Being John Malkovich (1999)
Hello you. Make a cup of tea. Put a record on. Try a bit of Tchaikovsky: Swan Lake. Something grand, melancholic, and just a little unsettling. The kind of music that makes you feel like reality is slipping through your fingers, even as you hold your cup. Or maybe just sit in silence and contemplate the horror of free will. Either way, you’re about to step into a mind you never expected to visit.
Let’s talk about Being John Malkovich.
Pressing Play
It’s 1999. The Matrix is questioning reality, The Blair Witch Project is making people sick in cinemas, and everyone is bracing for the apocalypse that is Y2K. Meanwhile, a music video director and an existentially distressed screenwriter have just made one of the strangest films of the decade. Being John Malkovich isn’t just weird. It’s the kind of film that, once seen, rewires something in your brain.
A portal into the mind of John Malkovich? Sure. Why not?
What Makes This Film Unique
Most movies about identity try to answer the question, "Who am I?" Being John Malkovich asks something far better: "What if you could be someone else, even for a little while? And what if you got addicted to it?"
Craig Schwartz isn’t a hero. He’s a desperate, failing puppeteer who stumbles on a secret door that lets him see the world through the eyes of John Malkovich for fifteen minutes at a time. And because he’s a human being, he immediately figures out how to monetise it.
But the real trick isn’t the concept. It’s the execution. Charlie Kaufman’s script is a high-wire act of absurdity, obsession, and existential terror, while Spike Jonze’s direction makes the surreal feel like an ordinary Tuesday. By the time Malkovich himself enters his own portal and finds himself in a world where everyone is him, saying nothing but "Malkovich," you’re either fully on board or backing away from the screen in terror.
Personal Connection and Relatability
If you’ve ever looked in the mirror and felt like a stranger to yourself, this film understands. If you’ve ever wondered what it would be like to step into someone else’s skin just to escape your own life, Being John Malkovich sees you. If you’ve ever been overwhelmed by the absurdity of human existence, this film is speaking your language.
And yet, despite its surrealism, the emotions are brutally real. Lotte’s gender dysphoria, Maxine’s manipulations, Craig’s self-destructive obsession. Strip away the sci-fi, and it’s just a story about people desperate to be more than they are.
Filmmaker’s Vision and Impact
Charlie Kaufman had been sitting on this script for years, convinced no one would ever make it. He was probably right. Until Spike Jonze got involved.
Jonze had made his name directing music videos, and he approached the film with the same anarchic, anything-goes energy. The Mertin-Flemmer building’s half-floor, the puppetry as an art form of existential despair, the way even John Malkovich himself seems slightly confused about his own existence. It’s all so perfectly wrong that it becomes right.
The film should have been a disaster. It was too weird, too niche, too much of a fever dream. Instead, it became a cult classic, got Oscar nominations, and ensured that John Malkovich’s name would forever be synonymous with the strangest movie of the 90s.
"Nobody's looking for a puppeteer in today's wintry economic climate." – Craig Schwartz
You’ll Like This If
You’ve ever wondered what it’s like to be someone else.
You enjoy films that feel like a lucid dream teetering on the edge of a nightmare.
You appreciate comedy that gets deeply, existentially uncomfortable.
You Won’t Like This If
You prefer your films to have a clear protagonist and a satisfying resolution.
You find surrealism more frustrating than fascinating.
You like your John Malkovich movies to have significantly less John Malkovich in them.
For Fans Of
eXistenZ (1999). Both films explore identity, control, and the ways reality can slip through your fingers. If Being John Malkovich makes you uneasy in the best way, eXistenZ will do the same. Just with more body horror.
Look Out For
That tiny cameo from Brad Pitt in the Malkovich documentary. He doesn’t get a single line. He just looks confused. Which is the correct response to everything happening in this film.
If You Like This, Try This
Adaptation. (2002). Another Kaufman-Jonze collaboration, this time about Kaufman himself struggling to adapt a book into a screenplay while being consumed by his own self-loathing. Meta, brilliant, and just as strange.
Why You Should Care
Being John Malkovich isn’t just a film. It’s an experiment in identity, perspective, and the terrifying idea that maybe we’re all just puppets, being operated by forces we barely understand.
It asks, "Who are you?" and then shoves you headfirst into a mirror maze where every reflection is slightly wrong. By the time you claw your way out, you’re not sure if you’re still you. Or if you ever exsisited to begin with.
Good luck sleeping tonight.
See you on down the road.
