The Top 10 Strangest Movies of All Time

If you're in the mood for something offbeat this weekend, here's a collection of the most bizarre films ever made. Each entry represents a unique vision, with only one film per director and no obvious works from the Dada movement. These are the films that leave you questioning everything as the credits roll, ranked from least to most bizarre.

10. Me and You and Everyone We Know

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Directed by: Miranda July

'Me and You and Everyone We Know' is a deeply poetic and insightful look at how individuals struggle to form meaningful connections in an alienating modern world. Christine Jesperson, a solitary artist and 'Eldercab' driver, uses her imaginative artistic visions to draw closer the people and things she yearns for. Richard Swersey (John Hawkes), a newly divorced shoe salesman and father of two, expects something extraordinary to happen. But when he crosses paths with the enchanting Christine, he falters. Meanwhile, Richard's young son Robby, just six years old, embarks on a risqué Internet romance with a stranger, while his 14-year-old brother Peter becomes the subject of neighborhood girls' experiments, as they prepare for their futures in love and marriage.

9. Donnie Darko

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Directed by: Richard Kelly

In the midst of the 1988 presidential race, a teenager named Donnie Darko sleepwalks one evening and encounters a towering, demonic rabbit named Frank, who ominously informs him that the world will end in 28 days, 6 hours, 42 minutes, and 12 seconds. When he returns home the next morning, he discovers that a jet engine has crashed into his bedroom. As he tries to unravel the mystery of why he survived, Donnie faces challenges from figures in his town, such as the school bully, his rigid health teacher, and a self-help guru, all while Frank continues to appear in his mind, pushing him toward acts of destruction and more.

8. A Clockwork Orange

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Directed by: Stanley Kubrick

Alex (Malcolm McDowell), the wild-eyed hooligan with a penchant for stomping, singing, and tapping while committing unspeakable acts, follows his own path to pleasure, regardless of the harm he inflicts on others. His journey from a carefree punk to a mind-controlled conformist drives Stanley Kubrick's provocative adaptation of Anthony Burgess's novel. Kubrick's mastery of unforgettable imagery, powerful musical juxtapositions, and the unique language of Alex and his gang creates a compelling narrative. Initially controversial, A Clockwork Orange received accolades, including New York Film Critics awards for Best Picture and Director, and earned four Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture. Its impact endures, continuing to shock and captivate audiences today.

7. Delicatessen

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Director: Marc Caro, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet

Set in a dystopian world where food is so scarce that it has become a form of currency, the story revolves around an apartment building with a delicatessen on the first floor. The butcher who runs the shop also owns the building and is seeking a new maintenance worker after the previous one mysteriously vanished. A former clown applies for the job, and the butcher plans to eventually kill him to serve as meat to the building's eccentric tenants, who pay in grain. The clown falls in love with the butcher's daughter, and together they try to thwart the butcher’s deadly plan by reaching out to the 'troglodytes'—an underground group that sees food as a necessity, not a commodity. This film is a unique example of the 'Nouvelle Vague' style of science fiction.

6. Pi

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Director: Darren Aronofsky

Max Cohen, a gifted mathematician and computer expert, lives in isolation in Manhattan, surrounded by six locks. Ever since he gazed at the sun when he was six years old, he's been plagued with intense headaches. He avoids human interaction, except with an elderly professor. Max is driven by his obsession with uncovering numerical patterns, particularly in the stock market. His theories attract the attention of Wall Street traders. Along the way, he encounters Lenny, a smooth-talking Hasidic man, who represents a group seeking to decode ancient mathematical secrets from the Torah. Both parties become increasingly menacing as Max’s hallucinations and migraines intensify. Can nature offer him a way out? Will Max find the answers he seeks?

5. Mulholland Drive

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Director: David Lynch

A hopeful young actress journeys to Hollywood, only to find herself entangled in a sinister conspiracy revolving around a woman who barely survived a near-fatal accident and now suffers from amnesia. The two women soon become trapped in a psychological maze involving a dangerous blue box, a director named Adam Kesher, and the enigmatic nightclub, Silencio.

4. Drowning by Numbers

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Director: Peter Greenaway

Fed up with her husband's infidelity, a mother of two daughters drowns him. With the hesitant assistance of the local coroner, the crime is concealed. The daughters, facing similar issues in their relationships, tend to mimic their mother's actions, while the coroner grows more complicit. As the story unfolds, visual and spoken numbers appear throughout the scenes, counting from one to 100.

3. Brazil

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Director: Terry Gilliam

In a dystopian future, society is completely dominated by the government, yet technology remains largely stuck in the 1970s. Sam Lowry, a civil servant, one day notices an error in a document that passes through his office. This small mistake leads to the wrongful arrest of an innocent man. Despite Lowry's efforts to fix the issue, it snowballs, drawing him deeper into a chaotic web.

Notable others: Nearly all other films by David Lynch or David Cronenberg, eXistenZ, City of Lost Children, Requiem for a Dream, Repulsion, Memento, Begotten, Jacob’s Ladder, After Hours, Prospero’s Books, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

2. The Idiots

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Director: Lars von Trier

A group of highly intelligent young individuals challenge society's obsession with a shallow, uncreative, and irresponsible form of intelligence by forming a community of 'idiots.' Their main act becomes venturing into the world of 'normal' people and pretending to be mentally disabled. They use this ruse to stir chaos wherever they go, aiming to provoke, disturb, frustrate, and shock others. The film begins as they recruit a new lost soul and introduce her to their egotistical leader.

1. Naked Lunch

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Director: David Cronenberg

Exterminator Bill Lee finds himself descending into an addiction to the insect powder he uses. After unintentionally killing his wife, he spirals into a hallucinatory world where he imagines himself a secret agent taking orders from a series of bizarre creatures. He pours his energy into writing 'reports' on his delusional mission, while struggling to break free from his addiction. The story loosely mirrors the life of author Burroughs during the writing of the novel.