10 Mind-Bending Sci-Fi Movies That Will Melt Your Brain
6. The Fountain (2009)
The Fountain is probably the least successful movie on this list in terms of achieving what it set out to do - whilst the other mind-bending entries were all critically acclaimed, The Fountain provoked something of a mixed response. Of course, this is a sci-fi movie directed by the one and only Darren Aronofsky, which means that it was always going to be divisive: some people think it's a masterpiece, whilst others have deemed it "pretentious crap."
Originally planned to star Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett, The Fountain was intended to be even more ambitious than it already is - Aronofsky was forced to cut his budget down by half to $35 million when Pitt withdrew (he was later replaced by Hugh Jackman).
The first thing to say about The Fountain is that it a huge, crazy, sprawling work of science-fiction (with some fantasy elements thrown in, too) made up of three stories set across five time periods. As one would expect from a film rendered it such a fashion, it is inherently confusing (and rather messy). And yet the sheer vision of the movie, coupled with its mind-bending Möbius strip-esque premise, makes it an intriguing - and underrated - picture.
Somewhat tellingly, it's the kind of film that benefits from multiple viewings - didn't the critics declare Blade Runner to be a disappointment when it originally hit theatres, too?