https://www.reddit.com/r/movies/comments/1j7n6ev/what_late_90s2000s_existential_crisis_films_are/
created by IMicrowaveSteak on 10/03/2025 at 01:23 UTC
28 upvotes, 42 top-level comments (showing 25)
This was definitely a theme of film at that time. Maybe there are other films that are from other eras that deal with the same topic.
Just curious for recommendations for films that follow that seem theme of the world feeling empty and time goes by then you just die having really done nothing?
I purposely chose the 3 in the topic because they’re so drastically different but the theme is really the same.
Comment by kafkaliesvideotape at 10/03/2025 at 01:45 UTC*
33 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Ghost World, high fidelity, Thumbsucker, Grosse pointe Blank
Edit: waking life and a scanner darkly
Comment by Familiar-Two2245 at 10/03/2025 at 01:30 UTC
47 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Falling down
Comment by coolhandjennie at 10/03/2025 at 01:46 UTC
24 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Grosse Pointe Blank. A hired assassin who’s reconsidering the profession attends his high school reunion, high jinks ensue. It’s a great dark comedy, co-written by John Cusack. Alan Arkin is hilarious as his therapist.
Comment by ladylallybroch at 10/03/2025 at 02:05 UTC
21 upvotes, 3 direct replies
Empire Records. Late 90s almost Y2K. Seems like a fun teen/young adult romp with amazing soundtrack. But every single one of those characters is having a breakdown under the surface. Even tho it’s Rex Manning day!
Comment by Visible_Fee5051 at 10/03/2025 at 02:11 UTC
25 upvotes, 1 direct replies
"Strange Days" A former cop turned street-hustler accidentally uncovers a conspiracy in Los Angeles in 1999. It's got Y2K vibes, sci-fi, and virtual reality, all with a great cyber punk look.
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0114558/
Comment by delugetheory at 10/03/2025 at 01:27 UTC
11 upvotes, 2 direct replies
Comment by Phyllis_Nefler_90210 at 10/03/2025 at 01:31 UTC
13 upvotes, 1 direct replies
The Virgin Suicides
Comment by adam2222 at 10/03/2025 at 01:59 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Magnolia
Comment by LatkaGravas at 10/03/2025 at 01:26 UTC
19 upvotes, 2 direct replies
1: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246578
Comment by kikithefish at 10/03/2025 at 01:26 UTC
9 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Donny Darko
Comment by MrsPeacock_was_a_man at 10/03/2025 at 01:27 UTC
6 upvotes, 1 direct replies
I honestly don’t know how well it fits your description but *The Rules of Attraction* (2002) was the first movie that came to mind.
Comment by ladylallybroch at 10/03/2025 at 02:07 UTC
7 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Reality Bites, Clerks, Kids
Comment by dudebro5000 at 10/03/2025 at 01:52 UTC
11 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Idiocracy
Comment by Catcaves821 at 10/03/2025 at 02:53 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Girl, Interrupted
Comment by DrRotwang at 10/03/2025 at 03:24 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Arguably, *Dark City* (1998) is one of the best science fiction films not only of the late 20th century, but...ever. It's a rumination on identity, morality, humanity, and what a soul might be, if there can be said to be one. It's also tense, puzzling, exciting, clever, engaging...
Just check it out. The Director's Cut is the way to go.
Comment by TMoney67 at 10/03/2025 at 03:29 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Fight Club was amazing. It felt contemporary and ahead of it's time simultaneously. I can't explain it. It holds up more than ever these days.
Comment by twitchy at 10/03/2025 at 01:33 UTC
8 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The Game
Comment by almo2001 at 10/03/2025 at 01:47 UTC
8 upvotes, 1 direct replies
Requiem for a Dream
Comment by woman_noises at 10/03/2025 at 01:27 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
I watched Clockwatchers a few months ago and I liked it, tho you definitely get the feeling it could have been better while watching it
Comment by Nuts0NdrumSET at 10/03/2025 at 01:29 UTC
4 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The net
Comment by mariojlanza at 10/03/2025 at 01:52 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
About Schmidt
Comment by UserCheckNamesOut at 10/03/2025 at 01:55 UTC
4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
The Salton Sea
Comment by snomeister at 10/03/2025 at 02:03 UTC
3 upvotes, 0 direct replies
Bottle Rocket, my fav movie ever. Usually glossed over by the rest of Wes Anderson's catalog but I think it uses the lower budget and lack of Andersonisms to its advantage to focus on the characters and dialoge.
Comment by danielsan1701 at 10/03/2025 at 02:48 UTC
5 upvotes, 0 direct replies
The Matrix
Not a movie, but OK Computer by Radiohead
Comment by liamemsa at 10/03/2025 at 03:21 UTC
4 upvotes, 1 direct replies
There are dozens if not hundreds. It was the great big indie movie topic of that decade. As Fight Club put it, "Our generation has no great war and no great depression. Our great war is a spiritual war and our great depression is our lives."
The 90s were going so well that most people had nothing to stress about outwardly. The last major war was Vietnam. The economy was booming. The internet was changing our lives. So they started looking inward at their purpose of existence and the meaning of their lives.
Consider "The Matrix," the "prison" that Mr Anderson was pulled from was being an incredibly gifted computer programmer who had a stable job and lived alone. Something most people would dream for today.