20 movies from the ‘90s with truly wild plots

Every turn in Baby’s Day Out is bonkers. First, the baby gets kidnapped. Then, he escapes the kidnappers. For the rest of the film, he somehow escapes all peril. It makes absolutely no sense, but it’s still a classic.

There was a lot of unnecessary baby work in the ‘90s. Years after Baby’s Day Out premiered, filmmakers decided that they needed another odd film about babies to round out the decade, so they made Baby Geniuses, where babies are kept from their parents.  

Aren’t all Pauly Shore movies at least a little wild? In Son in Law, Shore’s character, Crawl, goes back to South Dakota with his friend Becca for Thanksgiving. The two fake an engagement so she can evade a proposal from her ex-boyfriend. The premise of Son in Law isn’t particularly crazy, but the events are quite something. 

After his grandpa dies, little league baseball player Billy Heywood inherits something very unique: the Minnesota Twins. If that weren’t crazy enough, he hires himself as the manager. It’s a heartwarming tale, but it’s not without its bizarre and completely unrealistic moments. 

We don’t have time to get into all the Mandela Effect conspiracies surrounding Kazaam, but we have plenty of time to recognize that whoever thought to cast Shaq in a film as a genie would operate on a completely different wavelength than the rest of the world. 

Nic Cage and John Travolta in the same film? Of course, this movie is bonkers. There’s crime and comas and bizarre telltale gestures. It’s a lot to keep track of. But it was nominated for an Academy Award, so it’s not all bad. 

Armageddon was nominated for four Academy Awards, so maybe it’s time we stop using that as a measure of whether a film was good in its entirety (and hone in on Best Picture nominees) because Armageddon , in retrospect, was bananas. Sorry, Bruce Willis. 

Perhaps The Net was better in the ‘90s before everyone in the general public knew how computers actually work. This Sandra Bullock thriller features a lot of obsolete technology, making the film a relic. All that aside, what was happening in this movie?

People absolutely love this book, which is probably why it warranted a film in the first place. But it taught us an important lesson. Not all books should be adapted to the screen. Some images need to stay locked inside the pages. 

Many animated movies are absolutely wild, but Thumbelina is something special. Yes, it’s based on a famous fairytale, but it’s okay for us to acknowledge that some fairytales have bizarre plots. Thumbelina is one such example. 

The Secret Garden had no choice but to be bonkers. All it takes is hearing its title once, and you know you’re going to be in for a wild ride. And just as the title promises, there is a garden, and there are lots of secrets. 

Welcome to the Dollhouse was many people’s introduction to dark comedy. And what an introduction it was. There’s a lot to unpack in this film, but it’s a coming-of-age movie that those who’ve seen it will not soon forget. 

Death Becomes Her is an iconic film, but it also has an incredibly bizarre plot. The start is easy to understand — a jealous woman goes mad after her husband leaves her for another woman. But the middle gets a little murky. Both women are actually going to live forever. 

Again, just because a film is based on a story from a celebrated writer doesn’t mean the plot isn’t crazy. There’s a reason The Witches scared so many people as children. It’s very, very freaky. 

The Spice Girls wanted to spice up everyone’s life by giving them a wild movie. Every scene of this film is more bizarre than the last, but when you’re one of the most famous girl bands of all time, you can do whatever you want in a film. 

So many weird films in the ‘90s featured baseball. Ed was one such film, and the premise alone is bizarre. Ed the chimpanzee plays third base for a minor league baseball team. Yes, you read that correctly. 

It’s hard to fathom why Fran Drescher took a role in The Beautician and the Beast. It was filmed and released when The Nanny was at its peak. Certainly, she didn’t need the money? We may never know. 

A lot happens in Lost Highway . A lot. There’s a saxophone, stalking, amnesia, identity switching, Patricia Arquette. It’s a lot to take in. If you’re still not entirely sure what happens in this film, you’re not alone. 

It’s kind of hard to believe that Kathy Bates won an Oscar for her performance in Misery. More power to her, but man, cinema has changed. Even for a Stephen King adaptation, Misery is odd, though in the very best way. 

The Truman Show is some of Jim Carrey’s best work, but it’s a wild ride. Imagine if that were to happen to someone in real life. What a terrible reality that would be.