Some movie directors love to let their freak flags fly. Whether making weird, subversive movies with surreal imagery and purposely confounding plots or challenging the notions of "right," "wrong," and everything in between, these filmmakers push the boundaries of taste and convention.

From maestros like David Lynch with films like Eraserhead to newcomers like The Daniels to their Academy Award-winning movie Everything Everywhere All at Once these directors embrace the bizarre and outlandish, elevating it to new heights and turning it into art. And while all of these creators live in the "weird" spectrum, some are more committed to it than others.

10 Terry Gilliam

Jonathan Pryce and Terry Gilliam

Well-known as a member of Monty Python, Terry Gilliam is also famous for his directorial efforts. Exploring diverse genres, themes, and styles, Gilliam's resumé includes fantasy adventures like Time Bandits, cerebral sci-fi thrillers like 12 Monkeys, and black comedies like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.

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Gilliam's 1985 dystopian black comedy Brazil remains a standard of surreal cinema. Mixing societal critique with freakish and imaginative imagery, Brazil is a visionary masterpiece that challenges and confuses. And while Gilliam's future filmography lacks the same bravado, Brazil is enough to cement his weird legacy.

9 The Daniels

The Daniels: Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert posing together with hotdog hands
Image via A24/Allyson Riggs

Two movies were enough to establish the director duo of Daniel Kwan and Daniel Scheinert — collectively known as the Daniels — as masters of the weird. Their feature debut, the delightfully offbeat Swiss Army Man, is a bizarre yet rewarding adventure that introduced their unique and remarkably odd style to critics and audiences.

However, their follow-up, the Oscar-winning sci-fi movie Everything Everywhere All at Once, perfectly blends their maximalist style and mainstream audiences' sensibilities. A multiversal adventure with ideas to spare, Everything Everywhere is emotional and thought-provoking without sacrificing an ounce of weirdness.

8 David Cronenberg

David Cronenberg in Star Trek Discovery
Image via Paramount

David Cronenberg is the ultimate master of body horror. His films explore the intricacies of the body, the dangers of the mind, and the relationship between humans with technology. Featuring visceral and uncompromising imagery, Cronenberg's films are nightmarish experiences.

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From the terrifying strangeness of The Brood to the disturbing themes in Dead Ringers, Cronenberg's movies are prime examples of the fascinating quality of the odd and misunderstood. His 1991 picture Naked Lunch is a spectacularly odd and creative effort that ranks as one of cinema's most daring and eccentric films.

7 Yorgos Lanthimos

Yorgos Lanthimos behind the scenes on The Lobster.

The remarkably weird Yorgos Lanthimos offers films that are intriguing, slightly disturbing, and extremely memorable. The Greek auteur marches to the beat of his own drum, delivering insightful and thought-provoking pieces exploring the darkest sides of the human psyche.

From the unsettling drama Dogtooth to the offbeat dark comedy The Lobster to the disquieting psychological thriller The Killing of the Sacred Deer, Lanthimos is a unique force in modern Hollywood. And if his future films are any indication, he shows no sign of stopping with his unique brand of disturbing quirk.

6 Alejandro Jodorowsky

man with white hair in room with blue backdrop

If someone were to look up the term "avant-garde director" in the dictionary, a picture of Alejandro Jodorowsky would probably appear. The Chilean-French director is a bastion of cult cinema, with his films becoming favorites of the midnight movie circuit.

His films El Topo and The Holy Mountain are masterpieces of psychedelic cinema that waste no moment to challenge conventions, particularly religious ones. Jodorowsky's directorial efforts might be few, but they are significant pieces of cinematic history thanks to their daring and subversive nature, not to mention their refreshingly weird approach.

5 Werner Herzog

jack_reacher_werner herzog

Arguably the most significant figure of New German Cinema, Werner Herzog is a cinematic institution. Herzog's movies are brave and profound, relentlessly interesting and incapable of restraining themselves, luring and keeping audiences on edge with their myriad of ideas.

In his seminal manifesto "Minessota Declaration: Truth and Fact in Documentary Cinema," Herzog declares that "facts sometimes have a strange and bizarre power that makes the inherent truth seem unbelievable." This elusive yet revealing statement summarizes his films, from the wild 1970s movie Even Dwarfs Started Small to Heart of Glass.

4 Lars von Trier

man at sea with camera

The controversial Danish filmmaker and co-creator of the Danish film movement "Dogma 95," Lars von Trier is among cinema's most divisive figures. Extreme and unsubtle, von Trier's films are highly ambitious yet polarizing explorations of the human mind, particularly the darkest and most intimate corners.

Avant-garde projects like Dogville, absurdist horror efforts like the miniseries Riget, and art films like the brutally horrific Antichrist cement von Trier as one of cinema's most singular filmmakers. His excessive style might not be for everyone, but at least no one can say von Trier's films are boring.

3 John Waters

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Image via FX

John Waters is a provocative and highly influential filmmaker and the ultimate arbiter of bad taste. A leading figure in the queer community, Waters' movies are transgressive and refreshing looks into those downtrodden and cast aside.

RELATED: Every John Waters Film, Ranked

The 1970s saw him create his weird and seminal trilogy of Multiple Maniacs, Pink Flamingos, and Female Trouble. Polarizing and openly challenging their audiences, the films are daring in nature and rich in subtext, at least for audiences willing to look past their grotesque surface. Waters' future films remained refreshing and subversive, even if they lacked the scandalous bite of his projects from the '70s.

2 Luis Buñuel

Luis Buñuel directing on set.

Spanish-Mexican director Luis Buñuel is an icon of surreal cinema. His brutal and uncompromising approach marked a turning point in 1960s cinema, with his films pushing the boundaries of avant-garde surrealism.

Buñuel's seminal 1929 surreal silent film Un Chien Andalou remains a masterpiece of cinema, shocking audiences nearly a century after its creation. Future Buñuel films would use confusing but alluring imagery to explore themes of class, politics, religion, and society, from the early surreal comedy L'Age d'Or tense and psychologically violent The Exterminating Angel.

1 David Lynch

David Lynch on set directing with film camera.

David Lynch is truly a one-of-a-kind filmmaker. His films aim to provoke their audience, daring them to understand them while offering enough shocking imagery to wow even the strongest wills. Using common settings to uncover uncommon truths, Lynch's projects peel the layers of Americana to deliver the toxicity and danger within.

From his disturbing and iconic Eraserhead to his confusing neo-noir masterpiece Mulholland Drive, Lynch's filmography is a paradise for seekers of the weird and obtuse. There are no clear answers here, just a series of ideas and theories that can simultaneously make sense or seem completely implausible.

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