Release Year: 2004

Genre: Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi

Director: Michel Gondry

Writer: Charlie Kaufman

Stars: Jim Carrey, Kate Winslet

Ever get up on the wrong side of the bed? Ever get that feeling that makes you question who you are and what you're doing with your life and whether or not the last few months—or the last few years—have been a complete waste? 

Maybe you're just in a bad mood, maybe you ate too many gummy worms last night… or maybe your memory has been erased.

Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind takes us into the memories of a man who experiences a literal erasure of his past, specifically his past relationship with a woman he loved. 

And we don't just see the aftereffects; we're actually taken for a ride through the mind of Joel, our protagonist, as his memories are stripped from him one by him, one by one.

Eternal Sunshine came out in 2004, and while it didn't make a huge splash at the box office, critics and fans alike have adored the movie since the day it came out. It won the 2005 Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, and since then, it's won numerous other awards, including nominations for acting (by Kate Winslet and Jim Carrey), directing (by Michel Gondry), and editing. It's also been consistently named one of the top films of the entire decade.

Speaking of Carrey and Winslet, you might expect this film to be a strange mashup of absurd comedy and 19th-century British drama, but that isn't the case (although we know what we're going to pitch to Spike Jonze the next time we see him). In fact, in this movie, Winslet plays the zany character, while Carrey plays the more timid, down-to-earth one. 

How's that for a change of pace?

The movie also features Mary Jane, The Incredible Hulk, Frodo Baggins, and—believe it or not—Tom Wilkinson. Can it get any better?

All together, Eternal Sunshine is an offbeat romance with a hint of science fiction and some thrilling twists that keep you on your toes—though we still recommend sitting, since this baby isn't afraid to get heavy, either.

What was science fiction in 2004 might not be so, uh, fiction-y in 2024. 

Let's just say this whole idea of memory erasure doesn't seem so far-fetched anymore. 

For real.

Some of the tough stuff that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind brings to the conversation could get pretty real in the near future. We're talking ethical questions, like whether it's okay to delete another human being from your life or remind people of what they've chosen to forget. So watching this movie isn't just an entertaining romp in the world of kooky sci-fi.

It might just be preparation for the future.