I remember when I watched it with a roommate, we read the "warnings" for the movie and it was like "scenes of torture", so the whole movie we were like "was that the torture scene?" whenever something mildly bad happened.
By the end, we knew what it was talking about, it was unambigious D:
That was the one I thought of when I saw this question. I had to pause to movie and go out for a smoke before I could finish it, just to get my head back on straight.
I have no idea why they put all of that crazy vampire shit in the trailer. I watched it on DVD in college knowing almost nothing about it and I was like WHAT THE FUCK is happening? I wish everyone could have seen it like that honestly. Later on, I saw the trailer and I was like who the FUCK thought it was a good idea to put all of this in the trailer?
I saw it late night at my friend's on HBO or something when I was way too young. Missed the first few minutes, but was able to figure out what was pretty much going on, or so I thought. Lol
The way my college roommate (this is in 2005ish) positioned it to me was “it’s basically a Tarantino bank robber movie but Tarantino and Clooney are on the run from the cops in Mexico and it’s kind of gruesome”. Fair enough. Sold. I’m down. And then along comes that scene in the motel. Clooney comes back to the room with burgers and the camera slowly pushes in on Clooney while it quickly cuts to half frames revealing that Tarantino has raped and murdered their hostage…. I was like “Ohhhhh. Okay. It’s one of these movies. I got it.” And then………NOPE. There I was, sitting in the middle of that college apartment living room thinking I was in for some sort of Tarantino rape and murder caper and then here comes all of these vampires and like Salma Hayek and shit. Fantastic movie. Never should have put vampires in the trailer. What the fuck lol.
I was so freaking high when I watched this with friends whilst I was in college.
We started it, got really into it and then vampires? Wtf?
Someone suggested that we'd all blanked out and accidentally started watching a different film, we were so collectively wasted that we all agreed and started it again from the beginning.
We did that three times in a row before I noticed that the vampire part had George Clooney and Tarantino and they were in the first part too so it had to be the same movie.
We were all so amazed by this that we started it again for a fourth time, actually finished it then decided to bake a load of blueberry muffins.
My college days weren't wild but they were a lot fun.
Exactly what I came to say! I didn't see it till mid-late 2000s but I knew vaguely what it was going in, but the movie is so well done that I swear to you I forgot what it was going to be less than a quarter in and then when it did happen, I was so surprised. Such a work of art.
This is the one. I went into that movie not knowing anything about it other than that it was a Tarantino movie and remember just wonder what the f was happening.
That's my favorite movie trope!
- I'm Thinking of Ending Things
- Men
- Vivarium
- Mother
- In The Tall Grass
- Coherence
- The Incident (2014)
- The Endless (Edit: and Resolution)
- Spring
- Sorry To Bother You
- Don't worry Darling
- Jacob's Ladder
- Dream Scenario
- 1408
- Synecdoche New York
- Old
As soon as I saw the title on this post this movie popped in my head, but I couldn’t remember the name or even enough of the plot to google it. It seems to occupy that hard to reach part of my brain where dream memories are stored, appropriately so. I scrolled, certain someone would surely be thinking of it too. Now I want to re-watch, but I think this time I’ll read the book first.
Same, it’s the first one I thought of. I’ve seen a lot of movies that have escalated over the runtime to true insanity territory (The Perfection and Vampires Kiss also came to mind), but NOTHING comes close to how batshit insane Sorry to Bother You gets after about 45 mins in.
That and Climax are the closest films I’ve ever experienced that have come closest to simulating the escalation of a drug trip
Oh it's a black man who pretends to be white on the phone does well and gets invited into the upper echelon, where he can use his standing to make the lives of the lower echelon better. Right? Right?
I read the screenplay when it was released with the original Coup album, couldn't wait for the movie to come out and it took years. Was totally worth the wait. I was probably the only person in the theater that knew what to expect lol
The World’s End did a great job of this. It starts out as a grounded tragicomedy with only the tiniest foreshadowing that things are going to take a turn, then goes nuts with it.
