Best movies like Dark City
Last updated March 2024
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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
Best tv shows and movies like Dark City (1998):
Similar in 77%
Kafka (1991)
Plot Summary:
Kafka, an insurance worker gets embroiled in an underground group after a co-worker is murdered. The underground group is responsible for bombings all over town, attempting to thwart a secret organization that controls the major events in society. He eventually penetrates the secret organization and must confront them.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: France, USA
Duration: 98 min
Plot tags: surreal, black and white, philosophical, cerebral, cult classic, mindfuck, dark comedy, psychological, atmospheric, stylized
Similar in 77%
Southland Tales (2006)
Plot Summary:
Set in the futuristic landscape of Los Angeles on July 4, 2008, as it stands on the brink of social, economic and environmental disaster. Boxer Santaros is an action star who's stricken with amnesia. His life intertwines with Krysta Now, an adult film star developing her own reality television project, and Ronald Taverner, a Hermosa Beach police officer who holds the key to a vast conspiracy.
IMDB Rating: 5.3
IMDB Votes: 40000
Genere: Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: France, Germany, USA
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: surreal, futuristic, enigmatic, cult classic, cynical, apocalyptic, postmodern, allegory, mindfuck, mind bending
Similar in 82%
The Arrival (1996)
Plot Summary:
Zane Ziminski is an astrophysicist who receives a message that seems to have extraterrestrial origins. Eerily soon after his discovery, Zane is fired. He then embarks on a search to determine the origins of the transmission that leads him into a Hitchcockian labyrinth of paranoia and intrigue.
IMDB Rating: 6.2
IMDB Votes: 38000
Genere: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 115 min
Plot tags: suspense, suspenseful, exciting, serious, intense, futuristic, surprise ending, atmospheric, mystical, apocalyptic
Similar in 87%
Brainstorm (1983)
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
Similar in 86%
Predestination (2014)
Plot Summary:
Predestination chronicles the life of a Temporal Agent sent on an intricate series of time-travel journeys designed to prevent future killers from committing their crimes. Now, on his final assignment, the Agent must stop the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time and prevent a devastating attack in which thousands of lives will be lost.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 298000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Australia, USA
Duration: 97 min
Plot tags: surprise ending, clever, confusing, twist ending, philosophical, mind bending, thought provoking, stylized, mind blowing, cerebral
Similar in 85%
In the Mouth of Madness (1994)
Plot Summary:
With the disappearance of hack horror writer Sutter Cane, all Hell is breaking loose...literally! Author Cane, it seems, has a knack for description that really brings his evil creepy-crawlies to life. Insurance investigator John Trent is sent to investigate Cane's mysterious vanishing act and ends up in the sleepy little East Coast town of Hobb's End.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 78000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 95 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, atmospheric, gothic, neo noir, suspense, lovecraft, scary, suspenseful, dark
Similar in 78%
A Cure for Wellness (2016)
Plot Summary:
An ambitious young executive is sent to retrieve his company's CEO from an idyllic but mysterious "wellness center" at a remote location in the Swiss Alps but soon suspects that the spa's miraculous treatments are not what they seem.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 107000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Germany, Luxembourg, USA
Duration: 146 min
Plot tags: suspense, gothic, dark, psychological, disturbing, psychological thriller, atmospheric, enigmatic, twist ending, dark fantasy
Similar in 82%
What Happened to Monday (2017)
Plot Summary:
In a world where families are limited to one child due to overpopulation, a set of identical septuplets must avoid being put to a long sleep by the government and dangerous infighting while investigating the disappearance of one of their own.
IMDB Rating: 6.8
IMDB Votes: 132000
Genere: Action, Crime, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, France, USA, Belgium
Duration: 123 min
Plot tags: suspense, surprise ending, suspenseful, tense, apocalyptic, psychological thriller, mindfuck, non-linear, political, intellectual
Similar in 84%
The Cell (2000)
Plot Summary:
A psychotherapist journeys inside a comatose serial killer in the hopes of saving his latest victim.
IMDB Rating: 6.4
IMDB Votes: 108000
Genere: Crime, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 107 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, scary, psychedelic, mind bending, psychological thriller, suspense, atmospheric, cerebral, suspenseful
Similar in 87%
The Jacket (2005)
Plot Summary:
A military veteran goes on a journey into the future, where he can foresee his death and is left with questions that could save his life and those he loves.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 118000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 103 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, enigmatic, mind bending, tricky, cerebral, suspense, mindfuck, twist ending, confusing
Similar in 75%
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 76%
Cube (1997)
Plot Summary:
Seven strangers are taken out of their daily lives and placed mysteriously in a deadly cube where they all agree they must find their way out.
IMDB Rating: 7.1
IMDB Votes: 244000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Country: Canada
Duration: 90 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, suspenseful, mind bending, psychological thriller, twist ending, cerebral, futuristic, clever, exciting
Similar in 76%
2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Plot Summary:
Humanity finds a mysterious object buried beneath the lunar surface and sets off to find its origins with the help of HAL 9000, the world's most advanced super computer.
