Gallery: 9 Movies That Get Better On The Second Viewing

From Inception to The Usual Suspects, WGTC looks at 9 films that get better with repeated viewings.

Matt Joseph

Published: Jan 23, 2015 03:24 am

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With a narrative that’s played out in reverse, and constant dropping of hints along the way, Memento, moreso than perhaps any other film, begs for a second viewing. Brilliantly constructed and completely engrossing from beginning to end, this head-scratcher from Christopher Nolan will take more than just a few viewings to fully piece together. Mark our words though, this brain teaser is well worth the effort.

With a plot that’s almost too convoluted for its own good, Christopher Nolan returns once again to hurt our brains with Inception. By introducing “dream worlds” that each have multiple layers within them and a unique set of rules governing what you can and can’t do, things get confusing real quick. This one puzzled audiences for a long time upon its release, and with an open-ended conclusion that leaves us with a lot to think about, I think it’s safe to say that no one will ever be able to fully explain what happened in Inception.

Featuring perhaps what is the greatest plot twist of all-time, The Usual Suspects’ ending takes what was a good film and turns it into an absolute stunner by the time the final frame rolls. It’s a plot twist that will absolutely floor you, and one that no one saw coming. But that’s just part of what makes the second viewing so much more rewarding.

While Fight Club has a great twist, and is incredibly dense, it’s appreciated more on its second viewing for the whole “what’s real and what isn’t?” aspect. Director David Fincher drops multiple hints along the way, but without knowing the big twist, it’s impossible to pick up on them. Even with multiple viewings, it’s hard to nail down what exactly was real and what wasn’t, but it’s sure as hell fun to try and figure it all out.

Donnie Dark is just completely whack. There’s really no other way to put it, and I firmly believe that no amount of viewings will ever be able to fully explain just what the heck is going on here. And trust us, there is A LOT going on in Donnie Darko. While too strange and out there for some, it’s hard not to appreciate the complete mind-fuck that this film really is. And don’t bother giving us your theories in the comments section. Like we said, NO ONE understands Donnie Darko.

Much has been written about Stanley Kubrick’s masterful 2001: A Space Odyssey at this point, so we won’t bore you. It’s a near perfect film, and iconic for oh so many reasons, but its ambiguity and the amount of stuff left open to interpretation has had people scratching their heads for decades. 2001: A Space Odyssey is perhaps one of the finest films ever made, but it’s also one that absolutely demands multiple viewings.

Leave it to Charlie Kaufman to really fuck with our heads. Almost everything he’s written has hurt our brains and Being John Malkovich is no different. Bizarre and super cool at the same time, this is a film that upon first viewing should just be enjoyed. Once you’ve digested it, feel free to go back and pick it all apart. We’ll warn you though, it’s not going to make much sense.

Brazil is worthy of multiple viewings not so much because there are complex plot twists to figure out, but more because it’s such a layered film with so many messages and so much meaning behind almost every single scene. It’s a film that can be picked apart over and over again, and always result in a new discovery. Endlessly clever and still as thought-provoking today as it was upon release, Brazil is one of those films that just never gets old and keeps on giving.

A sci-fi classic, Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner is a film so steeped in visual style and thought-provoking philosophy that it must be watched again and again to be fully understood. Though it’s also a superb action-thriller and a visually rich film-noir, Blade Runner is much more complex than that, asking huge questions of what makes us human that require thoughtful analysis. Is Deckard a replicant? What does it actually mean to be a replicant? Scott doesn’t give easy answers, which is what makes Blade Runner such an indelible, distinctive experience. No matter how many times you watch it, the movie stays fresh and makes you think – unlike so many sci-fi films. Only through immersing yourself in its world can you truly begin to find the answers.

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Author

Matt Joseph

Matt Joseph is the co-founder, owner and Editor in Chief of We Got This Covered. He currently attends the University of Western Ontario and is studying at the Richard Ivey School of Business. He works on We Got This Covered in his spare time and enjoys writing for the site.