Every once in a while a movie comes along that makes you question reality itself. Through a combination of hypnotic visuals, perplexing storylines, and off-beat characters, these movies feel as if they’ve escaped from a fever dream. Just as unpredictable as an illness, these psychedelic movies will leave you hot and restless one moment – then cold and shivering the next. Whether this style results in brilliance or chaos depends on the film itself, but the movies below will almost certainly leave you dazed and questioning reality.
The Lighthouse (2019)
Widely regarded as one of the most stylized and surreal works of a director whose whole career is built on stylized surrealism, The Lighthouse is one of the movies that inspired me to create this list in the first place. Starring Willem Dafoe and Robert Pattinson, this black and white nightmare tells the tale of two lighthouse keepers alone for a month on a remote island in the 1890s. The viewer is essentially trapped there too, watching these two unconventional figures chillingly descend into madness. The most hallucinatory part is how natural and primal their maniacal descent becomes. Robert Eggers does some of his best work here, pulling the viewer into the unnerving island – an intimate space with its sole two inhabitants.
Beetlejuice (1988)
One of Tim Burton’s masterpieces, Beetlejuice is a comedy horror film starring Michael Keaton as the titular character. If you haven’t seen it, I’m sure you have at least seen Keaton as the white-face, green-haired poltergeist. It’s certainly no surprise that this film made my fever-dream list with its zany style and ghastly visuals. It’s such a fun watch for its humor, novel ideas, and enjoyable characters. Every frame feels like a twisted carnival ride in such a lively way that only Burton can pull off.
Requiem for a Dream (2000)
The Lighthouse traps you and Beetlejuice dazzles you. Requiem for a Dream overwhelms you. Requiem for a Dream is a visually stimulating tragedy about four people living with addiction. Spiraling out of control, these addictions are depicted on screen through rapid cuts and close ups. However, the ramifications of addiction are portrayed as so uniquely raw and distressing, that Requiem for a Dream is often cited as one of the classic one-time masterpiece watches – similar to Schindler’s List or Come and See. It is a movie that has the ability to impact one’s view of life and stick around in their mind forever.
Flash Gordon (1980)
Now imagine the exact opposite of Requiem for a Dream – something shallow and emotionally vacant, but amusing and enjoyable to watch. Flash Gordon follows a stereotypical jock football player on his mission to save the world. It’s even stupider than it sounds, but that’s where its beauty lies. The film’s visuals are excessively colorful with campy, theatrical costumes. Much of the dialogue is intentionally obvious and senseless. It is the type of film that ages so poorly it’s almost somehow gotten better.
A Trip to the Moon (1902)
Requiring three months of full time work to create, A Trip to the Moon is a 1902 flick regarded as the first blockbuster, despite its 14 minute runtime. Combining 1902 special effects with an experimental story about going to the moon over six decades before it was ever achieved makes for a film that carries a strangely hypnotic and dreamlike vibe when watched now. The movie is sci-fi fantasy with a theatrical style, made in a time with no cinematic guidelines to adhere to. Thus, it is a wild ride that is fascinating, yet absurd to watch. The movie has such interesting historical implications, and also such dated, yet immortal visuals.
Under the Silver Lake (2018)
A24’s Under the Silver Lake stars Andrew Garfield as an aimless slacker living in LA. Acquiring a sense of purpose, he unearths mysteries on a conspiracy theory hunt through the decadent, sometimes hedonistic world of the LA milieu. The film pushes viewers to question the search for meaning. It blurs the line between reality and fantasy, quickly shifting genres throughout and throwing in bizarre symbolism to induce fever-dream comparisons.
Last Night in Soho (2021)
Led by Thomasin Mackenzie and Anya Taylor Joy, Last Night in Soho tells the story of a girl who moves to London from the country and is haunted by people of the past. The innovative premise occurs as the film switches between genres from horror to mystery to thriller. It has stylish visuals, lavish costumes, and is artfully deliberate in a playful way. There is an atmosphere created by director Edgar Wright that pulls you in like a dream, blurring the line between glamour and terror until you’re not sure which world is more dangerous.
