The Essential Must See Top 50 Arthouse Films
by dahlmandaniel | created - 13 Jul 2014 | updated - 13 Jul 2014 | PublicIn order of the most crazy to more story focused. This is a must see list of the very best in Art House and philosophical mending bending cinema.
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1. Eraserhead (1977)
Not Rated | 89 min | Fantasy, Horror
Henry Spencer tries to survive his industrial environment, his angry girlfriend, and the unbearable screams of his newly born mutant child.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Jack Nance, Charlotte Stewart, Allen Joseph, Jeanne Bates
Votes: 127,573 | Gross: $7.00M
If you want to expand your mind beyond it's limits and truly experience something unlike anything before, this is the ultimate. The metaphors are there but cloaked in ambiguity. The director just recently went on record and gave away what it all means.
2. Somewhere (2010)
R | 97 min | Comedy, Drama, Romance
After withdrawing to the Chateau Marmont, a passionless Hollywood actor reexamines his life when his eleven-year-old daughter surprises him with a visit.
Director: Sofia Coppola | Stars: Stephen Dorff, Elle Fanning, Chris Pontius, Erin Wasson
Votes: 46,718 | Gross: $1.77M
A beautiful father daughter love story about loneliness and identity. Hailed as the best representation of Hollywood actors. Beware this is not for those who fall asleep during films. This has a truly brilliant finale. Essential viewing for those wanting to explore the arthouse genre.
3. Upstream Color (2013)
Not Rated | 96 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the life cycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.
Director: Shane Carruth | Stars: Amy Seimetz, Frank Mosley, Shane Carruth, Andrew Sensenig
Votes: 34,976 | Gross: $0.44M
Primer director Shane Carruth gives us a grand piece of art filled with emotion and mood. A beautiful love story for those who believe in fate and have dated the "emotionally stressed." The story is original and ahead of it's time. It may take focus to understand what is going on, but that is the beauty of it. This is an experience in love, togetherness and connections. All directed, shot, starring, edited and music composed by Shane Carruth. This is the ultimate in indies and contemporary film making.
4. Elephant (2003)
R | 81 min | Crime, Drama, Thriller
Several ordinary high school students go through their daily routine as two others prepare for something more malevolent.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Elias McConnell, Alex Frost, Eric Deulen, John Robinson
Votes: 97,287 | Gross: $1.23M
Based on a school shooting, the realism of this will horrify you.
5. The Fountain (2006)
PG-13 | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
As a modern-day scientist, Tommy is struggling with mortality, desperately searching for the medical breakthrough that will save the life of his cancer-stricken wife, Izzi.
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, Sean Patrick Thomas, Ellen Burstyn
Votes: 248,832 | Gross: $10.14M
It may be muddled but the issues raised will make you think. Visually stunning and heart wrenching this multi-real-fantasy story will make you rethink immortal love.
6. Sleeping Beauty (2011)
TV-14 | 101 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
A haunting portrait of Lucy, a young university student drawn into a mysterious hidden world of unspoken desires.
Director: Julia Leigh | Stars: Emily Browning, Rachael Blake, Ewen Leslie, Bridgette Barrett
Votes: 34,644 | Gross: $0.04M
An ironic take on the story where her body is the metaphor and closeness is the main theme. What is dead inside compared to actually being dead? Long and sexy this is Australian cinema at its very peak in arthouse. This closed a genre.
7. Antichrist (2009)
Not Rated | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Thriller
A grieving couple retreat to their cabin in the woods, hoping to repair their broken hearts and troubled marriage, but nature takes its course and things go from bad to worse.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Willem Dafoe, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Storm Acheche Sahlstrøm
Votes: 136,606 | Gross: $0.40M
Not for the faint of heart but if you like tales of shrinks taking their wives into the middle of the woods only to find that she is a witch during the Bible belt. Gruesome, beautiful and filled with symbolism. This will shock you and is one for the couples who like to go on the wild side of cinema.
