Ben Wheatley – one of the most interesting contemporary directors working – said in an interview that cinema must be weird, to irritate the viewer and disturb him. Of course, we cannot agree with the concept proposed by the British artist, but we must admit that these kinds of films have a huge fan following.

Okay, but what does “these kind of films” mean? How do we explain the terms “bizarre” or “weird”? Are Troma’s films bizarre? And the movies of Quentin Dupieux? Or Taika Waititi’s movies? Certainly they are, but on different levels. The sense of weirdness is something that is subjective. In the context of the film, it is born when the creator crosses various borders: genre, good taste, social conventions and other different ones, sometimes all simultaneously. Sometimes the authors use a surreal, oneiric or poetic convention, or on the contrary, camp, as they play with clichés.

It is not so difficult to make a really strange movie when you use some imagination, but it is extremely difficult to keep a high artistic level. It’s hard to make a bizarre movie, not just a curiosity and an artistic shell. I propose a review of the top 10 bizarre movies of 2017, which develop “weirdness” on various levels and are simply good films that should please every cinema fan.

10. El Bar

A few passers-by are sitting in a local pub, drinking coffee and eating something as part of a quick breakfast. At some point, to the horror of all the customers, one of them is shot when he leaves the bar. When another man moves to rescue him, he also dies from a missile from a closer undisclosed weapon.

Suddenly, those gathered in the pub learn that the streets and square next to it were completely and unexpectedly deserted, and perhaps a sniper is hiding on the roof of one of the buildings. Guided by the instinct of survival, they begin to not only devise a plan on how to get out of the trap set for them, but also try to find out the causes of gruesome events. By accusing each other of accusations and bumping into ever new theories, the bar customers do not realize that they have found themselves at the center of a large-scale conflict.

Spanish director Alex de la Iglesia is a master of bizarre cinema, and in his latest film he presents a good form. The creator of the iconic “The Last Circus” during his career developed an original, unmissable style. In “El bar” he reaches for proven tricks – an absurd story, black humor, lively action. The film ensures good fun, first and foremost, and if the viewer sets himself up for entertaining cinema, he will certainly not be disappointed.

9. Dave Made a Maze

Dave, a young frustrated artist / loser, builds a cardboard fortress in his apartment. His surprised girlfriend, after returning home, learns that the inside is much bigger than it seems and Dave got lost in the middle three days ago. A team of friends embarks with a rescue plan into a mysterious, lively cardboard maze that lives on its own. Their journey, full of dangers and great special effects, is a surreal combination of horror films about deadly trap spaces and American hipster comedy.

Bill Watterson made an extraordinary film about the power of imagination, using just the power of imagination. “Dave Made a Maze” is a production with a small budget, the main force of which is the script from which absurd humor and great love for cinema pierces. The film is a pastiche of such titles as “The Cube,” “Saw” and the Indiana Jones series. In addition to providing great fun, it keeps you in tension more effectively than many modern horror films. Recommended especially for fans of stoner films.

8. Okja

For 10 peaceful years located in the mountains of South Korea, the house of Mija (Seo-hyeon Ahn) is a refuge for a large pig named Okja, which becomes the girl’s greatest friend. The idyll suddenly ends when animal must be returned to the rightful owner, which is the international company of Mirando Corporation.

The consortium exports the animal to New York, where corporate president Lucy Mirando (Tilda Swinton) wants to show her at a cynical party called “the most beautiful pigs in the world” and thus start the mass slaughter of similar creatures to sell meat. The girl goes to the rescue of her beloved pig, and everything is mixed up with an alter-globalist organization using radical methods.

Last year’s Netflix movie, shortly after its broadcast, was described as the best and the weirdest of the films released by this platform. Joon-ho Bong, using his unusual narrative skills, sense of space and artistic freedom, creates a satirical tale that should be seen by every child wondering where bacon comes from. The director is not afraid to reach for the grotesque and the caricature. The characters played by Jake Gyllenhaal and Paul Dano are stretched in their stereotypes to the point of exaggeration; they can arouse ambivalent feelings for viewers.

This is a deliberate treatment in “Okja,” which we can also treat as a great movie adventure or family cinema, as it does not make the viewer feel confident with the image being viewed. There is a method in this farce, and sensitive viewers should at least induce different thoughts. “Okja” is also a beautiful film about the strongest childhood love. To sum it up, everyone will find something for themselves.

7. Mother!

She (Jennifer Lawrence) lives in a remote home. She is in love with Him (Javier Bardem), an inspired poet experiencing a creative crisis. She herself renews the common socket, cooks, cleans up, and tries to get down to her beloved from the road whenever possible. There is no passion between them – she disappeared with the man’s wife.

Meanwhile, on a cloudy evening, the Stranger (Ed Harris) enters their home, seeking accommodation. The stranger’s visit introduces confusion and anxiety to the orderly life of the couple, arousing emotions for which no one suspects from each other, and leading to situations that everyone would like to immediately forget.

The work of Darren Aronofsky has many fans and equally many critics. His latest work, “Mother!”, probably only strengthens this division. It is certainly a bizarre movie, known as horror by distributors and Aronofsky himself, but it has more to do with the theater grotesque. The picture is surreal at times, sometimes with cheap symbolism, as everything is distorted in it to the absurd.

Whether we consider this film successful depends on the areas in which we will consider it. If we approach “Mother!” too seriously, we can quickly become discouraged. If, however, we treat it as a crazy variation on the works of Polański and von Trier, as a really simple story about the artist-demiurge-asshole sucking inspiration from people who love him, flavored with caricature and scenography, then we can be satisfied after the seance.

6. Get Out

This is the story of a young black man, Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya), who goes on a visit to the estate of his white girlfriend’s parents (Allison Williams). He quickly realizes that the atmosphere of the house is, to put it mildly, strange. He does not expect, however, that the reason for the invitation is not only the desire to get to know him by Rose’s parents. Chris believes that the nervous atmosphere at the Armitage home is due to racial reasons. Soon, however, he will discover an amazing truth. The truth that he could not expect.

“Get Out” is one of the most interesting films of last year. It works great both as a horror movie and as a comedy. It may seem that the weirdness of the film is ensured by the mere combination of horror and comedy, but the surprise and discomfort of seeing will not be caused by the presence of grotesque monsters, absurd scenario solutions and comical jump scares. Rather, it is a creepy atmosphere and a sense of constant uncertainty that makes the film keep the viewer in constant tension.

Jordan Peele, in accordance with the new horror movie trends, tried to provide us with ambitious entertainment, which is why he raises the issue of social problems. These are issues with which – it would seem – cinema and Western society are slowly coming to an end. Nothing could be more wrong, because in the director’s epoch of transhumanism, there is a new form of racism.

The history of crime movies is immensely ample, but unfortunately until today, this genre is treated as inferior, as the second category of cinema. It is so shocking that if we follow the evolution of the crime movies of the last 10 years, we can observe that this genre is changing, going beyond its rigid frame.

There are real artistic gems, where the directors create extremely interesting hybrids in which the criminal theme is the motive to give the viewer something more. Still, of course there are plenty of excellent pictures in which the most important is the answer to the age-old question: “whodunit?”

The list of the 25 best European crime movies from the last decade shows two issues, obviously not necessarily revealing: we can only use the concept of European cinema in a geographical context, as it is aesthetically an extremely diverse cinema.

Of course, the list could not miss the Scandinavian and English crime movies that are known around the world, but how does the crime cinema from Belgium, Poland or Bosnia look like? The second issue is that the list is intended to be eclectic; it can be found arthouse cinema, naturalistic movies, brutal prison movies, detective stories, or a cinema containing elements of the grotesque. They are connected by the fact that they are great crime movies.

25. Department Q: A Conspiracy of Faith (2016)

The list is opened by a Scandinavian detective movie directed by Hans Petter Moland. The sea throws a bottle onto the beach with a disturbing letter. The item goes to Section Q, a department of the Danish police dealing with unexplained cases from years ago. Detectives Carl Mørck (Nikolaj Lie Kaas) and Assad (Fares Fares) suspect that the letter was written by an abducted child. His identity is soon determined. The boy came from a closed religious community and was kidnapped with his brother years ago.

The disappearance of the siblings was never reported, even though the kidnapper only returned one of the boys. It turns out that the event was not isolated, and recently there was another kidnapping, this time also covered up by intimidated parents. Detectives have little time to stop a fanatical murderer and save the children.

The third part of the detective from Section Q story is also the best part. This is a classic and well-executed crime story, according to proven genre patterns, but it does not detract from its class. The intrigue is extremely addictive, and the duo of Nikolaj Lie Kaas and Fares Fares is one of the best police duets in the last few years.

