9 Obscure Psychological Thrillers That Will Mess With Your Mind
The real focal point is at least one of the character’s state of mind.
Psychological horror movies focus on emotional and mental states to scare the audience rather than a concrete villain like a monster or masked killer. This doesn’t mean that monsters or killers are never in a psychological horror movie, just that they are not the primary focus of the film. The real focal point is at least one of the character’s state of mind.
Like the more well-known subgenre of psychological thriller, psychological horror movies are almost always mysteries and frequently utilize twist-endings and/or unreliable narrators. The difference between a thriller and a horror movie comes down to how scary it is meant to be — is blood and gore shown on screen? Or does the film focus more on suspense and implied danger? Common themes for psychological horror movie are sanity, mental illness, mind control, paranoia, conspiracy, gaslighting, grief and trauma.
Here are some more obscure psychological thrillers you may not have seen:
M (1931)
Some consider M to be the “blueprint for the psychological thriller”. It is the first sound film by legendary German Expressionist director Fritz Lang. Peter Lorre portrays Hans Beckert, a child killer and implied pedophile who rains terror throughout Berlin during a string of unprecedented child abductions and slayings. When the local police prove to be too corrupt and inept to find the killer, Berlin’s criminal underworld joins forces to catch him. In the film’s most compelling scene, when Hans is dragged before a kangaroo court in an abandoned warehouse, he begs the assembled thieves and racketeers for mercy because he is ruled by impulses over which he has no control.
Les Diaboliques (1955)
Michel Delassalle is a school principal who is widely despised due to his abusive and domineering nature. He is cruel to both his wife Christina (who is actually the breadwinner in their relationship) and his mistress Nicole. Together Christine and Nicole hatch a plan to kill Michel and take over the school. They believe they have a foolproof plan, but at some point while carrying out the crime, Michel’s body goes missing.
The Housemaid (1960)
In South Korea during the years following the Korean War, Mr. Kim is a piano teacher who gives lessons to workers in a local factory. His wife works from home at a sewing machine, but she is pregnant with their third child. Mr. Kim hires his piano student, Myung-sook, to live with the family and help with domestic labor during his wife’s pregnancy. Instead, Myung-sook reveals herself as a femme fatale that drives the family apart.
Perfect Blue (1997)
Former pop star Mima slowly loses her grip on reality while pursing a new career as an actress. Told from Mima’s (unreliable) perspective, this psychological thriller directed by Satoshi Kon is about identity as it relates to performers and the people who watch (and obsess over) them. At times Perfect Blue can feel like a giallo in the vein of Tenebrae (1982), while at other times it has been compared to Alfred Hitchcock’s work and his ability to build incredible psychological tension around a central character.
The Memory of a Killer (2003)
Released in Germany as De zaak Alzheimer (The Alzheimer Case), this action psychological thriller revolves around an aging hit man with early onset Alzheimer’s disease. The job of an assassin requires focus and skill, and his deteriorating psychological health have deadly consequences. This film was remade in English as Memory (2022) with Liam Neeson starring.
The Machinist (2004)
Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) is a lathe operator at a local factory who hasn’t slept in a full year and is growing gaunt and emaciated as a result. Like the character in Memento, he is also tormented by memory loss and is constantly scribbling little yellow notes to himself. As Trevor tortures himself for no apparent reason, he slowly is able to look himself in the mirror and realize exactly what happened that has made him lose sleep for so long.
Bug (2006)
Directed by William Friedkin (director of The Exorcist), Bug sees Ashley Judd as Agnes, a lonely waitress living in a run-down motel. Agnes forms a desperate relationship with a disturbed drifter named Peter (Michael Shannon), and the two of them fall into an increasingly delusional headspace of government conspiracies and bug infestations as they isolate themselves in Agnes’s room. Bug is claustrophobic and disturbing, and it isn’t talked about enough as a gem of mid-2000s psychological weirdness.
Take Shelter (2011)
Michael Shannon’s performance is stunning in this psychological thriller about a man, Curtis, who has premonitions about a coming super storm. While he believes in his visions and takes actions to protect his family, Curtis doesn’t share his reasoning with his wife because his mother was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia when she was his age. Curtis’ actions and secrecy isolate him from his family, friends and community.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)
A surrealist psychological thriller about a young woman who is contemplating dumping her boyfriend of only seven weeks, but still accepts his invitation to visit his parents at their remote farm. Upon arrival, the woman starts hallucinating that she is actually her boyfriend and that his parents are only versions of her and her boyfriend’s older selves. The ending is surreal but offers no reprieve for the woman’s endless mental torture.
Further reading:
