1. Primer
Plot summary- Four engineers work in a garage in their spare time. Two discover time travel and dont tell the others. They use it to make money on the stock market. Then I really cant help you much, but it all goes wrong.
Why is it confusing? The fact that one critic said anybody who claims he fully understands whats going on in Primer after seeing it just once is either a savant or a liar when discussing Shane Carruths masterpiece perhaps justifies its presence at the top of this list. By featuring a revolutionarily conceptual and unglamorous approach to time travel, specialist terminology, and advanced mathematical theories, you cant help but feel that you really do need a degree to comprehend what you just watched when this film finishes. Credit has to go to director Shane Carruth for also producing, writing, scoring and starring in the film, all the while keeping the budget at a mere 7000 dollars. Oh, did I also mention that he is a mathematics graduate, studied physics in depth to make the film, and deliberately made its content inherently complicated. Thanks Shane. Based on this it probably wouldnt be too bold to suggest that Primer could have been made with its directors own enjoyment greatly in mind. Despite the confusion, Primer is a very original film, which approaches the trite subject of time travel is a very original fashion. The fact that it regularly tops lists like this and has risen to cult status prove that it is a imaginative, powerful piece of art as well as the most confusing film of all time.