While everyone loves a good dumb action movie or a simple rom-com from time to time, few film lovers would deny that there is hardly a more exciting or engaging movie-going experience than seeing a great, twisty, mind-boggling masterpiece. Whether these flicks left audiences in a state of shock with a huge revelation at the end of the story, or were just so loaded with heady ideas and complex plot points that it was too much to digest in one viewing, these movies are completely different the second time around.

With some of Hollywood's best filmmakers – including Christopher Nolan, David Fincher, Stanley Kubrick, and Alfred Hitchcock – all represented, these movies have become timeless classics because of the rewarding experience they offer when revisited. From cerebral science-fiction stunners to heart-pounding horrors that harrow and haunt, these 11 films only get better the more they are watched.

11 'Fight Club' (1999)

Directed by David Fincher

Not only one of the most famous films of the modern age of cinema, but boasting arguably the greatest plot twist in film history, Fight Club is a quintessential picture that continues to impact pop culture over 20 years after its release. It follows an insomniac whose dissatisfied existence finds a purpose when he meets Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) and forms an underground "Fight Club" which quickly becomes something much more sinister.

Fight Club's anti-consumerist punch and its introspective critique of overt masculinity can strike audiences as being an eccentric glorification of violence and a striking rebellion against modernity. With the mystery of who, or what, exactly Tyler Durden is defining much of the latter part of the film, a repeat viewing may be necessary to not only see all the signs of the twist to come, but to embrace the film's actual message of the dangers of toxic masculinity.

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10 'The Sixth Sense' (1999)

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

Still viewed as M. Night Shyamalan's defining masterpiece, The Sixth Sense is famous for its iconic twist which has had many first-time viewers rewatching the film immediately to see the shocking revelation being broadcast in plain sight throughout. It focuses on Dr. Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), a child psychologist who works with a disturbed young boy in Cole Sear (Haley Joel Osment) who claims he can see dead people.

Mixing elements of classic Hollywood drama with modern horror and some surprisingly poignant ghost stories, The Sixth Sense was entirely captivating, and was one of the few horror movies to have been nominated for an Academy Award for Best Picture. What makes a second viewing so effective though isn't just how obvious The Sixth Sense's twist seems, but how well it feeds into the story as a brilliant narrative point even more so than a shocking revelation.

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9 '12 Monkeys' (1995)

Directed by Terry Gilliam

Inspired by the French short film La Jetée, 12 Monkeys has stood the test of time as a mind-bending masterpiece of sci-fi, time-travel cinema. Starting in a disease-ravaged future where the few pockets of humanity still alive have been forced underground, it follows a prisoner who is sent back to the mid-1990s to uncover the origin of the virus, pursuing leads on a terrorist group known as "The Army of the Twelve Monkeys."

In addition to exploring a number of red herrings and half-truths surrounding the mysterious organization, the film also delves deep into time travel paradoxes with James Coles' (Bruce Willis) haunting memories of a man being shot in an airport coming to a brilliant though harrowing revelation. A film that practically demands a second viewing, 12 Monkeys presents Terry Gilliam at his thought-provoking and evocative best.

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8 'Crazy, Stupid, Love' (2011)

Directed by Glenn Ficarra & John Requa

While a romantic comedy probably isn't the first thing many would think of when pondering movies that need to be revisited in order to be fully appreciated, Crazy, Stupid, Love does manage to drop some significant twists on the audience. It follows Cal Weaver (Steve Carell), a middle-aged family man whose wife asks for a divorce, prompting him to frequent bars where he befriends Jacob (Ryan Gosling), a charismatic womanizer who takes Cal under his wing while pursuing the possibility of a genuine relationship with Hannah (Emma Stone).

While the film is consistently funny, it becomes truly hilarious near the end when a completely unexpected link between Cal and Hannah is revealed, seeing a family event deteriorate into a hysterical fight. As funny as it is though, the unexpected twist also packs an interesting punch on rewatch, one which analyzes Jacob's behavior and attitude towards women in a completely new light.

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7 'Memento' (2000)

Directed by Christopher Nolan

The early breakout from Christopher Nolan, Memento saw the famed filmmaker at his time-bending, narrative-stretching best. A gripping revenge thriller at its core, it follows a former insurance investigator as he works tirelessly to find the man who murdered his wife, a vendetta made all the more difficult as he lives with anterograde amnesia and has to rely on tattoos, photographs, and notes to figure out the identity of the killer.

With the active revenge story being told in reverse to immerse audiences in Leonard’s (Guy Pearce) headspace, the film is an enthralling watch on first viewing, but a complicated one. Knowing where all the plot threads lead and how Leonard is being manipulated by those around him actually allows the audience to appreciate what each scene is achieving without making their minds run forward to try to figure it out.

