Cinema has assume on the daunting labor of asking the big questions about life and being since the art kind started . The best experiential films explore hard - hitting philosophic inquiry and aggregate these with worldwide themes that most spectator have thought about or feel at some power point .
Whether it ’s the fear of death or the intent of life , audiences can ask fundamental and often strike rendition of some of the hardest questions bang to man in these existential film . laurels - make headway hits likeEverything Everywhere All at Onceand must - see classic likeIkiruare among the best in the genre and are staring for viewers search for intellection - provoking stories with crucial lesson about life and livelihood .
7. Everything Everywhere All at Once (2022)
Evelyn Wang ( Michelle Yeoh ) is having a tough time balancing her failing business , struggling man and wife , and complicated human relationship with her daughter inEverything Everywhere All at Once . When an substitute adaptation of her husband tells her she ’s the only one in the intact multiverse who can economize beingness as she have it away it , it ’s the last matter she require .
What follow is the Daniels ’ honor - winning comedy - drama film can only be described as a wild adventure into an absurdist version of the universe where anything is potential . Evelyn is devastated at first to learn that she ’s living the worst version of her life , but this ironically build her the only one up to of keep open everyone else . At its core , the zany genre - bending A24 movie is about affirmative nihilism , as Evelyn ’s winding journey tells viewers that since nothing matters in the grand scheme of things , it ’s what is in front of them mighty now that has the most value .
6. Melancholia (2011)
The 2d film in director Lars von Trier ’s unofficially titled Depression Trilogy , Melancholiais centre on two sisters who react other than to a planet hurtling towards the world . The movie ’s first act focalize on the fragile and gloomy Justine ( Kirsten Dunst ) , whose actions at a wedding ceremony reception disappoint and frustrate her pragmatic sib , Claire ( Charlotte Gainsbourg ) . The second deed underscore the eery calm when acceptance becomes the only choice as the rogue planet Melancholia collides with Earth .
Lars von Trier ’s apocalyptic drama , thriller , and fine art film is full of visually stunning and haunting scenes that chew over its eccentric ’ turmoil . It is essentially an unsettling portrayal of experiential dread all the way to themovie ’s spine - chill ending . The satellite “ Melancholia ” is a stark and obvious reminder that death is always loom in the length and should never be ignore if one wishes to prize life in full .
5. The Great Beauty (2013)
Set against Rome ’s gorgeous architecture and lavish nightlife , The Great Beautyis an art dramatic play film that follows Jep Gambardella ( Toni Servillo ) , a jaded journalist and one - time novelist who just turn 65 . Jep is used to life story as part of high society but begins to yearn for more than mindless company and fancy dinners . In his quest to find “ the great knockout , ” he lento recognizes the very thing he is search for in surprising facial expression of his own lifetime .
Jep ’s journeying of self - breakthrough may be told from a inside position , but his struggles with his identity , finding purpose , and rejection of the superficiality he has gotten used to are undeniably relatable . Jep ’s taradiddle inThe Great Beautyis a familiar and thought process - provoking existential way that everyone walks at least once in their life , if they ’re lucky , at least .
4. Waking Life (2001)
maltreat into a phantasmagoric dream full of philosophical discussions in director Richard Linklater’sWaking Life . Themust - see , gorgeously animate movieis wholly original , follow an unnamed protagonist ( played by Wiley Wiggins ) as he drifts through a dreamscape and converses with various philosophers , ordinary hoi polloi , and even celebrities . They speak about several topics , most concerning the nature of realism , dream , and the determination of life .
arouse Life‘s complex philosophical dialogue is perfectly complemented by its digitally rotoscoped visuals , add it a dreamlike timbre that leaves consultation incertain of what is actually happening . The main plot line is beside the pointedness in Linklater ’s unique moving picture , which navigates heavy topics about being and awareness with ease . Its champion serves as the point of view - in for audiences who are in for a bizarre yet strangely poignant ride .
3. Stalker (1979)
Andrei Tarkovsky created a philosophical masterpiece with the sci - fi artistic production filmStalker . Set in a world where humanity has lose all religion , the movie follows the titular figure ( played by Aleksandr Kaidanovsky ) whose job is to draw clients through the Zone , a dangerous restricted area that purportedly has a way that can grant anyone ’s innermost desire . In this case , the Stalker manoeuvre the Writer ( Anatoli Solonitsyn ) and the Professor ( Nikolay Grinko ) through the Zone , with the duo finally revealing their backgrounds and theme along the fashion .
Chock - full of philosophical and theological allegories , Stalker‘s post - revelatory Zone and its enigmatic elbow room are the perfect stage for humanity ’s longing for meaning and the many challenge that come with it . The Stalker ’s watertight faith becomes implemental in leading the two node through the wild waste , which soon foreground each individual ’s flaws .
2. The Seventh Seal (1957)
The Seventh Sealis the film that plant managing director Ingmar Bergman as an of import pattern in domain film . Themovie takes place in 14th - centurySweden during the Black Death , where disillusioned knight Antonius Block ( Max von Sydow ) return from the Crusades only to be greeted by more loss of life . Block soon incur himself playing an acute game of cheat with Death ( Bengt Ekerot ) to avoid the inevitable , learning about humanity in the cognitive operation .
Block ’s game of chess with Death has become iconic thanks to its cunning use of metaphor , thoroughgoing black - and - white visuals , and well - written dialogue . The champion ’s game is an insightful manifestation of his struggle to find meaning in his endeavor when decease is always unavoidable . The Seventh Seal‘s medieval setting also unambiguously entrance the sombreness that came with the plague , making it a one - of - a - kind existential movie that blend history , fantasy , and ism .
1. Ikiru (1952)
In director Akira Kurosawa ’s tear - jerking dramatic event , Ikiru , bureaucratic everyman Mr. Watanabe ( Takashi Shimura ) is agitate to his core when he teach that he has terminal cancer . He cursorily re - examines his life and day-after-day routines , finally asking the tough question of what he need to go forth behind now that he knows he does n’t have much time left . After unsuccessful attempts at reconnecting with his family , he plough his attention to a neighborhood that could benefit from a playground .
The film ’s title means “ to inhabit , ” which its protagonist desperately seek to do when he realizes that he pass ten stamping papers , organizing documents , and being just another cog in the machine . Mr. Watanabe ’s story is inspiring and heartbreaking , as audience know on the nose how it will end . Ikiruultimately reminds viewers that its theatrical role ’s relentless pursuit of intent in his last day has the energy , passion , and thirst for life that every person should strive towards every single day .
