Lmao, Wavelength is in my top 5
La Région centrale is a much better normie-filter.
Sans Solelil is one of my favorite movies that is difficult to recommend because it's difficult to describe
Just quote (or describe) the opening:
"The first image he told me about was of three children on a road in Iceland, in 1965. He said that for him it was the image of happiness and also that he had tried several times to link it to other images, but it never worked. He wrote me: one day I'll have to put it all alone at the beginning of a film with a long piece of black leader; if they don't see happiness in the picture, at least they'll see the black."
If they don't want to watch it after hearing that, that's their problem.
Recommending almost anything to non-cinephiles is most often a pointless exercise. You always end up disappointed because they either never watch it or keep pestering you where they can watch it. If they actually end up watching it, then chances they dislike it are high. Not to mention they almost never want to know why you love the film or have any sort of discussion afterward. That's why if I ever have to recommend a film to a person who's not into cinema, I want to have a very good description of what they're looking for. I'm also quite reluctant to recommend my actual favorites for some reason, but I don't really know why. It somehow feels private in real life while it totally does not on the Internet.
Now, recommending films to well-rounded cinephiles is something completely different. Usually, you don't really have to get them interested in something because they naturally take interest in most good stuff, and the best of them don't really ask for recommendations but find them themselves in your ratings on RYM or Letterboxd. Now that's what I'm talking about!
About films that are difficult to recommend to others, most pink films. You sure don't want normies to think you're a pervert. And then even recommending actual non-sex films might be difficult. Like recommending Koreeda's
Air Doll automatically draws some comparisons. But I say, f*ck it, most of them can't even access these films, so who cares. Just go ahead and throw
Salo at them.