72 Best Weird Movies On Itunes Australia (Page 4)

Staff & contributors

What’s absurd to one viewer could just be mildly odd for the next. But if you love anything highly unusual, this list is a good start. Here are the best weird movies and shows to stream, from the avant-garde to the surreal.

Elisabeth Moss is in it. Calling The One I Love a romantic-comedy, looking it up, or trusting anyone else about it -- especially my review, will ruin this film for you. Just watch it. If one's penchant is typically opposed to titles with 'love' in them, then it's for you. Just hit 'play', or 'start', or whatever. The initial wtf-ness that attracted me to it is compelled further by excellent acting. And Elisabeth Moss is in it.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Charlie McDowell, Elisabeth Moss, Jennifer Spriggs, Kiana Cason, Mark Duplass, Marlee Matlin, Mary Steenburgen, Mel Eslyn, Sean O'Malley, Ted Danson

Director: Charlie McDowell

Rating: R

This dark French comedy is set in a neglected building in a working-class neighborhood. The elevator breaks and every tenant agrees to pay to fix it, except for the person who lives on the first floor. The neighbors go through with the reparations without the first-floor tenant, on the condition he never uses the elevator. Everything is fine until an incident puts him in a wheelchair.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Gustave Kervern, Isabelle Huppert, Jules Benchetrit, Larouci Didi, Michael Pitt, Tassadit Mandi, Valeria Bruni Tedeschi, Valeria Bruni‑Tedeschi

Director: Samuel Benchetrit

Rating: Not Rated

Set in 1970s Italian countryside, this is a quirky movie that’s full of plot twists.

Lazzaro is a dedicated worker at a tobacco estate. His village has been indebted to a marquise and like everyone else, he works without a wage and in arduous conditions.

Lazzaro strikes a friendship with the son of the marquise, who, in an act of rebellion against his mother, decides to fake his own kidnapping. The two form an unlikely friendship in a story that mixes magical realism with social commentary.

Genre: Drama, Fantasy

Actor: Adriano Tardiolo, Agnese Graziani, Alba Rohrwacher, Alessandro Genovesi, Alice Rohrwacher, Antonio Salines, Carlo Massimino, Carlo Tarmati, Daria Deflorian, Daria Pascal Attolini, David Bennent, Elisabetta Rocchetti, Gala Othero Winter, Leonardo Nigro, Luca Chikovani, Natalino Balasso, Nicoletta Braschi, Pasqualina Scuncia, Sergi Lopez, Tommaso Ragno

Director: Alice Rohrwacher

Rating: PG-13

Thunder Road is both a single-shot 13 minute short and a 91-minute feature-film expanding the story. Both are excellent and award-winning, but I really recommend the full experience!

Jim Cummings (above) is the director, writer, and main actor of this dark comedy. He plays a police officer having the worst day of his life as he tries to sing Bruce Springsteen’s Thunder Road at his mother’s funeral.

This sight is funny, and so is most of the story. But it’s also cringe-inducing, and because the main character is so sincere in his decline, will make you feel guilty about laughing so much. 

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Ammie Masterson, Bill Wise, Chelsea Edmundson, Chris Doubek, Frank Mosley, István Mihály, Jacqueline Doke, Jim Cummings, Jocelyn DeBoer, Jordan Ray Fox, Kendal Farr, Macon Blair, Marshall Allman, Nican Robinson, Tristan Riggs

Director: Jim Cummings

Rating: N/A

If you like: weird movies and / or Scandinavian mythology, this movie is for you. It's about unusual looking border agent with super-human abilities (such as smelling fear and shame) who meets someone like her for the first time There is a big revelation in Border that I can't share but while this movie was directed by an Iranian (Ali Abbasi), it's deeply rooted in Swedish folklore. Themes of identity, gender, and otherness intersect through a thrilling script and beautifully-shot nature scenes.