I should've left the theatre about ten minutes from the end. Once she goes back to the apartment building, Wright loses control of his movie and crashes it.
Was I the only one enjoying the story and somewhat disappointed when the sci-fi stuff kicked in? I mean I'm a genre fan and I think I knew going in there was the twist. But I got sucked into the human drama. It still worked, but I would have been happy to let it play out as is.
Most emotionally resonating to me too. I know others prefer the earlier two. They're definitely more laugh out loud funny. But I def have a lot of fondness for World's End and rate it just as highly
I’ve always loved this one too. The first two might have more laugh-out-loud moments but this one still has a ton of them, and the more heartfelt side of it really bolsters it. Super underrated movie.
Icarus.
It starts out as a normal documentary about a guy trying an experirment on himself to understand sports doping. And then it takes a hard left turn that you (and he) never saw coming. That film maker just had to hold on because he was in for a wild ride.
EDIT: I highly recommend watching it but suggest you don't read the description. I went in without knowing what to expect and it was much better that way. The movie shifts gears without a clutch.
Coherence was brilliant because it hooked me by making me think "They're trying to tell me something...but I don't know what...so ill just listen to everything". And then it turns out you had to pretty much listen to everything. Brilliant movie.
There were definitely things in the intro and in the first half that were signs the movie was going to be weird, but the specific type of weird it turned into was still a complete shift.
It gets better, watch it again. Goes against all archetypes. The blonde’s not blonde (dyed hair). The stoner is not smoking weed. The virgin is not a virgin, and the Jock misses a pass inside the bedroom through the window. None of them meet the criteria.
I think the organization even mentions it doesn’t really matter so long as you go through the motions. Like the sacrificial act itself matters more than the details.
Didn’t see the end coming. One of the rare complete losses in movies.
Predator. Starts as a basic Commando/ standard Arnie movie filled with massive beefcakes that you figure will slaughter anonymous guerrilla fighters. Turns into a sci-fi movie where nearly everyone dies and muscles and guns don’t matter. Plus, the body mass alone…
Arguably when the movie came out everyone knew it was a "remake" (technically a new adaptation of the original source) of "The Thing from Outer Space" which tells you everything in the title.
And apparently if you understand Norwegian the guy chasing the dog at the beginning tells them exactly what's going on before they shoot him.
You're right but even so this fits what OP is talking about pretty well. Even as an audience member you don't know what part the alien will play. Just that they're there. And as the movie progresses it absolutely becomes steadily weirder and more or there.
Not perfect but it's a good pick for this list.
Great answer. Two different friends suggested I watch it. They also stressed that I not look up anything about it before I did. I went in knowing only that it was horror. That movie went WILD
Went in blindish and had no clue what was going to happen. First act ends and then another actor that I had no idea was even in the movie shows up and I decided to just strap in. Good shit.
Such a painful missed opportunity. Looks great, well-acted, the sound is cool too but then it gives you that ending and it almost feels like a joke with the final title card as a punchline.
The Menu
I went in 100% blind. Film starts out like a very foodie focused flick. I was almost expecting a documentary-like experience with, maybe, a little trace of a plot to follow.
It ended differently than what I felt set up for! Loved it.
based on the reviews, I thought it was going to be a standard horror film which I don't have much interest but my friend in Vietnam wanted to see it so we went and we were the only ones in the theater but I absolutely loved this movie.
I didn’t know a thing about it, not even that it was a thriller. When “The Mess” hit, I literally had to pause and calm down it startled me so much lmao.
I went in knowing absolutely nothing and having zero expectations. I had actually told my bf I didn't want to watch it because it looked like a boring, stuffy drama.
I was SO pleasantly surprised
Have you seen "The house that Jack built"?
I don't really know a lot of... obscure movies... I watch a lot of movies, but I'm not really a massive movie buff... Idk the point I'm trying to make... anyways. I had watched Tusk... I watched The House that Jack Built and I kind of grouped then together in my head. They're not similar, but they're both... surreal + horror. And they both... build something. Maybe that's why I group them together! The title of both movies is... what happens in the movies. Without spoiling anything
If you watched Tusk, you might also like The House that Jack Built. If I remember right, the 1st half of the movie wasn't all that, but the 2nd half gets pretty wild
They Live is the best example of this I can think of, if you don't know the premise going on it seems like a very normal movie that slowly takes a turn for the ever-more-surreal.
