Movies that feel like a "fever dream" but actually have a plot

[troxad]

I’m looking for something that feels completely surreal or trippy while you're watching it, but everything actually makes sense by the end. I love that "what am I even looking at" feeling, as long as it isn't just weird for the sake of being weird.

Do you have any favorites that are visually wild or have a really dark, sarcastic sense of humor? I’ve already seen stuff like The Menu and Parasite, so I’m looking for something a bit more under the radar if possible.

Jinx!

Return to Oz.

Existenz With Jude Law. It’s old now but probably stillone of the strangest but excellent films I’ve ever seen.

Das Schreckliche Mädchen (The Nasty Girl). Old, low budget and based on a true story.

I still like Easy Rider…

The imagination of Dr Parnassus. Totally trippy. It was Heath Ledgers last film which he didnt finish so Colin Farrel, Jude Law, and Johnny Depp stepped in to play the part at differnt stages.

Being John Malkovich

Predestination, a very surreal move!

In the Mouth of Madness
Event Horizon

Valerie and Her Week of Wonders
Mulholland Drive
The Holy Mountain
8 1/2
Stalker

Eternal sunshine of the spotless mind, my all time favourite film!

I've Been Thinking of Ending Things

Possibly the opposite of what you're asking - starts off normal and gets more surreal as it goes on.

Requiem for a dream

I still don’t get what happened in Shutter Island 😂😂

Yes.

The Fountain

This fever dream description is so irritating, and only really came about to excuse the awfulness of Wuthering Heights.

Triangle
it’s a British 2009 film. Set around a boat.

please try it!! I love it

Anything by Yorgos Lanthimos then.
Or Ari Aster.
Particularly Beau Is Afraid. It's definitely a fever dream, though I'm not sure it fits the second category you require 😂

Melancholia. The first time I watched it, I had no idea what was going on for the first third of the film. It is visually stunning, too. It's one of my favourite films of all time.

Eraserhead
A Naked Lunch
Beyond the Valkey of the Dolls

Meaning Valley of the dolls, who knows what a valkey could be !

Another vote for Being John Malkovich.
The Three Burials of Melquíades Estrada

I feel like this about all James Bond films. Just a series of events happening on the screen- now we are over here, now we are over there, now this happens and now that. There's a whisp of plot, maybe, but only in the loosest sense.

Another vote for Everything Everywhere All At Once. Am just about ready for a re-watch. :)

Love that film but I remember tying myself in knots figuring it out who did what, when, where & why (in a good way!)