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6 'Unbreakable' (2000)

Directed by M. Night Shyamalan

While The Sixth Sense is undeniably Shyamalan's magnum opus, Unbreakable was the film that proved he was more than just a one-hit wonder. A grounded and gritty superhero story, it follows David Dunn (Bruce Willis) a security guard with advanced strength who stands as the sole survivor of a catastrophic train wreck, an event which leads to him being contacted by Elijah Price (Samuel L. Jackson), a comic-book collector with a rare brittle bone disease, who believes that he and David may be linked by fate.

Its meshing of narrative and tone was a peculiar mixture, especially for superhero cinema at the time, and Unbreakable made for an engrossing, bleak, and meditative take on the genre which is arguably even more compelling today. It also maintained the director's great love of hitting the audience with a major plot twist which forces them to think on the story and characters in a whole new light.

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5 'Donnie Darko' (2001)

Directed by Richard Kelly

One of the most iconic movies of the 21st century thus far, Donnie Darko has earned critical acclaim and enduring fan admiration as an intelligent and baffling sci-fi drama. It follows Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal), a disenchanted teenager who, after surviving a freak accident, is plagued by visions of a man in a creepy rabbit suit who tells him the world is nearing its end.

An incredible effort from Richard Kelly in what was his directorial debut, Donnie Darko thrived as a moody and atmospheric picture with a terrific central performance from Jake Gyllenhaal in what was his major breakout. Loaded with heady themes and a winding narrative that is difficult to predict, Donnie Darko offers plenty on a repeat viewing, and tends to only get better with every rewatch.

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4 'Arrival' (2016)

Directed by Denis Villeneuve

Standing as Denis Villeneuve’s first foray into science-fiction film – a genre he has now become a master of – Arrival was a brilliant dramatic story interspersed with sequences of the protagonist’s family life which, for much of the film, audiences may assume are flashbacks. The major narrative, however, follows a linguistics professor as she is enlisted by the military to communicate with one of twelve alien ships that have arrived on Earth.

The film throws a lot in the audience’s direction as a first-time viewing experience, with its thought-provoking and intense narrative being complimented by an awe-inspiring sense of spectacle and plenty of philosophically challenging scenarios. Revisiting Arrival allows viewers to grasp the nuances and shifting political tensions of the main story with more confidence, while also enabling them to comprehend the true tragedy of time-jumping family sequences.

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3 'The Prestige' (2006)

Directed by Christopher Nolan

A true master of head-scratching narratives, Christopher Nolan was at his mind-boggling best with the period thriller The Prestige. Transpiring throughout the 1890s, it follows Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), two London-based magicians whose friendly rivalry turns volatile following the death of Angier's lover. With each showman trying to outperform the other, their feud turns violent as they each try to create the greatest magic trick of all time.

While it explores the lives, careers, and crippling obsession of both men, The Prestige refuses to reveal their true nature, and the secrets of their performances, until the final moments, which shed light on everything with disturbing results. An exceptional head-scratcher that comes to a bold conclusion, Nolan's adaptation of Christopher Priest's novel is endlessly rewatchable, with more being seen with each repeat viewing.

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2 Psycho (1960)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock

A classic horror from the master of the genre, Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho uses many technical tricks to heighten the suspense, but what truly made it excel as a harrowing viewing experience was its incredibly intelligent story and the manner in which Hitchcock brought it to the screen. The film follows Marion (Janet Leigh) as she steals a sum of money from her employer and hits the road, winding up at the Bates Motel where she begins to reconsider her erratic decision.

However, she is brutally murdered before she can make amends, leading her sister and her lover to embark on a search for her which leads them right to Bates Motel and its mild-mannered proprietor and one of horror's greatest villains, Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). With another shocking twist happening at the end of the film, Psycho is an assertive horror film that only gets more disturbing on the second viewing.

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1 '2001: A Space Odyssey' (1968)

Directed by Stanley Kubrick

One of the most famous movies of all time of any genre, 2001: A Space Odyssey is a quintessential viewing experience for any film lover, and it demands repeat watches to be understood and appreciated. Revolving around a mystical obelisk which serves as a catalyst for major evolutionary leaps, it primarily follows the crew of a ship en route to Jupiter to find answers on the mysterious object while being aided by an advanced computer in HAL 9000.

With its winding narratives being only related through ideas and themes, the film throws a lot at its audiences without feeling the need to explain itself, something which can be overwhelming on first watch given its almighty sense of sci-fi spectacle. Also boasting an enigmatic ending which is still fiercely debated over half a century later, the Stanley Kubrick masterpiece enables the viewer to truly form their own relationship with it on a second viewing.

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