12 Sci-Fi Movies That Purposefully Mess With Your Head

No list of sci-fi mind screws would be complete without a visit from everyone’s favourite moody teen and his creepy rabbit best mate Frank. Anchored by a career-igniting performance from Jake Gyllenhall, Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko tells the story of a small-town teen plagued by cryptic visions of an impending apocalypse and attempting to decipher the clues whilst also getting into standard-issue “misunderstood teen tries to navigate suburban existence” scrapes.

The story may be hard to parse first time around, but unlike Kelly’s later flops The Box and Southland Tales there’s method to Donnie’s madness. Eagle eyed viewers - or those who have watched the film obsessively - will be able to understand that the film actually tells, in glimpses, the story of Donnie’s eventual self-sacrifice, with his pivotal role in the events surrounding him foreshadowing his ability to save the world.

Or you can just keep enjoying it as an impeccably sound-tracked mind f**k, your call.