37 Movies That Are So Clever, They'll Have You Thinking For Days

*Sits in silence and thinks about what I just watched*

We asked the BuzzFeed Community to tell us which movies totally melted their minds and made them think. Here are the wild results.

1. Nocturnal Animals (2016)

Focus Features

What it's about: "A wealthy art gallery owner is haunted by her ex-husband's novel, a violent thriller she interprets as a symbolic revenge tale."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It’s raw and real, and it left me with a weird feeling about this already messed-up world."

—leahsbz

2. The Lobster (2015)

Film4

What it's about: "In a dystopian future, single people, according to the laws of The City, are taken to The Hotel, where they are obliged to find a romantic partner in 45 days or are transformed into beasts and sent off into The Woods."

Why it'll melt your mind: "Even though the plot is pretty simple, the movie is the weirdest freaking thing I have ever seen."

—florencer4cad972dc

3. We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)

Oscilloscope Laboratories

What it's about: "Kevin's mother struggles to love her strange child, despite the increasingly dangerous things he says and does as he grows up. But Kevin is just getting started, and his final act will be beyond anything anyone imagined."

Why it'll melt your mind: "I've watched this movie multiple times, and just seeing how everything unfolds is so unnerving. It'll make you think for days."

—EmilyTheIt

4. Ex Machina (2014)

A24

What it's about: "A young programmer is selected to participate in a groundbreaking experiment in synthetic intelligence by evaluating the human qualities of a highly advanced humanoid AI."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It's a little creepy, but it draws you in. I was thinking about it for days after I first watched it."

—oliviab4e8e85370

5. Funny Games (1997)

Concorde-Castle Rock / Turner

What it's about: "Two violent young men take a mother, father, and son hostage in their vacation cabin and force them to play sadistic 'games' with one another for their own amusement."

Why it'll melt your mind: "This movie messed me UP! I tried to watch it a second time later on, but I couldn't take it anymore. I had to turn it off. It's just so real and disturbing and will make you think about what you'd do if you were in similar situations."

—juliannaraem

6. Cloud Atlas (2012)

Warner Bros. Pictures

What it's about: "An exploration of how the actions of individual lives impact one another in the past, present, and future, as one soul is shaped from a killer into a hero, and an act of kindness ripples across centuries to inspire a revolution."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It's soooo intriguing, and part of you will leave completely baffled."

—rachelc77

7. Nightcrawler (2014)

Open Road Films

What it's about: "When Louis Bloom, a con man desperate for work, muscles into the world of LA crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It realllllly messed with me, and it made me look differently at the people I trust."

—jacobg48cf95235

8. The Skin I Live In (2011)

El Deseo S.A.

What it's about: "A brilliant plastic surgeon, haunted by past tragedies, creates a type of synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession."

Why it'll melt your mind: "This one made me feel so many things. It's dark, sad, and moving."

—reneenicolem

9. Dancer in the Dark (2000)

Fine Line Features

What it's about: "An Eastern European woman travels to the United States with her young son, expecting it to be like a Hollywood film."

Why it'll melt your mind: "I saw it in theaters when it came out. Twenty years later, and I have not been brave enough to watch it again. It was absolutely brilliant but so emotionally draining. Björk is amazing, and the contrast of her musical numbers scattered amid a depressing plot is magical."

—Amanda Lee B

10. Jesus Camp (2006)

Magnolia Pictures

What it's about: "A documentary on kids who attend a summer camp hoping to become the next Billy Graham."

Why it'll melt your mind: "I got into the habit of watching documentaries while at the gym. I had to turn this one off and restart it at home because it was so bizarre and deserved my undivided attention. It was so wild. It was like a last-call drink that I regretted having."

—jcantu

11. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

B.O.M. Film Productions Co.

What it's about: "Shortly after arriving home to their cruel parents from their time at a mental institution, two sisters' lives are interrupted by the presence of a ghost."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It's brilliantly scary, honestly terrifying, gorgeously shot, and has such a great twist ending that'll really make you think."

—andrewm440ca664e

12. White Bird in a Blizzard (2014)

Magnolia Pictures

What it's about: "In 1988, a teenage girl's life is thrown into chaos when her mother disappears."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It'll make you question whether or not you truly know the people around you."

