1990s

Double exposure of piano keys and desolate forest.

The Piano (1993): the underwater lullaby and the dream-like ending

Decoding the many meanings of the piano in Jane Campion’s film

The silhouette of a cross can just be made out against a scarlet coloured background.

Sex and sanguination: decoding Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992)

Making sense of the sizzling sexuality of Bram Stoker’s Dracula

Part of a photographic film reel showing a dimly lit underground room, like a garage.

Fight Club (1999) explained: vandals with dirty faces

Making sense of Fight Club’s twisted narrative and duplicated identities

A white, spiky line in the style of an electrocardiogram.

Flatliners (1990) explained: hell and hallucination

How Flatliners draws on our fears of hell and isolation to weave its Gothic-inspired horror

Close-up of green plants.

The Lost World (1997): good guys, bad guys and dinosaurs

The Lost World establishes Ian Malcolm as a flawed father – and gives him a dinosaur double

Spiral staircase viewed from above.

Gattaca (1997) explained: luck, ladders and the long con

A flawed man challenges the science of discrimination, but is he hero or sociopath?