Genre: Crime, Drama, Fantasy

Actor: Andreas Kundler, Ann Petrén, Åsa Janson, Donald Högberg, Eero Milonoff, Eva Melander, Henrik Johansson, Ibrahim Faal, Jörgen Thorsson, Josefin Neldén, Kardo Razzazi, Kjell Wilhelmsen, Krister Kern, Matti Boustedt, Natalie Minnevik, Rakel Wärmländer, Robert Enckell, Sten Ljunggren, Tomas Åhnstrand, Viktor Åkerblom, Viktor Åkerblom-Nilsson

Director: Ali Abbasi

Rating: R

This artistic Australian coming-of-age drama stars Eliza Scanlen (Little Women, Sharp Objects) as Milla, a teen from a dysfunctional family. The father is a psychologist and the mother suffers from depression, so he medicates her under the table. Meanwhile, Milla, a 16 year old, starts dating a charismatic almost-homeless 24 year old drug dealer. Unusual circumstances make the family tolerate the relationship in this story where every character feels like the main one. 

If you're looking for something different, you will love Babyteeth. Something happens to Milla in the 10 minute mark that descriptions and reviews online all mention - but is definitely a spoiler. Just know that it's not all romance and coming-of-age, there is slow-burning darkness to this movie. 

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Romance

Actor: Andrea Demetriades, Arka Das, Ben Mendelsohn, Charles Grounds, Eliza Scanlen, Emily Barclay, Essie Davis, Eugene Gilfedder, Georgina Symes, Jaga Yap, Justin Smith, Michelle Lotters, Priscilla Doueihy, Quentin Yung, Renee Billing, Toby Wallace, Zack Grech

Director: Shannon Murphy

Rating: MA-17, Not Rated

When we think about dog films, we think about overly sentimental, feel-good flicks, with the dogs sometimes voiced by famous actors, that affirm the relationship between man and his best friend. White God is a dog movie, but it’s not that kind of dog movie. The dogs are not voiced, but yet they feel so personable as co-writer and director Kornél Mundruczó turns Hagen’s time in the street into a series of escapades, some exciting and some downright terrifying, where he evades the cruelty of man. And as the film alternates between Hagen and the young Lili, Mundruczó questions the ways we treat our furball best friends, the way we also treat those that are in our care.

Genre: Drama

Actor: András Hidvégi, András Réthelyi, Attila Mokos, Body, Diána Magdolna Kiss, Edit Frajt, Erika Bodnár, Ervin Nagy, Gera Marina, Gergely Bánki, Gergely Kovács, János Derzsi, Károly Ascher, Kata Wéber, Kornél Mundruczó, Krisztián Vranik, László Gálffi, László Melis, Lili Horvát, Lili Monori, Luke, Natasa Stork, Orsolya Tóth, Roland Rába, Sándor Terhes, Sándor Zsótér, Szabolcs Thuróczy, Tamás Polgár, Virág Marjai, Zsófia Psotta

Director: Kornél Mundruczó

Rating: R

This is a really weird movie starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman. They play a wholesome and well-off couple where Farrell is a heart surgeon. The movie starts with him taking care of a teenager called Martin, who's not related to him or seems to have any real connection with him. It later turns out that Martin shares a special bond with the surgeon, a bond that will threaten his family in unexpected ways. The camera work and direction by Yorgos Lanthimos (The Lobster, The Favourite) offset the weirdness to offer an intriguing experience.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller

Actor: Alicia Silverstone, Anita Farmer Bergman, Barry G. Bernson, Barry Keoghan, Beverly Kristy, Bill Camp, Bryant Bentley, Carly Tamborski, Charles Poole, Colin Farrell, David Pittinger, Denise Dal Vera, Drew Logan, Dylan Keith Adams, Herb Caillouet, Jerry Pope, Joanne Popolin, John Newsom, John W. Harden, Lea Hutton Beasmore, Megan Chelf Fisher, Michelle Dobrozsi, Ming Wang, Nicole Kidman, Raffey Cassidy, Robert Gerding, Steven Schraub, Sunny Suljic, William C. Ingram

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Rating: R

This movie is pretty much in every regard a Norwegian Kill Bill. It’s a dark gory comedy where, naturally, the substitute for Uma Thurman doing damage is an emotionless Stellan Skarsgård. After his son is killed by a drug gang, Skarsgård’s character, fresh off a win of a “citizen of the year” award, embarks on a ruthless journey to track and kill the murderers. This takes place in one of the most remote areas in Norway, where the main character works as a snowplow driver. You guessed it, some people will get snowplowed. Seems familiar? That’s because this year it was turned into a horribly sub-par American movie called Cold Pursuit, with, ugh, Liam Neeson.

Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime, Thriller

Actor: Anders Baasmo Christiansen, Arben Bala, Arthur Berning, Atle Antonsen, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Birgitte Hjort Sorensen, Bjørn Moan, Bruno Ganz, David Sakurai, Espen Reboli Bjerke, Gard B. Eidsvold, Goran Navojec, Hildegun Riise, Jack Moland, Jakob Oftebro, Jan Gunnar Røise, Jon Øigarden, Jon Øigarden, Julia Bache-Wiig, Kåre Conradi, Kristofer Hivju, Leo Ajkic, Martin Furulund, Miodrag 'Miki' Krstović, Miodrag Krstović, Ola G. Furuseth, Pål Sverre Hagen, Peter Andersson, Sergej Trifunović, Stellan Skarsgård, Stig Henrik Hoff, Thomas Hildebrand, Tobias Santelmann

Director: Hans Petter Moland

Rating: R

There's an elephant lurking in the room from the outset of Biosphere, in which two men are the last survivors of an apocalypse: how will humanity live on? Best friends Billy (Mark Duplass) and Ray (Sterling K. Brown) have only survived thanks to the ingenuity of Ray, who built the glass dome in which they live, insulated from whatever it is that’s keeping the sky perpetually black outside. But the dome’s protective glass increasingly needs patching up, and their last female fish (responsible for the continuation of their food supplies) has just died, setting their clocks ticking.

What happens next — to the remaining male fish and humans — is an astonishing evolution that speaks to the strangeness of nature, which will break its most rigid laws in pursuit of its ultimate goal: furthering the species. Biosphere undergoes a similar metamorphosis: while its zany twist (which we won’t spoil) seems to direct it towards gross-out bro-comedy territory, it transforms, surprisingly, into something more profoundly philosophical. Like the dome, Biosphere’s structure isn’t as solid as it could be — it often meanders — but, with its thoughtful meditations on gender, sexuality, and evolution in all its forms, it’s easy to forgive this quirky indie gem that flaw.

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, Science Fiction

Actor: Mark Duplass, Sterling K. Brown

Director: Mel Eslyn

Much like the 1976 horror classic Carrie, Thelma centers on a young telekinetic woman whose religious upbringing and sexual repression give way to unpredictable moments of fury and rage. When she meets the cool, charismatic Anja, she falls in love immediately, but the wave of emotions that overwhelm her threaten to destabilize not just their budding romance, but other relationships and lives as well. 

Thelma recalls Carrie in other ways too, most notably in the way it uses supernatural elements to allude to female fury and lust, but it also stands on its own as a singular piece of work; the mesmerizing transitions, the slow-burn pace, and the undercurrent of melancholia are all known trademarks of director Joachim Trier. This layering of old and new makes Thelma an intriguing watch, at once recognizable and wholly original. 

 

Genre: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Thriller

Actor: Anders Mossling, Camilla Belsvik, Eili Harboe, Ellen Dorrit Petersen, Grethe Eltervag, Henrik Rafaelsen, Ingrid Jørgensen Dragland, Ingrid Unnur Giæver, Irina Eidsvold Tøien, Isabel Christine Andreasen, Kaya Wilkins, Lars Berge, Marte Magnusdotter Solem, Sigve Bøe, Steinar Klouman Hallert, Tom Louis Lindstrøm, Vanessa Borgli

