Genre can be a useful tool for describing and categorizing movies, but there are some movies which defy genre classification. In these cases, genre can be more of a hindrance, as audiences bring their own preconceived notions to a movie without allowing it to unfold organically. Some of the most interesting movies are those which don’t conform to stringent genre traditions.
It’s common for a movie to straddle two or even three genres at once, but some combinations are more natural than others. When a movie starts to incorporate elements of more genres, especially those that seem directly opposed, it can create a lot of argument over how it should be classified. Genres rarely matter after the fact, but they can often be a reference for analysis and discussion.
David Fincher’sFight Clubis often classified as either a psychological drama or a crime movie, but it doesn’t slot neatly into either one of these genres.Fincher himself has described it as a love story, which places more emphasis on the relationship between Ed Norton’s Narrator and Helena Bonham Carter’s Marla.Fight Club’s endingcertainly draws attention to this element of the story, but it isn’t always in the spotlight.
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Another thing that muddles the genre classification ofFight Clubis the movie’s dark satire.Fight Cluboften resembles a comedy movie, with the same anti-corporate streak as other 1990s movies likeOffice SpaceandClerks.Brad Pitt’s charismatic performance as Tyler Durden gets a lot of laughs, even as his enlightened rhetoric takes a turn towards violence and terrorism. In this way,Fight Clubseems to take common anti-work sentiments to their extreme limits.
Fantastic Mr. Foxis one ofWes Anderson’s best movies, but it initially confounded some critics who weren’t sure whether it should be classified as a children’s movie.The story is taken from Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s bookof the same name, but Anderson only uses the novel as a jumping-off point. From there, he adds plenty of more mature story beats, like Mr. Fox’s anxieties about settling down and raising his family.Fantastic Mr. Foxalso throws in elements of heist capers and prison movies.
Many of Anderson’s movies use his picture-book aesthetic to conceal something much darker.
Many of Anderson’s movies use his picture-book aesthetic to conceal something much darker.The Grand Budapest Hoteltracks the rise of fascism in Central Europe,The Life Aquaticis a meditation on grief, andAsteroid Citydisplays Anderson’s own artistic insecurities.Fantastic Mr. Foxis even harder to classify than these other movies, since it so clearly sports the visual style of a quirky children’s movie, but much of it is incomprehensible to a young audience.
Quentin Tarantino’s passion for cinema can be seen in each of his movies, as they are filled with homages and genre pastiches. Some of these are more straightforward, like his stylized Westerns or the tributes to Eastern martial arts movies throughoutKill Bill.Pulp Fictionis a response to crime movies, likeReservoir Dogswhich came before it, but it straddles multiple genres at once.
Within the sprawling, non-linear story ofPulp Fiction,the tone often jerks quickly from comedy to drama.
Pulp Fiction’s dialogueis frequently hilarious, even when it feels like the tension should be rising.Tarantino blends this comedy with some bursts of frenetic action and personal drama.Within the sprawling, non-linear story ofPulp Fiction,the tone often jerks quickly from comedy to drama, which allows Tarantino to constantly surprise and entertain his audience. While it’s primarily seen as a crime movie, this stringent classification doesn’t encompass all thatPulp Fictionhas to offer.
American Animalsis a heist movie unlike any other, because it also uses elements of documentary filmmaking to intercut interviews with the criminals and recreations of the story. Most of the action unfolds within the layer of fiction, but there are always enough reminders of the reality. There are very fewheist movies based on real life, soAmerican Animalsexplores the chasm between actual crime and the sanitized, glamorized version that exists in heist capers.
American Animalsdisplays the falsehoods of the heist genre. The criminals hatch an elaborate scheme using disguises, misdirection and an international smuggling network, but the grim reality is far from what they imagine. By showing the conflicting narratives of each wannabe criminal,American Animalsalso uncovers that the documentary genre revolves around half-truths and dramatized narratives.American Animalsposes serious questions about both heist movies and documentaries. It’s both of these things, but it doesn’t conform to what audiences might expect from it.
Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winner is one of the funniest comedies of recent years, but it’s also one of the scariest psychological thrillers.Parasitestarts out as more of a comedy, and there’s an element of a crime caper to the Kim family’s scheme to gradually embed themselves in the home of the Parks. Bong keeps up a snappy pace, with an enjoyable blend of witty dialogue and physical humor.