8. Enter the Void (2009)
Not Rated | 161 min | Drama, Fantasy
An American drug dealer living in Tokyo is betrayed by his best friend and killed in a drug deal. His soul, observing the repercussions of his death, seeks resurrection.
Director: Gaspar Noé | Stars: Nathaniel Brown, Paz de la Huerta, Cyril Roy, Olly Alexander
Votes: 88,094 | Gross: $0.34M
3 hours long and almost all done either overhead (in one single shot) or POV (including the blinking). This will blow your mind and give you a story of a man who dies and his soul watches over his sister. Voyeuristic and with the location, your eyes will begin to bleed. A lot of reincarnation motifs and sexuality. For those who are on LSD or want to draw the line in their mind.
9. Requiem for a Dream (2000)
R | 102 min | Drama
The drug-induced utopias of four Coney Island people are shattered when their addictions run deep..
Director: Darren Aronofsky | Stars: Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, Marlon Wayans
Votes: 899,289 | Gross: $3.64M
If you want to know what it's like to take actual drugs, then this it. Like all classic drug tales, half of it is the fun, the rest is the repercussions. This is one of the greats.
10. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)
R | 108 min | Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
When their relationship turns sour, a couple undergoes a medical procedure to have each other erased from their memories forever.
Director: Michel Gondry | Stars: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet, Tom Wilkinson, Gerry Robert Byrne
Votes: 1,078,687 | Gross: $34.40M
If you have ever been through a breakup, then this is perfect for you. See it. No need to say anymore.
11. Badlands (1973)
PG | 94 min | Action, Crime, Drama
An impressionable teenage girl from a dead-end town, and her older greaser boyfriend, embark on a killing spree in the South Dakota Badlands.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Martin Sheen, Sissy Spacek, Warren Oates, Ramon Bieri
Votes: 78,439
It may seem old but this is about roughneck and his girlfriend venturing across town killing people and doing anything they want.
12. Donnie Darko (2001)
R | 113 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
After narrowly escaping a bizarre accident, a troubled teenager is plagued by visions of a man in a large rabbit suit who manipulates him to commit a series of crimes.
Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Mary McDonnell, Holmes Osborne
Votes: 850,480 | Gross: $1.48M
Time travel and growing up. This is so good, it hurts.
13. Primer (2004)
PG-13 | 77 min | Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Four friends/fledgling entrepreneurs, knowing that there's something bigger and more innovative than the different error-checking devices they've built, wrestle over their new invention.
Director: Shane Carruth | Stars: Shane Carruth, David Sullivan, Casey Gooden, Anand Upadhyaya
Votes: 114,222 | Gross: $0.42M
Cheap and genius. This is a time travel film without time travel. Done in completely engineering speak, the dialogue may be hard to follow but this is a true blue indie. The ending's twist will make you want to watch it again and again.
14. Melancholia (2011)
R | 135 min | Drama, Sci-Fi
Two sisters find their already strained relationship challenged as a mysterious new planet threatens to collide with Earth.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Kirsten Dunst, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, Alexander Skarsgård
Votes: 196,026 | Gross: $3.03M
Dark and mood driven another planet is on a collision course with earth. Very similar to Anti-Christ with motifs but a beautiful end of the world story that will make you question your own mortality.
15. Under the Skin (I) (2013)
R | 108 min | Drama, Horror, Mystery
A mysterious young woman seduces lonely men in the evening hours in Scotland. However, events lead her to begin a process of self-discovery.
Director: Jonathan Glazer | Stars: Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy McWilliams, Lynsey Taylor Mackay, Dougie McConnell
Votes: 158,327 | Gross: $2.61M
An alien takes over from another aliens and ventures around Scotland picking up men and taking their life forces. The alien eventually ends up taking interest in being a human and the film is done from a foreign/voyeur perspective that will make you think "how would I feel walking around on another planet?"