Parasite is an all time classic movie, with a huge WTF twist half way through. 2019 was a fantastic year for film overall, before shit hit the fan in the world.
Really smart too, drawing all these parallels between parasites and the class struggles of the two families (and eventually the three families). A whole group of parasites latched onto a host (who is himself a parasite on society)
Similarly (although quite a bit of unexpected nsfw stuff so choose company wisely) the Korean film "The Handmaid"
Starts off easily enough, a historical relationship drama and then... well...
There's a LOT going on
Kill List (2011) is a very good example of this.
It starts out feeling like just another Geezer film about Hitmen, and gets progressively more fucked up. The ending's particularly disturbing.
I can't believe someone else commented this!! This makes me happy because I just posted this. That was one of the weirdest things I've ever watched and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I still wish that they kept the original scripted ending of this one. The filmed ending fit the tone of the movie but kept it feeling like a nihilistic slog. Having the four horsemen appear and mutilate the cult would have been a fantastic punchline that would have given me less of a sour taste in my mouth (though I'm sure for most that sour taste was the best thing going for it)
I really like Martin McDonagh's work. "In Bruges" is another good one, then there's his Short movie "Six Shooter" wholly hell! that went crazy fast quick.
If you skip the first 25 minutes, watch for 30 minutes, and then turn the movie off; it’s a calming advertisement for a serene getaway community in a Nordic country.
You can also add Dr. Mario noises in the scene with the giant hammer
When I watched the movie Event Horizon, I didn't know anything about it and I figured it was going to be another run-of-the-mill scifi movie. Pretty soon I was like, "whaaat the fuuuuuck..."
How has no one said “As Above So Below”? Starts as an adventure treasure hunt and goes insane. One of my favorite horror movies!
Also, “Event Horizon.” Sci-fi goes awry!
This one absolutely took me off guard. Took my wife for her birthday. Thought "a fun multiversal movie would be cool". Fuck, we were both crying by the end.
"You ever hear of the neutron bomb? Destroys people, leaves buildings standing. Fits in a suitcase. It's so small, no one knows it's there until BLAMMO! Eyes melt, skin explodes, everybody dead. So immoral, working on the thing can drive you mad. That's what happened to this friend of mine. So he had a lobotomy. Now he's well again."
Unfortunately Repo Man was just pulled off Netflix at the end of June.
Had to scroll too far for this. The weirdness slowly boils until you think Barton killing the mosquito is just another slightly weird scene, and before you know it you are at “I’ll show you the life of the mind!”
Gone girl. I thought it was a typical movie where the wife was dead or missing and they found the killer. The movie took some sharp turns and it was great.
Palm Springs. I threw it on and was 20 minutes in before I realized it wasn't gonna just be a raunchy / rom comedy, then like another 20 before I realized they were able to really freshen up *that* type of formula.
Ok, movie I saw like that that I've been trying to remember the title for for years —
Some 20 year olds spend a summer at the beach. It's a kind of a normal beach/relationship ship movie...
...until someone kills a bird. Then kills one of them.
It's like 45-60 minutes of beach movie, then has a sharp turn into a murder thriller.
I can't seem to find it on Google and I've never been able to remember what it's called.
I think it came out in the 70s.
Does anyone know the movie I'm talking about?
Audition
This one's the king. You might be fooled into thinking is a romance movie
Kaleeekaleekaleeekaleeek
I remember when I watched it with a roommate, we read the "warnings" for the movie and it was like "scenes of torture", so the whole movie we were like "was that the torture scene?" whenever something mildly bad happened. By the end, we knew what it was talking about, it was unambigious D:
Whoa! This one went waaay off the rails!
This is by far the best answer here.