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Eventually,Parasitemorphs into a tense psychological thriller that takes a more urgent approach to its social commentary. The Kim family find the tables turning against them, and they get into some real physical danger that seemed unthinkable inParasite’s early scenes.This dissonance between comedy and drama is part of what makesParasiteso intriguingand rewatchable, and it’s also what makes it unique.
Sorry to Bother Youis a quirky social comedy about a Black man who finds himself rising through the ranks at his telemarketing company when he learns to adopt a white voice on the phone. Or, at least, this is whatSorry to Bother Youis about for most of its runtime. A bizarre third act twist sends the plot rocketing into a completely unexpected direction, and the movie’s wry comedy is replaced by body horror and sci-fi.
A bizarre third act twist sends the plot rocketing into a completely unexpected direction.
The common thread that tiesSorry to Bother You’s disjointed parts together is its fantasy critique of corporate culture and capitalist structure, but it seems to have two completely different approaches to these themes, one after the other.Ultimately, callingSorry to Bother Youa comedy risks diminishing the impact of the ending. In another movie, the confronting horror would be much more frightening, but given everything that precedes it, it’s more perplexing than anything else.
The Coen brothers have always had an interesting approach to movie genres. They often directly parody certain genres, like withMiller’s CrossingandThe Big Lebowski,or they create their own unique blends, like withNo Country For Old MenandA Serious Man.O Brother, Where Art Thouis arguably their most singular mix, combining elements of comedy, crime, musicals, fantasy and Westerns, but refusing to fit neatly into any one of these boxes.
As a loose adaptation ofThe Odyssey,it helpsO Brother, Where Art Thouto break out of the confines of modern film genres.
O Brother, Where Art Thouis one of thebest Coen brothers movies, and its genre-bending style is one of its great strengths. As a loose adaptation ofThe Odyssey,it helpsO Brother, Where Art Thouto break out of the confines of modern film genres.It’s a story that often feels incidental and non-linear, likeThe Odysseyand other ancient works that were created with an earlier form of storytelling syntax.
Jessie Buckley has steadily evolved into one of the most interesting actors working today, andI’m Thinking of Ending Thingsis a great showcase for her talents. She plays a woman who considers breaking up with her partner as they visit his parents for the first time.I’m Thinking of Ending Thingscould be classed as a psychological thriller, but there are plenty of surreal twists which show that Charlie Kaufman has no intention of sticking to any genre formula.
ThroughoutI’m Thinking of Ending Things,Buckley’s character is referred to by different names, and details of her life and her background become increasingly unclear. It starts to seem as though her character isn’t real, as if she’s an extension of her partner, or a manifestation of the audience’s understanding of her. This is whereKaufman’s refusal to align with genre seems less like indifference and more like a deliberate act to provoke his audienceinto deconstructing their own assumptions about fiction.
Psychostarts out in typical Alfred Hitchcock territory, with the story of a woman on the run with a car full of stolen money feeling very much like a nervy crime thriller, and Hitchcock brings in more elements of horror once she meets Norman Bates at his roadside motel. However,Psycho’s first unexpected twist comes when Marion dies in the iconic shower scene, and the movie then shifts from horror into a murder mystery.
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While elements of horror persist throughout the investigation, the second half ofPsychoisn’t too dissimilar to Hitchcock’s other murder mysteries, especiallyDial M for Murder,in which the entire plot hinges on the smallest of details.Psychoreturns to full-blown horror in its closing moments, but the entire story is colored by the elements of crime and detective movies that change the course of the narrative.
Ridley Scott first rose to prominence with a couple of dark sci-fi hits, butThe Martianshows he can also make sci-fi movies much lighter and more comedic thanAlienandBlade Runner.Matt Damon plays an astronaut stranded on Mars when his crew believes him to be dead. Despite these dire circumstances, his performance highlights a lot of the humor in the movie, especially during his video logs.
The Martianwon the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, but its selection was extremely controversial.
The Martianwon the Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture - Musical or Comedy, but its selection was extremely controversial.Some critics suggested that a few one-liners don’t makeThe Martiana comedy, and the plot itself follows all the beats of a sci-fi drama.The Martianbeat comedies likeTrainwreckandSpyat the Golden Globes, and it seems to force it into the same genre as these movies.