16. The Tree of Life (2011)
PG-13 | 139 min | Drama, Fantasy
The story of a family in Waco, Texas in 1956. The eldest son witnesses the loss of innocence and struggles with his parents' conflicting teachings.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Brad Pitt, Sean Penn, Jessica Chastain, Hunter McCracken
Votes: 184,177 | Gross: $13.30M
17. Gerry (2002)
R | 103 min | Adventure, Drama, Mystery
A friendship between two young men is tested when they go for a hike in a desert and forget to bring any water or food with them.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Casey Affleck, Matt Damon
Votes: 19,704 | Gross: $0.24M
18. Another Earth (2011)
PG-13 | 92 min | Drama, Mystery, Romance
On the night of the discovery of a duplicate Earth in the Solar system, an ambitious young student and an accomplished composer cross paths in a tragic accident.
Director: Mike Cahill | Stars: Brit Marling, William Mapother, Matthew-Lee Erlbach, DJ Flava
Votes: 100,052 | Gross: $1.32M
19. My Own Private Idaho (1991)
R | 104 min | Drama
Two best friends living on the streets of Portland as hustlers embark on a journey of self discovery and find their relationship stumbling along the way.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: River Phoenix, Keanu Reeves, James Russo, William Richert
Votes: 61,780 | Gross: $6.40M
20. Being John Malkovich (1999)
R | 113 min | Comedy, Drama, Fantasy
A puppeteer discovers a portal that leads literally into the head of movie star John Malkovich.
Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: John Cusack, Cameron Diaz, Catherine Keener, John Malkovich
Votes: 353,473 | Gross: $22.86M
21. The New World (2005)
PG-13 | 135 min | Biography, Drama, History
The story of the English exploration of Virginia, and of the changing world and loves of Pocahontas.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Colin Farrell, Q'orianka Kilcher, Christopher Plummer, Christian Bale
Votes: 89,920 | Gross: $12.71M
22. Father of My Children (2009)
Not Rated | 110 min | Drama
A film producer struggles with suicidal despair.
Director: Mia Hansen-Løve | Stars: Louis-Do de Lencquesaing, Chiara Caselli, Alice de Lencquesaing, Alice Gautier
Votes: 2,858 | Gross: $0.14M
23. Samson & Delilah (II) (2009)
Not Rated | 101 min | Drama, Romance
A glue-sniffing boy and his girlfriend escape the government-controlled no-hope Aboriginal community they live in and go to the city, Alice Springs, looking for a better life.
Director: Warwick Thornton | Stars: Rowan McNamara, Marissa Gibson, Mitjili Napanangka Gibson, Scott Thornton
Votes: 3,766
24. Restless (I) (2011)
PG-13 | 91 min | Drama, Romance
The story of a terminally ill teenage girl who falls for a boy who likes to attend funerals and their encounters with the ghost of a Japanese kamikaze pilot from WWII.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Mia Wasikowska, Henry Hopper, Ryô Kase, Schuyler Fisk
Votes: 18,409 | Gross: $0.16M
25. Perfume: The Story of a Murderer (2006)
R | 147 min | Crime, Drama, Fantasy
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.
Director: Tom Tykwer | Stars: Ben Whishaw, Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman, Francesc Albiol
Votes: 265,903 | Gross: $2.22M
26. Irreversible (2002)
Not Rated | 97 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Events over the course of one traumatic night in Paris unfold in reverse-chronological order as the beautiful Alex is brutally raped and beaten by a stranger in an underpass tunnel.
Director: Gaspar Noé | Stars: Monica Bellucci, Vincent Cassel, Albert Dupontel, Philippe Nahon
Votes: 147,766 | Gross: $0.75M
27. I Melt with You (2011)
R | 129 min | Drama
When four 40-something college friends meet up for their annual reunion, things start to spiral out of control, and a pact they made as young men is revisited.
Director: Mark Pellington | Stars: Thomas Jane, Rob Lowe, Jeremy Piven, Christian McKay
Votes: 6,434 | Gross: $0.00M
28. Dogville (2003)
R | 178 min | Crime, Drama
A woman on the run from the mob is reluctantly accepted in a small Colorado community in exchange for labor, but when a search visits the town she finds out that their support has a price.
Director: Lars von Trier | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Paul Bettany, Lauren Bacall, Harriet Andersson
Votes: 158,738 | Gross: $1.53M
29. Brick (2005)
R | 110 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
A teenage loner pushes his way into the underworld of a high school crime ring to investigate the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend.
Director: Rian Johnson | Stars: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Lukas Haas, Emilie de Ravin, Meagan Good
Votes: 110,074 | Gross: $2.06M
30. Last Days (2005)
R | 97 min | Drama, Music
A Seattle musician's life and career are reminiscent of those of Kurt Cobain.
Director: Gus Van Sant | Stars: Michael Pitt, Lukas Haas, Asia Argento, Scott Patrick Green
Votes: 23,757 | Gross: $0.45M
31. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
G | 149 min | Adventure, Sci-Fi
After uncovering a mysterious artifact buried beneath the Lunar surface, a spacecraft is sent to Jupiter to find its origins: a spacecraft manned by two men and the supercomputer HAL 9000.
Director: Stanley Kubrick | Stars: Keir Dullea, Gary Lockwood, William Sylvester, Daniel Richter
Votes: 720,045 | Gross: $56.95M
32. To the Wonder (2012)
R | 112 min | Drama, Romance
After falling in love in Paris, Marina and Neil come to Oklahoma, where problems arise. Their church's Spanish-born pastor struggles with his faith, while Neil encounters a woman from his childhood.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Ben Affleck, Olga Kurylenko, Javier Bardem, Rachel McAdams
Votes: 29,978 | Gross: $0.59M
33. Birth (2004)
R | 100 min | Drama, Fantasy, Mystery
A young boy attempts to convince a woman that he is her dead husband reborn.
Director: Jonathan Glazer | Stars: Nicole Kidman, Cameron Bright, Lauren Bacall, Danny Huston
Votes: 40,914 | Gross: $5.01M
34. Wake in Fright (1971)
R | 109 min | Drama, Thriller
After a bad gambling bet, a schoolteacher is marooned in a town full of crazy, drunk, violent men who threaten to make him just as crazy, drunk, and violent.
Director: Ted Kotcheff | Stars: Donald Pleasence, Gary Bond, Chips Rafferty, Sylvia Kay
Votes: 13,975 | Gross: $0.05M
35. Special (2006)
R | 81 min | Comedy, Drama, Sci-Fi
A lonely comic book fan, Les Franken, has a reaction to medication and becomes convinced he's a superhero.
Directors: Hal Haberman, Jeremy Passmore | Stars: Michael Rapaport, Paul Blackthorne, Josh Peck, Robert Baker
Votes: 5,912 | Gross: $0.01M
36. Where the Wild Things Are (2009)
PG | 101 min | Adventure, Drama, Family
Yearning for escape and adventure, a young boy runs away from home and sails to an island filled with creatures that take him in as their king.
Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: Max Records, Catherine O'Hara, Forest Whitaker, Pepita Emmerichs
Votes: 108,546 | Gross: $77.23M
37. The Thin Red Line (1998)
R | 170 min | Drama, History, War
Adaptation of James Jones' autobiographical 1962 novel, focusing on the conflict at Guadalcanal during the second World War.
Director: Terrence Malick | Stars: Jim Caviezel, Sean Penn, Nick Nolte, Kirk Acevedo
Votes: 199,678 | Gross: $36.40M
38. Tideland (2005)
R | 120 min | Drama, Fantasy, Horror
Because of the actions of her irresponsible parents, a young girl is left alone on a decrepit country estate and survives inside her fantastic imagination.
Director: Terry Gilliam | Stars: Jeff Bridges, Jennifer Tilly, Jodelle Ferland, Janet McTeer
Votes: 34,696 | Gross: $0.07M
39. Blade Runner (1982)
R | 117 min | Action, Drama, Sci-Fi
A blade runner must pursue and terminate four replicants who stole a ship in space and have returned to Earth to find their creator.
