21 best psychological thrillers of all time

Psychological thrillers belong to the tradition of truly insane films. Even the definition of a genre refuses to be coherent - in some way it can be horror, crime, detective, or even action films, but they are all united by the same organizing principle: there are always characters who are psychologically tortured or situations that are frighteningly removed. from reality. A revenge fantasy or political drama that makes your pulse race and fills your body with troubling fear is probably a psychological thriller.

Lucky for us, we live in an era of overwhelmed streaming services and we have a lot of pandemic-related time to spare. So, if you're willing to be stressed out for 90 minutes to three hours, this movie list is guaranteed to give you enough anxiety and creeping thrills to make you forget your worldly worries even for a moment. One of the best things about psychological thrillers, though, is their ability to expose systemic problems in our society, or function as complex thought experiments. Absolutely fun, cool!

While these films aren't as escapist as they first appear, here are some of the best psychological thrillers of all time.

21 PHOTOS

1. Psycho.

This list would not be complete without a bit of Alfred Hitchcock, who may have been one of the genre's pioneers.

2. True sadness.

This anime from director Satoshi Kon about a pop star-turned-actress still gives us goosebumps. After Mima Kirigo leaves her Japanese idol group for a small role in the series, she discovers an obsessed fan who continues to haunt her.

3. Mulholland Drive.

Unreliable narrators lead us astray for more than two hours in this film, the most Lynchian piece of work David Lynch has ever seen. It is impossible to distinguish dreams from reality.

4. Parasites.

Bong Joon Ho's Oscar-winning masterpiece - his Oscar win is also known as the only good thing to happen in 2020 - tells the story of a desperately penniless and impoverished family who take jobs in the home of insanely rich people.

5. Conformist.

Okay, okay, this may or may not be a political thriller, but the film delves into the psychology of fascism. Marcello Clerici is an agent working in Mussolini's Italy accused of killing his old college professor.

6. Radiance.

The guy loses his mind, stuck at home with his family. Sounds familiar?

7. Rosemary's baby.

Possibly one of the most terrifying films on this list, Rosemary's Baby follows Rosemary (Mia Farrow) as she comes to the conclusion that her baby may not be a normal human baby. Both her strange elderly neighbors and her husband are especially suspicious - are they really starting a satanic sectarian conspiracy involving a child?

8. Conversation.

Francis Ford Coppola didn't miss a beat in the seventies (hmm, did you see The Godfather or Apocalypse Now?), and this film proved how original his vision could be. The conversation tells the story of a paranoid surveillance expert who is hired to spy on a mysterious couple. Everything is not what it seems.

9. Maid.

A part psychological thriller, part romance, The Handmaid tells the story of an elaborate deception from the point of view of a deceived con artist and noble woman.

10. Ma.

Ma becomes a canon cult classic. Just look.

11. Blue velvet.

David Lynch's film is about a pair of young people who team up to investigate a lost ear they found abandoned in a field.

12. Lighthouse.

David Lynch's film is about a pair of young people who team up to investigate a lost ear they found abandoned in a field.

12. Lighthouse.

This classic film, starring Glenn Close, is about a married man who begins an affair with Close's character. However, she cannot let him leave, so naturally, she must pursue him furiously.

14. Old people don't belong here.

Don't run into a killer while hunting. It won't end well.

15. Remember.

After the brutal rape and murder of his wife, Leonard decides to hunt down the perpetrator. The only problem is that his memory lapses make it difficult to track down, as he can't remember anything from fifteen minutes ago.

16. Fight club.

Brad Pitt plays Tyler Durden, a traveling soap salesman who befriends a lonely and depressed man (Edward Norton). Together, these two men form a secret underground club in David Fincher's mind-blowing film.

17. American Psycho.

Businessman by day, serial killer by night, Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale) is constantly busy.

18. The silence of the lambs.

Jodie Foster plays Clarice Starling, an FBI agent who studies the psychology of Hannibal Lector Anthony Hopkins in order to get to the bottom of an open case. But could Clarice be the key to Hannibal's escape from prison? The film won five Oscars in the top categories, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Acting.

19. Out of the car.

Domhnall Gleason plays the role of a programmer who must pass a Turing test to determine the robot's capabilities. It's a bit like the world of the Wild West.

20. Eyes wide shut.

Tom Cruise plays an abusive doctor who becomes upset after his wife (Nicole Kidman) admits to fantasizing about other men. Annoyed, he wanders through rugged New York City, where he eventually stumbles upon an underground sex club.

21. Taxi driver.

Martin Scorsese's classic film about a veteran who is obsessed with New York's criminal activities dives into the psychology of vigilantes and our cultural admiration for them.