Memento

Memento (see interview) is an existential mystery told backwards in segments and subjectively so that the question is not “what happens?” but rather “why does it happen?” The protagonist is essentially living in the present-tense only, and asks himself (and the audience) questions like “How am I supposed to heal if I can’t feel time?” It’s a throwaway line, but an example of the gems to be found in the periphery. After all, the cliché is that time heals all wounds, but this film makes you realize that this is not because of subtraction (meaning that you’ll eventually forget what pains you), but rather because of addition (so that the more memories you collect, the more you can distance yourself from the pain remembered).