A Clockwork Orange is a film that continues to split viewers and critics alike, even more than 50 years after its release. Indeed, it’s as controversial today as it was in 1971: per Slash Film, A Clockwork Orange initially received an X-rating and American Roman Catholics were forbidden from viewing it. Admittedly, it isn’t hard to see why, as the Stanley Kubrick film features extreme and graphic violence. Beyond that, of course, the movie offers debate surrounding the concept of free will, morality, and psychology.
A Clockwork Orange centers around Alex, a gang leader who undergoes rehabilitation in prison after he is arrested. As with all of Kubrick’s films, it still holds huge cultural significance and is regarded as one of the greatest contributions to cinema history. Here are 7 movies like A Clockwork Orange to watch next.
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7 Brazil
Regency Enterprises
Brazil was released in 1985 under the direction of Terry Gilliam, and it’s widely regarded as a cinematic classic. The film is extremely imaginative, and similar to Kubrick’s in A Clockwork Orange in that a dystopian future is depicted where media and government can be blamed for the problems that are faced by society. Brazil is more so focused on the impact of technology, and we see the main character, Sam, escape from his employers through dreams.
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6 Taxi Driver
Columbia Pictures
Taxi Driver is widely considered as one of the greats, directed by Martin Scorsese and depicting an unstable taxi driver (played by Robert De Niro) who loses his grip on reality. We quickly realize that the protagonist or narrator is unreliable, and this is a similar technique that is employed in A Clockwork Orange. We are narrated a story from a point of view that is clearly distorted and unstable, making for a unique viewing experience that feels uneasy.
5 Fight Club
20th Century Studios
Fight Club has remained a classic since its release, and is responsible for a huge amount of Brad Pitt’s success, portraying an insomniac who starts an underground fight club. The film is similar to A Clockwork Orange in terms of the amount of violence that is seen on-screen; however, similarly, the characters use this violence as a way of rebelling against the norm and make a case for returning to human nature through embracing violence.
4 American Psycho
Lionsgate
American Psycho is another widely known film that draws strong parallels to A Clockwork Orange. American Psycho tells the story of Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), a high-powered businessman who is also a serial killer. The film shows how the emptiness he feels inside comes from capitalism and his hobbies soon turn violent. The parallels that can be drawn with A Clockwork Orange are easy to notice here.
3 The Lobster
Element Pictures
The Lobster was released in 2015 and is another example of a futuristic dystopian reality. The movie is set in a reality where humans who are not able to find a life partner are turned into animals. The film is strange, but makes a commentary on what modern relationships entail and what the expectations of these are. It is similar to Kubrick’s in the dystopian themes as well as the in-depth exploration of the damage that modern relationships can inflict.
2 Dark City
New Line Cinema
Dark City was released in 1998 and was directed by Alex Proyas. The film is set in a futuristic world that is run by a totalitarian group who inflicts misery upon the masses. It’s clear to the similarities to Kubrick’s film as we see damaged societies imagined on screen.
1 Natural Born Killers
Warner Bros.
Natural Born Killers is an Oliver Stone movie that depicts romantic partners who are serial killers and become a fixture of the tabloids. As outlined by The Guardian, the film was controversial upon release for its alleged glorification of crime, which is exactly the critique that Kubrick received for A Clockwork Orange. Both films are making a commentary on this in a wider sense, and the similarities are very clear.