—RockChick19

13. Arrival (2016)

Paramount Pictures

What it's about: "A linguist works with the military to communicate with alien life-forms after 12 mysterious spacecraft appear around the world."

Why it'll melt your mind: "I finished the movie and sat in silence while trying to piece together what I just watched. Just trust me on this one."

—JazzyCatsinDisneyland

14. Coherence (2013)

Oscilloscope Laboratories

What it's about: "Strange things begin to happen when a group of friends gather for a dinner party on an evening when a comet is passing overhead."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It's amazing. I watched it for the first time with some friends at around 4 a.m., and it completely fucked all of us. Nothing gets to you quite like the possibility of infinite alternate universes."

—katz4lyfe

15. Moon (2009)

Sony Pictures Classics

What it's about: "Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the moon, where he, working alongside his computer Gerty, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems."

Why it'll melt your mind: "I still can't work out if it scared me or amazed me. Either way, it has stayed with me for years."

—d4979c43

16. Us (2019)

Monkeypaw Productions

What it's about: "A family's serene beach vacation turns to chaos when their doppelgängers appear and begin to terrorize them."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It's exciting and will scare the hell out of you. You'll have to rewatch it over and over again to figure out what you missed."

—pattiecolvin23

17. Atonement (2007)

Focus Features

What it's about: "Fledgling writer Briony Tallis, as a 13-year-old, irrevocably changes the course of several lives when she accuses her older sister's lover of a crime he did not commit."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It's so heartbreaking, and the plot twist messes it up even more. I sat there in shock when the movie was over."

—Megan.

18. Mr. Nobody (2009)

Pan-Européenne

What it's about: "A boy stands on a station platform as a train is about to leave. Should he go with his mother or stay with his father? Infinite possibilities arise from this decision. As long as he doesn't choose, anything is possible."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It takes place in the future and is about the last immortal man on Earth who lives out every possible outcome of his life. It made me have weird dreams about parallel universes and made me question my existence."

—marleypirochta

19. Cape Fear (1991)

Universal Pictures

What it's about: "A convicted rapist, released from prison after serving a 14-year sentence, stalks the family of the lawyer who originally defended him."

Why it'll melt your mind: "This is one of those occasions when the actors are wayyyy too good at their job (especially Juliette Lewis). It'll make you question everything."

—CreativeMummy

20. Wag the Dog (1997)

New Line Cinema

What it's about: "Shortly before an election, a spin doctor and a Hollywood producer join efforts to fabricate a war in order to cover up a presidential sex scandal."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It stars Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman, and it completely messed me up at a young age."

—crysta.

21. The Others (2001)

Las Producciones del Escorpion

What it's about: "A woman who lives in her darkened old family house with her two photosensitive children becomes convinced that the home is haunted."

Why it'll melt your mind: "I sat there for an hour, thinking, Okay, where is this going? Then everything completely flipped, and it all clicked into place. I was telling people about that movie for the whole year after I first watched it."

—lorencandace

22. Pulp Fiction (1994)

Miramax Films

What it's about: "The lives of two mob hit men, a boxer, a gangster and his wife, and a pair of diner bandits intertwine in four tales of violence and redemption."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It's the type of film that, two days later, makes you think, OH! THE TWO SCENES ARE HAPPENING SIMULTANEOUSLY, and you get to untangle the mess on your own."

—batrxsyxa

23. Cube (1997)

Trimark Pictures

What it's about: "Six complete strangers of widely varying personality characteristics are involuntarily placed in an endless maze containing deadly traps."

Why it'll melt your mind: "How people respond in a crisis is terrifying, as is the realization that there is no master plan. The Cube exists simply because it does."

—Skellycog

24. John Dies at the End (2012)

Magnet Releasing

What it's about: "A new street drug that sends its users across time and dimensions has one drawback: Some people return no longer human. Can two college dropouts save humanity from this silent, otherworldly invasion?"

Why it'll melt your mind: "I watched it over a year ago and still don't really understand what happened, but it was so fantastic."

