INTRODUCTION
Movies, documentaries and series can be highly transformative tools. They have the ability to massively elevate, liberate and empower our state of being by transmuting subconscious fears, revealing certain truths and changing our overall perspective and emotional state. Movie directors intend to do this by making us experience certain frames, scenes and extremes in sequential order. By being deeply reframed and rewired around certain themes and domains of life, we can literally transcend our old worldview and snap into a new reality. This transformative effect is mild at times, but it can also be huge. The right movie at the right time can truly be life-transforming. Some examples of themes and domains that are deeply conditioned within us and often keep us stuck are:
The existential, metaphysical and lucid nature of life;
The psycho-spiritual complexity of the human mind and spirit;
The deep pressure to survive and develop strategies for survival;
The deep pressure to know our fully realized and highest potential in life;
Violence, the fear of death and the fear of being physically harmed;
Sexuality and the fear of being fully open and vulnerable;
Morality, rules and ‘shoulds’ coming from external authority;
Obviously different movies will have different effects on different people, but below is a list of 13 movies that had a highly transformative effect on my worldview, perceptions and overall intentions in life. I will briefly explain what the movie or documentary is about while also linking to their corresponsive IMDB pages so you can dig deeper into each one of them. At the end of this article, I also explain a method on how to see movies and documentaries online. Without further ado, here’s the list.
1. Mr. Nobody
Mr. Nobody is a movie about Nemo who reflects on his life, realizing how different decisions made him experience different timelines. ‘As he stands on a station platform as a train is about to leave he wonders if he should go with his mother or stay with his father? Infinite possibilities arise from this decision. As long as he doesn't choose, anything is possible.’
Mr. Nobody - IMDB PAGE
2. The Man From Earth
The man from earth is a movie that gradually unravels you through a series of scientific, existential and historical paradigms, leaving you open, aware and awestruck at the end. The storyline entails an impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman that becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.
3. One Flew Over The CUCkoo’s Nest
A criminal pleads insanity and is admitted to a mental institution, where he rebels against the oppressive nurse and rallies up the scared patients. Liberating, entertaining and hilarious.
4. A CloCkwork Orange
In the future, a sadistic gang leader is imprisoned and volunteers for a conduct-aversion experiment, but it doesn't go as planned. An all-time classic with inspired many great artists, including lead singer Alex Turner of the Arctic Monkeys whose album ‘Suck It and See’ borrowed its title from one of its scenes.
A Clockwork Orange - IMDB PAGE
5. Koyaanisqatsi
A collection of expertly photographed phenomena with no conventional plot. The footage focuses on nature, humanity and the relationship between them. Highly grounding, expansive and consciousness inducing documentary that will unravel a lot of deep mysteries.
6. Waking Life
Dreams. What are they? An escape from reality or reality itself? Waking Life follows the dream(s) of one man and his attempt to find and discern the absolute difference between waking life and the dreamworld. While trying to figure out a way to wake up, he runs into many people on his way; some of which offer one sentence asides on life, others delving deeply into existential questions and life's mysteries. Highly aesthetic and inspiring movie on the mysterious nature of reality.
7. INCEPTION
Dom Cobb is a skilled thief, the absolute best in the dangerous art of extraction, stealing valuable secrets from deep within the subconscious during the dream state, when the mind is at its most vulnerable. Cobb's rare ability has made him a coveted player in this treacherous new world of corporate espionage, but it has also made him an international fugitive and cost him everything he has ever loved. Now Cobb is being offered a chance at redemption.
8. The Matrix
A computer hacker learns from mysterious rebels about the true nature of his reality and his role in the war against its controllers. As a rebel against the machines, Neo must return to the Matrix and confront the agents: super-powerful computer programs devoted to snuffing out Neo and the entire human rebellion. An overall inspiring and entertaining movie about deep philosophical topics, the existential nature of reality and the power of mankind to rise against the machine.
9. Samsara
Filmed over nearly five years in twenty-five countries on five continents, and shot on seventy-millimeter film, Samsara transports us to the varied worlds of sacred grounds, disaster zones, industrial complexes, and natural wonders. A truly beautiful, grounding and mind-liberating documentary on the wondrous diversity of life and the conscious evolution of human civilization.
SAMSARA - IMDB PAGE
10. HER
Theodore is a lonely man in the final stages of his divorce. He decides to purchase the new OS1, which is advertised as the world's first artificially intelligent operating system. As an OS, Samantha has powerful intelligence that she uses to help Theodore in ways others hadn't, but how does she help him deal with his inner conflict of being in love with an OS? An overall inspiring movie about the duality between the human psyche and the rise of artificial intelligence.
