As controversial today as it was when it was initially released decades ago, A Clockwork Orange is certainly a polarizing film, and, with fans and detractors in seemingly equal measure, A Clockwork Orange continues to provoke debate. The film tackles heavy topics like the concept of free will, morality, psychology, and incarceration. Yet, the film's sex and violence have obvious meaning rather than being superfluous.
The film follows charismatic sociopath gang leader Alex who, upon imprisonment for his gang crimes, undergoes experimental rehabilitation therapy. A Clockwork Orange enjoys many high honors, such as its rank as fourth in AFI's 10 Best Sci-Fi Movies list, despite the film's decriers, and, though very few films are anything like it, there have been more than a few imitators.
Irreversible (2002) - Stream On Hoopla
Much like A Clockwork Orange, this movie is not for the faint of heart; it is an extremely intense and disturbing movie at times. As remembered by Film Daily, the film's director, Gasper Noe, even deliberately chose filmmaking techniques that would render the viewer disoriented and nauseous for a segment at the beginning of the movie.
This French film tracks the events of one eventful night, though it presents them backward instead of chronologically. When his girlfriend is brutally raped, a man and the woman's former boyfriend attempt to track her attacker down and take revenge.
Persona (1966) - Stream On Criterion Channel
Ingmar Bergman's Persona is a mind-bending, abstract look at identity, anguish, and relationships. The film looks at an actress, Elizabeth, who suffers a nervous breakdown, causing her to become mute. In an attempt to help Elizabeth recover, she and her nurse Anna stay at Elizabeth's beach house. As the pair spends more time together, they discover that their personalities are converging together, melding the two as an emotional one.
With striking imagery in stark black and white, the film makes full use of cinematographer Sven Nykvist's talents. While A Clockwork Orange seems like a celebration of violence, Persona is the complete opposite. The breakdown of Elizabeth is reflected in conjunction with the increasing violence of the world at that time, most notably during the Vietnam War, in effect showing that humans are not emotionally equipped to handle the violence societal systems create.
Brazil (1985) - Rent On YouTube
Taking place in a dystopic, bureaucratic-heavy future, Brazil looks at a government worker who becomes targeted by the state due to a paperwork error. In the same vein as A Clockwork Orange, Brazil uses hyperbole to communicate its ideas about society.
The film balances whimsy with crushing cynism, a trademark of filmmaker Terry Gilliam's top movies. Some of the sets are colorful and larger than life. Meanwhile, other scenes are drab and gray. This contrast in set design reflects the dissonance between the protagonist's dreams and his disappointing reality.
Apocalypse Now (1979) - Rent On Amazon Video
In this tale that shows what the horrors of war can do to the mind, Apocalypse Now is an equivocal war movie that either a pro- or anti-war stance can be argued. Though some construe it as glorifying war, the movie remains an ambiguous take on its subject matter.
Instead, the film relies on the characters' emotional responses to the presented events. The film is about a numb Vietnam army sergeant who is tasked with assaulting a rogue Colonel who has overtaken a village, masquerading as a deity.
Taxi Driver (1976) - Rent From Vudu
In this Martin Scorcese classic, an unstable cab driver loses his grip on reality as he tries to win the affections of a presidential campaign worker and liberate an underage prostitute.
Both this film and A Clockwork Orange utilize the unreliable narrator technique, as Travis Bickle chronicles the story to the audience despite his disintegrating mental state. This movie is dark and cynical, with an ending that makes the viewer question their perception of the preceding unfolding events.
American History X (1998) - Stream On HBO Max
Showing the most violent and hateful subgroup of a community, this film shares the brutal violence and aggression of A Clockwork Orange. One of Edward Norton's best performances, the acting in this film is top-notch.
The film looks at neo nazi Derek, who undergoes a change in beliefs after his incarceration. Now a changed man, Derek tries to steer his younger brother Danny away from making the same mistakes as him. With great usage of flashback sequences to explain the current dire situation of the main characters, the film almost acts as a study in psychology and hate.
Fight Club (1999) - Stream On AMC+
The film that boosted Brad Pitt to mega-stardom, Fight Club describes a depressed insomniac who starts an underground fight club with a strange soap salesman. Counterculture to the hilt, the film makes many interesting and compelling points on Western society's materialistic impulses.
The two main characters use the fight club as a way of going back to their most basic and primal beings. Regarding violence as a tenant of human nature, both this film and A Clockwork Orange make the case of violence and aggression as irrefutable natural instincts.
Natural Born Killers (1994) - Stream On Starz
In this satirical Oliver Stone movie, Natural Born Killers chronicles a pair of serial killer spouses who become tabloid tv fixtures. This film was very contentious, with many claiming that the film glorified crime. However, this was the point the film was making, as it ruminates on the role the media plays in its portrayal of criminals. The sensationalism that follows tragic events is riffed on in this irreverent take on the Bonnie and Clyde story for the '90s.
Blue Velvet (1986) - Stream On Starz
Arguably David Lynch's best movie, Blue Velvet relates the story of students Jeffery and Sandy who become amateur detectives after Jeffrey finds a severed ear. Connecting the case to lounge singer Dorothy and depraved Frank, Jeffrey becomes wrapped up in their twisted world.
This film contrasts the innocence of Jeffrey and Sandy to the seedy underbelly world that psychopathic Frank inhabits. Dennis Hopper's Frank steals the show, as his deranged villain makes full use of his limited time on screen.
American Psycho (2000) - Stream on fuboTV
With the charismatic sociopath as the lead of both stories, the parallels between American Psycho and A Clockwork Orange are crystal clear. American Psycho is a very dark horror comedy about New York yuppie Patrick Bateman who works as a high-powered businessman by day and a crazed serial killer by night.
The film argues the emptiness that Patrick feels stems from the materialism of his lifestyle. When he feels no fulfillment with the acquisition of his many status symbols, his hobbies turn highly lethal.