—lilbeanhead

25. Black Swan (2010)

Fox Searchlight Pictures

What it's about: "A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It messed with my mind for months after watching it. I even googled what happened but still couldn't quite get my head around it!"

—maryj487055765

26. L.I.E. (2001)

New Yorker Films

What it's about: "A 15-year-old Long Island boy loses everything and everyone he knows, soon becoming involved in a relationship with a much older man."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It's an amazing, dreadful indie drama. It explores a grieving teen's relationship with his distant father, his best friend who's an underage sex worker, and one of the friend's pedophile clients. It's nuanced without becoming abuse apologia, well acted, and majorly unsettling."

—taelors

27. The Imposter (2012)

Film4

What it's about: "A documentary centered on a young man in Spain who claims to a grieving Texas family that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for three years."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It's a really freaky documentary about a random guy who claimed to be a family's missing son. Somehow he tricked the family and lived with them for several years. The wildest part? It's a true story."

—nms124

28. Live! (2007)

Atlas Entertainment

What it's about: "A mockumentary that follows an ambitious TV network executive trying to produce a controversial reality show where contestants play Russian roulette."

Why it'll melt your mind: "I couldn't stop thinking about the ending of this underrated film for weeks! It's completely harrowing."

—thebmass

29. Exam (2009)

Bedlam Productions

What it's about: "Eight candidates for a highly desirable corporate job are locked together in an exam room and given a final test with just one question. It seems simple yet confusing, and tensions begin to unravel."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It will make you doubt who's on your side for the rest of your life."

—EGOfficial

30. Kids (1995)

Shining Excalibur Films

What it's about: "A day in the life of a group of teens as they travel around New York City skating, drinking, smoking, and deflowering virgins."

Why it'll melt your mind: "I grew up in a very small and sheltered town, and after seeing this movie, I was in shock for a couple of days. The story is so real and plausible, even though it scared me. All young people should watch it."

—Lynne236

31. Oculus (2013)

Blumhouse Productions

What it's about: "A woman tries to exonerate her brother, who was convicted of murder, by proving that the crime was committed by a supernatural phenomenon."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It's a creepy but creative thriller. Just trust me on this one."

—mnsea

32. The Tree of Life (2011)

Fox Searchlight Pictures

What it's about: "The story of a family in Waco, Texas, in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings."

Why it'll melt your mind: "I've watched this film several times. It always raises more questions than answers, and I am always left thinking about the expansiveness of the universe and the complexity of faith and death and family. It always leaves me in wonder."

—picassopizza

33. Primal Fear (1996)

Paramount Pictures

What it's about: "An altar boy is accused of murdering a priest, and the truth is buried several layers deep."

Why it'll melt your mind: "You think you know what the twist is, and then they blow your freaking mind!"

—sierrah43af12414

34. The Prestige (2006)

Touchstone Pictures

What it's about: "After a tragic accident, two stage magicians engage in a battle to create the ultimate illusion while sacrificing everything they have to outwit each other."

Why it'll melt your mind: "The multiple plot twists at the end just messed me up. I sat on the couch, staring into space for 10 minutes while the credits rolled."

—autumnm451930e01

35. The Game (1997)

PolyGram Filmed Entertainment

What it's about: "After a wealthy banker is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, his life is turned upside down when he becomes unable to distinguish between the game and reality."

Why it'll melt your mind: "So many twists and turns that will keep you guessing throughout the whole movie. It'll make you question absolutely everything."

—Ashley S.

36. The Neon Demon (2016)

Amazon Studios

What it's about: "An aspiring model, Jesse, is new to Los Angeles. However, her beauty and youth, which generate intense fascination and jealousy within the fashion industry, may prove themselves sinister."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It still has me feeling uneasy. Beautifully shot, fantastic soundtrack, and worth sticking around to the last shocking shot."

—alia41929a2ef

37. And Goodnight Mommy (2014)

Radius-TWC Dimension Films

What it's about: "Twin boys move to a new home with their mother after she has face-changing cosmetic surgery, but under her bandages is someone the children don't recognize."

Why it'll melt your mind: "It blew my mind. It's an Austrian film with English subtitles, but don't let that turn you away. It's about these twin boys who don't believe their mother is really their mother."

—mackenziea47aeadecf