Director: Joachim Trier

Rating: Not Rated

The Fountain is a highly compelling science-fiction/fantasy film told in three interwoven parts related to the mythical concept of the Tree of Life. Hugh Jackman and Rachel Weisz star in a triad of roles that alternate along the film’s narrative: 1) an ancient conquistador assigned by the Queen of Spain to locate the legendary tree within the jungles of South American, 2) a modern medical doctor desperately striving to find a cure for his wife’s terminal brain cancer, and 3) a futuristic space traveler transporting the sacred tree across the cosmos with spectral images of his wife as his companion. In this, his 3rd feature feature-length film, writer/director Darren Aronofsky has crafted a strikingly ambitious depiction of the search for, manifestation of and preservation of the oft-fabled key to eternity. It’s highly philosophical and at times strikingly abstract visual storytelling, aided immeasurably by Jackman’s and Weisz’s heartfelt, aggrieved performances. The passion and the earnestness they deliver helps to buoy a complicated plot that isn’t always entirely cohesive, but comes together as a wonderfully compelling amalgamation of sights and sounds bound to inspire the viewer. Kudos to Aronofsky for eschewing simple fantasy in lieu of something so dynamic, original and emotionally commanding.

Genre: Adventure, Drama, Romance, Science Fiction

Actor: Abraham Aronofsky, Alex Bisping, Boyd Banks, Cliff Curtis, Donna Murphy, Ellen Burstyn, Ethan Suplee, Fernando Hernandez, Hugh Jackman, Janique Kearns, Kevin Kelsall, Lorne Brass, Marcello Bezina, Mark Margolis, Rachel Weisz, Richard McMillan, Sean Patrick Thomas, Stephen McHattie

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Rating: PG-13

By all outward appearances, The Villages—a massive and manicured retirement community in Florida—looks like it does offer paradise to its aging residents, as promised. The list of activities is endless, the seniors are all partnered up. “It’s like going back to college,” as one of them puts it, where people from all over the country come together to create a new life with each other. 

But of course, nothing comes that easy, not even death. Some Kind of Heaven follows certain residents (and one committed trespasser) as they grapple with the slipperiness of fulfillment in their later years. It gets very eerie when the film's bleak messages are contrasted with the home's vibrant Floridian colors and the residents' plastered smiles. But the eeriness adds to the overall intrigue and pull of the documentary. Darren Aronofsky (Black Swan) co-produces this fascinating film.

Genre: Documentary, Drama

Director: Lance Oppenheim

Coherence is a film that captivates you to the point of questioning the reality that surrounds you. It's a Quantum physics based sci-fi thriller that keeps your eyes sealed to the screen - not with unrealistically beautiful actors or special effects, but with an original screenplay and unexpected twists. Very refreshing.

Genre: Drama, Mystery, Science Fiction, Thriller

Actor: Alex Manugian, Alexis Boozer Sterling, Aqueela Zoll, Elizabeth Gracen, Emily Baldoni, Hugo Armstrong, Kelly Donovan, Lauren Maher, Lorene Scafaria, Mark Ballou, Maury Sterling, Nicholas Brendon

Director: James Ward Byrkit

Rating: Not Rated

A black and white movie, A Coffee in Berlin is an early Woody Allen reminiscent film with a great emphasis on the emotions it handles.  It flows naturally, telling the story of Niko, a young college dropout in a period of his life where he has to face loneliness and lack of money and success. He goes from observing the people of Berlin to first realizing he is becoming a stranger to them and then lastly deciding to do something about his life. It's a whimsical German film with a lot of heart, as much of a tribute to youth as it is a tribute to the city of Berlin.

Genre: Comedy, Drama

Actor: Alexander Altomirianos, Andreas Schroders, Annika Ernst, Arnd Klawitter, Ellen Schlootz, Fred Aaron Blake, Frederick Lau, Friederike Kempter, Inga Birkenfeld, Jakob Bieber, Justus von Dohnányi, Katharina Hauck, Katharina Schüttler, Katharina Schüttler, Leander Modersohn, Lis Böttner, Marc Hosemann, Martin Brambach, Michael Gwisdek, Robert Hofmann, Rolf Peter Kahl, Sanne Schnapp, Steffen Jürgens, Theo Trebs, Tim Williams, Tim Wustrack, Tom Schilling, Ulrich Noethen

Director: Jan-Ole Gerster

Rating: Not Rated, Unrated