What are 'Mindfuck' movies?

What are ‘Mindfuck’ movies?

They are exactly what they say on the tin; movies that will screw and play with your mind until the point of confusion and you won't know where you are, or something similar. I wanted to look into these films as the questions they evoke are very philosophical and the pots make the audience actually use their brains.

The essay written by Jonathan Eig answers questions about the theories of ‘mindfuck’ movies using exaples.

The most typical reaction to ‘mindfuck’ films from audiences is confusion ‘tinged with helplessness.’ This reaction doesn't sound like the films should be appealing, however, the current fascination with these films is due to the ‘breakdown in traditional values and loss of religious faith’ as these films reflect modern society as well as touching on what were once taboo subjects.

These films pose questions such as “What is human life?” and “Who controls this life?” such as in The Truman Show (1998) as Truman is deluded into thinking he is in control of his own life only to later find out that he was part of a show. However, this film goes against the fundamental format of most ‘mindfuck’ movies as it lets the audience in on the deception earlier on in the narrative. 

Jill Baudrilled believes that these films 'blur [the lines of] ordinarily 'true' reality' which is also seen in Terry Gilliam's Brazil where it 'appears to suggest that fantasy is superior to reality.' However the current films of this sub-genre 'do not assign primarily to either reality or illusion'.

The idea of catharsis attached to these films suggest that 'we enjoy the displeasure we have experienced in following the film plot because we survived' what we see on the screen so in some level we have 'survived it in our 'true identity.'' As the character of the film may be deluded their own identity the 'movie provides us with an opportunity to work out our own similar fear about self-delusion.