Life Hack: Watch These Trippy Movies When You Need an Escape
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Sure, movies are great, but you know what's even better? Trippy movies. Like psychological thrillers, dystopian movies, and even some horror movies, trippy movies inspire the audience to question their own reality. You know, like an acid trip is supposed to. Full disclosure: I have never before taken such a "trip," BUT I have seen a lot of trippy movies that have taken me on mental adventures I would have never even dreamed of. So, believe me when I say these are the 25 best trippy movies you can watch right now.
Trippy movies can be of any genre—musical, comedy, drama, horror—so long as they have to achieve three key things. First, a trippy movie has to be visually dazzling or off-putting enough that it makes you question reality. Second, they should take you on a fantastical ride, preferably one that pushes the limits of our boring, sober world. And last but not least, they should surprise you. Good news: the 25 trippy movies below do all that and more. Just remember, the joy of a trip isn't the destination, it's the journey.
Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022)
Everything Everywhere All At Once is far from the only film to embrace the complexity and WTF-ness of the multiverse, but it's how it does it that really makes it trippy. The film blends genres and visual styles together at such a fast pace that it's hard for your eyes to keep up. But if you can manage, it's oh-so worth it.
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Alice in Wonderland (1951)
I have never taken hallucinogenic drugs, but I imagine it would be something like watching a walrus devour baby clams, or flowers break into song, or a floating cat playing volleyball with its head—all things that happen in Alice in Wonderland.
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The Matrix (1999)
Look up the word "trippy" in the dictionary, and you'll find a GIF of Keanu Reeves' iconic "Whoa" from The Matrix. Ok, you won't actually find that, but you should!
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Sorry to Bother You (2018)
Sorry to Bother You director Boots Riley is known for his distinct and bright visual style that creates a heightened, exaggerated reality not unlike what one might experience on a high. The plot of Sorry to Bother You, which follows a telemarketer who shoots to the top by using his "white voice," is also fully disorienting. In the best way, of course.
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Yellow Submarine (1968)
You can't talk about trippy movies without talking about Yellow Submarine. If you've never seen a Beatles movie, you should know they are weird as hell, but none so much as Yellow Submarine, an animated musical adventure that finds the band going up against the Blue Meanies. (Sadly, the film doesn't appear to be streaming anywhere right now, but you can still watch full scenes, linked below.)
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Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse (2023)
Just because a movie is trippy doesn't mean it's good to watch while under the influence. Case in point: Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse, which moves so fast and is so visually overwhelming at times, it can be hard to keep up with, even when stone cold sober.
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Pan's Labyrinth (2006)
Guillermo del Toro's dark fantasy film Pan's Labyrinth features many trippy creatures, like the Pale Man with eyes on his palms or the giant toad that lives in a tree. But be warned: the movie, which takes place in a violent 1944 Spain, is trippy, but it is not whimsical.
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Paprika (2006)
This anime film takes trippy to a whole new level. Paprika follows the story of a young woman, Paprika, who must travel through dreams and realities to stop a villain from using a machine that allows the user to enter into the dreams of others. (Think Inception, but more visually trippy and released 4 years earlier.)
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Inception (2010)
Though not as visually mind boggling as Paprika, Inception is still pretty trippy. The plot—a dream heist that requires criminals to go many layers deep into their mark's dreams—is trippy enough, but it's the visual stunts, like the zero gravity fight, that really earn Inception a spot on this list.
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Us (2019)
Us might not be the first title that comes to mind when thinking of trippy movies, but I maintain that there is nothing more trippy than the idea that there are doubles of us living underground, eating raw rabbits and forced to act out a hollow impression of our lives until we die.
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Eraserhead (1977)
David Lynch's first feature is nothing short of disturbing. It's one of those movies that's impossible to describe, other than to say that you're going to want to hang onto something if you want to retain your sanity by the end.
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Annihilation (2018)
Annihilation is one of those trippy movies that turns fantasies into nightmares. The film follows a team of scientists who enter into "The Shimmer," a biological disaster zone where a mysterious meteor has altered all living things around it.
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Fantasia (1940)
Fantasia is what I imagine must happen when someone drops acid and then listens to a mix of classical music. How else do you get to dancing hippos in tutus and magical brooms?
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2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
Like The Matrix, 2001: A Space Odyssey questions the nature of our reality, technology, and human evolution. The science fiction film leaves a lot of questions unanswered and has been a hot topic of debate for over 50 years. How's that for trippy?
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Being John Malkovich (1999)
The plot of Being John Malkovichis simple: a puppeteer finds a hidden door in his office that leads him into the mind of John Malkovich. Makes sense, right? RIGHT???
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Enemy (2014)
In theory, the existence of two Jake Gyllenhaals is less trippy and more...exciting. But in Enemy, it's actually a trippy nightmare that allows two men to explore their darkest desires and impulses.
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Labyrinth (1986)
This '80s classic has all the ingredients for a trippy movie: Fantasy! David Bowie! Puppets! A killer soundtrack!
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Across the Universe (2007)
The Beatles recorded many songs that were seemingly about drugs—"Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" anyone?—so it makes sense that the band's music would be the soundtrack to Julie Taymor's visually stunning anti-war jukebox musical.
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Fantastic Planet (1973)
La planète sauvage, or Fantastic Planet, is a French-language animation film about a future alien society where men are slaves to giant blue humanoids. No, you're not high, that's actually just the plot.
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Beetlejuice (1988)
I firmly believe that there is nothing about Tim Burton's Beetlejuice that would be out of place in a drug-induced hallucination. And this is why I do not do drugs.
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Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971)
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory isn't just trippy because of the dancing Oompa-Loompas or the girl that turns into a human blueberry. It's also trippy because no one in the film seems at all concerned that Willy Wonka isn't just a chocolate maker, but a homicidal maniac. I said what I said.
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Donnie Darko (2001)
Jake Gyllenhaal strikes again! This time, instead of seeing two of him, we get introduced to Donnie Darko, a troubled teen who hallucinates a terrifying rabbit. Like Enemy, Donnie Darko teeters on the edge of trippy and terrifying, so tread carefully.
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Triangle (2009)
When a group of five friends get lost at sea and are rescued by a strange ship, they think they're saved, but are they? Triangle features many trippy aspects including time loops, doubles, and fate, all while being scary as hell. Fun!
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Daisies (1966)
Daisies is a Czechoslovakian film about two women who go on a hedonistic adventure after becoming disenchanted with the world and the expectations placed on them. It's tough to get into the trippy nature of the film without spoiling it, but just know it is a uniquely strange film.
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mother! (2017)
What is there to say about Mother! that hasn't already been said? Darren Aronofsky's film about motherhood, patriarchy, and nature is a thriller that left audiences freaked out and utterly confused. If that's not trippy, I don't know what is.
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