10 Sci-Fi Movies That Broke All The Rules
1. Explaining Almost Nothing To The Audience - Primer
Though many huge-budget sci-fi movies like to leave audiences with something ambiguous to consider for themselves, almost all of these films still give viewers a healthy serving of narrative meat to chew on.
And so for everyone who thinks that 2001: A Space Odyssey is too vague and explains too little, it positively holds the audience's hand compared to Shane Carruth's innovative 2004 indie sci-fi Primer.
Even the most measured sci-fi movie will typically make sure that viewers more-or-less know what's happening at any one time, but Primer is a grounded time travel film which boldly refuses to curtail its scientific techno-babble for the sake of the audience.
The two lead characters talk to one another through mostly impenetrable, mumbled dialogue which leaves viewers to figure out much of the context, beyond the obvious fact that the pair have clearly managed to invent a time machine.
As a result Primer remains a hugely divisive film, though it's certainly nothing if not a minimalist breath of fresh air in a genre known for its patronising, overdone expository dialogue.