M
This movie is crazy. It’s from 1931, yet it looks as if it were filmed in the ’70s or ’80s. It anticipates the Nazi era, where SS spies undermined people’s trust in their acquaintances, and it tackles issues such as the effectiveness of mental asylums, the struggles of the mentally ill, and the state’s power to apply the death penalty — all with modern editing and a gripping plot. A must-see if you love cinema.