10 Ways Movies Blew Your Mind Without You Even Realising

2. The "Impossible" Mirror Shot - Contact

Robert Zemeckis' 1997 sci-fi cult classic Contact opens with one of the most technically impressive shots in film history, albeit one that lets its genius flash by so quickly it's easy for audiences to take it entirely for granted.

The scene in question is the "impossible" mirror shot early in the film, where a young Ellie (Jena Malone) runs upstairs to get her father's medicine from the bathroom cabinet, concluding with the reveal that we've actually been watching Ellie's run in the reflection of the bathroom mirror the entire time.

It's still brain-breakingly brilliant today, even if the relatively subtle and fleeting nature of the transition makes it easy for viewers to gloss over it completely.

In actuality, Zemeckis executed the shot by filming three different takes which were then digitally stitched together: Ellie running towards the camera, Ellie opening the cabinet (with a blue screen taking the place of the mirror itself), and the picture of Ellie and her father for when the cabinet closes again.

Of course we all know that this shot couldn't be achieved practically, but in the moment while you're watching it, especially back in the late-90s, it's easy not to appreciate just how much work it took to bring the final result to fruition.