La Jetée

Chris Marker’s sci-fi/romance, composed almost entirely of black-and-white photos, has one of the most breathtaking cinematic endings and was the inspiration for Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys.

Composed almost entirely of black-and-white photos, Chris Marker’s experimental science fiction short is set in a hostile post-World War III world. Obsessed with a singular memory from his childhood, a man travels to the past and the future in a desperate attempt to save humankind – and to try to make sense of what he witnessed as a young boy. The inspiration not only for Terry Gilliam’s 12 Monkeys, but for countless filmmakers since, this is an intensely moving film that packs in time travel, cruel scientific experiments and a love affair into its brief runtime.

Ranked joint 67th in the 2022 Sight and Sound Great Films of All Time poll.