Enter the Void and 3 Other Sci-Fi Movies That Still Spark Debate Among Fans
Some love these sci-fi works, while others hate them.
We've picked sci-fi movies that continue to spark debate among viewers, ranging from David Lynch's worst film to Alex Garland's underrated masterpiece. You'll either love them or hate them.
1. Enter the Void, 2009
Gaspar Noé has never made a film that was unequivocally successful – one that the press and audience would praise unanimously and call a great success.
Even Irreversible, found on many lists of the best 21st-century films, has its detractors, not to mention the critics who panned the film after its premiere. Enter the Void is another of his experiments, recreating either a death throe or a vivid drug trip on the screen.
2. Annihilation, 2018
Over the past decade, Alex Garland has become one of the most controversial sci-fi directors of our generation. Just look at the reviews of the miniseries Devs, which was often called both pretentious and a bold attempt to find God in technology.
Annihilation is even more scandalous and controversial. As it became known before the film's release, audiences simply did not understand it at test screenings, forcing the studio to release the complex story on Netflix.
The movie is really difficult to understand. It's a philosophical blockbuster about the desire for self-destruction that raises more questions than it answers.
3. Dune, 1984
Following the release of Denis Villeneuve's Dune, some viewers have turned their attention to David Lynch's 1984 film adaptation of Frank Herbert's novel.
Lynch's ambitious attempt to create a Star Wars for adults famously ended in disaster, hated by fans of the original.
Much has changed in the past 34 years – the movie itself hasn't improved, but attitudes toward it have. Even among fans of Herbert's novel, many defenders have emerged, and as we know, they are impossible to please.
4. Pi, 1998
Pi is a unique directorial debut. Darren Aronofsky made it for a ridiculous amount of money, even for an independent film. However, it is more creative and bold than major films of that time.
A synopsis of the story about a mathematician who tries to decipher the world around him with the help of numbers sounds rather boring. Nevertheless, Pi is an exemplary thriller: paranoid, inexplicable, and uncomfortable.
The film's cult status is understandable, as is the position of those who did not like it. And really, what does any of this mean, and why is he holding a drill?