Best movies like Being John Malkovich
Last updated March 2024
Looking for movies similar to Being John Malkovich? Share your knowledge to guide others find suitable tv series and movies you've viewed already. Assist in growing the community that suggests videos to each other. We appreciate your contribution!
Plot Summary:
Spike Jonze’s debut feature film is a love story mix of comedy and fantasy. The story is about an unsuccessful puppeteer named Craig, who one day at work finds a portal into the head of actor John Malkovich. The portal soon becomes a passion for anybody who enters it’s mad and controlling world of overtaking another human body.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 349000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychological, cerebral, mind bending, offbeat, mindfuck, philosophical, dark comedy, disturbing, black comedy
Best tv shows and movies like Being John Malkovich (1999):
Similar in 84%
The Hudsucker Proxy (1994)
Plot Summary:
A naive business graduate is installed as president of a manufacturing company as part of a stock scam.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 84000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: UK, Germany, USA
Duration: 111 min
Plot tags: feel good, light, surreal, cult classic, visually stunning, satirical, humorous, dark comedy, cerebral, visual
Similar in 86%
Dogma (1999)
Plot Summary:
The latest battle in the eternal war between Good and Evil has come to New Jersey in the late, late 20th Century. Angels, demons, apostles and prophets (of a sort) walk among the cynics and innocents of America and duke it out for the fate of humankind.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 226000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA
Duration: 130 min
Plot tags: humorous, satirical, clever, witty, funny, dark comedy, entertaining, hilarious, parody, offbeat
Similar in 79%
Human Nature (2001)
Plot Summary:
A philosophical burlesque, Human Nature follows the ups and downs of an obsessive scientist, a female naturalist, and the man they discover, born and raised in the wild. As scientist Nathan trains the wild man, Puff, in the ways of the world - starting with table manners - Nathan's lover Lila fights to preserve the man's simian past, which represents a freedom enviable to most.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 19000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: France, USA
Duration: 96 min
Plot tags: surreal, humorous, philosophical, witty, semi serious, psychological, black comedy, dark comedy, clever, talky
Similar in 86%
Cold Souls (2009)
Plot Summary:
Paul Giamatti stars as himself, agonizing over his interpretation of "Uncle Vanya." Paralyzed by anxiety, he stumbles upon a solution via a New Yorker article about a high-tech company promising to alleviate suffering by extracting souls. Giamatti enlists their service -- only to discover that his soul is the shape and size of a chickpea.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, France
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: clever, surreal, bleak, dark comedy, stylized, cerebral, cult classic, psychological, futuristic, depressing
Similar in 79%
Adaptation. (2002)
Plot Summary:
A love-lorn script writer grows increasingly desperate in his quest to adapt the book 'The Orchid Thief'.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 200000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: absurd, philosophical, psychological, satirical, black comedy, mind bending, dark comedy, postmodern, surreal, mindfuck
Similar in 85%
Living in Oblivion (1995)
Plot Summary:
Nick is the director of a low-budget indie film. He tries to keep everything together as his production is plagued with an insecure actress, a megalomaniac star, a pretentious, beret-wearing director of photography and lousy catering. Divided in three acts, each representing a different scene to shoot, this film is an essential for amateur filmmakers.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 20000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: surreal, independent film, humorous, funny, atmospheric, talky, light, art house, semi serious, cult classic
Similar in 85%
Sorry to Bother You (2018)
Plot Summary:
In an alternate present-day version of Oakland, black telemarketer Cassius Green discovers a magical key to professional success – which propels him into a macabre universe.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 87000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: black comedy, dark comedy, surreal, mindfuck, funny, philosophical, humorous, captivating, semi serious, absurd
Similar in 83%
The Hourglass Sanatorium (1973)
Plot Summary:
Set in pre- World War II era. A young man is on a strange train to see his dying father in a sanatorium. But the place is going to ruin and recalls a lot of memories from the past. He is beset by soldiers from the past, colonial black mercenaries, girls from his early life, and his parents. It is an interior adventure, with unusual atmospheric flair and extraordinary sets.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 5000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Country: Poland
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: surreal, mind bending, psychological, psychedelic, dark, mindfuck, disturbing, existential, philosophical, slasher
Similar in 86%
Eraserhead (1977)
Plot Summary:
Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
IMDB Rating: 7.3
IMDB Votes: 125000
Genere: Fantasy, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 89 min
Plot tags: surreal, avant garde, art house, psychological, disturbing, psychedelic, experimental, atmospheric, black and white, dark
Similar in 80%
The Fall (2006)
Plot Summary:
In a hospital on the outskirts of 1920s Los Angeles, an injured stuntman begins to tell a fellow patient, a little girl with a broken arm, a fantastic story about 5 mythical heroes. Thanks to his fractured state of mind and her vivid imagination, the line between fiction and reality starts to blur as the tale advances.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 116000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: USA, South Africa, India
Duration: 117 min
Plot tags: surreal, offbeat, fairy tale, visual, visually stunning, touching, visually appealing, mind bending, light, psychological
Similar in 76%
The Bothersome Man (2006)
Plot Summary:
Forty-year-old Andreas arrives in a strange city with no memory of how he got there. He is presented with a job, an apartment - even a wife. But before long, Andreas notices that something is wrong. Andreas makes an attempt to escape the city, but he discovers there's no way out. Andreas meets Hugo, who has found a crack in a wall in his cellar. Beautiful music streams out from the crack. Maybe it leads to "the other side"? A new plan for escape is hatched.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 18000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: Norway, Iceland
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: surreal, enigmatic, psychological, psychedelic, philosophical, mindfuck, art house, suspenseful, dark comedy, dark
Similar in 89%
Swiss Army Man (2016)
Plot Summary:
Alone on a tiny deserted island, Hank has given up all hope of ever making it home again. But one day everything changes when a dead body washes ashore, and he soon realizes it may be his last opportunity to escape certain death. Armed with his new “friend” and an unusual bag of tricks, the duo go on an epic adventure to bring Hank back to the woman of his dreams.