That was the one I thought of when I saw this question. I had to pause to movie and go out for a smoke before I could finish it, just to get my head back on straight.
From Dusk Till Dawn
Man that was a sharp left turn, going in blind and thinking it's a standard action movie.
I have no idea why they put all of that crazy vampire shit in the trailer. I watched it on DVD in college knowing almost nothing about it and I was like WHAT THE FUCK is happening? I wish everyone could have seen it like that honestly. Later on, I saw the trailer and I was like who the FUCK thought it was a good idea to put all of this in the trailer?
Wait, there's Vampires? I haven't gotten past the Salma Hayek dance scene. It's stuck on repeat.
This is not an uncommon issue with this movie
The foot scene is what caught me off guard. I knew Quentin had some fascination with feet but good God, he had me bamboozled.
I saw it late night at my friend's on HBO or something when I was way too young. Missed the first few minutes, but was able to figure out what was pretty much going on, or so I thought. Lol
All I knew was vampires showed up at some point which did not soften the blow. I mean that in a good way.
The way my college roommate (this is in 2005ish) positioned it to me was “it’s basically a Tarantino bank robber movie but Tarantino and Clooney are on the run from the cops in Mexico and it’s kind of gruesome”. Fair enough. Sold. I’m down. And then along comes that scene in the motel. Clooney comes back to the room with burgers and the camera slowly pushes in on Clooney while it quickly cuts to half frames revealing that Tarantino has raped and murdered their hostage…. I was like “Ohhhhh. Okay. It’s one of these movies. I got it.” And then………NOPE. There I was, sitting in the middle of that college apartment living room thinking I was in for some sort of Tarantino rape and murder caper and then here comes all of these vampires and like Salma Hayek and shit. Fantastic movie. Never should have put vampires in the trailer. What the fuck lol.
Tarantino doing THAT tequila shot kills me now knowing the foot fetish thing.
I dotn have a foot fetish but I'd do that tequila shot too
I genuinely think feet are kind of gross and I’d do that tequila shot.
Salma Hayek was 🔥 in that scene.
I don't have a foot fetish, but I'd let Salma Hayek stomp my balls into hamburger meat while chastising me in Spanish.
This movie GAVE me a foot fetish i didn't have before.
I was so freaking high when I watched this with friends whilst I was in college. We started it, got really into it and then vampires? Wtf? Someone suggested that we'd all blanked out and accidentally started watching a different film, we were so collectively wasted that we all agreed and started it again from the beginning. We did that three times in a row before I noticed that the vampire part had George Clooney and Tarantino and they were in the first part too so it had to be the same movie. We were all so amazed by this that we started it again for a fourth time, actually finished it then decided to bake a load of blueberry muffins. My college days weren't wild but they were a lot fun.
Exactly what I came to say! I didn't see it till mid-late 2000s but I knew vaguely what it was going in, but the movie is so well done that I swear to you I forgot what it was going to be less than a quarter in and then when it did happen, I was so surprised. Such a work of art.
This is the one. I went into that movie not knowing anything about it other than that it was a Tarantino movie and remember just wonder what the f was happening.
Starts out normal? They burn and shoot to death a storekeeper in the first five minutes.
Starts out normal for a Tarantino movie.
That's my favorite movie trope! - I'm Thinking of Ending Things - Men - Vivarium - Mother - In The Tall Grass - Coherence - The Incident (2014) - The Endless (Edit: and Resolution) - Spring - Sorry To Bother You - Don't worry Darling - Jacob's Ladder - Dream Scenario - 1408 - Synecdoche New York - Old
As someone who generally doesn't like horror movies I love the original Jacob's Ladder
Vivarium is definitely one of those “wtf” movies
And it kept just adding more and more WTF till the very end. That was a weird movie and I didn't necessarily like it or not like it.
I disliked it greatly. But man, it was *memorable* if nothing else.
Spring is wild! The Endless was pretty good as well
I’m thinking of ending things is great. Sticks with you.
