If you’ve ever found yourself questioning the nature of your reality, you’ve arrived at the right list. One of the reasons mind-benders are perennially popular is their versatility. Some incorporate elements of science fiction and horror, while others are just about ordinary people getting into extraordinary situations. It’s a genre that’s open to interpretation; the only real requirement is that they make you think.

There are so many engrossing mind-benders that we couldn’t limit ourselves to only shows or just movies, which means you’re getting recommendations for both. Our picks include the groundbreaking anthology Black Mirror, time-loop series Russian Doll, and the hallucinatory film Spiderhead, among others. There are plenty of options here to keep you busy — and keep you guessing — for a while.

Behind Her Eyes

Mind games run rampant in Steven Lightfoot’s pulpy erotic thriller series Behind Her Eyes, which is based on Sarah Pinborough’s novel of the same name. It stars Simona Brown as Louise, a single mother who strikes up an unlikely friendship with the wife of her boss ––  with whom she is having an affair. As Louise becomes more deeply involved in their marriage, she discovers that she’s become caught in the middle of a tangled web of secrets. Come for the messy love triangle, stay for its game-changing twists and turns.

Behind Her Eyes

Limited Series   TV-MA   2021

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Black Mirror

Charlie Brooker’s cerebral anthology series has become synonymous with foreshadowing our dystopian future (cheery!), but it’s also one of the best shows to watch when you’re looking for something that might mess with your head a bit. Every episode stands alone, but all deal in some form with the escalation of technology in our modern era. Over seven seasons, Black Mirror has explored a range of themes — the endurance and collapse of romantic relationships in episodes like “San Junipero” and “Hang the DJ,” the lingering effects of grief in “Be Right Back,” the perils of social media in “Nosedive” — and gone in many different directions. But at its core, it’s a show about the tech-fueled world we live in, how we’ve gotten here, and where we fit into it.

Black Mirror

7 Seasons   TV-MA   2011

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Brand New Cherry Flavor

Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion’s limited-series adaptation of Todd Grimson’s novel unfolds like a delightful fever dream. Rosa Salazar stars as Lisa Nova, a filmmaker who arrives in Hollywood in the early ’90s with the big dream of directing her first movie. When a bad experience with a predatory producer leaves her on the hunt for revenge, she turns to a mystical witch, Boro (Catherine Keener), for help. From there, everything proceeds to get weirder — a character vomiting kittens isn’t even the wildest image you’ll see while watching this show. Brand New Cherry Flavor blends elements of supernatural horror, psychological thrills, and gory camp, going down unpredictable avenue after unpredictable avenue. By the end, you’ll be glad you kept your mind open to its madness.

Brand New Cherry Flavor

Limited Series   TV-MA   2021

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Dark

Original and expertly crafted, Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese’s German supernatural thriller is about — stay with us — the fallout after a young boy goes missing in a small rural town, the subsequent search to find him, the wormhole that opens up under the nearby nuclear power plant, and the head-scratching conspiracy involving a handful of interconnected local families. That’s not even mentioning the time travel element, which plays a major role in how the eerie events unfold. Are you still following? There’s certainly a lot to unpack here, but the payoff is so rewarding. 

Dark

3 Seasons   TV-MA   2017

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Evil

If you miss the classic TV procedural but also find yourself wishing for a show with some twisty supernatural elements, you should make Evil your next watch. Created by Robert and Michelle King, the husband and wife duo who also gave us The Good Wife and The Good Fight, Evil stars Katja Herbers as forensic psychologist Kristen Bouchard, Mike Colter as priest-in-training David Acosta, and Aasif Mandvi as tech expert Ben Shakir. The three form a quirky trio recruited by the Catholic Church to investigate possible demonic activity. Evil strikes a tricky balance between dark and playful, having a blast with its monster-of-the-week format as it probes at morality while simultaneously sending its characters into increasingly twisted situations. 

