Experimental Movies on Netflix
Last updated May 13, 2024
Samsara
2011 | NR | 4.1 out of 5 StarsUnconstrained by dialogue or narration, this contemplative documentary reveals the ties between the dueling rhythms of nature and humanity as found in diverse locations across the globe, from sacred sites and natural wonders to industrial zones.
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Holy Motors
2012 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsThis surreal drama from France follows DL, who becomes many different individuals living very different lives over a 24-hour period -- switching effortlessly from man to woman, impoverished to affluent, young to old, and even assassin to family man.
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Pi
1998 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsDarren Aronofsky's jarring black-and-white brain-bender is a haunting examination of one man's numerical obsession. The story follows a fragile number theorist who's on the trail of a 216-digit number that could unlock the secrets of the universe.
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Tales of the Night
2011 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsIn this elaborately animated collection of six exotic tales, three friends meet nightly in a dilapidated cinema, where magic brings to life the adventures of lovely princesses, fierce werewolves, courageous peasant lads and lively dragons.
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Naqoyqatsi
2002 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsCompleting the trilogy begun with Koyaanisqatsi ("life out of balance") and then Powaqqatsi ("life in transformation"), Naqoyqatsi chronicles the most significant occurrence of the last 5,000 years -- the transition from a natural environment to a "new" nature, a technological reality. The Hopi term &NFi;naqoy&NFi_; means &NFi;war&NFi_;, &NFi;qatsi&NFi_; means &NFi;life&NFi_; -- but this is not the war of the battlefield, it is the war of ordinary daily living.
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The American Astronaut
2001 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsAlternative rock group The Billy Nayer Show stars in this surreal space-Western musical about the adventures of interplanetary trader Samuel Curtis, who planet-hops and trades one bizarre creature for another.
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Russian Ark
2002 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsA visually hypnotizing cinematic feat, Russian Ark is Alexsandr Sokurov's spellbinding ode to St. Petersburg's State Hermitage Museum. Shot in one take on digital video, the film shows the museum from a first-person point of view. As the photography floats through the lavish corridors of the museum, a cast of 867 actors supplies the action -- including The Marquis (Sergey Dreyden), an aged European who acts as the film's charismatic guide.
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Elephants Dream 4 Hour
2006 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsWith its groundbreaking use of open-source software, this experimental animated short tells the tale of Proog and Emo, two men who live in a capricious, seemingly infinite machine with a sinister purpose.
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200 Motels
1971 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsThe Mothers of Invention arrive in Centerville, another stopover in an endlessly long tour where every stage is the same as the next: the hotels, the concerts, the search for groupies and the inevitable arguments within the band. Absurd and witty, 200 Motels is a mixture of musical, rock opera and sitcom portraying the catatonic state of any rock band on the road. An animated segment by Chuck Swenson called The Dental Hygiene Dilemma is included.
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Patience: After Sebald
2012 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsIn this homage to W.G. Sebald, filmmaker Grant Gee travels the author's beloved East Anglia, scene of Sebald's book &NFi;The Rings of Saturn&NFi_;. Along the way, Gee interviews those Sebald inspired, including Adam Philips, Rick Moody and Tacita Dean.
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Elephants Dream
2006 | NR | 3.0 out of 5 StarsWith its groundbreaking use of open-source software, this experimental animated short tells the tale of Proog and Emo, two men who live in a capricious, seemingly infinite machine with a sinister purpose.
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Free Radicals: A History of Experimental Cinema
2012 | NR | 3.0 out of 5 StarsAvant-garde director Pip Chodorov offers viewers an intimate tour of experimental film and its creators in this documentary that features rare interviews, historical analysis, clips and more.
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Stingray Sam
2009 | NR | 2.9 out of 5 StarsOffered their freedom if they succeed in their mission, space cowboys and convicts Stingray Sam and the Quasar Kid team up to rescue a kidnapped girl in this far-out musical sci-fi Western.