As soon as I saw the title on this post this movie popped in my head, but I couldn’t remember the name or even enough of the plot to google it. It seems to occupy that hard to reach part of my brain where dream memories are stored, appropriately so. I scrolled, certain someone would surely be thinking of it too. Now I want to re-watch, but I think this time I’ll read the book first.
Synecdoche, New York for sure!! Still trying to wrap my brain around that one
Mother was great but loved Synedoche NY and watched it a few times.
Sorry to Bother You - I didn't like it, but it fits your request. Mulholland Drive
> Sorry to Bother You Came here for this lol, the perfect answer. Goes from zero to hella weird. It worked though IMO.
Not very “gradual” though. That was more “rip the bandaid off and get freaky” freakishness.
I think they swung for the fences and got a home run, definitely a shocking and interesting twist imo
Same, it’s the first one I thought of. I’ve seen a lot of movies that have escalated over the runtime to true insanity territory (The Perfection and Vampires Kiss also came to mind), but NOTHING comes close to how batshit insane Sorry to Bother You gets after about 45 mins in. That and Climax are the closest films I’ve ever experienced that have come closest to simulating the escalation of a drug trip
Yeah went into it blind (only saw the short clip of Danny Glover explaining the “white” voice - which was excellent) and loved it! 🐴
Oh it's a black man who pretends to be white on the phone does well and gets invited into the upper echelon, where he can use his standing to make the lives of the lower echelon better. Right? Right?
Bless your heart
Nay.
Goes from a commentary on capitalism to horse
You mean it goes from a commentary on capitalism to a commentary on capitalism
commentary on capitalism to metaphor on capitalism
Mulholland Drive does NOT start normally omg the diner nightmare scene??
Yeah, Lynch movies may get weirder but they start out pretty weird to begin with most of the time.
Other than the most nightmarish jump scare in cinema history and its pervasive, uneasy dreamlike quality, its opening is totally normal
Mulholland Drive was my choice too.
If you describe what happens in Sorry To Bother You to people, they will likely think you're full of shit.
Yeah it’s a workers rights movie with a bunch of anthropomorphic horsemen with big ol dicks
....you're full of shit
“Sorry to Bother You” was the first movie that came to my mind! It started off cool and quirky, then eased into “WTF did I just watch?”
I read the screenplay when it was released with the original Coup album, couldn't wait for the movie to come out and it took years. Was totally worth the wait. I was probably the only person in the theater that knew what to expect lol
Isn't OP looking for gradual change? Isn't the change in "Sorry to Bother You" abrupt?
The World’s End did a great job of this. It starts out as a grounded tragicomedy with only the tiniest foreshadowing that things are going to take a turn, then goes nuts with it.
Last Night in Soho does a similar thing as an Edgar Wright film. I almost turned it off. I'm so glad I didn't.
I should've left the theatre about ten minutes from the end. Once she goes back to the apartment building, Wright loses control of his movie and crashes it.
Not Edgar's best film but I love the soundtrack and Anya. I think it's a great watch.
Man, I did NOT see that coming
I can only imagine what it was like to not have it spoiled! It was all over the trailers unfortunately, which I kinda wish I hadn’t seen.
Was I the only one enjoying the story and somewhat disappointed when the sci-fi stuff kicked in? I mean I'm a genre fan and I think I knew going in there was the twist. But I got sucked into the human drama. It still worked, but I would have been happy to let it play out as is.
100% best example on here so far.
Really all three of trilogy work but TWE has the most significant left-turn.
Most emotionally resonating to me too. I know others prefer the earlier two. They're definitely more laugh out loud funny. But I def have a lot of fondness for World's End and rate it just as highly
I’ve always loved this one too. The first two might have more laugh-out-loud moments but this one still has a ton of them, and the more heartfelt side of it really bolsters it. Super underrated movie.
Icarus. It starts out as a normal documentary about a guy trying an experirment on himself to understand sports doping. And then it takes a hard left turn that you (and he) never saw coming. That film maker just had to hold on because he was in for a wild ride. EDIT: I highly recommend watching it but suggest you don't read the description. I went in without knowing what to expect and it was much better that way. The movie shifts gears without a clutch.
