Hollywood Puzzle Films

<p>From <i>Inception</i> to <i>The Lake House</i> moviegoers are increasingly flocking to narratologically complex puzzle films. These puzzle movies borrow techniques—like fragmented spatio-temporal reality time loops unstable characters with split identities or unreliable narrators—more commonly attributed to art cinema and independent films. The essays in <i>Hollywood Puzzle Films</i> examine the appropriation of puzzle film techniques by contemporary Hollywood dramas and blockbusters through questions of narrative time and altered realities. Analyzing movies like <i>Source Code</i> <i>The Butterfly Effect</i> <i>Donnie Darko</i> <i>Déjà Vu</i> and adaptations of Philip K. Dick contributors explore the implications of Hollywood's new movie mind games.</p>