Best movies like Brainstorm
Last updated March 2024
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Plot Summary:
Two brilliant research scientists have invented a device capable of recording and playing back sensory experiences only to have devastating results when one of them records their own death.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 13000
Genere: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, meditative, futuristic, psychological, philosophical, intense, cyber, tense, serious, cerebral
Best tv shows and movies like Brainstorm (1983):
Similar in 89%
Dreamscape (1984)
Plot Summary:
A government funded project looks into using psychics to enter people's dreams, with some mechanical help. When a subject dies in his sleep from a heart attack Alex Gardner becomes suspicious that another of the psychics is killing people in the dreams somehow and that is causing them to die in real life. He must find a way to stop the abuse of the power to enter dreams.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 99 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychological, cult classic, futuristic, mind bending, psychological thriller, suspense, thought provoking, psychedelic, classic horror
Similar in 85%
Moebius (1996)
Plot Summary:
The story is set beneath Buenos Aires, deep within its labyrinthine subway system, and centers on a train containing 30 riders that has mysteriously disappeared. The subway officials are greatly troubled and so call in topographer Daniel Pratt to help them find it. Unfortunately, the tunnel system is so vast and complex, that Pratt must find his mentor Hugo Mistein for help. Unfortunately, he too has disappeared. Fortunately, he left the system plans behind and as Daniel studies them, he comes to the awful realization that the train, which can be heard but not seen, has somehow become trapped in a fourth dimension. His findings attract the attention of local bureaucrats who are too rigid and pragmatic to accept Pratt's outlandish theory.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 2000
Genere: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Argentina
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: psychological, intellectual, surreal, exciting, clever, offbeat, humorous, semi serious, lovecraft
Similar in 88%
The Andromeda Strain (1971)
Plot Summary:
When virtually all of the residents of Piedmont, New Mexico, are found dead after the return to Earth of a space satellite, the head of the US Air Force's Project Scoop declares an emergency. A group of eminent scientists led by Dr. Jeremy Stone scramble to a secure laboratory and try to first isolate the life form while determining why two people from Piedmont - an old alcoholic and a six-month-old baby - survived. The scientists methodically study the alien life form unaware that it has already mutated and presents a far greater danger in the lab, which is equipped with a nuclear self-destruct device designed to prevent the escape of dangerous biological agents.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 131 min
Plot tags: futuristic, exciting, tense, suspenseful, suspense, cerebral, atmospheric, talky, serious, scary
Similar in 84%
Vice (2015)
Plot Summary:
Julian Michaels has designed the ultimate resort: VICE, where anything goes and the customers can play out their wildest fantasies with artificial inhabitants who look, think and feel like humans. When an artificial becomes self-aware and escapes, she finds herself caught in the crossfire between Julian's mercenaries and a cop who is hell-bent on shutting down Vice, and stopping the violence once and for all.
IMDB Rating: 4.2
IMDB Votes: 17000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: exciting, serious, suspenseful, surprise ending, suspense, futuristic, detective, neo noir, cyber, independent film
Similar in 90%
Looker (1981)
Plot Summary:
Plastic surgeon Larry Roberts performs a series of minor alterations on a group of models who are seeking perfection. The operations are a resounding success. But when someone starts killing his beautiful patients, Dr. Roberts becomes suspicious and starts investigating. What he uncovers are the mysterious - and perhaps murderous - activities of a high-tech computer company called Digital Matrix.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 6000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: suspenseful, suspense, sexy, futuristic, psychological, serious, erotic, cult classic, surprise ending, exciting
Similar in 88%
Futureworld (1976)
Plot Summary:
Two years after the Westworld tragedy in the Delos amusement park, the corporate owners have reopened the park following over $1 billion in safety and other improvements. For publicity purposes, reporters Chuck Browning and Tracy Ballard are invited to review the park. Just prior to arriving at the park, however, Browning is given a clue by a dying man that something is amiss.