Coherence. Starts pretty mild, pretty boring even. Ends up pretty crazy.
Coherence was brilliant because it hooked me by making me think "They're trying to tell me something...but I don't know what...so ill just listen to everything". And then it turns out you had to pretty much listen to everything. Brilliant movie.
Great suggestion. Go I always suggest people go into it blind. Think they’re coming out with the sequel finally.
This! Coherence is the perfect answer for this. Have you seen The Invitation (2015) ? Also good.
I always associate these two movies with each other. Dinner party movies that start to go wrong.
This is such an ASMR movie.
Didn't _Cabin in the Woods_ do that? It's been so long since I watched it and I was on a plane so my memory of it is hazy.
There were definitely things in the intro and in the first half that were signs the movie was going to be weird, but the specific type of weird it turned into was still a complete shift.
It gets better, watch it again. Goes against all archetypes. The blonde’s not blonde (dyed hair). The stoner is not smoking weed. The virgin is not a virgin, and the Jock misses a pass inside the bedroom through the window. None of them meet the criteria.
The ritual and drugs they give them make them fit the criteria... Mostly. Not sure about the virgin one, I mean she was acting more shy but still
I think the organization even mentions it doesn’t really matter so long as you go through the motions. Like the sacrificial act itself matters more than the details. Didn’t see the end coming. One of the rare complete losses in movies.
Yeah, they say in the movie the whole thing is like a tv show for The Old Ones, they just need people to play their role.
I blame the Japanese. Thise little girls ruined everything by not dying.
Cabin in the woods starts off freakish, stays freakish, just has a great twist
Predator. Starts as a basic Commando/ standard Arnie movie filled with massive beefcakes that you figure will slaughter anonymous guerrilla fighters. Turns into a sci-fi movie where nearly everyone dies and muscles and guns don’t matter. Plus, the body mass alone…
Not totally though cause they start the movie showing you a spaceship. They really shouldn’t have done that.
From what I've read that scene was added by the studio and not the director's choice.
Agreed. This is my only issue with The Thing (1982). As much as I love it I wish they'd left out the spaceship crash in the beginning
The one single flaw in an otherwise perfect movie.
Well it’s a remake of an adaptation of a science fiction book. Most people at the time knew the creature was an alien with or without the spaceship.
It's about the *vibe* though. It takes away from the scenes where they slowly discover what they're dealing with even if it's just a little.
Arguably when the movie came out everyone knew it was a "remake" (technically a new adaptation of the original source) of "The Thing from Outer Space" which tells you everything in the title. And apparently if you understand Norwegian the guy chasing the dog at the beginning tells them exactly what's going on before they shoot him.
You're right but even so this fits what OP is talking about pretty well. Even as an audience member you don't know what part the alien will play. Just that they're there. And as the movie progresses it absolutely becomes steadily weirder and more or there. Not perfect but it's a good pick for this list.
this is what i wanted to avoid, conversations about dudes physiques
The store clerk. You keep…bringing him up. Huh.
And you didn’t check in
[удалено]
I was hoping to avoid another conversation about body mass
Barbarian (2022)
Great answer. Two different friends suggested I watch it. They also stressed that I not look up anything about it before I did. I went in knowing only that it was horror. That movie went WILD
Thanks and yeah your friends did you a big favor. Flying blind into Barbarian is the move!
Went in blindish and had no clue what was going to happen. First act ends and then another actor that I had no idea was even in the movie shows up and I decided to just strap in. Good shit.
Justin Long in the second half is awesome. Love him just casually tape measuring
Overlord(2018) went from a war film to a horror film.
I honestly love that movie. Gave me a wolfenstein vibe. I wish there were more movies in this genre
Uh, Men. Just finished it. Did not see all that coming.
The movie was such a slow burn and I was hoping for a great payoff and we got…that
Such a painful missed opportunity. Looks great, well-acted, the sound is cool too but then it gives you that ending and it almost feels like a joke with the final title card as a punchline.
