There’s something irresistibly alluring about psychological thrillers. These kinds of films don’t just rely on action or physical danger to create a sense of dread and suspense. Rather, they’re far more focused with psychologically stressed characters being placed in mentally and emotionally draining situations—and, when done well, that draining effect applies to the audience as well. These can be daunting movies, ones that demand the viewer’s full attention and reward it with tension that’s not really released until the credits roll. But over the decades, audiences have given studios and artists ample evidence that they love these sorts of stories. As a result, several of the greatest films ever made have belonged to the psychological thriller genre.
Another great thing about these kinds of movies is that they can be incredibly diverse, covering all kinds of tones, styles, and stories; as well as coming from all over the globe. Whether it’s a borderline horror film about a child kidnapper, an Oscar-winning masterpiece about the parasitic relationship between two families, a surreal arthouse gem deconstructing the Hollywood dream, or a masterclass of suspense with one of the biggest plot twists in movie history, a well-made psychological thriller can be absolutely enthralling. The movies are a safe space to experience the sort of emotions that these films can elicit, and that’s probably why they have been so immensely popular throughout cinema’s history.
4
‘M’ (1931)
Peter Lorre as Hans Beckert in M (1931)Image via Vereinigte Star-Film GmbH
The history of the psychological thriller genre can be traced back in tons of different directions, but film experts and historians tend to agree that Germany was the birthplace of these kinds of movies. More precisely, it was the German Expressionism film movement (which also birthed the horror film genre), characterized by dark and twisty narratives and visuals, that showed just how deep into their characters’ grim psyches thriller films could go. And as far as German Expressionist psychological thrillers go, it doesn’t get any better, more famous, or more iconic than Fritz Lang‘s M, one of the best noir movies of all time according to Letterboxd. It was Peter Lorre‘s third-ever screen role, where he played a terrifying serial killer who targets children.
Lang considered this his magnum opus, and it isn’t hard to see why. Aside from Lorre’s timeless and absolutely chilling performance, the film also made use of audio, editing, and visual techniques that were nothing short of revolutionary—and definitely way ahead of their time. Many early talkies felt like they had to take full advantage of the technology and speak as much as possible, but even though sound was not even four years old when Lang made M, it feels as though the filmmaker already perfectly understood how to use it most effectively. M uses dialogue sparsely, which allows its arresting visuals and thematically brilliant narrative to shine all-the-brighter. As one of the very first noteworthy psychological thrillers ever made, this masterpiece simply ought to be on the face of a psychological thriller Mount Rushmore.
3
‘Parasite’ (2019)
There have been several 21st-century Oscar wins that only keep aging better, and Parasite‘s Best Picture win in 2020 is arguably chief among them. Bong Joon Ho‘s magnum opus, which was the highest-rated film on Letterboxd for over two years (and is still solidly in the top 15), paved the way for new international films to gain not only more awards prestige, but also mainstream recognition. It was a trailblazer both in the realm of Korean cinema and of international movies in general, and that only happened because it’s such a near-perfect psychological thriller. Its themes of wealth inequality may not be the most subtle, but they’re conveyed so effectively through such an entertaining story that the loudness of the message ends up feeling like a feature, not a bug.
It’s such a complete package of a movie that it’s difficult to know where to even begin singing its praises. The cast ensemble? Absolutely exceptional, all actors delivering their A-game and some of the best non-English-language performances of the last decade. The writing? Marvelously intricate and audacious, achieving a perfect sense of pacing with enough twists to satisfy the most demanding of cinephilic palates. Bong’s direction? Sublime, as the director plays with genres and tones like they’re toys. But Parasite is very much a psychological thriller at heart and throughout its entire runtime, and in that department, it’s definitely one of the most effective of the entire 21st century.
2
‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001)
Naomi Watts and Laura Harring looking upward in Mulholland Drive.Image via Universal Pictures
The great David Lynch was the father of modern cinematic surrealism, every bit as much as Luis Buñuel was the father of classic cinematic surrealism. He’s an auteur on a category all of his own, a master of his craft so legendary that the term “Lynchian” has been coined to describe films that emulate the dreamlike, macabre nature of the director’s surrealist work. But even the greats have one movie that can be called their best, and when it comes to Lynch, the answer is easy: One of the only seven films that have ever been nominated for the Best Directing Oscar and nothing else, Mulholland Drive. Peculiarly enough, there’s another Lynch film in that group, and it’s Blue Velvet, another exceptional surreal psychological thriller.
As the narrative progresses, more and more bits of Lynchian surrealism start poking holes in the characters’ reality.
There’s no topping Mulholland Drive, however. It’s one of the most perfect psychological thrillers ever made, a genius masterpiece with a unique structure. The first half of the movie starts out like a charming little melodrama about an aspiring actress, but as the narrative progresses, more and more bits of Lynchian surrealism start poking holes in the characters’ reality—and challenging the audience’s understanding of it. The movie completely unfurls into a terrifying waking nightmare in its third act, delivering one of the most memorable endings of any of Lynch’s movies. It’s a fascinating study of duality, identity, and the American dream that only an auteur of Lynch’s stature could have done in quite this way. It’s also a film that rewards those willing to re-watch it, without ever losing one bit of that aura of mystery that makes it so magical in the first place.