Director: Ridley Scott | Stars: Harrison Ford, Rutger Hauer, Sean Young, Edward James Olmos
Votes: 823,536 | Gross: $32.87M
40. Five Easy Pieces (1970)
R | 98 min | Drama
A dropout from upper-class America picks up work along the way on oil rigs when his life isn't spent in a squalid succession of bars, motels, and other points of interest.
Director: Bob Rafelson | Stars: Jack Nicholson, Karen Black, Billy Green Bush, Fannie Flagg
Votes: 40,575 | Gross: $19.40M
41. The Machinist (2004)
R | 101 min | Drama, Thriller
An industrial worker who hasn't slept in a year begins to doubt his own sanity.
Director: Brad Anderson | Stars: Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Aitana Sánchez-Gijón, John Sharian
Votes: 415,770 | Gross: $1.08M
42. Lost in Translation (2003)
R | 102 min | Comedy, Drama
A faded movie star and a neglected young woman form an unlikely bond after crossing paths in Tokyo.
Director: Sofia Coppola | Stars: Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson, Giovanni Ribisi, Anna Faris
Votes: 489,494 | Gross: $44.59M
43. Mulholland Drive (2001)
R | 147 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
After a car wreck on Mulholland Drive renders a woman amnesiac, she and a Hollywood-hopeful search for clues and answers across Los Angeles in a twisting venture beyond dreams and reality.
Director: David Lynch | Stars: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux, Jeanne Bates
Votes: 384,094 | Gross: $7.22M
44. Adaptation. (2002)
R | 115 min | Comedy, Drama
A lovelorn screenwriter becomes desperate as he tries and fails to adapt 'The Orchid Thief' by Susan Orlean for the screen.
Director: Spike Jonze | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Meryl Streep, Chris Cooper, Tilda Swinton
Votes: 203,146 | Gross: $22.25M
45. The Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call - New Orleans (2009)
R | 122 min | Crime, Drama, Mystery
Terence McDonagh is a drug- and gambling-addled detective in post-Katrina New Orleans investigating the killing of five Senegalese immigrants.
Director: Werner Herzog | Stars: Nicolas Cage, Eva Mendes, Russell M. Haeuser, Val Kilmer
Votes: 80,931 | Gross: $1.70M
46. The Box (I) (2009)
PG-13 | 115 min | Drama, Mystery, Thriller
With the press of a button, a wooden box bestows riches and death.
Director: Richard Kelly | Stars: Cameron Diaz, James Marsden, Frank Langella, James Rebhorn
Votes: 95,362 | Gross: $15.05M
47. One Hour Photo (2002)
R | 96 min | Drama, Thriller
A mentally unstable photo developer targets an upper middle-class family after his obsession with them becomes more sick and disturbing than any of them could imagine.
Director: Mark Romanek | Stars: Robin Williams, Connie Nielsen, Michael Vartan, Dylan Smith
Votes: 131,776 | Gross: $31.60M
48. Moon (2009)
R | 97 min | Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi
Astronaut Sam Bell has a quintessentially personal encounter toward the end of his three-year stint on the Moon, where he, working alongside his computer, GERTY, sends back to Earth parcels of a resource that has helped diminish our planet's power problems.
Director: Duncan Jones | Stars: Sam Rockwell, Kevin Spacey, Dominique McElligott, Rosie Shaw
Votes: 376,827 | Gross: $5.01M
49. A Scanner Darkly (2006)
R | 100 min | Animation, Comedy, Crime
An undercover cop in a not-too-distant future becomes involved with a dangerous new drug and begins to lose his own identity as a result.
Director: Richard Linklater | Stars: Keanu Reeves, Winona Ryder, Robert Downey Jr., Rory Cochrane
Votes: 117,174 | Gross: $5.50M
50. Revolver (2005)
R | 111 min | Action, Crime, Drama
Gambler Jake Green enters into a game with potentially deadly consequences.
Director: Guy Ritchie | Stars: Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, André 3000, Vincent Pastore
Votes: 102,832 | Gross: $0.08M
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