Out of the box: 9 Times a movie entirely changed the perception of normal

Oftentimes, you come across a movie that almost changes your perception through its portrayal of a surprisingly different way of narration. Techniques, such as reverse narrative, jumbling up multiple narratives, or even a more complex technique.

When we get used to the linear way of narration, these different type of storytelling in a movie surprises us by daring to use unconventional storytelling methods. These surrealist methods brought a unique perspective to the field of art, which greatly impacted storytelling in movies and shows.

From Nolan’s Memento to Akira Kurosawa’s Rashomon, numerous movies broke the conventional way of storytelling and created magic on the screen. In this article, we have listed 9 such times when a movie changed the perception of the known normal and gave us something unique.

Disclaimer: This article is based on the writer’s opinion. Reader discretion is advised.

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9 Times a movie entirely changed the perception of normal

9) Jumanji

The 1995 movie Jumanji, starring Robin Williams, was one of those movies that used a unique type of storytelling in which Williams’s character Alan was trapped in the magical board game when he was young.

After 26 years, Alan returns to his world when two kids find the game and begin playing to finish the game. Based on a board game but with magic that can bring back bizarre animals and also trap you inside its world, it was a unique and exciting concept.

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8) Us

Jordan Peele’s horror movie, Us, follows the story of Adelaide (Lupita Nyong'o) and how her family survives the attack of strange beings who look exactly like them.

As their surroundings are under attack by doppelgangers, Adelaide finds out through her doppelganger, Red, that the doppelgangers were part of a government experiment that was later abandoned. However, the greatest twist of the film comes at the very end when we discover that years ago, when Adelaide went inside a funhouse, she was attacked by her doppelganger, who later began living her life.

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7) The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is another movie that changes the perception of normal as it follows the story of Brad Pitt’s Benjamin Button who was born with the appearance of an old man and as time passes by he grows up backwards, turning into an adult and then a child, and at the end dies as an infant.

While going through life in an unexpected direction, the film also focuses on various events in Benjamin’s life. Based on the short story by F. Scott Fitzgerald, the movie depicts a story in an unconventional way of storytelling, making it more captivating and intriguing.

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6) The Others

Starring Nicole Kidman, The Others is another film with innovative storytelling. The film follows Kidman’s Grace Stewart, who begins experiencing paranormal activities in her new home.

It begins when her daughter, Anne, tells her that a boy named Victor and his parents are visiting her in the house. The twist in the story comes when Grace realises that Victor and his parents are the real people living in the house, whereas she and her children are the others, the spirits that live in the house. The audience realises the twist with Grace, making it more thrilling.

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5) Synecdoche, New York

Synecdoche, New York follows the story of a Theatre director, Caden Cotard (Philip Seymour Hoffman), who creates a play that would be based on honesty and brutal realism. He brings an ensemble cast to a huge warehouse in Manhattan and asks them to live their life like they always do.

As time passes, the surroundings inside the warehouse begin imitating the outside world, distorting the difference between the real world outside and the play inside. Caden further complicates the situation by introducing body doubles and lookalikes, which further fogs the line between fiction and reality. Charlie Kaufman did an exceptional job of bringing absurdism to screens and introducing a movie that challenges the conventional techniques of storytelling.

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4) The Sixth Sense

M. Night Shyamalan’s psychological thriller, The Sixth Sense, follows the story of Haley Joel Osment’s Cole Sear can see ghosts. Although his psychologist, Malcolm Crowe (Bruce Willis), initially does not believe him, but later tells him to talk to them and help them solve their problems.

Cole later helps a ghost named Kyra by revealing to her father a videotape that proves that she was poisoned by her stepmother, which helps save Kyra’s younger sister. The twist in the film is revealed at the end as we discover that Malcolm is a ghost and was killed at the beginning of the movie by one of his patients named Vincent.

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3) Mr. Nobody

Jaco Van Dormael’s masterpiece, Mr. Nobody, unravels multiverse hypothesis storytelling with Jared Leto's character, Nemo Nobody, who is the last human being on Earth.

With the help of Dr. Feldheim’s hypnosis, Nemo’s life is documented before he dies. It is revealed by him that The Angels of Oblivion missed erasing his memories before he was born. Therefore, he can recount how his life would be in different realities. He shares that his parents got divorced when he was nine, and he had to choose with whom he wanted to live.

Due to the knowledge of different timelines, he shares how his life was living with his mother and also with his father in a different timeline.

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2) Memento

Christopher Nolan’s Memento follows Guy Pearce’s Leonard Shelby, who suffers from amnesia; he is unable to recall the recent past and form new memories.

The movie recounts the events in two different narratives. One is a black and white narrative that follows the events chronologically, and the other is a colored narrative that provides a glimpse to the audience of Shelby’s mental state and recounts events in reverse order.

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1) Rashomon

From the renowned Japanese director, Akira Kurosawa, Rashomon is an iconic film that revolves around the events surrounding the murder of a Samurai.

The movie recounts the murder of the samurai from the perspective of a woodcutter and a priest. However, their accounts differ, which makes it difficult to understand how the samurai was killed. Furthermore, the accounts of the accused and the samurai’s wife further complicate the plot. The movie shows a unique perspective on how these people try to show themselves as good human beings by portraying false narratives of an event.

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