15 Fascinating Premises That Were Bigger Than The Movies Themselves

15. The Truman Show

The Premise: Truman is the centre of the biggest reality TV show on Earth, as cameras track him every minute of the day; the only catch is that he's completely unaware he lives in a constructed reality. We've all seen films in which the lead character is trapped and can't escape, whether it's from prison, or even a coffin in the ground. What makes The Truman Show so ingenious though, is that Truman has to escape from reality television. His parents aren't really his parents, his wife is an actor, and the producers all live in the a fake moon, that hangs in the studio's sky. Naturally as the film progresses it turns into a mystery, as Truman longs to see more of the world, becoming suspicious of his surroundings before making his escape. There are so many levels to explore, from the idea of TV execs playing God to the construction of a utopia; it's easily one of the most thought-provoking blockbusters of the last twenty years. And whilst it's obviously a huge statement on modern life, it's now genuinely a medical condition; psychiatrist Joel Gold revealed in 2008 that he'd met a handful of schizophrenia patients who believed they were the subject of a reality TV show, and that he'd heard of a dozen more. It's that thought-provoking, it's triggered a medical condition.