In the world of cinema, the opening scene serves as a vital first impression, setting the tone and often foreshadowing what is to come. Some filmmakers choose a dramatic and impactful approach by beginning their stories with a car crash—a moment of chaos and consequence.
These memorable cinematic moments not only grab our attention but also push us into the heart of the narrative. In this article, we explore ten powerful movies that kickstart their stories with the explosive power of a car crash.
10 X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Simon Kinberg’s X-Men: Dark Phoenix (2019), the tenth installment in the X-Men film series, is centered around the fan-favorite character Jean Grey (played by Sophie Turner). The movie opens with a painful car crash scene in 1975, where a young Jean accidentally causes a collision due to her uncontrollable telekinetic powers, leading to her separation from her parents.
The story mainly revolves around her struggle to control her immensely powerful gifts, which become greatly amplified when she encounters a cosmic force during a space rescue mission. As Jean's powers spiral out of control, she transforms into the extremely dangerous and unpredictable Dark Phoenix.
9 Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo
Deuce Bigalow: European Gigolo (2005) is a comedy film directed by Mike Bigelow and starring Rob Schneider. It's a sequel to Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (1999). The movie follows the hilariously inept gigolo Deuce Bigalow as he travels to Amsterdam to help his former pimp and friend, T.J. Hicks (played by Eddie Griffin), who is falsely accused of being a serial killer of gigolos.
The opening scene involves a handsome European gigolo who is assassinated and hit by a train after a night of sex work in a mansion filled with satisfied clients. Working as a fish-tank cleaner when he receives a call informing him of T.J.'s arrest, Deuce Bigalow rushes to Amsterdam, where he gets entangled in a series of absurd and comedic mishaps involving the gigolo serial killer and his victims. The film relies heavily on slapstick comedy, sexual innuendo, and absurd situations, catering to a specific audience seeking the type of light-hearted and visual humor that is usually found in the films of Adam Sandler, Ben Stiller, Will Farrell, and of course Rob Schneider.
8 The Nice Guys
The Nice Guys (2016), directed by Shane Black, is a comedy crime thriller set in 1970s LA. The film opens with a strange but funny car crash scene where a porn actress named Misty Mountains crashes her car into a house. This event sets the stage for a series of entertaining mysteries.
The story follows two hard-headed private investigators, Jackson Healy (Russell Crowe) and Holland March (Ryan Gosling), who reluctantly become partners in solving the case of a missing girl named Amelia. As they dig deeper into the investigation, they uncover a web of corruption and murder involving the adult film industry, the automotive industry, and the U.S. Department of Justice. The Nice Guys is “the sort of cheerfully hostile buddy bash that’s been a staple since the ’80s, only this one is singularly clever about its own triviality,” as per Variety Magazine.
7 Three Colors: Blue
Three Colors: Blue is a 1993 Krzysztof Kieślowski picture and the first installment of the classic Three Colors trilogy. Following a haunting car crash scene that shatters the life of its protagonist, Julie (Juliette Binoche), in which she loses her husband, a famous composer, and their young daughter, she is left in a wretched state of grief and trauma.
In order to cope with her pain, Julie seeks to cut all ties to her past life, including her husband's unfinished musical composition, which holds great significance. She moves to a small apartment, isolating herself from friends and family, and attempts to start anew in a world devoid of color and emotion. Currently, Blue boasts an incredible 98% critics score and 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
6 The Descent
The Descent (2005) is a claustrophobic British horror film directed by Neil Marshall. The movie opens with a car crash scene where the protagonist, Sarah (Shauna Macdonald), loses her husband and daughter.
To deal with her grief and trauma, she joins her friends on a caving expedition in the Appalachian Mountains. As they descend deeper into the vast underground caves, they become trapped and discover they are being stalked by unknown forces, which turn out to be a race of subterranean flesh-eating humanoid creatures. What follows is a relentless battle for survival in the nightmarish tunnels. The Descent has been described by film critic Roger Ebert as a horror-thriller so good that it reminds us of “grueling, adrenaline-pumping classics like Deliverance, Jaws, Alien and Dead Calm."
