From ‘Juno’ to ‘Fight Club’, Louis Chilton picks 17 films that have been misunderstood. Look, we’ve all done it: left the cinema and wondered, “what did I just see?”. Some of the most popular films ever made have also been the most befuddling, with a few leaving viewers with a complete misunderstanding of what they’re even about.
![[Failing upwards: Ken Jeong and Charlie Day in ‘Fool’s Paradise’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/08/03/15/Charlie%20Day%20and%20Ken%20Jeoung%20in%20Fools%20Paradise%28Signature%20Entertainment%29%20%281%29.jpg)
Whether we’re talking about quirky comedies like Juno, or taut psychological dramas like Fight Club, the history of cinema is littered with examples of films where viewers – some viewers, at least – seemed to miss the point entirely. This may be down to audiences bringing their own preconceptions to what they’re watching, or simply going down the rabbit hole of cinematic conspiracy theories.
![[Elliot Page in ‘Juno’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/10/20/16/Ellen%20Page.jpg)
Sometimes, it’s not just audiences that lose the plot – the Rambo franchise started out as a biting statement against violence, before transforming into a giddy endorsement of the same violence it once condemned. On occasion, directors and actors have even had to speak out against errant readings of their work – such as Hugo Weaving, who brutally shut down misconceptions about The Matrix and V for Vendetta.
![[Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor) and Jar Jar Binks (Ahmed Best) in ‘The Phantom Menace’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2022/03/09/20/newFile-2.jpg)
Here are 17 films where audiences missed the point…. American Psycho. Mary Harron’s black comedy was criticised when it came out for its gleeful violence, as moneyed psychopath Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) viciously targets and kills men and women alike. Bret Easton Ellis’s original novel was also misinterpreted – more so than the film, in fact – but both have come to be embraced as the punchy, purposeful social satires they are.
![[‘V for Vendetta’]](https://static.independent.co.uk/2023/10/06/13/newFile.jpg)
