20 Brilliant Mind-F*ck Movies

20. Vanilla Sky

Cameron Crowe of Jerry Maguire and Almost Famous isn€™t the first name you€™d associate with mind-blowing movie-going experiences, but with 2001€™s Vanilla Sky, the writer-director took an unpredictable turn into science-fiction-meets-psychological-thriller territory.

Starring Tom Cruise and Penelope Cruz, Vanilla Sky is a remake of the 1997 Spanish-language film Open Your Eyes. Cruise€™s David recaps a baffling story of disfigurement and murder with unexplainable inconsistencies (such as, David visits his girlfriend€™s house to find his ex there in her place, with all the photographs edited to show her instead) to his psychiatrist.

The further the story goes, the harder it is to make sense of it. The film raises more questions that you might think it able to answer, but the third act attempts to make some sense of the confusion. It succeeds to an extent, earning a place on this list.

Contributor
Contributor

Film & TV journo. Quite tall.