Which movies definitely require more than one viewing?

Submitted by Delta_Geminorum t3_11b76vu in movies

I'm talking about understanding the movie, not enjoying it. Some movies require just one viewing, but others need more.

One example for me is Memento. I got it the first viewing but the second time I was able to appreciate the early scenes much better. I feel that's true with other movies too in which the story is not linear or the movie is a sort of a puzzle (Usual Suspects), there are multiple layers of meaning (e.g., The Game, American Psycho), etc.

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riegspsych325 t1_j9wcbpc wrote

The Prestige. 16+ years later and I still pick up new bits of foreshadowing

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generalosabenkenobi t1_j9wikft wrote

Tenet works a lot better on repeated viewing, things just click into place and you start to see more of what’s going on

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jazzdabb t1_j9wnvso wrote

IMHO Tenet is the strongest case for this. I only think everything clicked into place on the 3rd watch.

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_ust_ike_uicide t1_j9xhfia wrote

I was quite surprised at how much I enjoyed it a second time (with subtitles). I still don’t think it was a great film, but I feel it settles itself in as a solid blockbuster.

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shy247er t1_j9wkxml wrote

All of Kubrick's movies.

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emobatwoman t1_j9wl6xm wrote

Mulholland Drive

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JaKr8 t1_j9x6rmy wrote

Seen it multiple times and still can't quite put it all together!!

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dudinax t1_ja01ymm wrote

I don't think it's meant to go together 100%. Like a P. K. Dick novel, it's impossible to make all the pieces fit.

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0rphan_Martian t1_ja0a0s9 wrote

It actually makes a ton of sense when you realize 80% of the movie is just Naomi Watts’ dream. One of the rare instances where that trick actually works in favor of the film.

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calman877 t1_j9y6hgb wrote

Saw it for the first time a few months ago and it's the movie I'm most looking forward to re-watching to try to put it together

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teeohdeedee123 t1_j9wazar wrote

Primer

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Throwaway_Codex t1_j9wnezc wrote

This is the answer. I don't believe I've ever watched a movie more quickly a second time, the day after I believe.

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zauriel1980 t1_j9z7nuq wrote

Not only does this movie need repeat viewings, it helps to have a flowchart to understand it (and even then … good luck).

https://imgur.io/VACTBSE?r

I love all manner of time travel movies, from the dumb to the comedic to the dramatic to the fantastical to the true sci-fi … but Primer was the only one to make me develop a real love/hate relationship with it.

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DarwinsKoala t1_j9wbawt wrote

Pulp Fiction did for me...

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phalangepatella t1_j9wc2mj wrote

We watched it in one theater, then snuck right into the next showing to watch it again.

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sikeig t1_j9wc3po wrote

Once Upon A Time In Hollywood

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LeePT69 t1_j9x38t0 wrote

I didn’t fully understand memento until I saw the special edition where you solve a test and get to see it in chronologically order. Then I was like. Oooohhh I missed that

Also Tenet. Watch it 3 times only get 30 percent of it. Even when it’s explained. I don’t fully get it I guess Most if Christopher Nolan films make the list

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IsRude t1_j9xcb0g wrote

I had no trouble keeping up with Interstellar, Inception, and The Prestige, but they definitely benefit from repeat viewings because there are certain things that you pick up on new watches.

Tenet was absurd. If you have to sacrifice most of the emotion of your movie in favor of expository dialogue and your movie is still hard to follow AND even after "understanding" it, it's still ridiculous, maybe you've just made a bad movie. Even during the final emotional dialogue between Pattinson and Washington, there was so much poorly written exposition that the emotion turns to comedy. It felt like a satire of Christopher Nolan movies. I've seen it 3 times because I thought I was missing something, but it was just unfulfilling. It may be the only movie I've liked less upon a rewatch, other than movies shrouded by nostalgia.

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LeePT69 t1_j9z0xwr wrote

The first time I saw the film I came out of the theatre angry. I felt like it was hard to hear and hard to follow what was going on. The second time was better until about half hour in. Then it lost me again I agree. It’s not a good film if most people can follow it. The visuals were fantastic. But does not make up for it overall.
Love the concept. But frustrating to watch

Inception I can follow about two levels down. Once it’s a dream within a draw within a dream and into the fugue state. I can’t do that 3D chess

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IsRude t1_j9z8v7c wrote

Their goal is to introduce into the target's head, the idea of dissolving his father's company. They have to be subtle, or else he'll know that the idea came from someone else, so they separate these 3 ideas into 3 separate dreams:

>First dream: "I don't want to follow in my father's footsteps."

>Second dream: "I want to create something for myself."

>Third dream: "My father doesn't want me to be him.

Each time they go deeper into a dream, the amount of time they'd be stuck in the dream if they fail is increased. Which is why they need to manually get themselves out of the dream, and why they need the music as a queue to help time everything correctly.

What they're timing is "kicks". They need to fall at the right time so they can wake up. If they fall in the first layer while they're all the way in the third layer, they'll be in too deep a sleep to wake up, and they'll just die and end up in limbo. So they have a series of kicks to wake them from the third dream layer, then the second, then the first, in succession.

I can explain more if that doesn't make sense. It's been a long while since I've seen the movie.

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sakamake t1_j9wbjis wrote

The Sixth Sense. Once you get the twist out of the way you can appreciate how meticulously all the details are laid out, and how heartwarming the whole situation really is. Plus it still creeps me out no matter how many times I see it.

