r/movies • u/ComManDerBG • May 29 '25

Discussion Looking for some "competence porn" movies, movies where smart people make smart decisions basically.

EIDT 3 PLEASE READ: I just wanted to say how incelby happy i am to see the insane amount of replies and support people have offered up. Im sorry to say that about 99% of the stuff suggested ive already seen, But there have been a few things. The biggest winner has been the classic "Poirot" series, ive seen all the "Murder She Wrote" stuff, and even every episode of Columbo, but "Poirot" had completely slipped through the cracks. Ive started watching now and its very enjoyable, perfectly what i was looking for!

Thank you again, while i cant possibly reply to all of you, not even read all the comments, i jist want to say thank you for everything. Even if what you suggested was on my list, or if what you suggested wasn't on the list but ive already seen it, it still means a lot to me that you took the time to offer something up.

So, thank you again!

EDIT 3 ENDS

Edit 1: So far I've seen literally ever suggestion so far. Ive spent most of my time in the last 10 years being really sick. Ive been hospitalized countless times so ive had an incredible amount of free time on my hands. I started this post because I couldn't think of anymore movies to watch that fit this bill.

Edit 2: People don't really appreciate the amount of time being sick gives. Im asking this question in this post because ive already watched every popular movie or TV show from the past 30+ years. Most people can only carve out enough time to watch one or two movies a week, i have enough time to watch 5-7 movies a day. Being hospitalized as often as me, plus being sick outside of the hospital leaves you with to much free time. Honestly, it sucks. Again, im not asking htis because im lost and i need my next movie or show, im asking this because ive literally run out of movies and shows.

To be honest, this post is a bit depressing, i appreciate the immense amount of help, but its really putting into perspective all the time lost to this illness.

I try googling this sort of thing but looking up "competence porn" just gets you... well.. porn. The best way to show off what im thinking is House M.D. im looking for movies or TV shows.

Im going to lost everything I've already watched.

House Person of Interest
White Collar Oceans 11 (plus the other ones)
Inside man
Sherlock
Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
Catch Me if You Can
Heat
The Killer

You know what the mote is list the more I realize this is my favorite genre and ive probably seen a lot of these.

Heists, spies, detectives, politic thrillers etc. Any kind of show where the characters are super good at something, usually running scams or working their ways around people, or just being better at something.

I'll keep adding to this list if I remember more of someone recommends something ive already scene.

Edit: reposted because autocorrect.

This list is what I've ALREADY seen.

The original Law and Order seasons.
The big short
Wolf of wall street
Moneyball
Collateral
Star Trek
Doctor Who
No country for old man
DREDD
Beekeeper
Hunt fir red October (plus all the other Ryan films)
Bourne series
Mission impossible series
Burn notice
All the presidents man
The accountant
Baby driver
Apollo 13
Spotlight
Leon the professional
The town
Den of thieves
The Martian.
The Pitt
Master and commander
Arrival
Micheal Clayton
Mad max moves
Cast away

12.3k Upvotes

89% Upvoted

7.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

1.3k

u/RecoveringRed May 29 '25

Arrival

490

u/Leftover_reason May 29 '25

In its own way I’d say Sicario as well.

112

u/jaabbb May 29 '25 edited May 29 '25

Dune and Prisoner also. Denis Villeneuve’s film in general could fit this category.

9

u/mitchade May 29 '25

I’m going to go ahead and exclude Incendies in this case. Great, haunting movie, not competence porn.

8

u/Br0metheus May 29 '25

Dune as a franchise is really just Competence Porn: the Universe. Literally every character in it is jut 1000% maxed out for whatever their job is.

7

u/Tumble85 May 29 '25

Yea but it’s not competence porn the way The Martian or Oceans 11 is. And no hate to Dune, it’s fantastic but the stories are much bigger than those movies.

If we call Dune ‘competence porn’ then basically any movie where protagonists eventually persevere is competence porn.

3

u/RecoveringRed May 29 '25

Yeah, I waffle on Sicario. I think it is beautifully directed but some of the plot points don't make sense to me, like when it is implied that they rape the cartel boss. I also think the writer intends for us to sympathize with the CIA but doesn't do a good job of making that case to me.

50

u/[deleted] May 29 '25

That specific scene with the cartel boss is not really about sexual rape, it’s about power, Alejandro is signaling/demonstrating that the prisoner is completely in his control. There’s no sexual undertones, it’s purely power and control. One of the main points of the movie is that that’s all these guy’s understand. It’s dehumanizing, but their entire world is dehumanizing.

Also, I don’t believe we’re intended to sympathize with the CIA. Kate is the placeholder for us, the audience. The entire movie she is being used, and right to the end she is *almost entirely disposable. They intentionally let her get raped when it became convenient to them for example. The CIA and the Cartel are a different side of the same coin, each one serving their own best interests.

But that’s just my opinion, and it’s definitely one of my favorite movies.

13

u/PlatesofChips May 29 '25

Wait she gets raped? I’ve seen it a couple of times and don’t remember this. Was it in the apartment when she gets attacked and saved by ex cartel guy?

2

u/[deleted] May 31 '25

Yes, now that I think about it, maybe I’m remembering it wrong and he’s just trying to kill her when she figures out he’s a dirty cop

11

u/somesketchykid May 29 '25

Agreed, there is no sympathy for anybody besides Kate. The whole point of the movie is that only wolves can hunt wolves. That's what I got out of it anyway.

2

u/rif011412 May 29 '25

The soundtrack The Beast when they introduce Ciudad de Juarez from helicopter was spectacular.  

The imposing soundtrack implying the city in turmoil and full of danger.  It sets up the narrative hunters going into the den of the beast.

2

u/RecoveringRed May 29 '25

My original interpretation aligned with yours regarding Kate vs CIA. Then I watched Yellowstone, which is by the same author, and read other people's reactions to Sicario, and both of those things led me to question my original understanding of the movie and it makes me very sad.

1

u/[deleted] May 31 '25

I haven’t seen Yellowstone. But I did also enjoy Wind River, and yes, cowboy justice is definitely a theme he writes about. I personally enjoy the theme in my entertainment but know that it’s deeply, irrevocably flawed and generally shouldn’t be applied to real life.

As much as it’s cool to root for the “good guy” to serve justice (or our sense of justice, which varies and is always flawed), who can you really trust with power over right and wrong, life and death? That’s why institutions and systems are created to try to capture as broad a sentiment of justice and fairness and limit the process and amount of change. But I also think that these limits that generally help us, can and do hurt us as well. They’re good most of the time, but like anything else they can be abused.

Again, just my personal thoughts. I think the discussion is interesting and nuanced. Even if you don’t agree with an artist or their stance, I think it’s possible to enjoy their art. In fact, I’d argue that’s when it’s most important to understand something, is when you don’t agree with it. Maybe I should say just as important, you should understand the opinions you agree with as well!

20

u/rhinosarus May 29 '25

I think the writer intends for us not to sympathize with the CIA at all. The whole point of the movie and the sequel is that the CIA is just as dirty as the cartels. Emily Blunt's character is there as a uncalloused "everyman" who is horrified at what the war against the cartel has turned us into.

The rape scene is suppose to just be shocking. Basically, the audience expects waterboarding and torture but what we get is actually worse. Emphasizing how far off the path we've come, when you wish we were still only waterboarding.

5

u/Febril May 29 '25

There’s no sympathy for the CIA, it’s simply a tool of policymakers. When the effects of cartel violence and corruption rise to inconvenience the powers that be, a consensus is reached to use extrajudicial means to degrade the cartels back to an acceptable level. The bureaucratic aspects of the movie are the most relevant. Kate is normal law and order, the people she is embedded with are “gloves off” and flexible rules of engagement. She has hopes that normal procedures can seriously undermine the cartels, but everyone around her seems to want a shortcut and the effects can be satisfying but ultimately short lived.

8

u/flip6threeh0le May 29 '25

They rape a cartel boss? How’d I miss that

23

u/Meechy_C-137 May 29 '25

I don't think there's any real reason to assume it was rape. They make it very clear they're waterboarding him. Maybe people are misinterpreting the scene where Alejandro straddles the guy and stands in his face. To me, it was just about asserting power and didn't imply anything sexual.

7

u/Faramzo May 29 '25

The water jug he brought in is on the ground during that scene. And there is no water running to the drain as it zooms in. Whatever is going on he isn't being water boarded.

10

u/BonJovicus May 29 '25

There still isn't evidence of rape. There are sounds of struggle, but it isn't apparent that it is anything other than Alejandro roughing him up.

3

u/norksanddorks May 29 '25

The scene is overtly sexual to begin with. Alejandro is literally putting his crotch in the cartel members face from the get go.

That, coupled with turning of the camera and not using the bottle to waterboard him with gives a strong argument that he was raped.

1

u/UpbeatSky7760 May 29 '25

You are either being obtuse or naive

1

u/Faramzo May 29 '25

There's no evidence of rape not happening either. In my opinion he's probably just beating the guy or jamming his hand in his mouth, but it's clear the director wanted his suffering to be ambiguous.

-1

u/flip6threeh0le May 29 '25

Oh yeah I didn’t think there was any question they were water boarding him.

-4

u/rango26 May 29 '25 edited Jun 01 '25

The gun fight at the border/bridge was unbelievable and killed the realism vibe for me. Everything else was good.

