Some of the best movies are the ones that can get a real reaction out of you. The great comedies make you laugh; the great horror movies make you scream; and the great dramas make you cry. We're here to celebrate a wholly different kind of reaction, however: the "WTF." These are the cinematic moments where your brain can't fully comprehend exactly what it's seeing on the screen, whether its incredibly gross, ridiculously weird, or insanely stupid. This list is going to celebrate all of the above.
So what were the best WTF moments in the year of cinema, 2016? Well, we've collected a list of our 10 favorites, and you'll find them all below and on the next few pages. Read on, and tell us what your favorite fucked up scenes were in the comments section below.
Spoiler Warning: The following entries contains spoilers for a variety of 2016 movies. If you have no yet seen any of the movies featured here, please hit the "next page" button at the bottom to avoid ruining anything for yourself! For your consideration, we've started with a very non-spoiler scene...
The Opening of Nocturnal Animals
Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals doesn't waste a single frame before jumping into one of the best WTF moments of the year in cinema. While it has nothing to do with the plot of the film, and really can only be explained away as "art," the opening credits of the noir drama brazenly feature a number of completely naked older women who I will politely describe as out of shape. The sequence goes on for a few minutes, featuring a wide variety of angles as the filmmakers and stars appear, until finally its revealed to be a part of an exhibition being showcased by Susan Morrow (Amy Adams). We're still scratching our heads about this one, and we don't expect the definitive or reasonable explanation to appear any time soon.
"Save Martha!" From Batman v Superman: Dawn Of Justice
Fans have pointed to a number of flaws in Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, but nothing has been harped on more than the blockbuster's now-notorious WTF moment that can be recalled with just two words: "Save Martha!" While we can't know for sure, it feels like there was a instant behind the scenes of the film when it dawned on the creatives that both of the titular heroes have mothers with the same name -- and it resulted in one of the lamest scenes in superhero movie history. The idea is basically that Batman (Ben Affleck) hears Superman (Henry Cavill) say this, realizes that their mothers have the same names, and decides that maybe he is a force for good. It really makes no sense, and at the end of it all, it has a legacy as a sequence that is going to be hard for the DC Extended Universe to live down.
The Big Reveal In 10 Cloverfield Lane
The reason why Dan Trachtenberg's 10 Cloverfield Lane is so successful is because of the way it constantly messes with audience perception. Sure, you're constantly panicking for the safety of Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), but you're never quite sure what is more dangerous: Howard (John Goodman) or the threat that supposedly lurks outside. All of this back-and-forth comes to a head perfectly in the movie's final minutes, when Michelle finally makes her way outside, and discovers that there is a full-blown alien invasion going down. Considering everything in the film is completely grounded in reality up to this point, it truly feels like a legitimate surprise not only when a spaceship comes flying by with a seriously scary extraterrestrial, but when Michelle formulates a plan to defend herself against it with a Molotov cocktail.
Big Ronnie's Spotlight Dance In The Greasy Strangler
Jim Hosking's The Greasy Strangler is essentially a movie made for lists like these, as basically the entire thing is an endurance test of WTF moments. Because of this, we knew we had to include a sequence for this feature, but it was definitely a challenge figuring out which one to choose. While the Greasy Strangler's first killing rampage and the maddening repetitions of "Hootie tootie disco cutie" were considered, we ultimately settled on the spotlight dance performed by Big Ronnie (Michael St. Michaels) following his failed date with Janet (Elizabeth De Razzo). It comes out of nowhere; is unlike any other sequence in the film; features some horrific nudity; and is all set to what is certainly the worst song on the what-has-to-be-purposefully-terrible soundtrack. The whole feature is an exercise in insanity, but this scene in particularly takes the audience further down the rabbit hole.