IMDB Rating: 8.3
IMDB Votes: 706000
Genere: Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 149 min
Plot tags: futuristic, philosophical, mind bending, psychedelic, cerebral, thought provoking, atmospheric, intellectual, visual, visually stunning
Similar in 76%
Angel Heart (1987)
Plot Summary:
The down-and-out private detective Harry Angel is ordered, by a mysterious man named Louis Cyphre, to go on a mission to find a missing person. His routine failure soon leads to a bloody spar with himself as Harry Angel goes on a supernatural journey into his own soul.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 94000
Genere: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, Canada, USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, atmospheric, detective, scary, satanic, neo noir, twisted, surprise ending, sexy, suspense
Similar in 75%
Memento (2000)
Plot Summary:
Suffering short-term memory loss after a head injury, Leonard Shelby embarks on a grim quest to find the lowlife who murdered his wife in this gritty, complex thriller that packs more knots than a hangman's noose. To carry out his plan, Shelby snaps Polaroids of people and places, jotting down contextual notes on the backs of photos to aid in his search and jog his memory. He even tattoos his own body in a desperate bid to remember.
IMDB Rating: 8.4
IMDB Votes: 13000000
Genere: Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: psychological, surprise ending, twist ending, suspense, neo noir, psychological thriller, non-linear, confusing, tense, philosophical
Similar in 82%
Twelve Monkeys (1995)
Plot Summary:
In the year 2035, convict James Cole reluctantly volunteers to be sent back in time to discover the origin of a deadly virus that wiped out nearly all of the earth's population and forced the survivors into underground communities. But when Cole is mistakenly sent to 1990 instead of 1996, he's arrested and locked up in a mental hospital. There he meets psychiatrist Dr. Kathryn Railly, and patient Jeffrey Goines, the son of a famous virus expert, who may hold the key to the mysterious rogue group, the Army of the 12 Monkeys, thought to be responsible for unleashing the killer disease.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 639000
Genere: Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min
Plot tags: psychological, surreal, twist ending, atmospheric, cerebral, non-linear, mind bending, apocalyptic, confusing, twisted
Similar in 76%
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 82%
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 76%
Blade Runner 2049 (2017)
Plot Summary:
Thirty years after the events of the first film, a new blade runner, LAPD Officer K, unearths a long-buried secret that has the potential to plunge what's left of society into chaos. K's discovery leads him on a quest to find Rick Deckard, a former LAPD blade runner who has been missing for 30 years.
IMDB Rating: 8.0
IMDB Votes: 637000
Genere: Action, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, UK, Canada, Spain
Duration: 164 min
Plot tags: futuristic, neo noir, tech noir, thought provoking, detective, visually stunning, aesthetic, philosophical, entertaining, visual
Similar in 85%
Minority Report (2002)
Plot Summary:
John Anderton is a top 'Precrime' cop in the late-21st century, when technology can predict crimes before they're committed. But Anderton becomes the quarry when another investigator targets him for a murder charge.
IMDB Rating: 7.6
IMDB Votes: 576000
Genere: Action, Crime, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 145 min
Plot tags: futuristic, suspense, neo noir, cerebral, exciting, tense, mind bending, tech noir, clever, suspenseful
Similar in 75%
They Live (1988)
Plot Summary:
Nada, a down-on-his-luck construction worker, discovers a pair of special sunglasses. Wearing them, he is able to see the world as it really is: people being bombarded by media and government with messages like "Stay Asleep", "No Imagination", "Submit to Authority". Even scarier is that he is able to see that some usually normal-looking people are in fact ugly aliens in charge of the massive campaign to keep humans subdued.
IMDB Rating: 7.2
IMDB Votes: 142000
Genere: Action, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 94 min
Plot tags: exciting, allegory, political, serious, suspenseful, dark comedy, homoerotic, mind bending, clever, psychedelic
Similar in 82%
Total Recall (1990)
Plot Summary:
Construction worker Douglas Quaid discovers a memory chip in his brain during a virtual-reality trip. He also finds that his past has been invented to conceal a plot of planetary domination. Soon, he's off to Mars to find out who he is and who planted the chip.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 348000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Mexico
Duration: 113 min
Plot tags: futuristic, mind bending, cerebral, ambiguous ending, suspense, cyber, entertaining, cult classic, mindfuck, exciting
Similar in 84%
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 79%
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%
Looper (2012)
Plot Summary:
In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past where a looper, a hired gun, like Joe is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good until the day the mob decides to close the loop, sending back Joe's future self for assassination.
IMDB Rating: 7.4
IMDB Votes: 596000
Genere: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, China
Duration: 119 min
Plot tags: futuristic, clever, thought provoking, mind bending, exciting, neo noir, tense, confusing, cerebral, suspenseful
Similar in 76%
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 88%
The City of Lost Children (1995)
Plot Summary:
A scientist in a surrealist society kidnaps children to steal their dreams, hoping that they slow his aging process.
IMDB Rating: 7.5
IMDB Votes: 71000
Genere: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Country: France, Germany, Spain, Belgium, USA
Duration: 112 min
Plot tags: surreal, atmospheric, art house, stylized, gothic, disturbing, mindfuck, visual, visually stunning, mind bending
Similar in 90%
Shutter Island (2010)
Plot Summary:
World War II soldier-turned-U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by his troubling visions and also by a mysterious doctor.
IMDB Rating: 8.2
IMDB Votes: 14000000
Genere: Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 138 min
Plot tags: psychological, surprise ending, twist ending, suspense, confusing, dark, atmospheric, suspenseful, cerebral, neo noir
Similar in 88%
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
Similar in 85%
The Matrix (1999)
Plot Summary:
Set in the 22nd century, The Matrix tells the story of a computer hacker who joins a group of underground insurgents fighting the vast and powerful computers who now rule the earth.
IMDB Rating: 8.7
IMDB Votes: 20000000
Genere: Action, Sci-Fi
Country: USA, Australia
Duration: 136 min
Plot tags: philosophical, thought provoking, cerebral, mind bending, surreal, intense, tech noir, visually stunning, spiritual, psychedelic