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General Orders No. 9
2009 | NR | 2.6 out of 5 StarsPart dream, part analysis and part history lesson, this experimental documentary uses the state of Georgia to illustrate the way in which man's presence ultimately changes, and sometimes destroys, the Earth's natural environment.
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Post Tenebras Lux
2012 | NR | 2.6 out of 5 StarsAn affluent couple lives in the Mexican countryside with their two adorable children. But their idyllic surroundings belie a disturbing existence where violence and suffering are commonplace and light and darkness struggle to eliminate one another.
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The Juche Idea
2008 | NR | 2.6 out of 5 StarsDirector Jim Finn helms this experimental satire that examines what happens when a South Korean filmmaker sojourns into communist North Korea to breathe new life into that country's flagging, propaganda-driven movie industry. Believing that cinema can prop up North Korea's Juche Idea of self-reliance, mad dictator Kim Jong-Il pulls out all the stops to help the young émigré produce appropriate films. Sung Kim and Daniela Kostova star.
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Tabu
2012 | NR | 2.6 out of 5 StarsNamed with a nod to F.W. Murnau's famed final film, Tabu weaves two seemingly disparate tales into one unclassifiable narrative, bringing together the tales of an elderly gambling addict in Lisbon and a widowed hunter on the plains of Africa.
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The Telephone Book
1971 | NR | 2.6 out of 5 StarsA major, though forgotten, work from New York's underground film scene of the late 60s and early 70s, Nelson Lyon's The Telephone Book tells the story of Alice, a sex-obsessed hippie who falls in love with the world's greatest obscene phone caller and embarks on a quest to find him. Her journey introduces her to an avant-garde stag filmmaker, a manipulative psychiatrist, a lesbian housewife, and more. Photographed in high-contrast black-and-white, and punctuated with a remarkable, surreal color animated sequence, The Telephone Book is one of the greatest cult films you've probably never heard of.
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This Is Not a Movie
2011 | NR | 2.4 out of 5 StarsWith only 25 hours left until the world ends, disgruntled Pete Nelson locks himself in a Las Vegas hotel room, where he tries to embrace oblivion with a potent concoction of booze, pills and TV.
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Room
2005 | NR | 2.2 out of 5 StarsJulia Barker (Cyndi Williams), a married mother of two living in Houston, barely makes a living working at the Paradise Bingo Hall. One day, Julia starts seeing images of a large, empty room. When she awakens from a traffic accident on a road that runs along the flight pattern of the airport, Julia succumbs to her vision and boards a plane to New York City in search of this strange room that's taken hold of her psyche.
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The Tempest
1979 | NR | 2.2 out of 5 StarsLiving on an enchanted island with his nubile daughter, the magician Prospero conjures a storm to shipwreck his enemies. But in the end, bringing them ashore could hasten his own demise.
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The Last of England
1988 | NR | 2.1 out of 5 StarsFilmmaker Derek Jarman's evocative collage relies on home movies of his World War II childhood, gay erotica, street noise and vivid imagery to paint England as a once-powerful and proud nation that has lost its way.
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Hotel
2003 | NR | 2.1 out of 5 StarsVarious odd characters converge at a grand hotel in Venice, where a documentary film crew is following another crew that's filming a period tragedy. As the director and producer engage in a battle of wills, the hotel staff conspires against them all.
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A Life in Suitcases
2005 | NR | 2.0 out of 5 StarsDirector Peter Greenaway downsizes his multimedia epic "The Tulse Luper Suitcases" for this eccentric and challenging semiautobiographical feature. One recurring theme is the number 92, which recurs in assorted contexts -- including 92 suitcases.
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The Tulse Luper Suitcases
2003 | NR | 1.9 out of 5 StarsThis mockumentary from Peter Greenaway follows fictional scribe Tulse Luper around the world and across more than seven decades. At the story's core are Luper's 92 suitcases, representing not only where he traveled, but every element of his life.
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