The most confusing storyline in a film or TV show you've seen?

Kalimna

Jacobs Ladder.

DarnWeight

axisus said:

I really liked the low budget time travel film PRIMER (as in REALLY low budget - around $8000!!!)

It was fascinating, but the story gets incomprehensible by the end. I don't think there's any way you can understand what happened without going online and reading the (fairly complicated) synopsis.

Any other baffling storylines?

The same director's second move, Upstream Color, is an outstanding film, and like Primer is a real head-scratcher first time around.  You can kind of "get" Upstream Color in a more impressionistic sense, and connect with it despite this, whereas Primer really does need to come with a manual!

In a similar vein, Richard Kelly's Southland Tales (his follow-up to Donnie Darko) is all over the shop, but for me has enough good stuff going on to rescue it.  You can tell he's in thrall to David Lynch, no question.

Elwood

American Psycho - I never did figure out the end.

I read the book as well. Aside from being an order of magnitude more horrific the end is even more unfathomable. 

menamestom

I once got in after a night out, settled down to a late night snack and turned the TV on.  There was a movie on and some guy was being chased through a house or building, he went into a room and looked out of the window and down below there was a woman, who looked to be his lover, by the look in her eyes.  Then before capture he proceeded to masturbate from the window ledge.  Down below something landed on the woman's face, a creamy tear, from the sky.  She looked at him lovingly with this tear in her eye, before he was shot, as I remember.

I aborted my cheese on toast, turned the TV off and went to bed. 

I have no idea what I'd just watched or what it meant.  Spunk tears were a new thing to me and I didn't like them.

Danny1969

Interstella was a bit baffling, not in the Donny Darko league but a bit head scratching 

The Singing detective - my wife had to explain it to me 

Most David Lynch stuff - doesn't stop me enjoying it but some of it is pretty out there!

TheBlueWolf

Elwood said:

American Psycho - I never did figure out the end.

I read the book as well. Aside from being an order of magnitude more horrific the end is even more unfathomable. 

@Elwood ;

I've read the book too and got the impression that Bateman was just a fantasist. It's an ambiguous one though

Winny_Pooh

DarnWeight said:

axisus said:

I really liked the low budget time travel film PRIMER (as in REALLY low budget - around $8000!!!)

It was fascinating, but the story gets incomprehensible by the end. I don't think there's any way you can understand what happened without going online and reading the (fairly complicated) synopsis.

Any other baffling storylines?

The same director's second move, Upstream Color, is an outstanding film, and like Primer is a real head-scratcher first time around.  You can kind of "get" Upstream Color in a more impressionistic sense, and connect with it despite this, whereas Primer really does need to come with a manual!

In a similar vein, Richard Kelly's Southland Tales (his follow-up to Donnie Darko) is all over the shop, but for me has enough good stuff going on to rescue it.  You can tell he's in thrall to David Lynch, no question.

Upstream Color was brilliant, Primer was just annoying

joeyowen

A mainstream nod to inception

Trying to keep track at the end of that film took effort.  I totally forgot they were even on a plane

cruxiform

The Prisoner. I didn't have a scooby what was going on.

Gulliver

Lost

starwarsnosebleed

menamestom said:

I once got in after a night out, settled down to masturbate from the window ledge.  I aborted my TV and went to bed. 

I have no Spunk tears.

Some films suffer bad editing and therefore dont make sense.
Unlike your post above which i took the liberty to edit, and is now, to the point, and makes more sense.

Dopesick

The Holy Mountain stands out immediately
Most David Lynch stuff as well obviously
For a supposed 'stoner' flick The Big Lebowski is actually rather complex

jonnyburgo

Various trashy Italian horror movies

EricTheWeary

I eventually gave up on Hannibal, part way into season 3 I think. It had been relatively straightforward but in the end I needed a set of study notes. 

jamiexsilver

Back in the late 80's early 90's my dad owned a video shop and would always fetch unrented videos home with him, me and my brother would sneak downstairs in the night and watch all the horror stuff. One night we put Jacobs Ladder on, it scared and confused the hell out of me. Since then though it's become one of my favourite films. Dark uncomfortable viewing.

I've no doubt I'm going to hate the remake.

cj73

Naked Lunch.  Saw it at the cinema, we were the only ones to stay till the end 

Dopesick

cj73 said:

Naked Lunch.  Saw it at the cinema, we were the only ones to stay till the end 

I've had numerous attempts at reading the book but the furthest I've got is about Pg 20.

chillidoggy

I like to think I'm reasonably smart, but anything with more than about four different characters in, and that's me fucked. I watched 'The Girl on the Train' a while back and failed to identify all the women characters most of the way through. I might has well not bothered watching 'The Matrix' at all, for all the good it did me.

"Lost" had me utterly confused after a few episodes, too. What were those screenwriters smoking? Pretty sure they had no idea what was going on as well.

That said, the wife is worse than me, and has absolutely no patience with films at all. If she doesn't understand it after the first five minutes, that's it.

Oh yeah, I just remembered I started watching 'Hemlock Grove', and had to give up on that one, despite Famke Janssen's best efforts to force me to perve at her.

professorben

Lost Highway?

professorben

joeyowen said:

A mainstream nod to inception

Trying to keep track at the end of that film took effort.  I totally forgot they were even on a plane

There was a plane????!!!!