Films can be relaxing, enjoyable experiences, and it's more than okay to watch movies for comfort. Not everything has to be challenging, difficult, or confronting to be a worthwhile piece of art, and there's a great deal of enjoyment to be had in experiencing something familiar or traditional. Many of the most successful films of all time do have broad appeal and can be enjoyed by most viewers, after all.
However, there may also be a danger in watching too many easy-to-digest movies. There's every chance that movies as a whole could become stale or too repetitive if you don't watch any that shake up - or even break down - well-worn traditions and formulas. In the interest of celebrating some of the more unusual films out there, here are nine that will likely prove challenging or even difficult to many viewers, yet have a great deal to offer, and are likely to reward patient, open-minded audiences.
'Annette' (2021)
It's hard to even know where to begin with Annette. To call this operatic, surreal, fantastical, tragic musical odd would be doing it a huge understatement. It tells the story of a couple - the man, a stand-up comedian, and the woman, a singer - whose lives are turned upside down after the birth of their very unusual daughter.
But what makes it weird, you might ask? The baby is clearly a puppet. It's chockfull of songs - some quite good, and some that sound intentionally annoying. It's unclear what is "truly" happening and what might just be a fantasy within a character's head. It's almost two-and-a-half hours long, and it's filled to the brim with awkward, uncomfortable scenes.
'Enter the Void' (2009)
Enter the Void comes from the mind of Gaspar Noé, a director who's made a career out of pushing all sorts of boundaries in the world of film. Enter the Void is among his most challenging works, being a surreal and nightmarish descent into a possible afterlife, after the film's protagonist, Oscar, is suddenly killed during a drug deal gone bad.
The afterlife experienced by Oscar is far from an idyllic one, and his journey is almost like that of a ghost, as he drifts around the world and explores the past, present, and future, with a focus on how those who knew him are coping in his absence. It's an aggressive, confronting, haunting, and undoubtedly memorable film, which its tone establishes right from the start, as even the opening credits are an assault on the senses.
'Memoria' (2021)
One of the most overlooked movies of 2021, Memoria is a low-key yet powerful drama with science-fiction elements. Make no mistake, though; it's not anything like your standard sci-fi film, which might have a healthy injection of action or thriller elements. Memoria is a slow-burn mystery film that establishes right from the get-go that it's not concerned with easy, convenient answers.
Tilda Swinton plays a woman who hears strange noises that no one else seems to hear, and so with no one able to help explain them, she sets out to discover their source herself. She embarks on an unusual journey where time itself often seems to come to a halt, to the point where some may find the film terribly boring. But those who find themselves suitably immersed in this strange and confounding film should come away from the film feeling satisfied, and maybe even enlightened.
'High Life' (2018)
High Life may feature one of the biggest and most popular actors of his generation - Robert Pattinson - and qualify as a sci-fi film, which is a particularly popular genre at the moment. In no way, however, could High Life be considered a traditional sci-fi crowd pleaser.
The story focuses on a small number of astronauts stranded in space, and their fight for survival. Through a series of flashbacks, we get some understanding of what happened, but it's not always obvious. Stranger still is the character development - or sometimes lack thereof - and a series of confronting sequences that all lead up to a perplexing conclusion. If you think you've seen all the sci-fi genre has to offer, High Life may end up proving you wrong.
'Under the Skin' (2013)
There are likely Scarlett Johansson fans who know her best from the MCU - and other films like Lost in Translation and The Prestige - that saw Under the Skin and came away traumatized. It's probably her most out-there role yet, but it also becomes one of her most memorable, distinct, and mysterious as a result.
In it, Johansson plays some sort of shape-shifting alien lifeform that lands on Earth, takes a woman's appearance, and goes around hunting men, consuming them in a way that's equal parts horrifying and confusing. There's not much more to it plot-wise, but its atmosphere and bizarrely compelling visuals are likely to stick with viewers who are open to a non-traditional alien invader story.
'Mind Game' (2004)
Mind Game would have to be one of the most surreal and relentlessly paced anime films of all time. It technically tells the story of a young man - and the woman he has a crush on - getting tangled up with the yakuza and then going on the run from them, but that doesn't even scratch the surface when it comes to summarizing what actually happens within the film. You know a movie is strange when the fact that most of it takes place inside a whale isn't even the most bizarre thing about it.
The line between reality and fantasy seems to get blurred or outright destroyed in almost every scene, and animation is used to depict wild visuals that could never be captured in live action. It sure is a sight to behold and experience, even if it's frequently overwhelming.
'Holy Motors' (2012)
French filmmaker Leos Carax is no stranger to making uncompromisingly unusual films, and Holy Motors might well be his most unusual. Despite that - or maybe because of it - it's also arguably his best work to date.
It has an episodic structure, following around someone who takes on multiple identities, performing a wide variety of tasks, all whilst seeming to be the same person. It looks at identity and the absurdity of life through its increasingly strange sequences, all the while being visually striking, and featuring a compelling - and completely wild - lead performance by Denis Lavant, as the central figure who continually adopts new identities.
'Taxidermia' (2006)
Taxidermia is arguably one of the grossest and most disturbing horror films of the 21st century so far. It's something of a very dark comedy, which might lessen its impact just a little, though the horrific and disgusting sights are still confronting either way.
It involves three stories, each about half-an-hour long. One focuses on taxidermy, one focuses on a speed-eating competition, and the other on a perverted man with depraved tendencies. To discuss them in any more detail would ruin the film and potentially be disturbing to those who don't want to know any of the gory details, but it's a film that aims to shock, provoke, and unsettle, all the while commenting on the history of Hungary throughout the second half of the 20th century in a satirical manner.
'Synecdoche, New York' (2008)
In what's perhaps the strangest and most mind-bending film from writer-director Charlie Kaufman yet, Synecdoche, New York features a man - played by the late Philip Seymour Hoffman - who goes to great lengths to achieve an ambitious artistic endeavor; one that threatens to consume his entire life.
There are layers upon layers in Synecdoche, New York, to the point where it might be one of the most meta films of all time. It's a thoroughly engrossing exploration of the mind of an artist, and has a lot to offer even if you only manage to scratch its surface. It's also proven to be influential, despite its still (fairly) recent release, in particular Nathan Fielder's recent show, The Rehearsal, owing a great deal to it.