Inception is one of the most confusing movies of all time

Inception claims the top spot as one of the most confusing movie plots of all time, according to OnBuy.com

Ranking 14th in IMDB’s top 100 movies, Nolan’s heroic attempt into what happens when someone enters layers of a dream was a huge box office success, but it doesn’t stop 80,090 people a month Googling for further explanation.

In second place is Shutter Island. Also featuring Leonardo DiCaprio, Scorsese’s mystery thriller leaves 55,700 a month searching for a plot analysis.

HEEEEERE’S AN EXPLANATION! The Shining claims third place as 48,950 people each month are wondering what on earth happened. And with almost as many people left baffled (47,060), the sci-fi space drama Interstellar claims fourth.

Exploring what many people fear about robots, the eerie Ex Machina places in fifth. The movie jumps into the risks of a world with intelligent AI and 32,440 people a month are still trying to work out its meanings, hidden and obvious.

Other confusing movies to make the top ten include:

• Donnie Darko (32,130 monthly searches)
• 2001: A Space Odyssey (31,260 monthly searches)
• The Matrix (27,120 monthly searches)
• Citizen Kane (25,480 monthly searches)
• Memento (24,060 monthly searches)

With fewer monthly searches but still a mystery to many, The Tree of Life enters in 18^th place. Terrence Malick’s experimental drama received worldwide critical acclaim, winning Cannes Film Festival’s Palme D’Or in 2011 and achieving 85% on rotten tomatoes, but this didn’t prevent viewers from confusion when watching it – 14,440 monthly searches still go to finding an analysis for what happened.

Other movies of interest that confused viewers include Adaptation (18,920 monthly searches), Mulholland Drive (18,990 monthly searches), Cloud Atlas (22,250 monthly searches) and Vanilla Sky (22,479 monthly searches).

How do film lovers ease their confusion?

OnBuy also surveyed 3,217 film lovers to find out what they do to ease uncertainty of a puzzling film.

When asked if they rewatch a movie that confused them at first, 65% said yes (35% said no). And of those that do, 41% need to rewatch it three or four times before they fully understand – 39% stated they only need to watch it another one or two times, and 20% watch it a whopping five or more times before they begin to comprehend what’s going on!

However, sometimes a rewatch isn’t enough as many fans also turn to the internet to learn more about contrived movie plots. When asked for their first point of call for this information, 71% stated YouTube – as video explanations often allow for better understanding. YouTube was followed by Reddit and other forums (67%), social media (63%), movie fan sites (59%), movie databases (52%) and finally, other sources (38%).

Methodology:

OnBuy analysed a list of movies which according to previous articles are well-known to be confusing or include contrived film plots and themes.

Using search analytics tools SEMrush and Ahrefs, they found the number of monthly searches for plot explanations and/or analysis for each movie. Specific search terms included: ‘___ explanation’, ‘___ explained’, ‘___ analysis’, ‘___ breakdown’, ‘___ ending’, ‘___ ending explained’ ‘___ movie/film meaning’, ‘___ meaning’, ‘___ synopsis’, ‘___ plot’ and ‘___ summary’.

Monthly search volumes were collected on 09/10/20 and are accurate as of then.

Due to its recent release, Tenet wasn’t included in the study as data would not be complete nor fully paint the picture of its reception.