11. Requiem for a Dream
Sara Goldfarb spends most of her time watching TV, especially a particular self-help show. Her son, Harry is a junkie but along with his friend Tyrone has visions of making it big by becoming a drug dealer. Meanwhile, Sara has developed an addiction of her own. She desperately wants to lose weight and so goes on a crash course involving popping pills, pills which turn out to be very addictive and harmful to her mental state. An overall awareness-elevating movie around drugs, purpose and the power of social reprogramming.
REQUIEM FOR A DREAM - IMDB PAGE
12. Gladiator
A former Roman General sets out to exact vengeance against the corrupt emperor who murdered his family and sent him into slavery. A beautiful and aesthetically rich example of the hero’s journey embodying strength, honor and passion.
13. CALL ME BY YOUR NAME
In 1980s Italy, romance blossoms between a seventeen-year-old student and the older man hired as his father's research assistant.
14. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer
Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, born with a superior olfactory sense, creates the world's finest perfume. His work, however, takes a dark turn as he searches for the ultimate scent..
15. THE ELEPHANT MAN (1980)
A Victorian surgeon rescues a heavily disfigured man who is mistreated while scraping a living as a side-show freak. Behind his monstrous façade, there is revealed a person of kindness, intelligence and sophistication.
16. PARASITE (GISAENGCHUNG) (2019)
Greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan.
17. INTERSTELLAR (2014)
A team of explorers travel through a wormhole in space in an attempt to ensure humanity's survival.
18. QUINCY (2018)
An intimate look into the life of icon Quincy Jones. As a family man and producer of the greatest album of all time he may be the greatest example of a family man and a musician. A highly unique force in music and popular culture for 70 years, Jones has transcended racial and cultural boundaries; his story is inextricably woven into the fabric of America.
19. DUNE (2021)
A noble family becomes embroiled in a war for control over the galaxy's most valuable asset while its heir becomes troubled by visions of a dark future.
21. AMADEUS
The life, success and troubles of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, as told by Antonio Salieri, the contemporaneous composer who was deeply jealous of Mozart's talent and claimed to have murdered him.
22. Blade Runner
Young Blade Runner K's discovery of a long-buried secret leads him to track down former Blade Runner Rick Deckard, who's been missing for thirty years.
23. The World’s A Little Blurry
An intimate look at the singer-songwriter's journey, navigating life on the road, on stage, and at home, while creating her debut album.
24. KAMA SUTRA
Two female friends become sexual rivals at maturity in a movie that is highly aesthetic, indian and full of mesmerizing hindu culture, imagery and myth.
25. AT ETERNITY’s GATE
A look at the life of painter Vincent van Gogh during the time he lived in Arles and Auvers-sur-Oise, France.
26. American Psycho
A wealthy New York City investment banking executive, Patrick Bateman, hides his alternate psychopathic ego from his co-workers and friends as he delves deeper into his violent, hedonistic fantasies.
20. Bo Burnham: Inside (2021)
A musical comedy special shot and performed by Bo Burnham, alone, over the course of a very unusual year. If you’re a musician, a comedian, a content creator or simple a human being who loves a laugh, this is for you! Hilariously genius.
27. Oppenheimer
The story of American scientist, J. Robert Oppenheimer, and his role in the development of the atomic bomb. Oppenheimer - IMDB Page
28. Westworld
At the intersection of the near future and the reimagined past, waits a world in which every human appetite can be indulged without consequence. Westworld - IMDB Page
29. SHAME
A sex addict's carefully cultivated private life falls apart after his sister arrives for an indefinite stay. Shame - IMBD Page
30. Pig
A truffle hunter who lives alone in the Oregon wilderness must return to his past in Portland in search of his beloved foraging pig after she is kidnapped. IMDB Page
31. Close
The
32. flowers of war
The
33. napoleon
The
34. whiplash
The
35. the master
The
36. scientology: The prison of belief
The
37. The IDOL
38. Captain Fantastic
the
39. American Gangster
the
40. 33 & Beyond: The Royal Art of Freemasonry
the
41. Pocahontas
the
42. The Lion King
the
43. Aladdin
the
44. Jungle Book
the
45. Catch Me If You Can
the
46. Law Abiding Citizen
47. The Next Tree Days
48. The Lion King
49. DUNE II
50. Euphoria
51. Breaking Bad
CONCLUSION
Movies can move, transform, move, touch and inspire us deeply in many ways. Hopefully, you’ll find value in some of the movies above. One of the easiest ways to watch movies online is through the application ‘Popcorn Time’ which you can download for free for Windows and Mac. Popcorn Time has an immense library of movies, documentaries and series ready to be streamed instantly. Enjoy!