10 Hidden Movie References in Rick and Morty You Definitely Missed

1. Inception – “Lawnmower Dog” (Season 1, Episode 2)

This episode takes a deep dive into the concept of dream manipulation, drawing heavy inspiration from Christopher Nolan’s Inception.

• The Reference: Rick and Morty enter the dreams of Morty’s math teacher, followed by multiple layers of dreams within dreams. The collapsing dream layers and surreal transitions mirror the mechanics of Inception.
• Hidden Detail: The “dream heist” parody ends with Scary Terry yelling “You can run, but you can’t hide, b****!” — a line that mocks Inception’s overly serious tone.

Missed It? Scary Terry’s bizarrely specific fears of rejection echo Inception’s exploration of subconscious vulnerabilities.

2. Jurassic Park – “Anatomy Park” (Season 1, Episode 3)

This entire episode is a love letter to Jurassic Park, reimagining the iconic concept of a controlled environment gone wrong.

• The Reference: Instead of dinosaurs, Rick builds a microscopic theme park inside Ruben’s body, filled with anthropomorphized diseases like Gonorrhea and Hepatitis A.
• Hidden Detail: Dr. Xenon Bloom, voiced by John Oliver, is an obvious nod to Jurassic Park’s John Hammond, complete with a grandiose monologue about the park’s potential.

Missed It? Even the chaos of the park’s destruction mimics the tension and pacing of Jurassic Park’s third act.

3. The Purge – “Look Who’s Purging Now” (Season 2, Episode 9)

In this episode, Rick and Morty land on a planet where all crime is legal for one night, an unmistakable reference to The Purge franchise.

• The Reference: The premise of a society with an annual “purge” is a direct homage to the movies, but with Rick and Morty’s signature satirical twist.
• Hidden Detail: The rich exploiting the purge to maintain control over the poor echoes the underlying social commentary of The Purge.

Missed It? Rick’s disdain for the purge and Morty’s descent into gleeful violence highlight the absurdity of the concept in a hilariously exaggerated way.

4. Mad Max: Fury Road – “Rickmancing the Stone” (Season 3, Episode 2)

The post-apocalyptic wasteland Morty, Summer, and Rick explore is a direct parody of Mad Max: Fury Road.

• The Reference: From the spiked vehicles to the bizarrely over-the-top warlords, the episode borrows heavily from the Mad Max aesthetic.
• Hidden Detail: The Blood Dome fight sequence is an obvious nod to Thunderdome, while Rick’s barter for “green rock” is a tongue-in-cheek take on Fury Road’s fuel obsession.

Missed It? The costume design of the characters, particularly Summer’s War Boy-inspired look, is a subtle homage to Fury Road.

5. The Fly – “Rick Potion #9” (Season 1, Episode 6)

When Rick’s love potion for Morty spirals out of control, the resulting “Cronenberg world” is a clear nod to David Cronenberg’s classic body horror films, especially The Fly.

• The Reference: The grotesque mutations and distorted creatures are signature elements of Cronenberg’s work.
• Hidden Detail: Rick even refers to the alternate universe as “Cronenberg world,” directly naming the legendary director.

Missed It? The escalating grotesquery reflects The Fly’s exploration of science gone horrifyingly wrong.

6. Event Horizon – “The Ricklantis Mixup” (Season 3, Episode 7)

The Citadel of Ricks and its endless corridors bear a striking resemblance to the haunting, labyrinthine spaceship in Event Horizon.

• The Reference: The grim tone and dystopian architecture are reminiscent of the psychological horror film.
• Hidden Detail: The visual design of the Citadel, with its eerie lighting and sprawling hallways, echoes the chilling atmosphere of Event Horizon.

Missed It? The twisted experiments on Mortys mirror the unsettling experiments aboard the Event Horizon.

7. Alien – “Promortyus” (Season 4, Episode 7)

The face-hugging parasites in this episode are a direct parody of the xenomorphs in Ridley Scott’s Alien series.

• The Reference: The parasites attach to Rick and Morty’s faces, controlling their actions and mimicking the iconic face-huggers from Alien.
• Hidden Detail: The design of the Glorzo parasites, with their elongated bodies and egg-laying habits, is unmistakably inspired by Alien.

Missed It? The title, “Promortyus,” is a pun on Prometheus, the divisive Alien prequel.

8. Honey, I Shrunk the Kids – “The Ricks Must Be Crazy” (Season 2, Episode 6)

The shrinking concept is explored when Rick, Morty, and Summer enter Rick’s car battery microverse, reminiscent of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

• The Reference: The microverse world within the car battery mirrors the shrinking concept of the 1989 classic.
• Hidden Detail: The interactions between the inhabitants of the microverse and their creators mimic the humorous misunderstandings in Honey, I Shrunk the Kids.

Missed It? Rick’s disdainful tone toward the microverse inhabitants is a satirical twist on the wholesome tone of the original film.

9. The Terminator – “The ABCs of Beth” (Season 3, Episode 9)

Rick’s mechanical replacement for himself — a robotic decoy programmed to follow Beth’s every whim — recalls the unstoppable cyborgs from The Terminator.

• The Reference: The robot’s design and voice inflection pay homage to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s T-800 model.
• Hidden Detail: The cold, emotionless demeanor of the robotic Rick mirrors the relentless nature of Skynet’s creations.

Missed It? Rick’s casual use of such destructive tech underlines the satirical edge of the episode.

10. The Shining – “Get Schwifty” (Season 2, Episode 5)

The strange and eerie vibe of the giant heads demanding music resembles the surreal terror of The Shining.

• The Reference: The looming presence of the Cromulons echoes the Overlook Hotel’s suffocating, supernatural atmosphere.
• Hidden Detail: The bizarre, dreamlike sequences where the townsfolk lose themselves in desperation mirror the psychological unraveling seen in The Shining.

Missed It? The chanting of “Show me what you got!” is a tongue-in-cheek nod to Jack Torrance’s descent into madness.

Interesting Fact:

Did you know that many Rick and Morty episodes start with loose concepts inspired by famous films? The writers often use classic movies as a framework to twist and subvert expectations.

Conclusion

Rick and Morty is a masterclass in blending humor, sci-fi, and pop culture references. From nods to The Fly and Jurassic Park to full-blown parodies of Mad Max and Inception, the show proves its creators are cinephiles with a knack for clever storytelling.

Which movie references did you catch in Rick and Morty? Let us know your favorites!