24. Schneider vs. Bax (2015)

Schneider (Tom Dewispelaere), a contract killer, receives an important task from his boss on his birthday. The goal is Ramon Bax (Alex van Warmerdam), a writer who lives alone in an isolated place. By assuring that with luck he would come home before noon and be able to help his wife prepare for the evening dinner, Schneider accepts the order. However, the seemingly simple work turns out to be something more than he expected.

The film’s director is Alex van Warmerdam, who previously made the iconic “Borgman.” “Schneider vs. Bax” is one of the weirdest pictures on this list. It balances on the border of a crime story and a grotesque comedy. Over the years, the director has developed his own unmanageable aesthetics, and “Schneider vs. Bax” is the quintessence of his style. Playing with characteristic crime patterns, the creator draws the recipient into an absurd game.

23. The Man from London (2007)

Maloin is a man who no longer waits in his life. There are no perspectives; he is burned out, and he is surrounded by a gray, hopeless reality. He is invisible to the world around him, despite the fact that he has a wife and daughter, he always feels completely lonely. Once he becomes a witness to a murder, his life changes dramatically.

The famous Hungarian director Bela Tarr uses the form of a crime film to share his original vision regarding the nonsense of existence. He reaches for his corporate tricks, including the slow camera movement, which is a perfect reflection of the prevailing difficult atmosphere. “The Man from London” will appeal to fans of aesthetic and visual sensations.

22. A Prophet (2009)

Sentenced to six years in prison, a young Arab named Malik El Djebena (Tahar Rahim) has no family, and can neither read nor write. After arriving in prison, he falls into the influence of the Corsican mafia led by Luciani (Niels Arestrup). Malik tempers and gains the trust of the mafia boss. Luciani then orders him to kill one of the prisoners. Malik learns and discreetly develops all his skills. His prestige is increasing.

“The Prophet” is a solid prison crime movie. The story shows the criminal school of life, and is built by the director from well-known genre schemes. Jacques Audiard does it so skillfully that “A Prophet” can surprise the viewer and keep them in suspense. The gangster world is stripped of sentimentality. Violence is always revolting, and a is crime terrifying regardless of motive. So let’s pay attention to the raw realism of the picture. “A Prophet” is a film devoid of embellishments, a cold depiction of the world of crime.

21. The Silence (2010)

In July 1986, little Pia was raped and brutally murdered. The perpetrators have never been caught, though the face of the viewer appears. The story jumps 23 years forward to 2009, when 11-year-old Sinikka disappears without a trace. The circumstances of her disappearance lead the police to believe that the murderer has returned to do the same bestial deeds. A group of detectives is involved in the case, and everything from the side is observed by Pia’s mother and a man who is directly connected with the tragic event from the 1980s.

“The Silence” is an elegant crime story in which a lot of attention is paid to drawing a strong portrait of a community included in tragic events. At the same time, a complex intrigue is carefully developed. The movie characters are perfectly led, and Ulrich Thomsen and Wotan Wilke Möhring give a show of acting skills.

20. The Dark House (2009)

One rainy night, Edward Środoń (Arkadiusz Jakubik) appears accidentally in the house of a couple, the Dziabas (Kinga Preis and Marian Dziędziel). The initial distrust of the hosts gives way to traditional Polish hospitality. The newcomer does not even suppose how much this meeting will change his life. After several years, the investigation team begins the investigation in the same house. Edward Środoń is standing in the doorway again. This time his visit is not accidental – it is to help in the reconstruction of the mysterious events from four years ago.

“The Dark House” is a frightening, dark film. Some people accuse him of showing the characters too one-sidedly, showing only their bestiality. However, this is a conscious choice of the director Wojciech Smarzowski, who is primarily interested in the bestial side of human life and behavior. This approach gives rise to some dissonance in the viewer’s perception. The film also seems surrealistic and naturalistic at the same time. The climate of the film can be compared with some reservations to the works of the Coen brothers and “Bullhead,” directed by Michaël R. Roskam.

19. The Best Offer (2013)

Virgil Oldman (Geoffrey Rush) is an experienced, successful antique dealer. He leads a lonely existence among the luxuries of the canvases of the old masters and the beauty of the Italian palaces, sure that nothing will disturb his stabilized life and threaten deeply hidden secrets. The order from a mysterious young woman will start a series of events that will turn his ordered world upside down.