IMDB Rating: 6.9
IMDB Votes: 131000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: surreal, buddy comedy, touching, mindfuck, dark comedy, humorous, psychological, philosophical, breathtaking, dark
Similar in 86%
Enter the Void (2009)
Plot Summary:
This psychedelic tour of life after death is seen entirely from the point of view of Oscar (Nathaniel Brown), a young American drug dealer and addict living in Tokyo with his prostitute sister, Linda (Paz de la Huerta). When Oscar is killed by police during a bust gone bad, his spirit journeys from the past -- where he sees his parents before their deaths -- to the present -- where he witnesses his own autopsy -- and then to the future, where he looks out for his sister from beyond the grave.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 86000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy
Country: France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Japan
Duration: 161 min
Plot tags: psychedelic, art house, visually stunning, philosophical, atmospheric, meditative, disturbing, surreal, cerebral, mindfuck
Similar in 84%
The Holy Mountain (1973)
Plot Summary:
A Mexican master leads a Christ figure and other disciples to a mountain of immortal wise men. The scandal of the 1973 Cannes Film Festival, writer/director Alejandro Jodorowsky's flood of sacrilegious imagery and existential symbolism in The Holy Mountain is a spiritual quest for enlightenment pitting illusion against truth. The Alchemist (Jodorowsky) assembles together a group of people from all walks of life to represent the planets in the solar system. The occult adept's intention is to put his recruits through strange mystical rites and divest them of their worldly baggage before embarking on a trip to Lotus Island. There they ascend the Holy Mountain to displace the immortal gods who secretly rule the universe.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 47000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Mexico
Duration: 114 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychedelic, avant garde, disturbing, art house, mindfuck, mind bending, experimental, atmospheric, stylized
Similar in 81%
Ink (2009)
Plot Summary:
Invisible forces exert power over us in our sleep. A mercenary named Ink, on a literal nightmare mission, captures the spirit of 8-year-old Emma in the dream world. To save her, the dream-givers marshal all their resources, focusing on saving the soul of Emma's tragically broken father.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 22000
Genere: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: surreal, dark fantasy, atmospheric, mind bending, enigmatic, fairy tale, serious, clever, visually appealing, independent film
Similar in 79%
The Science of Sleep (2006)
Plot Summary:
A man entranced by his dreams and imagination is lovestruck with a French woman and feels he can show her his world.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 71000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: France, Italy
Duration: 105 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychedelic, psychological, philosophical, mind bending, intellectual, meditative, visually appealing, cerebral, mindfuck
Similar in 89%
Barton Fink (1991)
Plot Summary:
A renowned New York playwright is enticed to California to write for the movies and discovers the hellish truth of Hollywood.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 127000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, neo noir, dark comedy, cerebral, philosophical, atmospheric, black comedy, enigmatic, mind bending
Similar in 88%
Stranger Than Fiction (2006)
Plot Summary:
Everybody knows that your life is a story. But what if a story was your life? Harold Crick is your average IRS agent: monotonous, boring, and repetitive. But one day this all changes when Harold begins to hear an author inside his head narrating his life. But when the narration reveals he is going to die, Harold must find the author and convince them to change the ending.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 235000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: philosophical, surreal, offbeat, humorous, witty, talky, funny, feel good, clever, depressing
Similar in 83%
Interstate 60 (2002)
Plot Summary:
An aspiring painter meets various characters and learns valuable lessons while traveling across America.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 36000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
Country: Canada, USA
Duration: 116 min
Plot tags: road movie, surreal, witty, enigmatic, offbeat, independent film, mindfuck, psychological, black comedy, dark comedy
Similar in 86%
Lost in Translation (2003)
Plot Summary:
Two lost souls visiting Tokyo -- the young, neglected wife of a photographer and a washed-up movie star shooting a TV commercial -- find an odd solace and pensive freedom to be real in each other's company, away from their lives in America.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 480000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA, Japan
Duration: 102 min
Plot tags: melancholic, atmospheric, offbeat, psychological, artsy, emotional, art house, visual, contemplative, heartbreaking
Similar in 86%
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998)
Plot Summary:
