10 Movies That Get Basic Facts Wrong

2. Humans Only Use 10% Of Their Brains - Lucy

Luc Besson's 2014 action film Lucy was widely ridiculed by audiences for further perpetuating the myth that human beings only use 10% of their brains, with the titular protagonist (Scarlett Johansson) unlocking enhanced use of her gray matter after being dosed with an experimental drug.

While the film as a whole is thoroughly silly and hardly something to be taken seriously, the 10% shtick is actually presented in Lucy's marketing and the movie itself as a legitimate, undisputed fact with the implication of scientific authenticity.

To the lay-person who doesn't do their own research - that's a solid 90% of people who saw the movie - they'd probably take the claim at face value, no matter that Lucy ends with Scarlett Johansson literally turning into a USB drive.

In actuality, scientists have long known thanks to brain imaging technology that the overwhelming majority of the brain is in active use at any one time, while the 10% myth was originally popularised by a quote in Dale Carnegie's 1936 book How to Win Friends and Influence People.

Since then it's endured throughout pop culture, and what better way to further propogate the myth than in a blockbuster movie that made almost a half-billion dollars at the worldwide box office?