7. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a masterful sci-fi drama from Michel Gondry, which revolves around Joel (Jim Carrey), a man who discovers that his ex-girlfriend Clementine (Kate Winslet) has had the painful memories of their relationship erased, and he opts to have the same procedure performed. During the surgery, Joel realises he wants to keep hold of these memories, no matter what pain they cause, making for one of the most brilliantly surreal films in the history of cinema. Though it would be absurd to claim that the procedure depicted is in any way close to something we are capable of, Gondry's methodology actually makes a lot of sense, given the scientific belief of the compartmentalisation of memories, with facts and cherised life memories being distinctly separate in the brain. Given the very precise nature of the memories erased, it makes sense that the movie depicts them as linked through a neural network, and while this tech could be centuries away (optimistically speaking), it would probably be targeted in just such a way and is theoretically plausible. Charlie Kaufman could have written the movie without any scientific explanation whatsoever and it still would have been great, yet boldly, he opts to have a go, and it totally works.