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TheCosmicFailure t1_j9whbaf wrote

I'm thinking of ending things

The Machinist

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Puzzled-Journalist-4 t1_j9xd3zk wrote

>I'm thinking of ending things

My dumbass brain couldn't understand a bit of that film at first watch. I was shocked after reading interpretation of it. I would love to rewatch this film with a commentary track explaining what the hell is going on. It's shame that this is a Netflix film, and there's zero chance for it to get a commentary track.

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DrossChat t1_j9z1w2m wrote

With you there. At one point I considered turning it off but thankfully decided to just be ok with being completely lost. I enjoyed it way more when I stopped trying to figure it all out. The acting was superb and some of the scenes were so mesmerizing. Incredible writing.

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callmemacready t1_j9wfm38 wrote

Memento , watched it multiple times and still noticing new things especially the black and white parts

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Looper007 t1_j9woiy1 wrote

The Master and Inherent Vince from Paul Thomas Anderson.

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InvideoSilenti t1_j9ylgfe wrote

Fight Club - You will notice so much....

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OfferOk8555 t1_j9y1t4l wrote

Eraserhead. Though a lot of people won’t want to watch it once which is completely understandable 😂

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michaelyup t1_j9wnecs wrote

Clue. You see more little details each time, and it just keeps getting more hilarious.

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wmatts1 t1_j9xcs5p wrote

Just because of how cool it is to me. TMNT 1990

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theczarfromBG t1_j9ycbu5 wrote

The Matrix I’ve seen it so many times and I always pick up something new on each re-watch

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TrickNatural t1_j9wbscg wrote

Sixth Sense I guess. Whole movie changes in the second viewing.

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psinsyd t1_j9wl3ek wrote

The Lighthouse.

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adamircz t1_j9wyfhp wrote

I find this to be the case with most spy movies, simply because, unless you read a book they are adapted from, you get lost if you as much as blink

Lets have the most extreme example:

Now, I love that movie so much that I'd be willing to use its DVD as a sex toy, but the spy-plot of Where Eagles Dare is straight up impossible to keep up with on the first viewing... or second... or fifth

  • The whole introductory briefing for the mission turns out to be 100% a lie

  • They keep saying that there must be a jerry infiltrator in the British secret service. Important: infiltrator - singular. But it actually turns out that the german spies were almost outnumbering the legitimate allied agents. Lmao

  • Richard Burton is trying to keep Mary's presence on the mission a secret. Except he actually aint trying that hard, he just casually talks about her with Eastwood

  • Burton evetually claims that the plan is to have a fake general pass fake info, then break him out, and that leads us to:

  • The whole table scene. Masterclass in tension, editing, acting, cinematography, and last but not least, making the viewer feel like they had a whole fleet of maglev trains take a detour through their brain. So within five minutes, Burton and Eastwood hold everyone at a gunpoint, then Burton holds Eastwood at gunpoint, then introduces himself as a kraut who has been working for the nazis all along and delivers a reasonable proof, then gets held at gunpoint himself along with everyone else, then wants to prove himself by having three german agents, whom he claims are british, to write a name into a notebook, then nonverbally coordinates with Eastwood to get a gun back even though he just disarmed him, then shoots half the room and orders the three german agents whom he claimed to be brits, to go with him, but at a gun point

table scene took about five minutes and now that all of this has happened, the movie still has half its timerun to go and is about to transition from the spy-thriller act into the 80s action movie (made in 60s) part.

I believe you do understand, why it might not be easy to keep up with, even though everything I listed is explained by the film at some point

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jackfaire t1_j9x4hp9 wrote

Perks of Being a Wallflower. The main character and me experienced a lot of the same events in life but there's a big one that's concealed in nature until the end of it.

The whole time his behavior is familiar but it didn't really click why until the ending. Rewatching it was like "okay yeah I see it now"

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calbearlupe t1_j9xcsw2 wrote

Hot Fuzz. You’ll be amazed at all the subtle jokes you missed the first go around. It’s one of the best crafted films ever. So much thought put into the screenplay.

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perrito-incognito t1_j9yr683 wrote

Magnolia and The Grand Budapest Hotel.

Also Seven Psychopaths. Noticing Crispin Glover's miniscule appearance in the courtroom scene was worth it. Also just a great movie that stands up to repeat viewing.

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garyonthetrain t1_j9wfeis wrote

The Big Lebowski. Somehow when you know whats going to happen the characterizations become so much funnier.

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_ust_ike_uicide t1_j9xhb84 wrote

I’m thinking of ending things. If you do watch a 2nd time make sure to call a suicide hotline though since it’s fucking depressing.

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HEHEHO2022 t1_j9xhkr4 wrote

Paul Thomas Anderson

You get more and more out of them with each rewatch

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WasteAd1342 t1_j9xjvie wrote

The Dark Knight no questions asked

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bakabilebaseballbats t1_j9xvkqb wrote

eternal sunshine of the spotless mind. i went in fully blind after seeing jim carrey in the truman show and i obvs didn’t get that it was out of order and was so confused. really enjoyed seeing why some characters made some choices and how it was right in my face the whole time

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Kobane t1_j9xzbn3 wrote

Emoji movie

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NightmareSeller t1_j9z37v0 wrote

Knives Out

Of course, everything that happens in film is explained in the end. But while you are rewatching it you can find new details. For example, a moment when Benoit Blanc sees blood stain on Martha's sneakers.

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dhriggs t1_ja05f69 wrote

Chinatown, Heat, Eyes Wide Shut, The Thin Red Line

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AllenWoody34 t1_j9wjiwy wrote

The Square by Ruben Ostlund

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Looper007 t1_j9ws9hf wrote

I think all his films require more then one viewing. Although I loved both the Square and Triangle of Sadness, they are way too overlong and could have done with some tightening up.

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Veszerin t1_j9wdtgq wrote

The Prestige.

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