiress of intergalactic nobility and must fight to protect the inhabitants of Earth from an ancient and destructive industry.
Directors: Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Channing Tatum, Mila Kunis, Eddie Redmayne, Sean Bean
Votes: 194,548 | Gross: $47.39M
If we can farm animals for food consumption, is it also possible that a higher intelligence can do the same to us?
Similar movies with theme "human as resource": The Matrix (1999), The Island (2005), Doctor Sleep (2019) & The Maze Runner (2014)
43. Divergent (2014)
PG-13 | 139 min | Action, Adventure, Mystery
In a world divided by factions based on virtues, Tris learns she's Divergent and won't fit in. When she discovers a plot to destroy Divergents, Tris and the mysterious Four must find out what makes Divergents dangerous before it's too late.
Director: Neil Burger | Stars: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney
Votes: 489,080 | Gross: $150.95M
The sequels are not as good as this, but watch them to know the whole plot. Interesting how it mirrors our society (reality), eg. a group wanting to take over thru mind control and they are represented by the "all-seeing-eye"; & some independent thinkers capable of being lucid inside a simulation/ dream.
Take note of ffg symbolisms:
Chicago = Earth
Bureau = Moon
Fringe = Mars
Providence = Advanced Civilization
44. I Am Number Four (2011)
PG-13 | 111 min | Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Aliens and their Guardians are hiding on Earth from intergalactic bounty hunters. They can only be killed in numerical order, and Number Four is next on the list. This is his story.
Director: D.J. Caruso | Stars: Alex Pettyfer, Timothy Olyphant, Dianna Agron, Teresa Palmer
Votes: 246,348 | Gross: $55.10M
watch this then read the book sequels: Lorien Legacies 2-7; Lost Files 1-15 & Sam's Journal
45. Arrival (II) (2016)
PG-13 | 116 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A linguist works with the military to communicate with alien lifeforms after twelve mysterious spacecraft appear around the world.
Director: Denis Villeneuve | Stars: Amy Adams, Jeremy Renner, Forest Whitaker, Michael Stuhlbarg
Votes: 771,318 | Gross: $100.55M
I did not like this at 1st viewing and felt underwhelmed. I was expecting more from the aliens but later realized this is not about them, it's about us, humans. We have different languages and can easily translate them yet we often misunderstand or don't get along with each other. So how can we even begin to communicate with which is entirely foreign and far more advanced? Start from here, with us, unite and work together - that's the message of the movie.
46.
Black Mirror (2011– )
Episode:
Joan Is Awful
(2023)
TV-MA | 58 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
An average woman is stunned to discover a global streaming platform has launched a prestige TV drama adaptation of her life - in which she is portrayed by Hollywood A-lister Salma Hayek.
Director: Ally Pankiw | Stars: Annie Murphy, Salma Hayek, Michael Cera, Himesh Patel
Votes: 37,902
47. The OA (2016–2019)
TV-MA | 60 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
Having gone missing seven years ago, the previously blind Prairie returns home, now in her twenties with her sight restored. While many believe she is a miracle, others worry that she could be dangerous.
Stars: Brit Marling, Jason Isaacs, Scott Wilson, Alice Krige
Votes: 115,879
It's a clever show that requires more than 1 viewing. Some episodes can be dragging esp. in Season 2.
Lesson: We are complicated beings, we want to discover more & solve mysteries, but there will come a time where we get tired and we just want to go back from simple beginnings.
48. Cloud Atlas (2012)
R | 172 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution.
Directors: Tom Tykwer, Lana Wachowski, Lilly Wachowski | Stars: Tom Hanks, Halle Berry, Hugh Grant, Hugo Weaving
Votes: 374,431 | Gross: $27.11M
There are 6 stories in this movie and the main character of each story is the same SOUL and has the same birthmark. Characters played by the same actor are not related or relevant.
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