Have you ever seen a film so peculiar, so dreamlike, that it left you questioning whether to laugh, cry, or ponder the meaning of your own existence? Step into the wonderfully bizarre realm of absurdist cinema. These films disregard logic, defy conventional storytelling, and plunge into the strange and the unpredictable. From conversing corpses to never-ending dinner parties, absurdist films mirror the chaos and confusion we experience in real life, enhanced by a wild, often darkly humorous twist. If you’re prepared to welcome the unusual, here are some films that will amuse you, bewilder you, and perhaps even enlighten you a bit.
Everything Everywhere All at Once – SonyLIV
This genre-defying film, which swept the Oscars, showcases absurdist cinema at its most emotionally impactful and artistically unrestrained. Evelyn Wang (Michelle Yeoh), a fatigued laundromat owner, is abruptly thrust into a multiverse conflict where she must connect with various alternate versions of herself—ranging from a hibachi chef to a rock with googly eyes—to combat an entity spreading chaos, who happens to be her daughter. The film is packed with kung fu battles, profound existential inquiries, and moments of deep tenderness, all delivered in a manner that is both hilarious and heartbreaking. It’s eccentric, wild, and utterly unforgettable.
Stranger than Fiction – Amazon Prime Video
Harold Crick (Will Ferrell) is an IRS auditor living a dreary, clockwork existence—until one day, he hears a narrator in his mind. This voice, provided by Emma Thompson, recounts his life in real time and casually mentions his impending death. Disturbed, Harold seeks the advice of literature professor Jules Hilbert (Dustin Hoffman) to figure out whether he’s living a comedy or a tragedy—and if there’s any way to alter the ending. This film is a wonderfully quirky mix of comedy, drama, and metafiction, showcasing Ferrell in one of his most subtle and touching performances.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer – Amazon Prime Video
Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell) is a prosperous heart surgeon with a seemingly perfect family—his wife Anna (Nicole Kidman) and their two children. His idyllic life takes a sinister turn when he forms an unsettling friendship with a mysterious teenage boy named Martin (Barry Keoghan), whose increasingly troubling behavior leads to a terrifying ultimatum that pushes the family into a moral nightmare reminiscent of ancient Greek tragedies. This chilling and surreal psychological horror-thriller eschews jump scares; its horror arises from impossible choices, slow-burning dread, and emotional detachment.
The Lobster – YouTube
In a dystopian world, single individuals are sent to a hotel where they have 45 days to find a romantic partner, or they will be transformed into an animal of their choice. After being dumped by his wife, David (Colin Farrell) checks into this hotel and chooses to become a lobster if he fails to find love. What ensues is a darkly comedic and tragic exploration of conformity, desperation, and rebellion, particularly when David escapes into the woods to join a group of radical loners with their harsh rules. This film uniquely blends absurdism, dystopia, dark comedy, and tragic romance.
Stranger Than Paradise – Amazon Prime Video
This film follows three disenchanted characters: Willie (John Laurie), a New York slacker of Hungarian descent; Eva (Eszter Balint), his visiting teenage cousin from Budapest; and Eddie (Richard Edson), Willie’s equally aimless friend. The trio meanders through New York, Cleveland, and Florida in a narrative where almost nothing ‘happens’ in the traditional sense, yet their boredom, alienation, and peculiar connections become the core of the story. Each scene unfolds in a single extended take with a black fadeout in between, highlighting the stillness and emotional detachment.
Being John Malkovich – YouTube
Craig Schwartz (John Cusack) is an out-of-work puppeteer who takes a job at a peculiar 7½th floor of an office building. Behind a hidden door, he stumbles upon a portal into the mind of actor John Malkovich. For exactly 15 minutes, he (and anyone else) can experience life through Malkovich’s eyes. As Craig, his pet-obsessed wife Lotte (Cameron Diaz), and his icy, enticing coworker Maxine (Catherine Keener) explore the portal’s capabilities, they become embroiled in a bizarre contest over identity, desire, control, and what it truly means to be human.
Kinds of Kindness – JioHotstar
Director Yorgos Lanthimos returns to his signature unsettling absurdism after the whimsical surrealism of Poor Things. This anthology features three loosely interlinked stories, each examining twisted power dynamics, control, and identity through Lanthimos’ distinctive dry, disorienting perspective. The film investigates how control, cruelty, and obsession can masquerade as kindness—whether from employers dictating life choices, lovers demanding loyalty, or cults promising ‘spiritual freedom.’ It implies that what we typically label as kindness often revolves around power dynamics.
