Good Existential Films (director, watched, Colin Firth, John Malkovich)

[ragnarkar]

I'd like recommendations for films with a strong existential theme and not so many special effects (I'm turned off by excessive use of special fx.)

Examples what I'm looking for:

Taxi Driver (1976)
American Beauty (1999)
Babel (2006)

Any suggestions, preferably after 2000 since I haven't watched many movies since then.

[415_s2k]

I was going to recommend "Enter The Void," but it's pretty special effects-heavy. Not in a big-explosions sort of way by any stretch... I'm not really a special effects fan by any definition, but it's a pretty amazing spectacle. Not the easiest thing to watch, either, but I thought it was pretty awesome.

[Haaziq]

I'm going to give you movies and screenwriter and/or director names with it so spotting these movies are easier for you.

Anything written by Charlie Kaufman has existential/surreal ideas:

Being John Malkovich
Human Nature
Adaptation
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Synecdoche, New York (this is also Kaufman's directorial debut)

Memento (by Christopher Nolan)

Waking Life (by Richard Linklater) is worth checking out. It's mainly about dreaming, but it explores many topics, including existentialism.

I Heart Huckabees (by David O. Russell) is worth a viewing.

My list is quite limited because most of the existential films I know of were made long before the 2000's.

[Giesela]

Sad to say I'm not sure I know what you mean by existential. Many european movies seem existential to me which is to say not sure what they are on about

But maybe

A Single Man with Colin Firth
The Last Tango in Paris (also described as pornography disguised as art, just a warning)

I'm sure googling will get different lists with some other results.
Loved American Beauty.

Sentient Developments: The Top 10 Existential Movies of All Time

[Sandhillian]

Ordinary People
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
A Beautiful Mind
Crash
Monty Python (most of them)

[BlueWillowPlate]

Originally Posted by Haaziq

I'm going to give you movies and screenwriter and/or director names with it so spotting these movies are easier for you.

Anything written by Charlie Kaufman has existential/surreal ideas:

Being John Malkovich
Human Nature
Adaptation
Confessions of a Dangerous Mind
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Synecdoche, New York (this is also Kaufman's directorial debut)

Memento (by Christopher Nolan)

Waking Life (by Richard Linklater) is worth checking out. It's mainly about dreaming, but it explores many topics, including existentialism.

I Heart Huckabees (by David O. Russell) is worth a viewing.

My list is quite limited because most of the existential films I know of were made long before the 2000's.

I really, really enjoyed all of these movies, and am very gratified to see the under-appreciated Confessions of a Dangerous Mind on your list.
Props also to Giesela's suggestion of A Single Man.

I'll add:
Spring Summer Fall Winter
Paris, Je T'aime

edited to add:
It's awfully strange, people have mixed opinions, but I gotta add Donnie Darko