The Turkey Baster Revenge In Don't Breathe
Thus far we've covered weird, stupid, and surprising WTF moments from 2016 movies, but now we've come to the first we'd specifically identify as "gross." Really, the entire revenge plan being executed by The Blind Man (Stephen Lang) in Fede Alvarez's Don't Breathe is seriously fucked up -- getting a drunk driver to give birth to a child to replace the one she killed - but we're specifically going to discuss the quick payback executed by Rocky (Jane Levy) when The Blind Man tries to make her his new surrogate. After Alex (Dylan Minnette) manages to free Rocky from her restraints and cuffs The Blind Man, rage fuels the movie's heroine to take the semen-filled turkey baster and shove it into her attacker's mouth. It's a totally disgusting, yet amazing moment in one of the most surprising successes of 2016.
The Fate of Samuel In The Witch
Robert Eggers' The Witch completely entrances the audience from the start thanks to its complete fidelity to the period in which its set -- but isn't really much of a horror movie until the end of the first act. It's at this point that a game of peek-a-boo goes horribly, horribly wrong, as Thomasin somehow manages to lose her baby brother, Samuel. It turns out that the infant was actually kidnapped by a witch (Bathsheba Garnett), who does some disgusting things with him in her home. Specifically, she kills him, mashes his body into a bloody paste, and then rubs said paste all over her naked body. It's the kind of sequence that many other genre titles would handle in exposition rather than actually show, but nothing is hidden here, and the images stick to your brain long after the film has ended.
The Orgy In Sausage Party
Looking at Greg Tiernan and Conrad Vernon's Sausage Party with hindsight and a macro perspective, it isn't actually all that shocking that one of the biggest third act sequences features a full-blown animated orgy. That being said, when you're sitting in the theater watching it for the first time, you can't help but whisper to yourself, "What the fuck?" It starts innocently enough, with the Frank (Seth Rogen) and Brenda (Kristin Wiig) celebrating their victory over the humans with a nice bit of lovin' -- but then things get super weird as all of the foodstuffs begin to get horny and start screwing. It's completely demented and hilarious, and was most definitely a no-brainer for this end of the year list.
Manny Becomes A Compass In Swiss Army Man
Dan Kwan and Daniel Scheinert's Swiss Army Man is yet another 2016 movie that had a number of candidates for this list. After all, the entire thing is about a lost man named Hank (Paul Dano) attempting to find his way home with the assistance of a corpse named Manny (Daniel Radcliffe). We could have focused on the body being used as a fart-propelled jet ski, a machine gun, and an axe, but we're instead going to highlight Manny's compass abilities. While talking about the girl that he is obsessed with (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Hank accidentally gets his dead buddy aroused... and discovers that the erection magically points towards civilization. One of many absurdities in the indie, there's no real explanation as to the "why" of it all, but it certainly does earn a big fat WTF whenever it happens in the film.
"I Need To Get Her Out Of Me" In The Neon Demon
How much do you hate your greatest rival? Would you gather a couple of your friends and then kill and eat them? Well, then you clearly don't have the passion of Ruby (Jena Malone), Gigi (Bella Heathcote) and Sarah (Abbey Lee) in Nicholas Winding Refn's The Neon Demon. But as though cannibalizing Jessie (Elle Fanning) weren't enough, the final extended sequence of the film takes it to the next level. It turns out that Gigi literally can't stomach what she has done, and proceeds to vomit up blood and an eyeball. Repeating the above phrase, she stabs herself in the gut with a pair of scissors -- all while Sarah stands by and watches (before chowing down on the regurgitated eyeball, of course). It's a pretty ballsy way to end a movie -- if you'll pardon the pun.
The Lisping Man Is Punished In The Lobster
Most of the absurdity featured in Yorgos Lanthimos' The Lobster can be chuckled at -- as while the film deals in some serious subject matter, it's also very clearly satire. This isn't the case for the sequence where the unnamed Lisping Man (John C. Reilly) gets chastised in the dining area. The staff lets him know that they are aware he has been unlawfully masturbating in his hotel room, and while the Lisping Man is desperately sorry, they show him no mercy. Instead, they inflict a contrapasso punishment upon him -- sticking his hand in a slot toaster and turning it on. It's a disturbing, WTF moment that legitimately adds interesting stakes to the story and the world that is being created.
