Ontological Mystery

Description

Ontology is the philosophical study of being, existance, becoming and reality. In simple terms it seeks to classify and explain entities. In movies and tv show ontology usually comes in the flavor of an ontological mystery at the center of the plot with several of the following elements: the characters do not know who they are, where they are, how they got to the place there are in, and the central conflict is to get out of there and find answers to the above questions. In the most common version of the trope, the characters are locked into a strange room or find themselves at a strange place with no contact to the outside. They have no idea how they got there, why they are there or how to get out, nor do they know who is behind their predicament, if anyone at all. The main idea behind such stories is the investigation of a restricted environment in which the characters find themselves with the goal of mastering the environment, revealing secrets, and ultimately escape. This list focuses on such stories. I added a few edge cases for good measure, like pure escape room, death game or timeloop movies that have a strong ontological undertone, even though they are not ontological mysteries per se. If you think something shouldn't be on this list, or if I missed something that should be on here please leave a comment. Last Updated: 03/2023