The film is an interesting combination of crime and melodrama. Tornatore creates a claustrophobic atmosphere to which the viewer must adapt with the protagonists. The film is a vivisection of one of the varieties of loneliness. Oscar winner Geoffrey Rush creates his character with unpretentious subtlety and at the same time expressiveness, drawing from his character hidden by the full passion.

18. The Revanche (2008)

Alex (Johannes Krisch) is a former prisoner who works as an assistant to the owner of one of the Viennese escort agencies. She secretly has an affair with Ukrainian prostitute Tamara (Irina Potapenko). A few hours from there, in the village where Alex’s father lives, police officer Robert (Andreas Lust) and saleswoman Susanne (Ursula Strauss) lead an idyllic rural life in which they lack only offspring. In a surprising way, their fates are intertwined.

The movie from Götz Spielmann combines elements of melodrama and crime. The film resembles Haneke’s cinema in its precision. The characters have to face a merciless fate, and the story refers somewhat to the dark tales of the Coen brothers and brilliant, cold aesthetics.

One of many cinema aspirations is the examination process of the creation of psychological ties between movie characters. It is worth noticing this is not only the aim of realistic or psychological movies, but also any movie that wants to honestly show interpersonal relationships, to justify often controversial choices, and to bring many different types of relationships to the audience – even the less obvious and incomprehensible ones.

The most interesting and also very controversial, one that arouses lots of ambivalent emotions, is relation called Stockholm syndrome. This term took the name from an accident that took place in Sweden’s capital in 1973. On August 23, two men walked into a bank with the intent to rob it.

When notification of the burglary reached the police, the robbers took the hostages (three women and one man) and detained them for six days. At the same time, when the rescue team arrived,  the hostages did not want to cooperate with them at all. They defended the kidnappers and accused the police.

Psychology finds Stockholm syndrome to be a mechanism of survival; a fight for life. It comes out in extremely traumatic situations, like in the face of kidnapping, imprisonment, sexual abuse, being taken as a hostage, a prisoner of war, or member of a sect. It also may happen in romantic (or sexual) relationships founded on domination. The consequences of this syndrome may appear after a long time, after the end of a crisis.

Stockholm syndrome has been processed in many areas, including movies.

15. King Kong (2005)

The most epic realization of the syndrome was displayed in the tale of a giant ape from Skull Island – which isn’t strange knowing that this particular iteration was directed by Peter Jackson. The action takes place in New York during the 1930s, during the Great Depression.

Filmmaker Carl Denham (Jack Black) wants to direct his dreamed-of adventure movie, and with his crew, including the unemployed actress Ann Darrow (Naomi Watts) and traveler Jack Driscoll (Adrien Brody), he begins his journey on the SS Venture toward the mysterious Skull Island.

On the spot they find out that on the island, primitive tribes live and pay their tributes to a gigantic gorilla. Ann is the next victim who is abducted, and the crew embarks on a rescue mission, only to find that Skull Island is trapped in time, and is inhabited by dinosaurs.

Meanwhile, Ann and King Kong form a relationship, which in times develops into Stockholm syndrome. Watts’ character starts to develop sympathy and understanding for her extraordinary captor; she tries to humanize him and read his intentions.

It might also be said that this relationship is a pop cultural variation of the mythological love between the beauty and the beast; a love loaded with insecurity, a fear of abuse, and the most humane – a fear of the unknown. What’s worth pointing out is that this unusual relationship led to demise of the captor, as in the end, he was one who was captured.

14. Three Days of Condor (1974)

Over the years, this Sydney Pollack movie became an iconic spy picture. It tells the story of Joe Turner (Robert Redford), an employee at a small intelligence agency; the workers at this agency have more in common with book moles than with true secret agents.

One day, Turner gets back to his office after short lunch break, only to find that all of his co-workers have been murdered. He immediately informs his supervisors, but instead of receiving help, he finds out they want to eliminate him as well. Desperate and alone, he kidnaps Kathy Hale (Faye Dunaway), a woman he accidentally met. Turner wants her to help him fight a powerful opponent.

Their relationship bears the characteristics of Stockholm syndrome, where fear of death billows into fascination, and lust toward the alleged agent. This relationship is quickly written and less than subtle, but in an interesting way it shows how unusual roles can be taken by both the hostage and the abductor. This particular dialog between the protagonists went down in history of cinema:

Turner: “Have I raped you?”
Kathy: “The night is young.”

13. Sleeper (1975)

This futuristic comedy is one of the most absurd movies made by Woody Allen. The action takes place in the far future – the 22nd century – when a shop owner who hibernated 200 years prior wakes up after operation gone wrong that, in reality, is different from his memories.

