Reality versus Dreams, Stories, Memories and Imagination
At some point in each of these shows you or a character may wonder what is real, and what is imagined, dreamed, or just made-up or exaggerated stories - or dreams just make up a large portion of the story (or do they?).
In some cases, they are resolved or revealed by the end of the show, but in others they aren't. Some times it is the characters who are not sure what is real, and in others the audience doesn't know.
I am looking for more to watch and add to this list. Any recommendations?
In some cases, they are resolved or revealed by the end of the show, but in others they aren't. Some times it is the characters who are not sure what is real, and in others the audience doesn't know.
I am looking for more to watch and add to this list. Any recommendations?
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- DirectorChristopher NolanStarsLeonardo DiCaprioJoseph Gordon-LevittElliot PageA thief who steals corporate secrets through the use of dream-sharing technology is given the inverse task of planting an idea into the mind of a C.E.O., but his tragic past may doom the project and his team to disaster.
- DirectorJérémy ClapinStarsJulien BoisselierThéo GrimmeisenMado DebrusHaving been struck by a 150-ton meteorite, Henry has to adapt to living precisely ninety-one centimeters from himself.
- DirectorGuillermo del ToroStarsIvana BaqueroAriadna GilSergi LópezIn the Falangist Spain of 1944, the bookish young stepdaughter of a sadistic army officer escapes into an eerie but captivating fantasy world.
- CreatorGlenn Gordon CaronStarsPatricia ArquetteMiguel SandovalJake WeberSuburban mom Allison DuBois attempts to balance family life with solving mysteries using her special gift. The dead send her visions of their deaths or other crimes while she sleeps.There were several episodes of this series, including the series finale, where the line between dream, vision and reality became blurred or hard to keep track of
- DirectorJoshua Michael SternStarsAaron EckhartIan McKellenBrittany MurphyA psychiatrist searches for insight into the life of his father, who was an acclaimed children's author. But he is shocked when his journey leads him to believe that the fantasy-land his father wrote about might actually exist.
- CreatorJ.J. AbramsJeffrey LieberDamon LindelofStarsJorge GarciaJosh HollowayYunjin KimThe survivors of a plane crash are forced to work together in order to survive on a seemingly deserted tropical island.
- DirectorJoseph RubenStarsJulianne MooreDominic WestChristopher KovaleskiAfter being told that their children never existed, a man and woman soon discover there is a much bigger enemy at work.
- DirectorTim BurtonStarsEwan McGregorAlbert FinneyBilly CrudupA frustrated son tries to determine the fact from fiction in his dying father's life.
- DirectorTim McCanliesStarsHaley Joel OsmentMichael CaineRobert DuvallFourteen-year-old Walter Caldwell's irresponsible mother Mae sends him to live with his bachelor uncles, Hub and Garth, so that she can go on yet another husband-hunting trip.
- DirectorRon HowardStarsRussell CroweEd HarrisJennifer ConnellyA mathematical genius, John Nash made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a harrowing journey of self-discovery.
- DirectorLana WachowskiLilly WachowskiStarsKeanu ReevesLaurence FishburneCarrie-Anne MossWhen a beautiful stranger leads computer hacker Neo to a forbidding underworld, he discovers the shocking truth--the life he knows is the elaborate deception of an evil cyber-intelligence.
- DirectorAlex ProyasStarsRufus SewellKiefer SutherlandJennifer ConnellyA man struggles with memories of his past, which include a wife he cannot remember and a nightmarish world no one else ever seems to wake up from.
- 1993–199947mTV-PG8.9 (3.8K)TV EpisodeDirectorAvery BrooksStarsAvery BrooksRene AuberjonoisMichael DornCaptain Sisko has a full sensory vision of himself as an under-appreciated science fiction magazine writer in 1950s America.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsBruce WillisMadeleine StoweBrad PittIn a future world devastated by disease, a convict is sent back in time to gather information about the man-made virus that wiped out most of the human population on the planet.
- 1987–199445mTV-PG9.4 (8.3K)TV EpisodeDirectorPeter LauritsonStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonPicard awakes to find himself living in a small village where he is a well-known member of the community who is suffering from a delusion of being a starship captain.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJohn NevilleEric IdleSarah PolleyAn account of Baron Munchausen's supposed travels and fantastical experiences across late 18th-century Europe with his band of misfits.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsJonathan PryceKim GreistRobert De NiroA bureaucrat in a dystopic society becomes an enemy of the state as he pursues the woman of his dreams.
