Listicle: 10 movies you need to watch twice to appreciate

This is more than a cop-and-villain chase movie set in Mumbai. Zoya Akhtar and Reema Kagti build a clever set-up and throw in plenty of clues. There’s the dog barking at the beginning. But perhaps the biggest clue are the lyrics in the song in the opening credits: Jo rooh pyaasi hai // Jisme udaasi hai // Wo, hai ghumti // Sabko talaashe wahi // Samjhe ye kaash koi. Just Javed Akhtar being Javed Akhtar. Not everyone loved the ending. Well, too bad.

A horror story for post-racial America from Jordan Peele, who was otherwise known for his comedic work. The premise is basic: A couple is going home to meet the parents. They’re lovely. The gardeners are a little weird, but so what? But there’s a mood of something not-quite-right, which only makes sense at the end, and seems so obvious in the rewatch. At the beginning of the movie, Chris says, “I don’t want to get chased off the lawn with a shotgun.” How could you have missed this, right?

This movie has it all. Sharp writing, sharp humour, sharp editing, and it doesn’t take itself too seriously. Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Bill Nighy, Olivia Colman play members of the small town and police. A second viewing shows how cleverly it was all set up. Pay attention to everything. Not a line is wasted. The clue everyone missed? Their names! Simon Skinner is the killer, George Merchant is a businessman, Leslie Tiller is the florist... Genius.

Christopher Nolan has made Interstellar, Inception and Memento. But the twists and turns here are of a different kind. Two magicians develop a lifelong rivalry and attempt to ruin each other’s careers and lives. One guy wins. But why? Watch again and it almost seems like a brand-new movie. Pay attention to the opening shot: A pile of identical top hats and the voiceover says “Are you watching closely?” Oh, and keep an eye on Christian Bale’s eyebrow scars. Do you feel stupid yet?

This is the movie that showed the world what director M Night Shyamalan can do with a plot twist. The first time around, it’s the story of the kid who sees dead people. On second viewing, it a tale of grief, denial and moving on. Bruce Willis, therapist to the boy, was a ghost all along. There were hints all through: Willis wears the same clothes he died in, and he’s not wearing his wedding ring. D’oh!

It’s set in 90s LA. The town is gritty. The cop, Brad Pitt, is pretty. His partner, Morgan Freeman, is jaded but intrigued. Because a serial killer is picking targets who are guilty of the seven deadly sins. It’s a crime drama on the surface. But use the pause button during the rerun. An hour in, when the detectives discover the Sloth victim, they’re ambushed by a photographer outside the apartment. This is our killer, played by Kevin Spacey, in disguise, looooong before the big reveal.

“Why are you all wet, baby?” The recurring line from the Martin Scorsese film makes sense only at the end. So, of course it deserves a rewatch, armed with what we know of Leonardo DiCaprio’s manic, grieving, heroic character. In one scene, he watches a woman drink from an invisible cup; a glass appears in the next scene. Can you spot his wife wearing a cardigan; the exact sweater is worn by a patient? It’s all this that subtly shows him to be an unreliable narrator.

Of course, the film, and its sequel, Glass Onion (2022) are mysteries, so expect plenty of clues and foreshadowing. When detective Benoit Blanc (an unexpectedly perfect Daniel Craig) meets Marta (a fantastic Ana de Armas) for the first time, he looks right down at her shoes. There is a split-second look of shock. Then, throughout the movie, he makes comments such as, “Something is afoot” or “The game is afoot” to Marta. Subtle, but so clever.

A rigidly Catholic woman (Nicole Kidman) lives with her photosensitive children in a large manor. What could go wrong in this harmless little horror flick? Kidman is convinced their house is haunted. Most of the hints in this are dialogues, not the visuals. The head servant says that the “death of a loved one can lead people to do the strangest things”. Kidman shouts at her daughter, saying “Stop breathing like that!” She has migraines throughout the movie, a reference to how she died.

This mystery slasher was a huge hit that spawned uncountable sequels. And unnecessary remakes. But the OG has enough clues before Ghostface is ultimately revealed to be two killers, Stu and Billy, working together. Stu asks Tatum to get a beer from the garage, knowing that Billy is waiting there to kill her. Also, Billy has no holes in his shirt after being stabbed several times. And Billy’s first line? “It’s just me”.