He encounters an automated world run by computers, and giant genetically-modified fruits specially designed to fulfill sexual cravings. The neurotic protagonist played by – surprise! – Allen himself, initially dressed as a robot, is mixed in the romance with his owner and has an underground fight with the totalitarian system.

The motive of Stockholm syndrome here is also treated in a more humorous and grotesque way. The character played by Diane Keaton became convinced of the revolutionary ideas of her pseudo-robot/kidnapper, which in effect changed her comfortable lifestyle, and then the roles turn around.

This controlled madness doesn’t tell much about the complicated nature of Stockholm syndrome, but it brings to attention that this issue isn’t always understandable or logical, but is rather based in very extreme emotions.

12. V for Vendetta (2005)

The adaptation of the classic comic book by Alan Moore takes place in an England run by a totalitarian government, where society is absolutely controlled and manipulated by those in power.

The only person who still resists is a freedom fighter dressed as Guy Fawkes, who fights with the ruling system by means of terrorist attacks on the main radio and TV stations and governmental buildings. One day, he frees Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman) from the hands of government agents, which leads to her realization that V isn’t a terrorist but rather a person with ideas long forgotten by her nation.

Similarly to “Sleeper”, the abductor convinces his victim to follow the radical change of opinion of social and political matters. The Wachowski sisters and James McTeigue show this much more realistically (in spite of the comic book’s basis) and in much more convincing manners.

The tortured Evey doesn’t learn that V was the one bringing her all her suffering until it’s finished and her perception is already changed. The protagonist behaves like the typical victim of Stockholm syndrome – she falls in love with her captor and helps him in his antigovernment crusade.

11. Buffalo ‘66 (1998)

This film is the directorial debut for actor, model and musician Vincent Gallo, who also plays main role of Billy Brown. Billy, after his release from prison, doesn’t see any sense in continuing his existence. He doesn’t have a girlfriend or any friends. All he’s got are his crazy parents, and all what he want to do is to kill the man whom he blames for his unjust punishment and suicidal ideations.

Before that, he decided to visit mom and dad for the last time. By the way –  he kidnapped a random girl (Christina Ricci) and ordered her to pretend to be his girlfriend in the presence of his parents. In the meantime, the girl falls in love with Billy and she decides she wants to spend rest of her life with him.

Gallo created a brilliant, acrimonious, and traumatized ex-con, who can be only saved by an instant dose of true affection. Ricci is a girl who quickly notices the potential and goodness hidden deep down in Billy’s heart.

She also suffers from Stockholm syndrome because she is treated harshly, sometimes even coarsely, but she believes that she is just the person who can get Billy back on track. It is common sign of Stockholm syndrome that occurs in toxic relationships. Due to purposeful exaggerations, the movie discusses the issues of interpersonal values in a unique way.

10. 3096 Days (2013)

Sherry Hormann is probably best known as director of the film “Desert Flower”. “3096 Days” was released four years later, based on the ready-made story and autobiography of Natascha Kampusch (under the same title). This case is in some way exceptional because Kampusch herself does not categorize her instance as Stockholm syndrome. Telling the truth, it is truly hard to deny that many components suit that description.

The film tells a story about a 10-year-old Austrian girl who spent 3096 days (eight years) in a cell owned by Wolfgang Priklopil (Thure Lindhardt). This man spent her entire life using violence, mental abuse, and starvation to torture her.

On the other hand, she grew really attached to him. It’s hardly surprising, as he was the only person with whom she had contact, and there was attachment on both sides. In the end, she truly missed her torturer; subsequently, Wolfgang threw himself under a train after he lost the only person in the world with whom he was close.

9. Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

In this legendary Sidney Lumet movie, two unemployed Vietnam War veterans decide to rob a New York bank, and they have bad luck in doing so. One of the partners resigns at the last minute, the cash registers are almost empty, and cops show up.

Sonny (Al Pacino) and Sal (John Cazale) take hostages and start negotiations; stress unites the kidnappers and kidnapped bank employees, and there is a clear and unusual bond between them. Negotiations with the police start and the charismatic Sonny turns them into a media show.

This example is the most similar to the Stockholm accidents of 1973. The movie clearly shows the circumstances in which Stockholm syndrome can be born, and the meaning of crisis situations. Pay attention to John Cazale’s performance – he was able to show the audience the emotional baggage of his character.