Psychological Thrillers – ‘Is a thrill in itself.’ Stepping into the shoes of psychological thrillers during this pandemic is the best way to escape yourself from the plethora of emotions and get the mental balance back in one’s life.
Keeping this in mind, here we have compiled a list of top 10 psychological thrillers which will keep your mind busy and those adrenaline and cortisol juices running.
1. PARASITE (2019): Psychological Thriller Movie like none other
” Once you overcome the one inch tall barrier of subtitles, you’ll be introduced to so many more amazing films.”
Bong Joon-ho said in his Golden globes acceptance speech in 2020.
Bong Joon-ho has made several films about class but Parasite proved to be one of his most daring examinations of the inequity that has come to define the world. It stars Song Kang-ho, Lee Sun-kyun, Cho Yeo-jeong, Choi Woo-shik, Park So-dam, Jang
Hye-jin, and Lee Jung-eun. The story moves around how the greed and class discrimination threaten the newly formed symbiotic relationship between the wealthy Park family and the destitute Kim clan. Parasite received the best attention from the movie critics and got recognition as thebest film of the 21st century. It was the first South Korean film to receive the Palme d’Or. Parasite hit the jackpot with four leading awards at 92nd Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best International feature Film.
2. Us ( 2019)
Us is an American psychological horror thriller film written and directed by Jordan Peele, starring Lupita Nyong’o, Winston Duke, Elisabeth Moss, and Tim Heidecker. A family’s serene beach vacation turns to chaos when their doppelgangers appear and begin to terrorize them. The film received 6.8/10 ratings from IMDb. One can watch it on Amazon Prime, Netflix with your homemade popcorn during this lockdown period.
3. MA (2019)
Ma is an American psychological horror film produced, co-written and directed by Tate Taylor. It stars Octavia Spencer, Juliette Lewis, Diana Silvers, Corey Fogelmanis, and Luke Evans. The story moves around a middle aged lonely woman who allows a group of teenagers
to live in her house and party, but things become worse when they end up being terrorized with her.
The film received mixed reviews from the critics and was highly criticized for the depiction of teenage characters.
Ma was released digitally on August20,2019 and on DVD and Blu -ray on September 3,2019 by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment (UPEH).
4. SEARCHING (2018); Psychological Thriller about a desperate father
Searching is an American mystery thriller computer screen film, one of the most innovative thrillers of the year, directed by Aneesh Chaganty and written by Chaganty and Sev Ohanian. The story moves in search of a girl, who disappears suddenly and desperate father tries
to find the clue from her laptop.
The movie in itself was a challenge to tell its story entirely from within computer screens – laptops, smart phones and CCTVs.
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5. GET OUT ( 2017)
Get Out is a 2017 American horror film, written and directed by Jordan Peele. It stars Daniel Kaluuya, Allison Williams, Lil Rel Howery, Bradley Whitford, Caleb Landry Jones, Stephen Root, Lakeith Stanfield, and Catherine Keener. Chris Washington (Kaluuya), a young black man goes to meet his girlfriend and her family, things were normal at first but soon some horror twists start entering in his life.
The film was selected by the National Board of Review, The American Film Institute and the Time Magazine group as one of the most trending and watched films of the year.
The film received huge response from the masses for its screenplay, direction and the acting performances. At the same time received criticism too.
6. THE HANDMAIDEN (2016):
The Handmaiden is a South Korean erotic psychological thriller film directed by Park Chan-wook and starring Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo and Cho Jin-woong. It is inspired by the 2002 novel Fingersmith by Welsh writer Sarah Waters, with the setting changed from Victorian era Britain to Korea under Japanese colonial rule.
A woman is hired as a handmaiden to a Japanese heiress, but secretly she is involved in a plot to defraud her. At the 71st British Academy Film Awards, the film won the best film award for the category of Best Film Not in the English Language.
7. GONE GIRL (2014) : A psychological thriller that you can watch again
An American thriller neo-noir film directed by David Fincher and with a screenplay by Gillian Flynn based on her 2012 novel of the same title. The film stars Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Carrie Coon, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry, and Kim Dickens. In Carthage, Mo., former New York-based writer Nick Dunne (Ben Affleck) and his glamorous wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) present a portrait of a blissful marriage to the
public. On their fifth anniversary, Amy goes missing, making Nick prime suspect. This movie is stylish and provides you edge-of-the-seat suspense while posing intricate questions about men, women and the marriages they make.
The film premiered on the opening night of 52nd New York Film Festival on September 26, 2014 before a nationwide theatrical release on October.
8. SHUTTER ISLAND (2010)
Shutter Island is an American neo-noir psychological thriller film directed by Martin Scorsese and written by Laeta Kalogridis, based on Dennis Lehane’s 2003 novel of the same name. Leonardo DiCaprio stars as Deputy U.S. Marshal Edward investigates a facility on shutter
island where a patient goes missing.
9. SE7EN (1995): A psychological thriller movie with the brilliance of Bradd Pitt and Morgan Freeman
An American psychological crime thriller film directed by David Fincher and written by Andrew Kevin Walker. It stars Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Kevin Spacey, R. Lee Ermey and John C. McGinley.
Two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, hunt a serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives.
10. THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS ( 1991)
The Silence of the Lambs is a 1991 American psychological horror[ film directed by Jonathan Demme and written by Ted Tally, adapted from Thomas Harris’ 1988 novel. Jodie Foster stars as Clarice Starling, a top student at the FBI’s training academy. Jack
Crawford (Scott Glenn) wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out. The U.S. Library of Congress considered the film as a “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant film of the time.
By- Kriti Jain