IMDB Rating: 5.7
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: serious, futuristic, suspenseful, tense, suspense, grindhouse, captivating, depressing, tech noir, esoteric
Similar in 88%
The Final Cut (2004)
Plot Summary:
Set in a world with memory implants, Robin Williams plays a cutter, someone with the power of final edit over people's recorded histories. His latest assignment is one that puts him in danger.
IMDB Rating: 6.1
IMDB Votes: 34000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, Germany
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, psychological thriller, mindfuck, intellectual, suspense, philosophical, apocalyptic, tense, thought provoking, bloody
Similar in 78%
Lawnmower Man 2: Beyond Cyberspace (1995)
Plot Summary:
Jobe is resuscitated by Jonathan Walker. He wants Jobe to create a special computer chip that would connect all the computers in the world into one network, which Walker would control and use. But what Walker doesn't realize is a group of teenage hackers are on to him and out to stop his plan.
IMDB Rating: 2.5
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Japan, UK
Duration: 93 min
Plot tags: cyber, futuristic, psychological, anamorphic, hilarious, independent film, exciting, bleak, serious, suspenseful
Similar in 81%
Altered States (1980)
Plot Summary:
A research scientist (William Hurt) explores the boundaries and frontiers of consciousness. Using sensory deprivation and hallucinogenic mixtures from native American shamans, he explores these altered states of consciousness and finds that memory, time, and perhaps reality itself are states of mind.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: psychedelic, psychological, surreal, disturbing, atmospheric, mind bending, scary, suspense, philosophical, suspenseful
Similar in 89%
Soylent Green (1973)
Plot Summary:
In an overpopulated futuristic Earth, a New York police detective finds himself marked for murder by government agents when he gets too close to a bizarre state secret involving the origins of a revolutionary and needed new foodstuff.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 70000
Genere: Crime, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: futuristic, twist ending, mindfuck, cult classic, atmospheric, bleak, psychedelic, cerebral, visually stunning, psychological thriller
Similar in 86%
Scanners (1981)
Plot Summary:
Darryl Revok is the most powerful of all the scanners, and is the head of the underground scanner movement for world domination. Scanners have great psychic power, strong enough to control minds; they can inflict enormous pain/damage on their victims. Doctor Paul Ruth finds a scanner that Revok hasn't, and converts him to their cause - to destroy the underground movement.
IMDB Rating: 6.7
IMDB Votes: 61000
Genere: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: disturbing, intense, cerebral, scary, tense, suspenseful, suspense, grindhouse, bloody, creepy
Similar in 81%
Strange Days (1995)
Plot Summary:
Set in the year 1999 during the last days of the old millennium, the movie tells the story of Lenny Nero, an ex-cop who now deals with data-discs containing recorded memories and emotions. One day he receives a disc which contains the memories of a murderer killing a prostitute. Lenny investigates and is pulled deeper and deeper in a whirl of blackmail, murder and rape. Will he survive and solve the case?.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 77000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: tech noir, futuristic, cyber, serious, mindfuck, psychological, neo noir, noir, suspense, apocalyptic
Similar in 84%
Upgrade (2018)
Plot Summary:
A brutal mugging leaves Grey Trace paralyzed in the hospital and his beloved wife dead. A billionaire inventor soon offers Trace a cure — an artificial intelligence implant called STEM that will enhance his body. Now able to walk, Grey finds that he also has superhuman strength and agility — skills he uses to seek revenge against the thugs who destroyed his life.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 201000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Australia
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: futuristic, surprise ending, thought provoking, tech noir, neo noir, experimental, psychological, philosophical, twist ending, cyber
Similar in 75%
Videodrome (1983)
Plot Summary:
A sleazy cable-TV programmer begins to see his life and the future of media spin out of control in a very unusual fashion when he acquires a new kind of programming for his station.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 101000
Genere: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 87 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychedelic, psychological, disturbing, mind bending, cerebral, dark, mindfuck, cyber, art house
Similar in 80%
Westworld (1973)
Plot Summary:
In a futuristic resort, wealthy patrons can visit recreations of different time periods and experience their wildest fantasies with life-like robots. But when Richard Benjamin opts for the wild west, he gets more than he bargained for when a gunslinger robot goes berserk.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 62000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller, Western
Country: USA
Duration: 88 min
Plot tags: exciting, suspenseful, philosophical, tense, futuristic, suspense, scary, stylized, serious, entertaining
Similar in 82%
THX 1138 (1971)
Plot Summary:
People in the future live in a totalitarian society. A technician named THX 1138 lives a mundane life between work and taking a controlled consumption of drugs that the government uses to make puppets out of people. As THX is without drugs for the first time he has feelings for a woman and they start a secret relationship.
