Movie Substrate · Film
Minions (2015)
★ 6.4 · 11,064 ratings on TMDB
Go back to where it all began.
Minions Stuart, Kevin and Bob are recruited by Scarlet Overkill, a super-villain who, alongside her inventor husband Herb, hatches a plot to take over the world.
The emergence reading
In Minions, consciousness is carried by monsters and creatures — a plane of “minion quest”. The story fights on E8/E9 of the E0–E14 reality ladder, compressing purpose, belonging, exploitation, power, identity.
↷ monsters and creaturesUSpurposebelongingexploitationpoweridentity
Same rung, same subject
Films fighting at the same level of reality, about the same things.
Same subject, different rung
The same preoccupations examined at another scale — one mind versus a nation.
Ultraviolet (2006)E4/E11 · rare rung · exploitation, power
Godzilla vs. Kong (2021)E6/E11 · rare rung · exploitation, power
Arthur 3: The War of the Two Worlds (2010)E6/E11 · rare rung · identity, power
TMNT (2007)E6/E11 · rare rung · identity, purpose
King Kong vs. Godzilla (1962)E6/E12 · rare rung · exploitation, power
Return to Oz (1985)E10/E13 · rare rung · identity, powerAlso hides consciousness here
Other films that move a human interior onto the same kind of thing.
The Smurfs 2 (2013)consciousness in monsters · blue village
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)consciousness in monsters · monster island
Luca (2021)consciousness in monsters · monster seaside town
Howl's Moving Castle (2004)consciousness in monsters · magical war‑torn kingdom
Aladdin (2019)consciousness in monsters · magical desert kingdom
Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008)consciousness in monsters · mythic warSame subject, different mask
The same preoccupations carried by a different kind of thing — grief told through the dead, an animal, a machine.
Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)consciousness in machines · belonging, exploitation
Toy Story 4 (2019)consciousness in objects · belonging, identity
The Lion King 1½ (2004)consciousness in animals · belonging, identity
Jennifer's Body (2009)consciousness in animals · exploitation, identity
Supergirl (2026)consciousness in aliens · exploitation, identity
The Lego Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)consciousness in objects · belonging, identity
