Movies Similar to An Instance of ____

Echo(2023)

A reframing of the classic tale of Narcissus, the director draws on snippets of conversation with a trusted friend to muse on gender and identity. Just as shimmers are difficult to grasp as knowable entities, so does the concept of a gendered self feel unknowable except through reflection. Is it Narcissus that Echo truly longs for, or simply the Knowing he possesses when gazing upon himself?

Paranoid Park(2007)

A teenage skateboarder becomes suspected of being connected with a security guard who suffered a brutal death in a skate park called "Paranoid Park".

Grid(2021)

A ritual of grids, reflections and chasms; a complete state of entropy; a space that devours itself; a vertigo that destroys the gravity of the Earth; a trap that captures us inside the voids of the screen of light: «That blank arena wherein converge at once the hundred spaces» (Hollis Frampton).

Electroma(2006)

Two robots embark on a quest to become human.

Blocked Together(2024)

Whilst a boy mourns the passing of his younger brother, hope of unity is found in his grief.

La Chinoise(1967)

A small group of French students are studying Mao, trying to find out their position in the world and how to change the world to a Maoistic community using terrorism.

Friend of the World(2020)

After a catastrophic global war, a young filmmaker awakens in the carnage and seeks refuge in the only other survivor: an eccentric, ideologically opposed figure of the United States military. Together, they brave the toxic landscape in search of safety... and answers.

Universal Language(2024)

Winter. Somewhere between Tehran and Winnipeg. Negin and Nazgol find a sum of money frozen deep within the sidewalk ice and try to find a way to get it out. Massoud leads a group of befuddled tourists upon an increasingly-strange walking tour of Winnipeg historic sites. Matthew leaves his job at the Québec government and embarks upon a mysterious journey to visit his estranged mother.

Inland Empire(2006)

As a Hollywood actress begins to adopt the persona of her character in a film, her world becomes nightmarish and surreal.

Mirror(2024)

An aspiring model with body dysmorphia must confront her insecurities as they begin to manifest as the twisted form of her own reflection.

Black Box Investigations(2023)

Cracking open the human-camera body.

Filth(2023)

Intense high school senior Michael finds himself in a passionate series of hookups with a teammate on his track team, the enigmatic and mysterious Evan. This quickly dissolves when Evan realizes the extent of Michael’s feelings for him, plunging Michael into a kaleidoscopic rabbit hole of his own making.

Voyeur(2017)

Skinamarink(2023)

Two children wake up in the middle of the night to find their father is missing, and all the windows and doors in their home have vanished.

It’s Only a Film(2023)

Bobby breadcrumb lives a terrible life of hitting his head on doorways, running out of milk, and slipping on banana peels. In an effort to find meaning and change the script of his life, he journeys beyond the fourth wall to fight against the powers that be.

115(2025)

Emily enters a reverse time loop while creating incorrect fuel (element 115). JT, a boy she meets daily, helps her gather DNA, plants, and water. She creates a wormhole, but the fuel fails, causing a quantum collapse that reverses her through time.

(NULL)(2013)

An unknown girl breaks out of her daily grind by undergoing an intense audio-visual trip.

Kids(2020)

Goodbye Channel 99(2023)

A silent film mourning the death of Analog television.

Black Snow - The Apocalypse(2023)

In the aftermath, when the world is isolated and cold, a painter becomes obsessed with his work.