IMDB Rating: 6.6
IMDB Votes: 54000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 86 min
Plot tags: bleak, philosophical, mindfuck, thought provoking, futuristic, psychological, cult classic, talky, apocalyptic, serious
Similar in 89%
The Island (2005)
Plot Summary:
In 2019, Lincoln Six-Echo is a resident of a seemingly "Utopian" but contained facility. Like all of the inhabitants of this carefully-controlled environment, Lincoln hopes to be chosen to go to The Island — reportedly the last uncontaminated location on the planet. But Lincoln soon discovers that everything about his existence is a lie.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 325000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: futuristic, exciting, psychological, suspense, suspenseful, action packed, apocalyptic, intense, thought provoking, entertaining
Similar in 79%
Dark City (1998)
Plot Summary:
A man struggles with memories of his past, including a wife he cannot remember, in a nightmarish world with no sun and run by beings with telekinetic powers who seek the souls of humans.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 210000
Genere: Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: neo noir, psychological, mind bending, atmospheric, suspense, gothic, tech noir, dark fantasy, futuristic, philosophical
Similar in 75%
Brazil (1985)
Plot Summary:
Low-level bureaucrat Sam Lowry escapes the monotony of his day-to-day life through a recurring daydream of himself as a virtuous hero saving a beautiful damsel. Investigating a case that led to the wrongful arrest and eventual death of an innocent man instead of wanted terrorist Harry Tuttle, he meets the woman from his daydream, and in trying to help her gets caught in a web of mistaken identities, mindless bureaucracy and lies.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 209000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 132 min
Plot tags: surreal, futuristic, psychological, dark comedy, cerebral, atmospheric, disturbing, thought provoking, mindfuck, black comedy
Similar in 75%
Transcendence (2014)
Plot Summary:
Two leading computer scientists work toward their goal of Technological Singularity, as a radical anti-technology organization fights to prevent them from creating a world where computers can transcend the abilities of the human brain.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 237000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, China, USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: futuristic, thought provoking, philosophical, cerebral, exciting, tricky, suspenseful, tense, emotional, cyber
Similar in 80%
Gattaca (1997)
Plot Summary:
Science fiction drama about a future society in the era of indefinite eugenics where humans are set on a life course depending on their DNA. The young Vincent Freeman is born with a condition that would prevent him from space travel, yet he is determined to infiltrate the GATTACA space program.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 318000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 106 min
Plot tags: futuristic, thought provoking, intellectual, neo noir, psychological, philosophical, suspenseful, clever, mindfuck, visually stunning
Similar in 83%
Ex Machina (2014)
Plot Summary:
Caleb, a 26 year old coder at the world's largest internet company, wins a competition to spend a week at a private mountain retreat belonging to Nathan, the reclusive CEO of the company. But when Caleb arrives at the remote location he finds that he will have to participate in a strange and fascinating experiment in which he must interact with the world's first true artificial intelligence, housed in the body of a beautiful robot girl.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 575000
Genere: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological, philosophical, futuristic, twist ending, mind bending, thought provoking, intellectual, tense, minimal cast, cerebral
Similar in 80%
Johnny Mnemonic (1995)
Plot Summary:
A data courier, literally carrying a data package inside his head, must deliver it before he dies from the burden or is killed by the Yakuza. In a dystopian 2021, Johnny (Keanu Reeves) is a data trafficker who has an implant that allows him to securely store data too sensitive for regular computer networks. On one delivery run, he accepts a package that not only exceeds the implant's safety limits - and will kill him if the data is not removed in time - but also contains information far more important and valuable than he had ever imagined. On a race against time, he must avoid the assassins sent to kill him and remove the data before it, too, ends his life.
