It is no mystery that a problem-solving film is likely to garner popularity from the audience. After all, solving a problem makes for a good story – you see an obstacle, you figure out how to get around the obstacle and you work towards it. The process fits so incredibly well it to the formula of any story, and it fits so well into the nature of human beings. You can see the popularity of problem-solving simply by looking at the UK London Escape rooms list by NowEscape, which contains hundreds of escape rooms within one city. The concept of solving a problem is integral to human nature, and it translates incredibly well into the film format. So, here are some of the best “puzzle” films out there, which try to work the mind of the viewer into circles and have them rushing to solve the problems that the characters are encountering before them.
Lucky Number Slevin
Let’s start the list off with a relatively positive movie, with fun being the main theme of it. Lucky Number Slevin is a film that starts off by explaining what the Kansas City Shuffle is, and this gives you a hint as to what might be going on throughout the rest of the film. Then the story starts being told, and the viewer starts getting more and more confused. The main character gets into a whole lot of trouble, the story progresses until the breaking point is reached and then, the mystery of the entire film gets unraveled through the use of a very appropriate occurrence in the story. The film challenges the viewers throughout its entire run time to guess what is actually going on, and what might be happening right before the eyes of the characters even if they don’t know it. Hints are dropped, but the story never fully reveals itself until the final moments. This makes the film a delight to watch, as the user tries to solve the mathematical equation that is the story of the film and enjoys themselves throughout the entire process.
Logan Lucky
Logan Lucky takes its cue from Lucky Number Slevin, but it takes everything a little differently. This is not the story of a murder, it is the story of a heist. The director of the film is famous for his other heist films, such as Ocean’s Eleven. In the case of Logan Lucky, the heist happens in the South and is entirely comical, unexpected and strange in its execution. But, the film does not just happen. It provides the premise and explanation of the heist as it goes along, guiding the thoughts of the viewer to make out what the final solution to everything will be, and then it throws in a wrench into everything. As the viewer is trying to figure out the solution to the final problem posed by the film, the real fun begins. While everything gets revealed in the end, the film utilizes the human need to solve problems to its fullest extent, posing a mystery and giving them all of the tools necessary to play around with the associated concepts. Definitely a good film to watch if you are a fan of making theories and figuring out the solutions to film’s problems before it ends.
Shutter Island
Shutter Island was one of the most mind-bending movies when it first came out. The thousands of people who watched it all loved the way it went, and all stated that they spent the entire film thinking about what the answers were. This is why they enjoyed the film so much – everything starts off as a mystery, as we follow a detective to Shutter Island, a place where a large scale prison/mental hospital is located. The mystery being uncovered is a complex one, containing many moving cogs and many moving parts. In the end, the final solution to the mystery comes along, but not before the users drive themselves pretty much crazy as a result of all of the efforts spent trying to come up with a solution. Shutter Island might have fallen from the graces of many people over the years, but the first time you watch it is always going to stick with you, simply because of how much fun it is trying to solve the problems that are posed by the film.
Get Out
Get Out earned an Oscar when it came out, and justly so. The film follows the story of a single man who goes to visit his girlfriend’s house in the countryside. The film quickly turns into a horror as the story of how the family actually ends up persecuting him. The story of the film is not simple, and it is full of hints and symbolism describing what will actually be happening in the future of the film. But, noticing them and summing them all up in order to understand where the film might be going with the story is not easy, and is definitely part of the fun experience of the film. Get Out is currently being regarded as a classic, and there are many reasons why it is justified for people to view the film so. In the future, the film is going to be dissected even more, and more people are going to understand what makes the math done while watching this film so attractive.
Gone Girl
This is probably one of the most famous and most impressive of all the mystery thriller films that have ever been filmed. The story of Gone Girl tells the story of a husband who allegedly murdered his wife. It is an impressive story of an investigation and of a man trying to prove himself innocent, despite all of the evidence pointing to the opposite of the truth. While the audience tries to do the math together with the main character as to what to do and how things might be happening or might have happened, the story takes the viewer to places they never thought to consider. The hints are there, the investigation is clear, but seeing the final solution is still just as shocking as coming to the realization while watching the movie. Highly recommended to anyone who is a fan of the mystery, thriller and investigation genres.
