LexTalk

What’s the weirdest movie you’ve ever watched?

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  When I saw today’s writing prompt — What’s the weirdest movie you’ve ever watched? — I immediately started mentally scrolling through every strange movie I’ve seen.

And then it hit me.

2001: A Space Odyssey.

No contest.

I watched it for the first time sometime around 2019 or 2020, and although it’s been years since I’ve seen it, I still remember the feeling I had when the credits rolled:

What did I just watch?

There are movies that are weird because they’re silly. Movies that are weird because they’re intentionally bizarre.

And then there’s 2001: A Space Odyssey, which somehow makes you feel like you’ve just witnessed something incredibly important while simultaneously having absolutely no idea what just happened.

The movie is intense in a way I wasn’t expecting. There are these long stretches where barely anything seems to happen, yet you still feel completely locked in. The music becomes enormous and almost overwhelming at times. There’s very little hand-holding for the viewer. You’re just… there.

Watching.

Trying to figure out what Stanley Kubrick is trying to tell you.

And then trying to figure out if you’re supposed to understand it at all.

Apparently It Stuck With Me

The funniest part is that even though I couldn’t explain the entire plot to you today without looking it up, certain scenes apparently planted themselves permanently in my brain.

I remember playing charades with friends sometime after watching the movie and getting 2001: A Space Odyssey.

Naturally, I decided the best way to communicate this was to reenact the beginning of the movie.

If you haven’t seen it, there are these ape-like early humans who encounter this giant, mysterious black monolith.

So there I was, standing in front of my friends, silently pretending there was a giant black rectangle in front of me and dramatically reaching my hand toward it.

Because obviously they were going to immediately understand what I was doing.
I can only imagine what I looked like to anyone who hadn’t seen the movie.

And honestly?

Trying to explain 2001: A Space Odyssey through charades might actually be the perfect representation of what watching 2001: A Space Odyssey feels like.

You know something important is happening.

You’re trying desperately to understand it.

And everyone is just staring at each other like…

What is going on?

Weird — But Unforgettable

I think that’s what makes this my answer.

I’ve watched plenty of movies that were strange, confusing, creepy, or completely ridiculous. Most of them eventually disappeared into the giant filing cabinet of movies somewhere in my brain.

But this one didn’t.

Years later, I still remember the monolith. I remember the music. I remember the strange, almost hypnotic feeling of watching it. And I definitely remember reaching the end and wondering whether I had just watched a masterpiece or experienced some kind of two-and-a-half-hour cinematic fever dream.

Maybe both.

And considering I’m still talking about it years later?

Whatever 2001: A Space Odyssey was trying to do to my brain…
apparently it worked.