20 movies to watch if you love 'Everything Everywhere All at Once'

If you're looking for a mind-bending thriller like Everything Everywhere All at Once, the obvious choice is The Matrix. The movie that started the trend of an alternate reality, The Matrix sees Keanu Reeves discover that he's living in a simulation and has to fight his way out. With the help of Morpheus, he learns to use his hands, his guns, and (most importantly) his shades. 

A man has 45 days to find a partner, or else he turns into a lobster. It's Kafka meets Love Island, and it's the most genius concept in ages. 

A workspace, a digital reality, a number of people who act like animals and talk like robots: It's basically another version of Everything Everywhere All at Once, without the hot dog fingers. LaKeith Stanfield plays a customer service rep who talks like a white person to make more money, only to find that the higher he goes, the higher things get. 

Before The Daniels came up with hot dog fingers, they came up with flying corpses. Their previous film sees Paul Dano use another man's corpse to survive. In the wilderness, he finds that a dead body can make a great life raft. 

Charlie Kaufman wrote this award-winning movie about a director who turns his life into a film, only to have the film become a reality. It's not the last time we'll be talking about Kaufman on our list. No other director has been more influential on The Daniels' work.

Just as Yeoh rewrites the code of her reality, the characters in Inception rewrite the code of their dreams. There are a lot of similarities between Christopher Nolan's masterpiece and The Daniels' Best Picture Winner, not least of which is the way Yeoh turns her world upside down.

Evan Rachel Wood plays a daughter whose parents steal from car washes. It's not exactly Oceans 11, but their heist does hit the jackpot in more ways than one. This indie from Sundance has a quirky vibe that rains down like soap from a car wash — colorful, playful, and more than a little silly. It's one of those movies that leaves you feeling clean. 

How's this for an elevator pitch? A man is hired to go back in time to kill himself. In the third act, we watch as Bruce Willis tries to outlive the younger version of himself, like watching a retired sports player try to keep up with his prime.

You can never have too much John Malkovich. The actor elevates every scene he's in, whether it's a small role or a lead character. The man has been giving us memorable roles since the '80s, which is why Kaufman decided to write a story about the actor's persona. When Cusack finds a portal into his mind, he gets addicted to walking in Malkovich's shoes. 

A haunted house is tracked over the course of three generations, with each generation striking a unique tone. It's a pleasure to open each door and see where they lead.

Huge props should be given to anyone who makes a film that not only deals with violence and revenge but myth and grief as well. Unfolding like a Greek tragedy, this movie lies at the intersection of The Odyssey and John Wick, a combination that lands with the force of a hammer to the skull. The story of a man imprisoned for 20 years and released with a grudge is one you won't soon forget. 

The movie follows a dystopian future where the British government rules with an iron fist, and anyone who rebels is executed. It's up to a masked vigilante to start a revolution and get people to fight back. It's not all that different from Yeoh's rebellion against the powers that be. 

Told you there'd be more Kaufman! After he took the meta-film to new levels in Malkovich, he took the rom-com to new levels in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, creating a new type of movie in the process. Eternal Sunshine is the very first artsy rom-com. A movie that not only makes you laugh and cry but also think.

It's not the most action-packed film on our list (no fights or explosions), but Ex Machina is a science-fiction thriller that makes you question life. Its story of a billionaire inventing a robot has more in common with EEAAO than you might think. 

Tom Cruise tries to stop crimes before they happen using a crystal ball, which I guess makes him the Wonderful Witch of the North. Too bad he gets involved in a government conspiracy that sends him down a rabbit hole the size of a black hole. 

The question of "what is real?" is common among these movies, mainly because it's common in Everything Everywhere All at Once. The best example of that is The Game , a thriller by David Fincher that scatters puzzle pieces across the table and gives us two hours to solve them. A businessman isn't sure whether the game he's been given is actually a game or if this whodunnit is real. For two hours, that question is up in the air...until it isn't. 

Another great puzzle piece. Blade Runner follows a detective who isn't sure whether he's a robot or a human. Ridley Scott does for slow-burn science-fiction what The Daniels do for maximalist science-fiction. He gives us a future grounded in reality. 

If you really want a vibe like the one you get in Everything Everywhere All at Once, watch Blue Velvet. The horror film has a tone that can't be described in words. 

Into the Spider-Verse is a Marvel movie that takes risks and follows Miles Morales in his own Spider-Man origin story. When he discovers there are other universes, he uses the other Spider-Men to stop the bad guys on Earth. It's basically the plot of EEAAO with a whole lot more costumes. 

Spirited Away follows a girl as she enters the spirit realm, which leads to all sorts of secret portals. There's a hotel with ghosts, a countryside with witches, and a train that glides across the water. It's a travelogue into the mind of a child — a chance to experience those magical dreams once more.