19 Mind-Bending Movies Like Inception

Despite its title, the 2006 film The Science of Sleep errs more on the side of art and fantasy than science. Much of it takes place in the imagination of the protagonist Stéphane, whose dreams are so vivid that they get in the way of (or augment, depending on how you look at it) his everyday life and his budding romance with his neighbor, Stéphanie.

As Stéphane's dreams begin to creep across the boundary further into real life, both he and the viewer are left unsure of what is truly real. But the overlap between fantasy and reality never strays too far from reality itself — when it does, you know Stéphane is dreaming. The best moments are when you can't quite tell: You think you know better, but can't be sure.

Take Stéphane's "one-second time machine." This little piece of magic, most likely a product of his childlike imagination, would have little effect on the world even if it were real. One second is the difference between snapping back to attention from a daydream, or closing your eyes to sneeze. So when he "proves" that it works, and a character seems to witness it, we could easily chalk that up to a placebo or even "playing along."

Or, just as easily, we could believe it's real. If there is a "science" to sleep, it's not an exact science like in Inception. And there's something beautiful about that.