- DirectorWalter MurchStarsFairuza BalkNicol WilliamsonJean MarshDorothy, saved from a psychiatric experiment by a mysterious girl, is somehow called back to Oz when a vain witch and the Nome King destroy everything that makes the magical land beautiful.
- DirectorWolfgang PetersenStarsNoah HathawayBarret OliverTami StronachA troubled boy dives into a wondrous fantasy world through the pages of a mysterious book.
- DirectorTerry GilliamStarsSean ConneryShelley DuvallJohn CleeseA young boy accidentally joins a band of time travelling dwarves, as they jump from era to era looking for treasure to steal.
- DirectorKen HughesStarsDick Van DykeSally Ann HowesLionel JeffriesA down-on-his-luck inventor turns a broken-down Grand Prix car into a fancy vehicle for his children, and then they go off on a magical fantasy adventure to save their grandfather in a far-off land.
- CreatorRod SerlingStarsRod SerlingRobert McCordJay OverholtsOrdinary people find themselves in extraordinarily astounding situations, which they each try to solve in a remarkable manner.Many episodes had twist endings revealing that the story may, or may not, have really occurred. At some point I may find and list them individually.
- DirectorRoy RowlandStarsPeter Lind HayesMary HealyHans ConriedA young boy dreams that he is in an imaginary world where, assisted by his family's plumber, he must save other piano-playing kids like himself from the dungeons of his dictatorial piano teacher who also mind-controls his mother.
- DirectorClyde GeronimiWilfred JacksonHamilton LuskeStarsKathryn BeaumontEd WynnRichard HaydnAlice stumbles into the world of Wonderland. Will she get home? Not if the Queen of Hearts has her way.Just about every version of Alice in Wonderland shares this trait, as well as every parody and derivative version. I have just included the most well-known.
- DirectorHenry KosterStarsJames StewartWallace FordWilliam H. LynnDue to his insistence that he has an invisible six foot-tall rabbit for a best friend, a whimsical middle-aged man is thought by his family to be insane - but he may be wiser than anyone knows.
- DirectorVictor FlemingKing VidorStarsJudy GarlandFrank MorganRay BolgerYoung Dorothy Gale and her dog Toto are swept away by a tornado from their Kansas farm to the magical Land of Oz, and embark on a quest with three new friends to see the Wizard, who can return her to her home and fulfill the others' wishes.
- DirectorRobert WieneStarsWerner KraussConrad VeidtFriedrich FeherHypnotist Dr. Caligari uses a somnambulist, Cesare, to commit murders.
- DirectorJames L. ConwayStarsPatrick StewartJonathan FrakesLeVar BurtonRiker begins to question reality when he finds himself in an alien insane asylum and faces the prospect his life on the Enterprise has been a delusion.
- DirectorZack SnyderStarsEmily BrowningVanessa HudgensAbbie CornishA young girl institutionalized by her abusive stepfather retreats to an alternative reality as a coping strategy and envisions a plan to help her escape.
- DirectorAdrian LyneStarsTim RobbinsElizabeth PeñaDanny AielloMourning his dead child, a haunted Vietnam War veteran attempts to uncover his past while suffering from a severe case of dissociation. To do so, he must decipher reality and life from his own dreams, delusions, and perceptions of death.
- DirectorJosef RusnakStarsCraig BierkoGretchen MolArmin Mueller-StahlA computer scientist running a virtual reality simulation of 1937 becomes the primary suspect when his colleague and mentor is murdered.
- DirectorDavid FincherStarsMichael DouglasDeborah Kara UngerSean PennAfter a wealthy San Francisco banker is given an opportunity to participate in a mysterious game, his life is turned upside down as he begins to question if it might really be a concealed conspiracy to destroy him.
- DirectorPaul VerhoevenStarsArnold SchwarzeneggerSharon StoneMichael IronsideWhen a man goes in to have virtual vacation memories of the planet Mars implanted in his mind, an unexpected and harrowing series of events forces him to go to the planet for real - or is he?
- DirectorLen WisemanStarsColin FarrellBokeem WoodbineBryan CranstonA factory worker, Douglas Quaid, begins to suspect that he is a spy after visiting Rekall - a company that provides its clients with implanted fake memories of a life they would like to have led - goes wrong and he finds himself on the run.