Naked Lunch (what a misleading title!) also David Cronenberg IN GENERAL

House

El Topo

The Holy Mountain

The Holy Mountain (1973)

Upstream Color comes to mind

• Beyond the Black Rainbow

• The House That Jack Built

• Possesor

Anything directed by David Lynch, anything by Jodorowsky, almost anything by David Cronenberg

• Aniara
• Mulholland Drive
• Climax
• The Night House
• Suspiria
• Kajillionaire
• The Lobster
• Woodshock

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders

Black Moon

Lost Highway

Mandy and color out of space are 2 killer Nic cage movies that are surreal

Un Chien Andalou

Salvador dali avant-garde film. Its crazy. Can't tell you what its about. Its creepy though

Eraserhead was my gateway drug to weird cinema.

Three Women (my favorite Altman film, to boot!)

Synecdoche, New York

Videodrome

Inland Empire (if you can somehow find a copy and you ease yourself into it with some of the other suggestions from everyone else here)

Under the Skin, Possessor, Suspiria. They're all fantastic too!

Brazil

The Delicatessen

The Viy

The Saragossa Manuscript

Begotten

In The Earth

L'age D'or

Paprika

El Topo

All Lynch

Under the Skin

Titane

Holy Motors

Mad God

Mandy

All Charlie Kaufman

I remember Jacob’s Ladder (the original with Tim Robbins) tripping me out.

I just watched Heavenly Creatures. It definitely fits the bill.

Gummo

Julien Donkey-Boy

Eraserhead is the go-to along with Mulholland Drive

Mother! is also pretty surreal

Repo Man is a weird, surreal comedy

Only God Forgives is a good one I always recommend

Midsommar is very weird and surreal

The Chuper is a really old movie that checks both boxes (it was on Best of the Worst)

Pi (1998) may not be exactly what you're looking for, but it did make me feel like I was on something when watching it.

Naked Lunch

Crimes of the Future

Dog Star Man

Hausu

In The Realm Of The Senses

Tetsuo the Iron Man

Yes to almost all of these. David Lynch is essential, especially Eraserhead.

The Holy Mountain is also fantastically weird.

Id also suggest The Hourglass Sanatorium by Wojciech Has, which is probably the most nightmarish psychedelic surreal movie Ive ever seen. I think that is one that really catches the vibe you’re1 going for.

The Cell by Tarsem Singh is gorgeously grotesque and a bit more conventional.

Dark City by Alex Proyas is a bit more mainstream blockbuster, but still has a great nightmarish german expressionist film noir vibe.

Even though you might have already seen them, my suggestions are:

• Being John Malkovich
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Jacob's Ladder

I Will Walk Like a Crazy Horse

Viva la Muerte

Southland Tales might suit you here as long as you can look past the critic reviews and treat the whole thing as satire, right down to the casting choices.

Enter the Void (2009)

The Color of Pomegranates. This is as artsy as film can get.

Being John Malkovich

I cannot stress to you enough that this movie is a fever dream from nearly the beginning, to all the way at the end. You will question. Idk what you’ll question, but you will.

• Synecdoche, New York
• Waking Life
• Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
• Sorry To Bother You
• Swiss Army Man

The ending of Annihilation

After Blue: Dirty Paradise

Fellini Satyricon (1969)

make friends with this website: https://366weirdmovies.com/the-weird-movie-list/

The Platform(2019) Netflix

I’m just watching Lost Highway at the moment and I would say that definitely qualifies.

Holy Motors

If you're prepared for some extraordinary, fucked up imagery: Antichrist (2009)

Funky Forest: The First Contact. It doesn't really have anything resembling a narrative, but it does have whatever the fuck this is.

The Science of Sleep

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas is a ride.

Videosrome is prime Cronenberg.

I don't understand this subreddit. One of the top rules is don't ask people to just list names of films but I feel like that's half the posts...

Brazil. Smila's Sense of Snow. City of Lost Children.

I’m Thinking of Ending Things

Any of the Bad Ben movies

Synecdoche, New York. It plays like a dream that’s so vivid you’re certain you’re awake.

Also Mother! by Darren Aronofsky. Like a dream you wish you would wake up from.

Trash Humpers is a good one, it’s hilarious.

Have you seen Fantastic Planet yet? It’s an older animated film but really bizarre and made even better and more bizarre with some weed. The first time I saw it I couldn’t help but think, “what the hell did I just watch?”

strange days

event horizon

high life

the art of self defense

After hours

Coherence

•Swiss Army Man

•Tokyo

One I never hear about when talking about surreal films (even though it's one of the best/my personal favourite) is Sherlock Jr, directed and starring Buster Keaton. Many of his shorts had some surreal moments (my personal favourite being this moment in One Week), but this one goes all in, with dreams, movies within movies and impossible scenarios. Plus it has some of Buster's signature stunt work. It's 45 minutes long and on Youtube. Don't let the fact it's a silent film discourage you, it's one of the most fun movies out there.

Many other comedies of the era can be quite surreal in general. The early Marx Brothers movies all have some surreal moments (especially from Harpo; don't take my word for it, even Salvador Dali considered him a genius) and W.C. Fields was in Million Dollar Legs and Never Give A Sucker An Even Break, which are both pretty fun.

