12 Movies That Aren't As Pretentious As You Think
They're smart movies. Get over it.
There's perhaps no word more overused in online film discussion than "pretentious." In ideal conditions, it's used to describe films which imply a far greater sense of intelligence, importance and profundity than is actually the case, typically disguised by showy direction or flowery writing.
These movies make a distinct and typically over-eager attempt to impress the viewer while possessing little self-awareness of their own preciousness.
Some ripe candidates for the moniker just might include most of Terrence Malick's late-period filmography, pretty much everything made by Richard Kelly (yes, even Donnie Darko), Nicolas Winding Refn's recent movies Only God Forgives and The Neon Demon, and of course, controversial Best Picture winner Crash.
Hell, even Tommy Wiseau's The Room is a pretentious movie despite its hilarity: Wiseau made the film with all the serious intent in the world, but not-so-convincingly changed his tune when he realised he could cash-in on the irony of it all.
But if you Google "pretentious movie", before long you'll find these 12 films showing up, despite the fact that they're all anything but.
In some cases it's possible to see how a surface-level reading might make these films seem a tad up themselves, but if you're really paying attention and engaging with what they actually have to say, that's just not the case...