Evil

TV-MA   2019

Remind Me

Horse Girl

Jeff Baena directs this surreal drama about Sarah (Alison Brie), a lonely young woman with a deep love of horses who begins to have bizarre, prophetic dreams that bleed into her waking life. It doesn’t take long for Horse Girl to reveal its titular character as an unreliable narrator, and Brie gives a startling performance that keeps us on Sarah’s side even as the film asks us to question her. Is Sarah actually unwell, or is she just surrounded by people who don’t believe the things she says? What is the truth? Horse Girl is both an effective portrait of mental illness and a twisty movie full of red herrings that will keep you on your toes until the very last scene.

Horse Girl

1h 44m   R   2020

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The House

Stop-motion animation is used to great (and unsettling) effect in this dreamy three-part anthology. The House, written by Enda Walsh, establishes its subtly creepy aura the moment it introduces the fuzzy, jerkily moving figures who populate its universe. It centers around a very old house where strange events are always happening, telling the stories of three families who’ve lived inside it. The years go by, but what remains consistent is that things are never quite right in this house: Items go missing, the developer won’t leave the premises, and there may or may not be some spirits lurking about. The combination of this film’s otherworldly quality and talented voice cast, which includes Mia Goth, Helena Bonham Carter, and Matthew Goode, make it a must-watch.

The House

1h 37m   TV-MA   2022

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I'm Thinking of Ending Things

Charlie Kaufman has spent decades making films that prove he’s a master of the psychological, from Being John Malkovich to Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. His adaptation of I’m Thinking of Ending Things, based on Iain Reid’s 2016 novel of the same title, is an escalation of his unique style. It’s hard to know where to start when trying to describe this film, and any description would only really be partial. What starts out as a recognizable story of a young man, Jake (Jesse Plemons), bringing his girlfriend (Jessie Buckley) home to meet his parents (Toni Collette and David Thewlis) quickly grows more tense and ambiguous. It caps off with a dizzying ending that’ll leave you ready to debate theories with everyone you know. Watch it and then watch it again — you probably won’t have the same interpretation twice.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things

2h 14m   R   2020

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IT'S WHAT'S INSIDE

The body-swap trope is taken to the next level in Greg Jardin’s horror comedy, which centers around a group of frenemies whose reunion becomes a trippy nightmare. When a surprise guest arrives, he brings with him a peculiar party game that requires them to switch bodies with each other. Despite their best intentions, the game quickly gets away from them as long-buried secrets are revealed, relationships are ruined, and petty jealousies come to light. The group’s very delicate balance is put to the ultimate test when a series of ethical questions arise, showing the lengths these people will go to preserve their own interests. The cast includes Brittany O’Grady, Gavin Leatherwood, Alycia Debnam-Carey, and more.

IT'S WHAT'S INSIDE

1h 44m   R   2024

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Lost

It just wouldn’t be a proper list of mind-bending TV shows without Lost. Co-created by J.J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, the series opens on the fateful plane crash that leaves its confused, disoriented, and injured passengers stranded on a mysterious island. They’re forced to learn how to survive while coping with their own personal trauma. Over six seasons, Lost becomes a ride, packed with dramatic twists, plenty of supernatural elements, and flashbacks, as well as tons of interpersonal conflict among its rich cast of characters. Whether you anxiously awaited new episodes every week during its original run or you’re a new fan streaming it, there’s never a bad time to catch up with the survivors of Oceanic Flight 815.

Lost

TV-14   2004

Remind Me

Love, Death & Robots

Deadpool director Tim Miller created this diverse collection of animated shorts that counts David Fincher as an executive producer. Its title is a reference to the series’ three key themes, although no episode is the same as the one before it. That’s in part because of the way it dabbles in different genres, but also because of the way it uses several different animation styles, establishing a visual language that never gets boring. Love, Death & Robots is an exploration of the tenuous nature of reality, and with every episode clocking in at 20 minutes or less, it’s a fast watch. 