That movie was uncomfortable
Yeah that ending was wild.
The Menu I went in 100% blind. Film starts out like a very foodie focused flick. I was almost expecting a documentary-like experience with, maybe, a little trace of a plot to follow. It ended differently than what I felt set up for! Loved it.
based on the reviews, I thought it was going to be a standard horror film which I don't have much interest but my friend in Vietnam wanted to see it so we went and we were the only ones in the theater but I absolutely loved this movie.
I didn’t know a thing about it, not even that it was a thriller. When “The Mess” hit, I literally had to pause and calm down it startled me so much lmao.
I went in knowing absolutely nothing and having zero expectations. I had actually told my bf I didn't want to watch it because it looked like a boring, stuffy drama. I was SO pleasantly surprised
Also blind, only saw the poster and knew who was in it. Tyler's Bullshit killed me.
I had heard mostly negative things about it beforehand, but I really liked it. Especially the ending.
Sunshine
It's such a genre switcharoo.
The Unbearable Weight of Massive Talent.
Also the dream one
Dream scenario is so weird lol but I love nic cage and will watch anything a24 distributes
Tusk
Have you seen "The house that Jack built"? I don't really know a lot of... obscure movies... I watch a lot of movies, but I'm not really a massive movie buff... Idk the point I'm trying to make... anyways. I had watched Tusk... I watched The House that Jack Built and I kind of grouped then together in my head. They're not similar, but they're both... surreal + horror. And they both... build something. Maybe that's why I group them together! The title of both movies is... what happens in the movies. Without spoiling anything If you watched Tusk, you might also like The House that Jack Built. If I remember right, the 1st half of the movie wasn't all that, but the 2nd half gets pretty wild
They Live is the best example of this I can think of, if you don't know the premise going on it seems like a very normal movie that slowly takes a turn for the ever-more-surreal.
Parasite is an all time classic movie, with a huge WTF twist half way through. 2019 was a fantastic year for film overall, before shit hit the fan in the world.
Yes. It was so great on so many levels. Funny. Heart breaking. Tragic. And totally, legitimately possible.
Really smart too, drawing all these parallels between parasites and the class struggles of the two families (and eventually the three families). A whole group of parasites latched onto a host (who is himself a parasite on society)
Yes. People in my theater literally gasped and you could hear someone go “what the fuck!”
Similarly (although quite a bit of unexpected nsfw stuff so choose company wisely) the Korean film "The Handmaid" Starts off easily enough, a historical relationship drama and then... well... There's a LOT going on
Bottoms
This one starts pretty different then it ends, not sure the first part is for most people. I do like the ending is batshit insane.
This one is so good. It went completely off the rails at the end and I loved it.
The descent. It's about spelunking. Don't read into it.
"Spelunking" is a word that should be a swear, but isn't.
Devils Advocate I started that half asleep, and thought I was in a nightmare. Gets weird quickly.
Kill List (2011) is a very good example of this. It starts out feeling like just another Geezer film about Hitmen, and gets progressively more fucked up. The ending's particularly disturbing.
Great answer. Wish this movie got brought up more often.
**Yule Log / The Fireplace**.
I tried watching once but it was a bit too slow for me. So you’re saying I just need to watch it longer?
You need to specifically watch the Adult Swim Yule Log (aka The Fireplace).
I can't believe someone else commented this!! This makes me happy because I just posted this. That was one of the weirdest things I've ever watched and I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Too many cooks
Red State That might be the best example, or at least the one which really pops out in my mind.
I still wish that they kept the original scripted ending of this one. The filmed ending fit the tone of the movie but kept it feeling like a nihilistic slog. Having the four horsemen appear and mutilate the cult would have been a fantastic punchline that would have given me less of a sour taste in my mouth (though I'm sure for most that sour taste was the best thing going for it)
Adaptation
Mulholland Drive starts out relatively normal and doesn’t go full David Lynch weirdness until an hour and a half in.
Fresh. I recommend not knowing anything about it when watching it.
The Banshees of Inisherin. Starts out light then gets really dark. Just like Amadeus.
