"The Plot Sounds Stupid But The Execution Makes It So Good": 15 Movies That Sound Like Complete Disasters On Paper, But Are Absolute Masterpieces

Have you ever tried picking a movie to watch, only to read the description and find out it sounds...kind of awful? Sometimes a synopsis just doesn't do a film justice. I understand that they're supposed to summarize the plot, but as an audience, we usually need a lot more than just: "two guys explore a new country"...

Over on Reddit, people are sharing movies that sound absolutely terrible on paper but somehow ended up being incredible. From bizarre plots to hilariously misleading summaries, these responses made me chuckle quite a bit. And honestly, I'm adding a few new titles to my watchlist.

1. "Pirates of the Caribbean. A movie based on an old Disneyland ride? No, thank you."

—Hallwitzer

"The ride has no plot if I recall? Just stereotypical pirate shenanigans."

—boot2skull

"It's vibes, basically. You go from a quiet bayou, to caves full of pirate skeletons, then into a pirate battle and a town being ransacked. You just relax and enjoy the imagineering."

—Ched_Flermsky

2. "Ok, it's Groundhog Day. Aliens are attacking and it's a kind of a love story. Oh and a PR rep has to learn how to be a soldier to save the world."

—Lookingforleftbacks

3. "I've always liked The Wizard of Oz being about two women fighting over a pair of shoes."

—Equinoqs

"Or the one TV listing description.

Transported to a surreal landscape, a young girl kills the first person she meets, then teams up with three strangers to kill again."

—Jmen4Ever

4. "Point Break. Keanu Reeves goes undercover to investigate surfer bank robbers, and it's a great movie."

—theredvoid

"Point Break: Remember the movie you liked on the 90s? We remade it with none of the same actors, removed most of the cool surfing bits, and now there’s a cult and a lot of plot holes."

—nrealistic

5. "Adaptation: a movie about a guy writing a movie from an unfilmable book."

—HoneyBucketsOfOats

"The scene where he goes to the screenwriting class and there's narration over the part where the screenwriter talks about how terrible narration is absolute gold. That movie is absolute brilliance."

—mr_pineapples44

6. "Everything Everywhere All at Once. An immigrant mom and laundry business owner files her taxes."

—globular916

"Mmmm... bagels."

—buygonetimes

"This movie perfectly sums up what I think is the most important thing about film: if you have something important to say, you can do absolutely whatever you want and make it work."

—Pays_in_snakes

7. "Back To The Future. 'So it's a time travel story where the kid goes back in time and his teenage mom gets a massive crush on him but he's able to get her to like his dad."

—DonkeyVampireThe3rd

9. "Being John Malkovich. So... There's these two nobodies, one of whom is obsessed with puppetry, who finds a portal into the head of the actor John Malkovich that allows them to control his body. After a period of time they are ejected from his head and dumped by the New Jersey turnpike. The movie is awesome but that's blatantly a plot conceived during a spectacularly toasty-baked session and only people who've done far, far too many drugs would think that sounds like anything other than the deranged warblings of a pothead."

—rev9of8

"Written by Charlie Kaufman, who also did the screenplay for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Check out his other films like Adaptation and Synecdoche, New York.

He's brilliant."

—glibduck

10. "John Wick. 'A retired hitman comes out of retirement to avenge his dog.' It's a ridiculous premise — I think by intention."

—MegaMan3k

"Now make 5 movies and 3 spin offs."

—Top_Chef

11. "Life of Brian… yeah, what? Mistaken for who? And they sing?"

—sadzanenyama

12. "It Follows."

—Bento_Fox

"I remember reading the synopsis and was like 'wait, it's a sexually transmitted ghost?'"

—p0llyp0cketpussy

"Every time I recommend this movie I tell people, the plot sounds stupid but the execution makes it so good."

—EricRShelton

13. "Heavyweights. Who wants to see a bunch of kids lose weight at a summer camp."

—pkthecat1

14. "Bad guys are coming! But instead of defending yourselves, you are going to get exactly seven people to come and fight for you! And they keep on remaking it!!! Seven Samurai. The Magnificent Seven. Battle Beyond the Stars..."

—axeman020

"I just figured out why the Justice League movie failed at the box office. They were one samurai short."

—Raguleader

15. "Lost in Translation. Man and woman meet in Tokyo. Nothing happens. (It's my favourite movie)."

—AlrightyAlmighty

Now it's your turn: what's a movie that sounds terrible on paper but is actually incredible? Let us know in the comments, or use the form below to be anonymous!

For more fun movie takes, follow BuzzFeed Canada on TikTok and Instagram!

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.