Items45The creator’s order
  1. 1Ex Machina (2015)Ex Machina (2015) 7.7/10 on IMDbReleased Jan 21, 2015Start here if you want a controlled test that turns into a battle over who’s being observed. A programmer interviews a robot named Ava in a secluded compound. The tension comes from what Nathan, the man running the study, chooses to reveal to each of them.0
  2. 2The Fly (1986)The Fly (1986) 7.6/10 on IMDbReleased Aug 15, 1986Choose David Cronenberg’s 1986 version for body horror built around an apparent success. Seth Brundle tries his teleportation device on himself and comes through feeling better than before. As his behavior changes, you get to watch a result that looks encouraging become more disturbing than a…0
  3. 3The Fly (1958)The Fly (1958) 7.1/10 on IMDbReleased Jul 16, 1958In Kurt Neumann’s 1958 version, Hélène Delambre recounts what happened after her husband tested his matter transporter and a fly entered the chamber. The flashback structure makes the accident part of a mystery about why she kept it secret. The effect of the experiment is immediate, which gives…0
  4. 4Flatliners (1990)Flatliners (1990) 6.6/10 on IMDbReleased Aug 10, 1990Follow medical students who take turns stopping and reviving one another to see what happens near death. The resuscitations appear to work. The psychological pressure comes from what the students start experiencing afterward and why they keep it from one another.0
  5. 5Primer (2004)Primer (2004) 6.7/10 on IMDbReleased Oct 8, 2004Try this for a spare puzzle about two engineers testing a machine that does something other than what they built it to do. Their improvised trials become harder to track as each man learns what he can do without telling the other. Pay attention to when they leave and return.0
  6. 6Splice (2010)Splice (2010) 5.8/10 on IMDbReleased Jun 3, 2010Watch two geneticists decide to raise the creature they have made after being told to stop their research. Dren grows faster than they expect, and secrecy keeps them in the same room with decisions they haven’t agreed on. Choose this for the parent-child unease as much as the body horror.0
  7. 7Altered States (1980)Altered States (1980) 6.9/10 on IMDbReleased Dec 25, 1980Watch a scientist enter a sensory deprivation tank to test how far he can push his consciousness. The sessions begin to have consequences the people outside the tank can observe. Choose this for expressionistic images and the dread of a researcher who keeps volunteering himself.0
  8. 8Dark City (1998)Dark City (1998) 7.5/10 on IMDbReleased Feb 27, 1998Look for a man who wakes up with no reliable memory and finds the city’s routines shifting around him. The film holds back what the experiment is measuring, so you learn the rules with him. It’s a good pick for a mystery where the test site feels like an entire world.0
  9. 9Source Code (2011)Source Code (2011) 7.5/10 on IMDbReleased Mar 30, 2011Watch a soldier sent through the same eight minutes on a train to figure out who planted a bomb. The repeated briefings show you what the team thinks its system can do, while his attempts to save people raise a question they’re unwilling to test. Pick this for brisk action and a clear puzzle.0
  10. 10The Invisible Man (1933)The Invisible Man (1933) 7.6/10 on IMDbReleased Oct 31, 1933Watch a scientist find a way to disappear and discover what his discovery does to his judgment. The people around Griffin can hear and track him, which makes a room with apparently no one in it feel dangerous. Choose this for the eerie sound and brisk chases.0