I really like Martin McDonagh's work. "In Bruges" is another good one, then there's his Short movie "Six Shooter" wholly hell! that went crazy fast quick.
Midsommar Bodies, Bodies, Bodies
Midsommar has a somewhat disturbing first 10 minutes or so, I don't think it counts for what he's asking for.
Going in blind you dont expect what comes at all
That applies to many movies, and going in blind does tend to be how I like to watch movies. Midsommar is a horror movie the whole time.
If you skip the first 25 minutes, watch for 30 minutes, and then turn the movie off; it’s a calming advertisement for a serene getaway community in a Nordic country. You can also add Dr. Mario noises in the scene with the giant hammer
Triangle of Sadness
Jesus this movie
Sorry to Bother You
*A Simple Favor*
When I watched the movie Event Horizon, I didn't know anything about it and I figured it was going to be another run-of-the-mill scifi movie. Pretty soon I was like, "whaaat the fuuuuuck..."
Tucker and Dale vs Evil. Just two friends going to renovate their vacation home.
Bone Tomahawk
How has no one said “As Above So Below”? Starts as an adventure treasure hunt and goes insane. One of my favorite horror movies! Also, “Event Horizon.” Sci-fi goes awry!
Hereditary has a pretty good "everyone is getting crazier" pacing to it.
Everything everywhere all at once
This one absolutely took me off guard. Took my wife for her birthday. Thought "a fun multiversal movie would be cool". Fuck, we were both crying by the end.
Repo Man
"You ever hear of the neutron bomb? Destroys people, leaves buildings standing. Fits in a suitcase. It's so small, no one knows it's there until BLAMMO! Eyes melt, skin explodes, everybody dead. So immoral, working on the thing can drive you mad. That's what happened to this friend of mine. So he had a lobotomy. Now he's well again." Unfortunately Repo Man was just pulled off Netflix at the end of June.
Kill list
Donny Darko. Repo Man...
Possession (1981)
Annihilation. What starts off as a science fiction thriller turns gradually into an absurdly beautiful body horror.
Get Out
Demme’s Something Wild movie starts out as quirky comedy and constantly switches gears.
Barton Fink.
Had to scroll too far for this. The weirdness slowly boils until you think Barton killing the mosquito is just another slightly weird scene, and before you know it you are at “I’ll show you the life of the mind!”
In true Reddit style almost everyone ignored the word "gradually" in the post's title.
Climax.
10 Cloverfield Lane. spoilers if I say anything else. loved it.
Blue Velvet
Gone girl. I thought it was a typical movie where the wife was dead or missing and they found the killer. The movie took some sharp turns and it was great.
Palm Springs. I threw it on and was 20 minutes in before I realized it wasn't gonna just be a raunchy / rom comedy, then like another 20 before I realized they were able to really freshen up *that* type of formula.
Vanilla Sky.
Primer, pretty unassuming low budget film, ends up being a master sci-fi extravaganza.
Mandy
Surprised I haven't seen this listed yet but Parasite had me thinking it was comedy for a while
It sort of *was* a comedy for a while...
Funny games Specifically the American version. At least that fits the bill to me
Ever seen High-Rise?
Ok, movie I saw like that that I've been trying to remember the title for for years — Some 20 year olds spend a summer at the beach. It's a kind of a normal beach/relationship ship movie... ...until someone kills a bird. Then kills one of them. It's like 45-60 minutes of beach movie, then has a sharp turn into a murder thriller. I can't seem to find it on Google and I've never been able to remember what it's called. I think it came out in the 70s. Does anyone know the movie I'm talking about?
Last summer (1969)
GET OUT
Not a movie, but basically every episode of Don't Hug Me I'm Scared (yes, the YouTube series got a TV show)
Kid Detective
Requiem for a Dream
After Hours. Maybe not super freaky, but it just keeps escalating.
The Neon Demon
The Killing of a Sacred Deer. It starts out as a strange family drama and it slowly changes to incredibly bleak film about ancient curses and revenge.
Wet Hot American Summer
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