Dark City (1998)

Skip the opening of Dark City if you can. The theatrical cut starts with Kiefer Sutherland narrating the big mystery before you’ve seen a single clue, and the later director’s cut wisely drops it. Ignore him, and what follows is one of the most gorgeous nightmares of the 1990s. Rufus Sewell wakes up with no memory in a city where it’s always night, and bald, pale Strangers in black coats freeze the clocks to rearrange everyone’s lives. Watching buildings stretch and twist out of the pavement while the whole town sleeps is still astonishing. Sutherland is wonderfully strange as Dr. Schreber, wheezing and limping like every sentence costs him. Jennifer Connelly gets a lounge song and a lot of worried staring. William Hurt’s tired detective is great. The finale’s psychic duel gets a little cartoonish. It made $27.2 million worldwide on a reported $27M. An 8.2 because the world is unforgettable even when the story trips. $815.23 says you try to remember the way to a beach from your childhood tonight and can’t quite get there.

What works: The shape-shifting city is a stunning piece of design, and Rufus Sewell and Kiefer Sutherland make the mystery feel creepy and personal.

What doesn’t: The theatrical cut’s opening narration gives away too much, Jennifer Connelly is underused, and the final psychic showdown tips into cartoonish.

Who it’s for: Fans of The Matrix and old noir who want the moody, underseen cousin that beat it to theaters.