Some films have a surreal and imaginative essence that others lack, whether it's a pleasant dream or a waking nightmare. A user on a popular online forum asked for suggestions of mysterious movies full of symbolism that make viewers question what is real and what is not.

1. Eyes Wide Shut (1999)

This eerie mystery is about a man who grows jealous of his wife's sexual fantasies about other men. To get his revenge, he descends into a world of dark sexual deviancy run by an underground criminal group. But what he finds in this new dark world terrifies him to his core.

2. After Hours (1985)

When a man sparks a delightful conversation with a Woman he met in a cafe, he takes a taxi to meet up with her across town. But when his cash is snatched away by a gust of wind in the cab's open window, he can't pay the fare. The man then faces wacky and sinister scenarios when he only wants to return home.

3. Mulholland Drive (2001)

Mulholland Drive is a surreal mystery about a woman who loses her memory in a car accident. When she happens upon a young woman looking to make a name for herself in Hollywood, the two embark on a strange journey across L.A. to recover the amnesiac's memories.

4. Dark City (1998)

This harrowing Sci-Fi noir film is about a man who wakes up in a hotel room to discover his name is all over the news because he's wanted for a series of murders that he can't remember. As the man grapples with his new reality, he goes on a secret adventure to discover whether he is truly a killer.

5. The Tenant (1976)

The Tenant is a terrifying and surreal Roman Polansky film about a man who moves into a new apartment. As he meets his neighbors, he learns they're wary of the man because the apartment he moved into used to belong to a woman who attempted to take her life by jumping out of her window. But as time passes, the man questions whether the other apartment dwellers had something to do with the woman's accident.

6. Rosemary's Baby (1968)

After a woman reluctantly moves into a new apartment in New York City with her husband, she grows more wary after meeting her strange neighbors. The woman falls pregnant and begins questioning whether the baby inside her is human, suspecting her neighbors of conspiring with demonic forces against her and her child.

7. Vivarium (2019)

This imaginative and surreal horror film is about a young couple visiting a cookie-cutter neighborhood in search of a new place to live. But when they try to return home after the house tour, they realize they can't escape the rows and rows and endless suburban homes. Frazzled by their confinement, the two discover a package on the home's doorstep that forces them to confront their new reality.

8. Fractured (2019)

Fractured is a psychological horror movie about a man who brings his wife and daughter to the emergency room. As he waits, he falls asleep. When he wakes up, the office staff refuses to tell him where he can find his family. As the man frantically searches for his wife and child, reality and delusion come head to head.

9. Blue Velvet (1986)

This mysterious drama is about a college student who returns to his family home to care for his father after he suffers a stroke. But his life changes forever when he encounters a severed human ear in a field. As he delves deeper into the mystery, he realizes he may have bit off more than he can chew.

10. Lyle (2014)

Lyle is a dreamlike psychological horror film about a couple who move into a new home when a tragic accident kills their toddler during the moving process. As the couple grieves their daughter, the pregnant wife questions whether her child died in an accident or a set-up by a satanic cult.

11. After Blue (2021)

This cerebral French Sci-Fi horror film takes place on a planet covered in gooey plant life where only females can survive. When a young woman happens upon a woman buried in the sand, the woman promises the girl she'll grant her three wishes if she digs her out. But when the woman escapes, the girl learns she let a terrible criminal loose, and she and her mother are forced to track the criminal down.

12. Lost Highway (1997)

Lost Highway is a dreamy film that tells two separate stories of women, both played by Patricia Arquette. One story is about a man who suspects his wife is cheating on him, but after she's murdered, he becomes the prime suspect. The other story follows a naive man who falls for the advances of a woman with a boyfriend in the gang.

13. Inland Empire (2006)

When an actress lands a role in a new film, her jealous husband warns her costar not to touch her, even though their characters are having an affair. When the actress steps foot on set, she learns that the producers have already attempted to make the movie with other actors, but they were murdered halfway through production.

14. 3 Women (1977)

3 Women is a dramatic indie film that follows a confident woman and her new friend. As the women spend more time together, the new friend takes pieces of the other woman's personality for herself.

15. Altered States (1980)

When a psychologist decides to introduce hallucinogenic drugs into his routine sensory deprivation tests, he hopes his tests will let him access patients' deep subconscious thoughts. But as he becomes the test subject for his new experiment, he finds himself stuck in a state between reality and delusion.

16. Suspiria (1977)

Suspiria is a magical horror film about a new student who arrives at an elite dance academy in Europe the same night another student is murdered. As the new student explores her new school, she uncovers the strange truth about the student's murder and finds herself in danger.

17. Synechdoche, New York (2008)

When a New York theater director's personal life begins to fall apart, he uses grant money to fund an intensive production where he hires actors to put on a role and live their character's life as if it was their own. As his show takes off, he faces challenges in his own life and tries to get back on his feet.

18. Being John Malkovich (1999)

In this bizarre cult classic, a failing puppeteer makes ends meet by working as a clerk. But when he stumbles upon a strange portal into the mind of famous actor John Malkovich, the puppeteer, and a coworker team up to use this newfound power to make extra cash. But can they keep up the act without their superiors discovering what they're up to?

19. Cube (1997)

Cube is a strange sci-fi horror film about a group of strangers who wake up in an eerie room with no memories of how or why they got there. As the people explore their surroundings, they realize they're trapped in a strange cube-shaped building with deadly traps rigged in some of the rooms. As they try to escape their confines, the group discusses why they could possibly be there.

20. The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

This twisted psychological thriller is about a heart surgeon who makes an unlikely friend in a teenage boy who admires the doctor. But as the two spend more time together, the doctor grows wary of the boy's motives. Things take a turn for the worse when the doctor's children and wife fall ill with a severe and mysterious illness.

21. The Lighthouse (2019)

The Lighthouse is a surreal psychological horror film that bends the viewer's perception of reality and the imagined. When a lighthouse keeper arrives at his new job, an old sailor and his only companion teach him how to perform the job. But a storm forces the two men into isolation, where delusions begin to take over their minds.

22. Upstream Color (2013)

This experimental Sci-Fi film is about a terrifying kidnapper's victims trying to patch together their memories of their time in his confines. With their memories wiped, two victims accidentally stumble upon each other and connect over strange experiences and sensations of worms crawling under their skin.

23. Celine and Julie Go Boating (1974)

Celine and Julie Go Boating is a dramatic French fantasy film about two women who bond in a park after one recovers the other's dropped scarf. The two become fast friends and move in together, swapping identities whenever they please. Soon, the two find themselves embroiled in a rescue mission to save a young girl.

24. Stalker (1979)

This cerebral apocalyptic Sci-Fi movie is about a group of people who embark on a journey into a dead zone called “The Zone” in search of a room that's rumored to provide anyone with their deepest desires. As the crew venture into The Zone, they could never be prepared for what they find inside.

25. Possession (1981)

When a woman leaves her husband with her son, the ex-husband becomes furious and attempts to track her down to reunite his family. But as time passes, secrets about his ex-wife come to light, making him realize that the situation is much darker than he ever could have imagined.

Source: Reddit.