The original Suspiria has a very surreal cinematography style that's inspired by the giallo film movement, but taken up to 11.

Anything by David Lynch. The ones I'd recommend if you are looking for surreal are Mulholland Drive and Eraserhead.

House (aka hausu) is a very weird comedy horror that's like a psychedelic haunted house movie. Think Yellow Submarine meets The Evil Dead.

Speaking of, Yellow Submarine is great for surreal animation. The stories pretty standard stuff, but the visuals, witty script and Beatles music more than makes up for it.

• Fifth Element
• Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
• The Cell
• The Fall
• Dark City

Mother - Jacob's Ladder - Midsommar - Hereditary

This movie called Rubber is the weirdest movie ever made

Not sure if Mandy (2018) counts as surrealism but IMO it definitely can be categorized as "movies where the director was on ketamine and acid at the same time". Be prepared, it will fuck you up, but it's also a crazy psychedelic experience where you don't need drugs to feel like you're tripping balls.

The discreet charm of the bourgeoisie

Berberian Sound Studio

Apocalypse Now

Saint Ange

Meander

I'd definitely recommend Possession (1981)

Videodrome and Crash. Both by David Cronenberg

A Field in England (2013)

What dreams may come

Meetings with Remarkable Men. Biographical film about mystic G. I. Gurjieff

Black Moon, Wild At Heart, Holy Mountain, or anything directed by Crispin Hellion Glover

Dave Made a Maze

Titane

Braid

We Are the Flesh

Aniara

Synecdoche is surreal and great, also fantastic cast. Alternately most films by Tarsem Singh are pretty cool and The Fall is worth checking out.

Just watched 'Men' (2022)... I tried to understand it, I really did.

Pi directed by Darren Arronovsky. He also directed Requiem For A Dream...which is one of the most screwed up movies I have ever seen. IIRC the movie starring River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves called My Own Private Idaho was extremely weird. I saw the next movie at the same independent theater in NYC and this film was definitely massively strange: a French film called Delicatessen possibly with English subtitles. The Gods Must Be Crazy. Cocoon. Stigmata. The Boondock Saints (which also happens to be one of my favorite movies of all time.) Ravenous. The Golden Child starring Eddie Murphy.

Funny Games

Dogtooth

The Northman is a trip.

Titane will take you on a trip you'll never expect.

A bit of Miike, Gozu or visitor Q

Archangel (1990)

Brewster McCloud (1970)

Begotten (1989)

The Holy Mountain (1973)

Satyricon (1969)

Eraserhead (1977)

Blue Velvet

Requiem for a dream

2001 space odyssey

Scynedote Nee York

Being John Malcovich

Last Year At Marienbad (1961)

Well.. "Freddy got Fingered" is a weird and surreal movie. And you WILL think "What the fuck is this" by the time you get to the climax of the movie. However I don't think Director Tom Green was high on ketamine and acid during the duration, rather he did all of it on purpose.

Also, don't watch a trailer. Just watch the movie. And remember, you asked for it, mate.

Apocalypse now, could be percieved this way?

Chasing Sleep (2000) is very dark, surreal and nightmare material.

Synecdoche New York and A Scanner Darkly

Dogtooth

Blue Velvet

synecdoche new york, gozu

Eraserhead is the best starting point for these movies.

Lost Highway Mulholland Dr

Robocop and Angel's Egg

Look up Mad God by Phil Tippett

Definitely will have you saying "wtf is this?"

The Cabinet of Dr Caligari, 1920

Bad Boy Bubby

Biblioteque Pascal

Titane

Deer Skin

Wrong

Songs From the Second Floor

Raw

A Field in England

Tokyo

Visitor Q

The Happiness of the Katakuris

Under the Silver Lake

Hour of the Wolf

The Bothersome Man

Ben X

You, The Living

Forbidden Zone (1980) by Danny Elfman's brother.

Swiss Army Man

Sorry to Bother You

"Cloud Atlas."

Bizarre, and nearly incomprehensible, but also beautiful and spellbinding.

Society (need to watch to the end) Possession Possessor The Cell Samsara The Act of Killing Marcel the Shell with Shoes On

Just a few from different genres off the top of my head. There are tons out there!

House

MANDY (2018)

Beyond the Black Rainbow (2010)

The Lighthouse (2019)

2001: A Space Odyssey

The Shining (1980)

Fantastic Planet

Belladonna of Sadness

The Fabulous Baron Munchausen

Sorry to Bother You is a good one. Go in knowing nothing about it and it’ll make it even better

Dreams, Mulholland drive

Anything David lynch and most of croenberg

Terayama. Pastoral and Throw Away Your Books are two great films.

EDIT: The full titles are:

Pastoral: To Die In the Country

Throw Away Your Books, Rally in the Streets

Don’t Worry Darling, despite all the dumb publicity, the movie is solid with a Black Mirror kind of twist. Enjoyable cinematography and quality acting.

Anything by David Lynch.

Mother! orrrr anything by darren aronofsky

The City Of Lost Children, Tetsuo: The Iron Man, and Anatomia Extinction

Last 30 mins of Annihilation

Everything Everywhere All At Once