5 Fly Away Home
Fly Away Home (1996) is a heartwarming Carroll Ballard family drama starring Jeff Daniels and a very young Anna Paquin. After the tragic death of her mother in a car accident, little Amy Alden (Paquin) is sent to live with her estranged father, Thomas (Daniels), in Canada. While adjusting to her new life, Amy discovers a nest of abandoned goose eggs near her dad's farm.
As the eggs hatch, Amy becomes the surrogate mother to a group of orphaned goslings. Determined to teach them to fly and lead them to their winter migration, she and her father set out on a magical journey of flight using a unique and experimental ultralight aircraft. The film is inspired by the true story of Canadian inventor and aviator Bill Lishman, who pioneered the idea of leading geese on their migratory journey using such aircraft, and currently holds a wonderful critics score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
4 10 Cloverfield Lane
10 Cloverfield Lane is a 2016 sci-fi thriller/horror film directed by Dan Trachtenberg. It follows a girl named Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), who, after a shattering car accident, wakes up in an underground bunker. She is greeted by Howard (John Goodman), who claims to have saved her life by bringing her into his doomsday shelter. Howard insists that the outside world has become uninhabitable due to a catastrophic event.
As Michelle adjusts to her new reality, she becomes increasingly suspicious of Howard's intentions and the true nature of the apocalypse. She forms an unusual alliance with another bunker resident named Emmett (John Gallagher Jr.) with whom she tries to find a way out of Howard’s bunker. The film is part of the loosely connected Cloverfield anthology and has been described as “a tight, tense thriller carried by excellent performances,” by Roger Ebert.
3 Another Earth
Another Earth (2011) is a thought-provoking sci-fi drama directed by Mike Cahill. Known as the film that catapulted Brit Marling to stardom, it begins with a haunting and pivotal car crash scene where a brilliant young astrophysicist named Rhoda Williams (Marling) makes a terrible mistake that alters the course of several lives. On the same night, a new planet, identical to Earth, is discovered in the sky, sparking curiosity and hope for a fresh start.
Rhoda's life takes a tragic turn after the accident, leading to her imprisonment. Upon her release, she becomes drawn to the new Earth, where she hopes for a second chance. She enters an essay contest to win a trip to the mysterious planet, all while forming an unlikely connection with John Burroughs (William Mapother), the man whose life she inadvertently shattered. Described as “a small, personal indie with a huge cinematic and intellectual appetite,” by Empire Magazine, Another Earth is definitely worth a watch!
2 Mulholland Drive
David Lynch's Mulholland Drive (2001) is a surreal neo-noir psychological thriller. The film opens with a shaky and mysterious car crash scene on Mulholland Drive, where a dark-haired woman (played by Laura Harring) survives a near-fatal accident but loses her memory. As the story unfolds, it intermixes two seemingly unrelated plot lines. One follows the amnesiac woman as she tries to piece together her past and identity, eventually crossing paths with a struggling actress named Betty Elms (Naomi Watts). The other plot line involves a filmmaker (played by Justin Theroux) caught in a web of backstabbing and corruption within the Hollywood industry.
Mulholland Drive is known for its dreamlike, non-linear storytelling, cryptic symbolism, and Lynch's signature use of surrealism, and has won multiple awards, including the Cannes Best Director Award in 2001. It has an enviable 84% critics score and 87% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
1 Crash
Directed by Paul Haggis, Crash (2004), is a complex and emotion-loaded drama that interweaves the lives of multiple characters from diverse racial and social backgrounds in Los Angeles. The film opens with a powerful and symbolic car crash scene, which sets the tone for the entire story and serves as a catalyst for the characters' interconnected stories, as it brings them together in a collision of emotions, prejudices, and redemption.
The ensemble cast, including Sandra Bullock, Don Cheadle, Matt Dillon, and Thandie Newton, delivers exceptional performances that explore the complexities of human behavior. The movie received critical acclaim and won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2005. Today it holds a solid audience score of 88% on Rotten Tomatoes.
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