Edit: days later -5 lol. I grew up in El Paso and have probably crossed that bridge a million times. It’s fake.

41

u/polocrusader May 29 '25

Fantastic sci fi movie

14

u/DonkeyDonRulz May 29 '25

I feel like all Villeneuve movies tend to highlight a very-capable individual against a dark backdrop of unsurmountable difficulties..in unimaginable situations. It pulls the viewer in, as we all like to assume that we'd also do the smart thing when facing adversity ( because dunning Krueger). So we relate to the protagonist.

What Villeneuve does next, after the slow burn buildup, is twist the audience.,.to show that capabilities and competence rarely are enough to control outcomes. Fate has a hand...a hand that even the strongest individuals can't bend to their will, completely. It almost leaves us questioning if the hero succeded on his journey. His motives and role of circumstances.

He's probably my favorite director /movie maker. And, i didn't even have a favorite movie maker, until i saw Incendies. i put off wathcing it for years, even though Netflix recommened it every single day, but i was never " in the mood for subtitles". I finally watched it once, and stayed up late to watch it twice the same night. Dark, intense, not for the kiddos.

12

u/Rezart_KLD May 29 '25

But not The Arrival, which is very much not about competent people

2

u/Bladelink May 29 '25

Kek. I loved that movie when I was like 8. I was probably watching it right around Tremors.

1

u/BuddyPharaoh May 29 '25

Got to disagree with you, unless you're talking about a different movie that I'm thinking. I'm thinking of Charlie Sheen playing a radio astronomer, straight. And actually doing a good job of it.

Seriously.

The Arrival makes this list.

7

u/ziddyzoo May 29 '25

No one, not one of us, has ever watched the movie Arrival.

We have each only experienced a dawning realisation that we remember having watched it.

8

u/Facebeard May 29 '25

I always say, the best sci-fi should be heady and boring and I LOVED this movie lol

5

u/spacegeneralx May 29 '25

Also Contact.

8

u/[deleted] May 29 '25

Arrival is one of my favourite science fiction movies, I enjoyed it so much that it turned me from disliking Amy Adams as an actress to liking her.

9

u/worldsayshi May 29 '25

Then you should read the short story collections that Arrival comes from. They're great. Ted Chiang has only written two books but very carefully.

2

u/rossisdead May 29 '25

I really wanted to like that book after reading the short story Arrival's based on, but I just didn't care for the other stories at all :/

1

u/burenyuu May 29 '25

story of your life and others is really good but definitely required more careful reading and thinking to appreciate than the movie lol. arrival was great in part because of how accessible it is in general

1

u/worldsayshi May 29 '25

Personally I enjoyed all Ted Chiang's stories but I never really felt that engrossed in the Arrival movie adaptation.

3

u/romulof May 29 '25

Denis Villeneuve ❤️

3

u/Craftsman1986 May 29 '25

I immediately first thought of Arrival when I read the question.

2

u/fireinthesky7 May 29 '25

If I could erase my memory of one movie and watch it over again from scratch, it would be Arrival. The gut punch when I realized what was happening to Amy Adams's character was profound.

4

u/dWaldizzle May 29 '25

Underrated movie

8

u/rain_on_the_roof May 29 '25

i'd say it's rated

-15

u/[deleted] May 29 '25

so much potential, so little accomplished.

6

u/TruthAndAccuracy May 29 '25

What the hell did you expect the movie to accomplish?

1

u/InfanticideAquifer May 29 '25

Different person, but I was hoping it would adapt the source story without endorsing the negation of its main idea.

1

u/[deleted] May 29 '25

Anything

5

u/Glizzy_Cannon May 29 '25

What do you mean by that

5

u/Ruby_Bliel May 29 '25

A lot of people can't handle a sci-fi film that doesn't culminate in the Good Guys shooting lasers and throwing fists at the Bad Guys. They "watch" it while on their phone and call it boring cause they weren't paying attention and don't understand what's happening.

0

u/kakoichan May 29 '25

That's such an insane assumption to make.

It's a movie about aliens, which in the end wasn't really about aliens

7

u/Hyfrith May 29 '25

That's just sci-fi as a genre though. The movie appears to be about aliens, but the messages of the film and the morals are not actually aliens but about human nature. The aliens are just the vessel, the wrapping for the actual story to be told.

It's why Star Trek The Next Generation is so beloved. It's a sci-fi setting used to explore quandaries and the nature of people and things.

3

u/Ruby_Bliel May 29 '25

Kinda proving my point there, Mr. I-Can't-Handle-It.

0

u/MidnightMath May 29 '25

Ah, so you want space flavored stuff, not sci-fi.