20 Brilliant Mind-F*ck Movies

9. Brazil

Popping up on this list for the second time, Terry Gilliam brought us his best brain-bender yet with Brazil back in 1985. With a cast including Robert De Niro, Michael Palin, Ian Holm and the late, great Bob Hoskins to back him up, Brazil sees Gilliam at his barmy best.

This one€™s set in a miserable future where mankind relies on rather naff and whimsical machines. The influence of George Orwell is obvious in the totalitarian government backdrop, but Gilliam brings touches of comedy to shake up the assumed formula.

Jonathan Pryce play€™s Sam Lowry, a lowly government pion who gets sent to investigate a computer error that got the wrong man killed as a result of a suspected terrorist plot involving an air conditioning expert. In doing so, Sam meets a girl he€™s literally seen before in his dreams. Things only get weirder from there, as Gilliam and his distorted dystopia swerve around audience expectations at every turn.

Contributor
Contributor

Film & TV journo. Quite tall.