From the mind of Donnie Darko creator Richard Kelly came Southland Tales, a science fiction political satire that baffled audiences back in 2006. In the post World War III future of 2008, amnesiac action star Boxer Santaros (Dwayne Johnson) and his psychic ex–adult film star wife Krysta Now (Sarah Michelle Gellar) have written a screenplay that prophesies the end of the world. Preparing for production, they consult LAPD Officer Ronald Taverner (Seann William Scott) – secretly a delirious hostage of the neo-Marxists impersonating his twin brother. As the eyes of the dystopian surveillance state lock onto our three heroes, each learn they are of greater importance to the fate of humanity than they realise.

After an infamous workprint debut at Cannes, Richard Kelly’s sophomore big-swing has remained divisive among audiences and critics alike – many labelling it a ‘failure’ alongside a cult of reappraisals. For us, Southland Tales is a fascinating, outrageous mess of sci-fi ideas, political intrigue, gonzo satire of Bush’s America and ludicrous (kind of camp) of-its-time comedy that nonetheless takes its bizarre world seriously, positioning the whole experience into a twilight zone of ambiguous feelings. Whether you end up loving or hating it, we reckon this one’s worth a shot, even just for the Justin Timberlake musical sequence set to All These Things That I’ve Done by The Killers.