Love, Death & Robots

4 Volumes   TV-MA   2019

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Maniac

Patrick Somerville’s inventive limited series will surprise you with how often it can surprise you. Set in a slightly dystopian version of New York where anything can be turned into a money-making opportunity, the drama stars Emma Stone and Jonah Hill as Annie and Owen, two strangers who meet when they sign up for a mysterious pharmaceutical trial. The trial, which happens over the course of just three days, puts them through the ringer as they embark on a series of subconscious journeys through various worlds, genres, and identities. In one episode, they’re thrown into an espionage thriller; another takes place within a fantasy epic. This is all in the name of the study, which claims to be able to help them through the traumas they’ve experienced in their lives. You’ll be left wondering what’s real and what’s not just as often as the characters do, and while it’s tempting to try and figure out every one of Maniac’s mysteries right away, it’s a show best enjoyed by letting the story reveal itself in due time.

Maniac

Limited Series   TV-MA   2018

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Manifest

Manifest became something of a social media phenomenon over the course of its four seasons, boasting a legion of devoted fans who closely monitored every clue they were given. Jeff Rake’s supernatural mystery series revolves around the odd incident of Montego Air Flight 828. After a turbulent ride, the plane lands safely, only for the passengers to discover that five years have inexplicably passed while they were in the air. In that time, the plane was declared missing and all aboard presumed dead, forcing their loved ones to move on without them. Thrust back into a suddenly unfamiliar world, certain of the survivors find themselves experiencing strange visions as they try to piece together the puzzle of what exactly happened on Flight 828.

Manifest

4 Seasons   TV-14   2018

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The Perfection

Nothing is as it seems in Richard Shepard’s loopy horror-thriller, which stars Allison Williams as Charlotte, a talented cellist whose budding career is put on hold after her mother falls ill. Years later, she attempts to reconnect with a mentor (Steven Weber) from her prestigious music academy days, who introduces her to Lizzie (Logan Browning), another student with a promising future. The two quickly form a connection, and then Lizzie gets sick on a trip to Shanghai, which is when everything starts to unravel in progressively shocking ways. To even hint at what comes next would be a disservice to the twists and tricks this film’s script, written by Shepard, Eric C. Charmelo, and Nicole Snyder, has in store. We recommend buckling up and giving yourself over to a trippy ride.

The Perfection

1h 30m   TV-MA   2019

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Russian Doll

It just wouldn’t be a proper list of mind-benders without a time-loop story. This darkly funny series focuses on game developer Nadia (Natasha Lyonne), who finds herself trapped in a peculiar situation: She keeps reliving the day of her 36th birthday party, dying at the end of each night only to wake up unharmed the next morning. As the cosmic forces of the universe work against her, the increasingly discombobulated Nadia is left trying to figure out why it’s happening and how to make it stop. Each of Nadia’s brushes with death and life (and back again) are as eye-opening as they are baffling, helping her uncover truths about her life and relationships while also leaving her with a host of existential questions. After originally premiering in 2019, Russian Doll returned for a second season in 2022, turning its focus to time travel and generational trauma.

Russian Doll

2 Seasons   TV-MA   2019

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Spiderhead

Joseph Kosinski, who directed the blockbuster megahit Top Gun: Maverick, is also behind the intriguing sci-fi thriller Spiderhead. An adaptation of a short story by George Saunders, Spiderhead is set in a futuristic prison where inmates voluntarily serve as test subjects for experimental, psychedelic drugs to reduce their sentences. Everything about the arrangement is disorienting, from their lack of exposure to the outside world to the way the drugs mess with their perceptions of reality. Ambitious tech bro Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth) is the man who oversees it all, and Jeff (Miles Teller), who’s been participating in the program for so long that it no longer seems to affect him, is his star pupil. Things seem to be fairly harmonious until Jeff and his fellow inmate Lizzy (Jurnee Smollett) begin to discover cracks in Steve’s facade, sending them on a search for answers.

Spiderhead

1h 47m   R   2022

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