The critically acclaimed Fight Club, starring Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Jared Leto, turns 25 in 2024.
As one of the past thirty years’ most influential, confusing, and intriguing films, David Fincher’s Fight Club has become a cult classic. So, here’s a list of ten movies that will make you feel like you’re watching Fight Club for the very first time all over again. Or, if you want the actual experience, you can watch the actual movie all over again on Hulu.
Inception
If you’re looking for something confusing and intriguing, look no further than Inception. The movie follows a thief who can steal information from other people’s consciousness. The movie plays between dreams in reality in a way that is reminiscent of Fight Club‘s haze. The movie stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Cillian Murphy and is available to watch for free on Sling TV.
Whiplash
Whiplash is a little more based in reality than a lot of these other movies, but what it lacks in delusion it makes up for in toxic masculinity. The Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons movie follows a young drummer pushed to his limits by his strict instructor. The ruthless, and sometimes violent, teaching methods spiral the young musician into obsession as he sacrifices everything to achieve his dreams. The Oscar-winning 2014 film is available to stream on Netflix.
Split
Anya Taylor-Joy, James McAvoy, and Haley Lu Richardson star in this psychological horror film about a group of teenage girls kidnapped by a man with 24 personalities, only 23 of whom he and his psychiatrist are aware of. As the young women attempt to befriend their kidnapper’s more amicable personalities, the final and most terrifying attempts to overtake them all.
Split takes the split-personality components of Fight Club to a new and even more twisted level. The 2016 film is available to rent on YouTube, Apple TV, and Amazon Prime Video.
Memento
Memento is fascinating because, like Fight Club, no one ever really knows what’s going on, not even the main character. Guy Pearce and Carrie-Anne Moss star in the 2000 thriller about a man with severe memory loss who is attempting to track down his wife’s murderer. He must rely on clues that he has left for himself to figure out where he is going and why before his memory resets all over again. The movie is available to watch for free on YouTube and Tubi.
American Psycho
Christian Bale’s American Psycho follows a man who, like the main character in Fight Club, lives two very different lives, although Bale’s character is aware of his own Jekyll and Hyde tendencies. The movie takes place in the late 80s and follows a handsome and successful investment banker who lives a second life as a gruesome murderer. The mystery/slasher film also stars Jared Leto, Reese Witherspoon, and Willem Dafoe and is available to stream on Peacock.
Taxi Driver
Taxi Driver‘s main character is also a struggling insomniac who has a less-than-firm grasp on reality. Robert DeNiro plays a New York City taxi driver who dreams of saving the world by murdering a presidential candidate and rescuing a young prostitute. His inability to differentiate between delusion and reality sets him on a violent mission to make the city better. The movie also stars Cybill Shepard and Jodie Foster and is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and Apple TV.
Joker
This Oscar-winning thriller follows DC Comics’s Joker as he descends into madness and becomes the iconic comic-book villain. Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck plays a failed comedian with mental health issues pushed over the edge into violence. The movie also features Robert De Niro, Frances Conroy, and Zazie Beetz. The critically acclaimed movie is available to stream on Max, YouTube, and Hulu.
Black Swan
For some reason, a lot of the movies portraying some sort of descent into madness are all male-lead films, but fear not women can lose their grip on reality too. In Black Swan Natalie Portman plays a dedicated ballerina whose goal to become the prima ballerina in her company’s production of Swan Lake leads to a fierce rivalry with a newcomer and a descent into a twisted friendship.
The Oscar-winning movie experiments with hallucination, delusion, and paranoia in the same way as Fight Club. It also stars Mila Kunis, Winona Ryder, and Vincent Cassel and is available to stream on Netflix.
The Machinist
Insomnia, paranoia, and mistaken identity, what more could you want? Like Fight Club, The Machinist follows a struggling insomniac whose mental health issues and guilt lead him to confuse reality with delusion.
Christian Bale plays a factory worker who develops a second persona on which to blame all of his mistakes and guilt. Jennifer Jason Leigh and John Sharian star alongside Bale in the 2004 thriller. It is available to stream on MGM Plus and Paramount Plus.
Psycho
Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho originates all of the elements viewers love about Fight Club. The 1960 movie tells the story of a creepy taxidermist with an alternative murderous personality. The gruesome but fascinating film stars Anthony Perkins and Janet Leigh and is available to rent on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, and Apple TV.
These are some pretty intense films, so maybe watch them during daylight surrounded by friends if you are scared easily. If not, then feel free to watch psychological thriller after psychological thriller to your little heart’s content. You probably won’t descend into madness alongside the characters but just in case, when it gets to be too intense, maybe check out the most calming movies of all time.