IMDB Rating: 5.6
IMDB Votes: 75000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: futuristic, cyber, stylized, apocalyptic, bleak, suspenseful, tech noir, cult classic, retro, philosophical
Similar in 81%
Surrogates (2009)
Plot Summary:
Set in a futuristic world where humans live in isolation and interact through surrogate robots, a cop is forced to leave his home for the first time in years in order to investigate the murders of others' surrogates.
IMDB Rating: 6.3
IMDB Votes: 179000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: futuristic, bleak, suspenseful, surreal, cyber, exciting, entertaining, cerebral, action packed, psychological thriller
Similar in 88%
eXistenZ (1999)
Plot Summary:
A game designer on the run from assassins must play her latest virtual reality creation with a marketing trainee to determine if the game has been damaged.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 106000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada, UK, France, USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychological, mind bending, psychedelic, twist ending, cerebral, disturbing, tense, philosophical, atmospheric
Similar in 78%
Total Recall (2012)
Plot Summary:
Welcome to Rekall, the company that can turn your dreams into real memories. For a factory worker named Douglas Quaid, even though he's got a beautiful wife who he loves, the mind-trip sounds like the perfect vacation from his frustrating life - real memories of life as a super-spy might be just what he needs. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, Quaid becomes a hunted man. Finding himself on the run from the police - controlled by Chancellor Cohaagen, the leader of the free world - Quaid teams up with a rebel fighter to find the head of the underground resistance and stop Cohaagen. The line between fantasy and reality gets blurred and the fate of his world hangs in the balance as Quaid discovers his true identity, his true love, and his true fate.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 264000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada, India
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: futuristic, mind bending, entertaining, exciting, suspense, cyber, suspenseful, rough, serious, stylized
Similar in 90%
The Thirteenth Floor (1999)
Plot Summary:
Computer scientist Hannon Fuller has discovered something extremely important. He's about to tell the discovery to his colleague, Douglas Hall, but knowing someone is after him, the old man leaves a letter in his computer generated parallel world that's just like the 30's with seemingly real people with real emotions.
IMDB Rating: 7.0
IMDB Votes: 76000
Genere: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Germany
Duration: 100 min
Plot tags: mind bending, intellectual, twist ending, neo noir, atmospheric, psychedelic, philosophical, confusing, mind blowing, clever
Similar in 77%
Blade Runner (1982)
Plot Summary:
In the smog-choked dystopian Los Angeles of 2019, blade runner Rick Deckard is called out of retirement to terminate a quartet of replicants who have escaped to Earth seeking their creator for a way to extend their short life spans.
IMDB Rating: 8.1
IMDB Votes: 809000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: neo noir, futuristic, tech noir, atmospheric, thought provoking, cerebral, mind bending, philosophical, thinking, visually appealing
Similar in 84%
Equilibrium (2002)
Plot Summary:
In a dystopian future, a totalitarian regime maintains peace by subduing the populace with a drug, and displays of emotion are punishable by death. A man in charge of enforcing the law rises to overthrow the system.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 343000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: futuristic, philosophical, serious, psychological, atmospheric, clever, cerebral, apocalyptic, suspenseful, cult classic
Similar in 81%
Inception (2010)
Plot Summary:
Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.
IMDB Rating: 8.8
IMDB Votes: 25000000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 148 min
Plot tags: psychological, mind bending, clever, cerebral, surreal, twist ending, futuristic, confusing, suspense, philosophical