Raoul Duke and his attorney Dr. Gonzo drive a red convertible across the Mojave desert to Las Vegas with a suitcase full of drugs to cover a motorcycle race. As their consumption of drugs increases at an alarming rate, the stoned duo trash their hotel room and fear legal repercussions. Duke begins to drive back to L.A., but after an odd run-in with a cop, he returns to Sin City and continues his wild drug binge.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 298000
Genere: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychedelic, atmospheric, road movie, mind bending, cult classic, dark comedy, disturbing, mindfuck, cerebral
Similar in 86%
Mr. Nobody (2009)
Plot Summary:
Nemo Nobody leads an ordinary existence with his wife and 3 children; one day, he wakes up as a mortal centenarian in the year 2092.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 243000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: Belgium, Germany, Canada, France, UK, Luxembourg, USA
Duration: 141 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, philosophical, mind bending, thought provoking, confusing, cerebral, mind blowing, reflective, offbeat
Similar in 79%
Mulholland Drive (2001)
Plot Summary:
After a car wreck on the winding Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesic, she and a perky Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
IMDB Rating: 7.9
IMDB Votes: 377000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 147 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychological, art house, neo noir, atmospheric, mind bending, disturbing, cerebral, surprise ending, enigmatic
Similar in 88%
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) (2014)
Plot Summary:
A fading actor best known for his portrayal of a popular superhero attempts to mount a comeback by appearing in a Broadway play. As opening night approaches, his attempts to become more altruistic, rebuild his career, and reconnect with friends and family prove more difficult than expected.
IMDB Rating: 7.7
IMDB Votes: 657000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: surreal, psychological, dark comedy, black comedy, psychedelic, independent film, clever, intellectual, atmospheric, enigmatic
Similar in 77%
Synecdoche, New York (2008)
Plot Summary:
A theater director struggles with his work, and the women in his life, as he attempts to create a life-size replica of New York inside a warehouse as part of his new play.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 97000
Genere: Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 124 min
Plot tags: philosophical, psychological, depressing, surreal, mindfuck, confusing, art house, absurd, mind bending, cult classic
Similar in 82%
Groundhog Day (1993)
Plot Summary:
A narcissistic TV weatherman, along with his attractive-but-distant producer and mawkish cameraman, is sent to report on Groundhog Day in the small town of Punxsutawney, where he finds himself repeating the same day over and over.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 670000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Romance
Country: USA
Duration: 101 min
Plot tags: feel good, philosophical, romantic, humorous, sentimental, hilarious, surreal, clever, funny, sweet
Similar in 75%
Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Plot Summary:
An aging Chinese immigrant is swept up in an insane adventure, where she alone can save what's important to her by connecting with the lives she could have led in other universes.
IMDB Rating: 7.8
IMDB Votes: 494000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Comedy, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 139 min
Plot tags: cerebral, surreal, philosophical, emotional, mind bending, psychedelic, entertaining, thought provoking, visually stunning, funny
Similar in 90%
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
Plot Summary:
Joel Barish, heartbroken that his girlfriend underwent a procedure to erase him from her memory, decides to do the same. However, as he watches his memories of her fade away, he realises that he still loves her, and may be too late to correct his mistake.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 11000000
Genere: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
Country: USA
Duration: 108 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, melancholic, romantic, mind bending, sentimental, philosophical, cerebral, psychedelic, clever
Similar in 84%
Donnie Darko (2001)
Plot Summary:
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a large bunny rabbit that manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 837000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, atmospheric, mind bending, philosophical, cult classic, clever, psychological thriller, cerebral, independent film
Similar in 87%
The Truman Show (1998)
Plot Summary:
Truman Burbank is the star of "The Truman Show", a 24-hour-a-day "reality" TV show that broadcasts every aspect of his life -- live and in color -- without his knowledge. His entire life has been an unending soap opera for consumption by the rest of the world. And everyone he knows -- including his wife and his best friend -- is really an actor, paid to be part of his life.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 12000000
Genere: Comedy, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: philosophical, thought provoking, psychological, touching, surreal, cerebral, clever, dramatic, motivational, spiritual