Simulation & Reality-Shift Sci-Fi movies

Vibe

Tense Claustrophobic Fast-paced Dreamlike Surreal

Overview

Cobb, a skilled thief who commits corporate espionage by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets is offered a chance to regain his old life as payment for a task considered to be impossible: "inception", the implantation of another person's idea into a target's subconscious.

Themes

Memory and guilt, Corporate espionage ethics, Control of consciousness, Manipulation of belief, Layered reality and time, Identity and projection

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Tense Whimsical Restrained Fast-paced Ironic

Overview

A week before Christmas, Kyon wakes up in a world where the SOS Brigade doesn't exist. Mikuru and Yuki don't recognize him, and Haruhi and Itsuki seem to have vanished.

Themes

Supernatural influence, Sequel expectations, High school pressures, Alternate dimension anxiety, Christmas disruption, Collective identity tension

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Realistic Tense Atmospheric Deliberate Stylish

Overview

Nemo Nobody leads a perfectly ordinary life with his family, until he wakes up in 2092 as a centenarian, unraveling memories of lives he never lived. What if every choice spun a new reality?

Themes

Free will vs fate, Love across timelines, Multiple timelines and choice, Memory as narrative device, Mortality and aging paradox, Time and entropy

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Immersive Tense Claustrophobic Fast-paced Chaotic

Overview

Teenage math whiz Kenji Koiso agrees to take a summer job at the Nagano hometown of his crush, Natsuki. When he arrives, he finds that her family have reunited to celebrate the 90th birthday of their matriarch. His job: pretend to be Natsuki's fiancé. Meanwhile, his attempt to solve a mathematical equation causes a parallel world's collision with Earth.

Themes

Card game dynamics, Virtual reality intrusion, Family holiday burden, Hacker-led crisis, Artificial intelligence ethics, Legacy inheritance tension

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Realistic Tense Intimate Claustrophobic Bleak

Overview

A departing professor gathers his closest colleagues for an intimate farewell, but the night takes an unexpected turn when he shares a stunning secret about his past. As the conversation unfolds, skepticism and curiosity collide, challenging everything they thought they knew about history, science, and belief.

Themes

Deception and disclosure, Immortality across centuries, Religion and disbelief, Skepticism vs expertise, Memory as unreliable, Isolation across ages

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Realistic Deliberate Eerie Stylish Measured

Overview

In Karakura Town, unidentifiable spirits begin appearing en mases. While attempting to deal with these strange souls, Ichigo Kurosaki and Rukia Kuchiki meet Senna, a mysterious shinigami who wipes out most of them. Senna refuses to answer any questions, so Ichigo is forced to follow her while Rukia tries to find out what's going on.

Themes

Unidentifiable spirits threat, Shounen resilience under pressure, Adventure amid unknown threats, Supernatural tension across realms, Memory fragmentation and belonging, Anime style memory dynamics

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Tense Dynamic Eerie Stylish Dreamlike

Overview

When a machine that allows therapists to enter their patient's dreams is stolen, all hell breaks loose. Only a young female therapist can stop it and recover it before damage is done: Paprika.

Themes

Trust under pressure, Power and responsibility, Ethics of dream therapy, Deception within science, Control of dreams, Boundary between dream and reality

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Tense Intimate Claustrophobic Deliberate Stylish

Overview

In a world where a clinic deletes your worst heartbreak, a quiet man signs up to erase his ex—only to relive their love in reverse as it’s ripped from his mind. Trapped inside his own vanishing memories, he scrambles to hide her in forgotten corners of his past before she disappears for good.

Themes

Memory manipulation ethics, Amnesia and longing, Memory erasure consequences, Jealousy in relationships, Nonlinear timelines of memory, Relationship problems under manipulation

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Vibe

Claustrophobic Bleak Dry Restrained Eerie

Overview

The film tells the story of two good friends who live together, Andrew, an agoraphobic travel agent who works from his home, and Dave, a loser who works in an office where he is treated with contempt. Just when it seems things can't get any worse for the two, the entire world outside of their house disappears and is replaced with an endless white void.

Themes

Loyalty under pressure, Isolation and dependence, Trauma and growth, Erasure through hate, Confinement and conflict, Self-definition through adversity

Vibe

Tense Claustrophobic Restrained Deliberate Clinical

Overview

A troubled psychologist is sent to investigate the crew of an isolated research station orbiting a bizarre planet.

Themes

Perception vs reality, Grief and memory, Artificial companionship, Haunted memory and guilt, Isolation and lack of agency, Ethics of scientific experimentation

Available on

Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.