20 hilarious memes you didn’t realize came from movies

Just the way Nicolas Cage is warrants memes. But one of the best memes of his comes from his work in the film Vampire’s Kiss. Although Cage’s character didn’t say the words “you don’t say,” his expression in the screengrab definitely gives off that energy. 

The Babadook is now an LGBTQ+ icon because of a hilarious mix-up at Netflix. The streamer mistakenly listed The Babadook as an LGBTQ+ film rather than a horror film, the latter of which is correct, and the internet took it on as a meme and made the character a queer icon.

While filming a scene for the movie Under the Skin, star Scarlett Johansson took a tumble on the pavement. The trip was on purpose, but it turned into a hilarious meme of Johansson that has subsequently been edited into loads of funny scenarios

Nope, that Angry Hitler meme is not a photo of the actual bygone Nazi. It comes from the film Downfall, in which Bruno Ganz portrays the infamous German eugenicist. 

With AI, a meme of an icon like John Travolta could easily be computer-generated, especially one featuring the actor in a bolo tie and long hair. But the "Confused Travolta" meme is from his work in the classic film Pulp Fiction. 

The "Patrick Bateman Listens to Music" meme is so good, and few things on the internet are as enduringly funny as putting this image against some of the best bubblegum pop songs of all time. The screenshot is of Christian Bale in American Psycho. 

Willem Dafoe is just the kind of guy whose natural expressions can easily become great memes. But one of his great memes, the one where he’s looking up, is from the movie At Eternity’s Gate. In the film, Dafoe played the immortal painter Vincent van Gogh. 

If you’ve seen the “This Is Sparta!” meme floating around the internet, it’s not from a documentary about ancient Greece or an AI-generated clip of the Greco-Persian War. It’s from the movie 300 , and the man screaming is Gerard Butler. 

The hilarious (500) Days of Summer  meme of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel having a conversation about video games (JGL’s character likes video games, Deschanel’s likes the Lana Del Rey song “Video Games”) caught on well after the movie came out. The characters didn’t even have that conversation in the film, as evidenced by many reasons, including that the song wasn’t released until years after the movie. 

You’ve almost certainly seen the “One Does Not Simply” meme. It comes from Sean Bean as Boromir in The Lord of the Rings telling the Council of Elrond, “One does not simply walk into Mordor.” 

You’ve seen the image of two men shaking each other’s hands while flexing, right? That comes from the movie Predator , and the men doing the handshaking are Arnold Schwarzenegger and Carl Weathers. 

Some memes require a deep knowledge of pop culture to understand. The "#PrattKeeping" meme that spawned from Jurassic World caught on because it came out at the same time that actor Chris Pratt was trying to shed his Parks and Recreation character’s image, and the internet thought it was funny to see Andy as a bađass movie star. 

The Rock’s career has been thriving for decades, so his memes could come from anything. The meme of him driving comes from his role in the film Race to Witch Mountain. 

In the movie Back to the Future , Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly almost reveals that he’s a time traveler and recovers with the line “I guess you guys aren’t ready for that yet. But your kids are gonna love it.” The second part of the line has since become a great meme. 

The Room is a cult classic because it’s not a very good film, and people love that about it. It’s quite possible that you’ve seen the meme from the film but not the movie itself. 

These days, the more popular screen adaptation of the famed Roald Dahl film might be Tim Burton’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But long before then, Gene Wilder played the iconic Willy Wonka, and his turn at it later became an equally iconic meme. 

The 2024 film Challengers spawned lots and lots of memes, including “Three Tickets to Challengers, Please.” If you haven’t seen the film, it’s about a love triangle between professional tennis players. 

You probably knew that the "Leonardo DiCaprio Laughing" meme came from a movie, but if you wondered which one, it’s Django Unchained. The movie is incredibly serious, but DiCaprio played a truly evil man who found humor in sick places, leading to an iconic interment moment. 

Willem Dafoe strikes again. At this point, his memes might be just as popular as his movies. One of his greatest memes, “I’m Something of a Scientist Myself,” comes from the movie Spider-Man, in which he utters the iconic line. 

Lots of memes have spawned from The Big Lebowski, including “Am I The Only One Around Here?” The meme features John Goodman with a handgun, and in internet speak, it’s come to represent people who are frustrated by highly specific irritants.