1
‘Psycho’ (1960)
Marion Crane (Janet Leigh) slides down the shower tile after being stabbed in Psycho.Image via Paramount Pictures
No Mount Rushmore of any thriller subgenre, psychological thrillers included, could ever be complete without the Master of Suspense himself, Alfred Hitchcock. The English auteur remains one of the most prolific, iconic, and influential figures in the history of cinema. His methodical, detail-driven way of approaching suspense has pretty much defined the style of every thriller filmmaker that came after him, from David Fincher to Brian De Palma. The director was no stranger to psychological thrillers, but the best one he ever made is also not only one of the greatest horror films ever made, but also his definitive magnum opus: Psycho, a landmark cinematic achievement that pretty much single-handedly defined the way thrillers and horror movies would be made at the end of Hollywood’s Golden Age.
It’s far and away one of the best psychological thriller movies of all time, but when it came out, it was incredibly polarizing. That’s hardly surprising: This was an unprecedentedly dark and twisty Hollywood picture at the time, but the most admirable part is that, even today, Psycho still feels every bit as revolutionary as it did in 1960. The decision to (SPOILER ALERT FOR A 62-YEAR-OLD MOVIE) kill off the film’s protagonist halfway through the story was virtually unprecedented at the time, and the shock value of such a twist hasn’t lost one bit of its potency. Psycho reinvents itself brilliantly after this story beat, and it remains both thrilling and chilling throughout the rest of its runtime. Sure, its exposition-heavy ending has aged like milk, but this movie’s undeniable historic importance and level of influence make it a must-have in a psychological thriller Mount Rushmore.
Collider Exclusive · Oscar Best Picture Quiz Which Oscar Best Picture Is Your Perfect Movie? Parasite · Everything Everywhere · Oppenheimer · Birdman · No Country
Five Oscar Best Picture winners. Five completely different visions of what cinema can be — and what it can do to you. One of them is the film that was made for the way your mind works. Ten questions will figure out which one.
🪜Parasite 🌀Everything Everywhere ☢️Oppenheimer 🐦Birdman 🪙No Country for Old Men
01 What kind of film experience do you actually want? The best movies don’t just entertain — they leave something behind.
02 Which idea grabs you most in a film? Great films are driven by a central obsession. What’s yours?
03 How do you like your story told? Form is content. The way a story is shaped changes what it means.
04 What makes a truly great antagonist? The opposition defines the protagonist. What kind of opposition fascinates you?
05 What do you want from a film’s ending? The final note is the one that lingers. What do you want it to sound like?
06 Which setting pulls you in most? Where a film takes place shapes everything — mood, stakes, what’s even possible.
07 What cinematic craft impresses you most? Every great film has a signature — a technical or artistic element that makes it unmistakable.
08 What kind of main character do you root for? The protagonist is the lens. Who you choose to follow says something about you.
09 How do you feel about a film that takes its time? Pace is a choice. Some films sprint; others let tension accumulate slowly, deliberately.
10 What do you want to feel walking out of the cinema? The best films leave a mark. What kind of mark do you want?
The Academy Has Decided Your Perfect Film Is…
Your answers have pointed to one Oscar Best Picture winner above all others. This is the film that was made for the way your mind works.
Parasite
You are drawn to films that operate on multiple levels simultaneously — that begin in one genre and quietly, brilliantly migrate into another. Bong Joon-ho’s Parasite is a film about class, desire, and the architecture of inequality that manages to be darkly funny, deeply suspenseful, and genuinely shocking across a single extraordinary running time. Your instinct is for cinema that hides its true intentions until the moment it’s ready to reveal them. Parasite is exactly that — a film that rewards close attention and punishes assumptions, right up to its devastating final image.
Everything Everywhere All at Once
You want it all — and this film gives you all of it. The Daniels’ Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the most maximalist films ever made: action comedy, multiverse sci-fi, family drama, existential crisis, and a genuinely earned emotional core that sneaks up on you amid the chaos. You are someone who responds to ambition, who doesn’t want cinema to choose between being entertaining and being meaningful. This film refuses that choice entirely. It is overwhelming by design, and its overwhelming nature is precisely the point — because the feeling of being crushed by infinite possibility is exactly what it’s about.
Oppenheimer
You are drawn to cinema on a grand scale — films that understand history not as a backdrop but as a force, and that place their characters inside that force and watch what happens. Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer is a film about the terrifying gap between what we can do and what we should do, told with the full weight of one of the most consequential moments in human history behind it. You want your films to feel important without feeling self-important — to earn their ambition through sheer craft and the gravity of their subject. Oppenheimer does exactly that. It is enormous, complicated, and refuses easy comfort.
Birdman
You are drawn to films that foreground their own construction — that make the how of the filmmaking part of the what it’s about. Alejandro González Iñárritu’s Birdman, shot to appear as a single continuous take, is cinema examining itself through the cracked mirror of a fading actor’s ego. You respond to formal daring, to the feeling that a film is doing something that probably shouldn’t be possible. Michael Keaton’s performance and Emmanuel Lubezki’s restless camera create something genuinely unlike anything else — a film that is simultaneously about creativity, relevance, self-destruction, and the impossibility of ever truly knowing if your work means anything at all.
No Country for Old Men
You are drawn to cinema that trusts silence, that refuses to explain itself, and that treats dread as a form of meaning. The Coen Brothers’ No Country for Old Men is a film about the arrival of a new kind of evil — implacable, arbitrary, and utterly indifferent to the moral frameworks we use to make sense of the world. It is one of the most formally controlled films ever made, and its controlled restraint is what makes it so terrifying. You want your films to haunt you, not comfort you. You are not interested in resolution if resolution would be dishonest. No Country for Old Men is honest in a way that most cinema never dares to be.
