Are you a horror fan looking for something to watch? Are you sick of basic ghost stories and annoying special effects? Then you might want to switch to psychological thrillers.
Psychological thrillers are the smarter older brother of your traditional horror film; so there are fewer cliches and dependence on the element of surprise.
They broaden the range of the thriller genre by incorporating elements of mystery, drama, action, and paranoia. This is not to be confused with the overlapping psychological horror genre, which involves more terror than psychosomatic themes.
If you’re looking for something fresh to sink your teeth into this lockdown period, here are few movies you should definitely check out.
1. Gone Girl (2014)
The novel that captivated us in 2012 was adapted for the screen two years later by Fight Club director David Fincher. Told in piecemeal narrative, we learn that Nick’s wife, Amy, is missing, presumed murdered, and many believe that Nick is responsible.
As Nick insists upon his innocence, the tale turns into a cat-and-mouse game; nothing is as it seems, and no one can be trusted. The great, genre-subverting twist, as well as the look into the mind of a psychopath, makes this thriller one that shouldn’t be missed.
2. Ex Machina (2014)
A young and gifted programmer walks into a scientific experiment led by an ambitious tech mogul. His role is to interact with a beautiful robot for a set period of time and offer feedback on the revolutionary artificial intelligence.
But the machine might just turn out to be smarter than the humans controlling her.
Watch it here.
3. Black Swan
Natalie Portman won a Best Actress Oscar playing Nina Sayers in Black Swan, a Darren Aronofsky film about a New York City ballerina whose obsession with dance takes over every aspect of her life.
To win prima ballerina status in the company’s new production of Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake, the lead must play both the role of the pure, innocent Swan Queen and the sensuous, cunning Black Swan.
While Nina is a shoo-in for Queen, her competition, Lily (Mila Kunis), perfectly embodies the Black Swan. As the two compete for the lead, their twisted friendship slowly unravels.
4. Shutter Island
Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island takes place in 1954. It begins with an investigation conducted by a WWII-vet-turned-federal marshal; to find a murderer who escaped from an island-bound hospital for the criminally insane.
It’s a beautifully-shot film with solid performances by Leonardo DiCaprio and Ben Kingsley; its eerie plot twists keep will keep you on the razor’s edge.
5. Midsommar
A couple’s vacation to a Swedish village takes a sinister turn when the insular townspeople invite them into a series of rituals that render their pastoral paradise increasingly unnerving; in this dread-soaked and viscerally disquieting psychological thriller.