Despite how singular the film seems, there are a surprising number of movies likeThe Truman Showthat explore the differences between reality and fantasy, whether that’s on television, in dreams, or something even more fantastical. One ofthe best movies in Jim Carrey’s eclectic filmography,The Truman Showfollows the titular every-man. He’s so every-man, in fact, that people around the world tune in to watch every moment of his ordinary life to relate, snoop, and empathize. The catch is that Truman has no idea any of this is going on.
The term “Truman Show” has even become something of a shorthand, to describe situations where people’s lives are being filmed or watched. It can be with the subjects knowing, like in Nathan Fielder’s brand of off-beat comedy shows, or it can be without anyone aware of their involvement in a production, like in Amazon’s bizarre and hitJury Duty. It can be fictional as well. Plenty of movies have dabbled in the psychological filmmaking ofThe Truman Showandwhat they uncover about free will and the human experience is always fascinating.
Cast
A video store clerk named Ed allows a TV network to film his life for broadcast.
InEDtv, the television network True TV plans to film a new reality show that follows a normal person’s life 24/7. They land on Ed Pekurny (Matthew McConaughey), a normal guy who doesn’t seem to have anything interesting about him. After a slow start, however, it turns out that there’s quite a bit of drama in Ed’s life and, as things get more complicated, Ed increasingly wishes he could get himself off the air and start improving his life.
The Real Meaning Of The Truman Show Explained
The Truman Show is an epic satirical science fiction drama that weaves a multilayered narrative, involving philosophical and sociological undertones.
The movie came out only a year afterThe Truman Showand was criticized for how similar it was to that earlier film, with suggestions thatEDtvwas aping the Carrey movie (viaRottenTomatoes). However, there is a real intelligence toEDtvand there’s much more humor here than inThe Truman Show. It also provides another angle of the concept, exploring what kind of person would volunteer to be filmed 24/7.
I Saw the TV Glow
I Saw the TV Glow follows teenager Owen, who navigates suburban life until introduced by classmate Maddy to a mysterious late-night TV show.
I Saw the TV Glowis a lo-fi horror moviethat confronts the terror of not knowing one’s identity until it’s so late in life, that it’s even more frightening to acknowledge reality. In the film, Owen (Justice Smith) and Maddy (Brigette Lundy-Paine) are two social outcasts who bond over theBuffy the Vampire Slayer-like TV show “The Pink Opaque”. The longer they watch, the more they become convinced that something is seriously wrong in their own lives.
I Saw the TV Glowis like if Truman suspected he was on a reality show, but then all the obstacles he faced forced him back to his fake home where he pretended he never had any suspicions. WhileI Saw the TV Glowwrestles with issues involving gender identity and coming out as a trans person,both films suggest how dangerous it is to keep someone inside a box, with a literal television being used to make the point.
The Matrix
The Matrix, released in 1999, is set in the 22nd century and follows a computer hacker, Neo, portrayed by Keanu Reeves. He joins a group of underground insurgents led by Morpheus to combat the domineering computers that control the earth, in a battle that blurs the lines between reality and illusion.
The Matrixfranchisehas several surprising similarities withThe Truman Show, starting with the first film in the franchise,The Matrix. Just like Truman, Thomas Anderson (Keanu Reeves) is living a normal, boring life, when one thing changes everything he knows about the world, and he’s yanked out of the Matrix. Like Truman noticing stage lights falling from the sky, Thomas (or Neo) notices tiny things that clue him into the false reality he’s living in.
One of the greatest action and science fiction movies of all time,The Matrixchanged the way action was filmed and influenced entire genres afterward. Both main characters have to trust in a world they don’t know and don’t see when it becomes obvious they’d be safer in the fake universe. Both characters then bravely march forward, not letting fear get in their way to freedom.
The Game
Directed by David Fincher, The Game is a mystery thriller released in 1997. Michael Douglas stars as Nicholas Van Orton, an investment banker brought into a mysterious game by his brother hosted by the wealthy. As the game continues to integrate into his life, he begins to see the cracks in the facade of the group’s game, ultimately revealing a dark conspiracy at the center.
David Fincher’sThe Gamefollows a selfish and extremely wealthy investment banker, Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas), who on his 48th birthday receives a voucher for a “game”. The mysterious company’s “game” involves infiltrating every aspect of Nick’s life, ruining it, and putting him into extreme situations at every turn. It’s not until the last moments of the movie, when he finally gives in, that the true nature of Nick’s game is revealed.
Pleasantville
Pleasantville is a drama that explores themes of change and self-discovery, as two modern teenagers find themselves transported into a 1950s television show. The movie delves into social issues and individual freedoms, highlighting the contrast between the idealized past and the complexities of the real world. With its unique premise, Pleasantville offers a thought-provoking narrative on the impact of transformation on a seemingly perfect society.
WhileThe Truman Showdepicts a “possible” version of someone being stuck in a TV show,Pleasantvilleprovides a fantastical way someone could be, and the show it depicts is positively lovely. The film follows two siblings, David (Tobey Maguire) and Jennifer (Reese Witherspoon) whose constant fighting leads to them being transported to the black-and-white TV show,Pleasantville. There they show the TV people that there is more to life than rote monotony.
As David and Jennifer explore , the new things they introduce first create an existential crisis in the people they meet as they realize they’re on a TV show. Soon, though,new color is literally brought into their lives as they explore all there is to be a human. While Truman is glad to leave his world, the people ofPleasantvilleare happy to stay. All that matters is it’s their choice.
Inception
Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan, features a skilled thief who uses dream-sharing technology to steal corporate secrets. He is tasked with planting an idea into a CEO’s mind, while confronting his troubled past, which threatens the mission and his team.
Inceptionhas the idea of reality and unreality as the core tenet of its complex and breathtaking story. Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) is a professional thief, but his targets are people’s minds. He completes his capers via “inception”, a technique that involves infiltrating the dreams of another person and either taking their ideas or, in the case of “inception”, planting his own. One of Nolan’s signature mind-bending action films, it also shares some similarities withThe Truman Show.
In both films, the idea of who is really who, and what is a fake and what is real is constantly called into question.Inceptiongoes a step further by bringing the audience along for the ride, never showing its hand about what’s real and what’s not. The audience ends up feeling like Truman himself, unsure how deep or shallow the story is.
Beau Is Afraid
Beau Is Afraid (formerly known as Disappointment Blvd.) is a new supernatural horror/comedy film from Ari Aster (Hereditary, Midsommar.) Joaquin Phoenix stars as the titular Beau in his older years, as a young man with a strained relationship with his mother. After her death, his return home is marked by strange supernatural occurrences.
The grotesque part of reality TV: being filmed constantly, and having every move observed and directed,Beau is Afraidis the opposite side of the coin ofThe Truman Show.Ari Aster’s third movie,Beau is Afraid, stars Joaquin Phoenix as the titular Beau, a beleaguered, frightened, and anxious man. Beau lives alone, away from the world, until an even more terrifying force draws him out: an invitation from his mother asking him to visit.
In bothThe Truman ShowandBeau is Afraid, the main characters are oppressed by some invisible eye staring down at them.
In bothThe Truman ShowandBeau is Afraid, the main characters are oppressed by some invisible eye staring down at them. Beau seems more acutely aware of his situation, but Truman seems much more willing to do something about it. Perhaps that’s because Truman’s world is not filled with the horror of Beau’s. Both films also end with the main characters sailing off to somewhere else. For Truman, it’s freedom; for Beau, it’s judgment.
Stranger Than Fiction
Stranger Than Fiction (2006) is a drama-comedy that follows Harold Crick, an IRS agent who begins to hear a narration of his life, which leads him to discover that he is a character in an author’s novel. Faced with his impending death, he must navigate his relationship with the author and his own existence. The film explores themes of free will, fate, and the nature of storytelling.
Stranger than Fictionis stranger than almost every other film. It’s not horrifying, disquieting, or deeply probing, it’s just odd and unique, and all the more sweet and charming for it, much likeThe Truman Show. Will Ferrell turns to the dramatic as Harold Crick, an IRS agent who likes nothing more than isolation and routine. However, his life soon takes a turn to something much more adventurous, as the narrator says. Surprisingly, Harold also hears the narrator say this and is immediately concerned.
Will Ferrell shows some acting range here he rarely revealed again. In the same way,The Truman Showwas an opportunity for viewers to see what else Jim Carrey could do outside of outrageous comedy. Both films have their protagonists subject to some higher narrative and both characters decide that it’s better to live the way they want to, rather than how their story is foretold.
Groundhog Day
In Groundhog Day, the arrogant weatherman Phil Connors (Bill Murray) finds himself living the exact same day over and over for what feels like an eternity. To cope with his curse, he learns a variety of skills in the town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, and tries to earn the heart of his colleague Rita Hanson (Andie MacDowell) while he adapts to the time loop.
InGroundhog Day, Phil Connors (Bill Murray) goes to Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania for a story that may as well be a punishment: covering the yearly emergence of their famous groundhog. After one day too many days in the small town, Phil wakes up to realize he’s reliving the same day, and he does so over and over and over again. Though it takes him a few tries, Phil finally comes to learn he should use his time wisely, rather than shaking his fist at the cosmos.
Connors and Truman have similar reactions when they begin to see through the never-ending treadmill-like charade of their lives, wavering between anger, contempt, and disbelief at the obvious ridiculousness of their situation. In each film,both protagonists have to partially give in to their situation and accept that if they want to escape, they’ll have to play by the rules their odd universe has laid out for them.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet star in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind as Joel Barish and Clementine Kruczynski, a couple who rediscover their love after erasing each other from their memories. The 2004 drama is written by Charlie Kaufman, directed by Michel Gondry, and includes Mark Ruffalo, Elijah Wood, Kirsten Dunst, and Tom Wilkinson in its cast.
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, directed by Michel Gondry and based on a screenplay by Charlie Kaufman, follows Joel Barish (Jim Carrey) and Clementine Kruczynski (Kate Winslet), two strangers who discover that they both previously dated but erased the memories of one another after a rough breakup to avoid feeling any pain. However, their love for one another seems stronger than their experimental procedure and, somehow, they are drawn back to one another.
Escaping fate is a theme of both this film andThe Truman Show, and even more so, both movies suggest that what people call “fate” may only be the human determinations of others or oneself. Maybe people stick to a path in front of them because they decide they have no choice. In reality, Joel and Clementine can try and fall in love again. Maybe Truman can sail out of his life to somewhere else. “In case I don’t see you…” does not mean he doesn’t know the answer to what’s next, it means he’ll decide that for himself.
