It gets difficult to watch something when you are wondering what to watch, even after you have narrowed down the search to a particular genre. Netflix has a humongous library to choose from; no one wants to begin a new movie and not like it enough, drop it halfway, and then repeat the process over and over again.
When it comes down to watching psychological thrillers, these types of stories feature complicated characters, strong emotions, and unexpected plot twists, which can keep audiences on the edge of their seats. So to make your life a bit easier, we have made a list of five such psychological thrillers that you can watch and enjoy.
1. I Care A Lot:
This movie revolves around Marla Grayson (Rosamund Pike), who is a skilled guardian who takes advantage of the legal guardianship system to take over elderly people’s assets and place them in assisted living facilities.
However, things go south when she tries the same tactics with Jennifer Peterson (Dianne West), who turns out to have links with a dangerous gangster (Peter Dinklage).
The movie has received ambiguous reviews from the critics, with some appreciating Pike’s work and the film’s dark comedy while others complained about the missing character development and the unlikely plot. If thrillers with a twist are to your taste, then I Care A Lot is the perfect movie to watch.
Cast: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza González, Chris Messina, and Dianne Wiest
2. The Strays:
It is better to forget the past because we never want to think about it, but what if the past never forgets you? This film directed by Nathaniel Martello-White takes us on a very creepy journey into the life of a woman named Neve, who has tried every bit to forget her origin of being black and tries to get rid of its existence from her life as if it never was there. Things start to go eerie once two unknown people show up and attempt to unfurl the very clothes of her made-up persona. They start stalking her by placing themselves around her children’s school, and they have their eyes on her every move.
This movie even makes people question their reality. A deeply spine-chilling story about the evasion of a woman from her roots will make you think you are being watched.
Cast: Ashley Madekwe, Bukky Bakray, and Jorden Myrie
3. The Good Nurse:
Based on the true story of Charles Cullen, a nurse who was convicted of murdering as many as 300 patients over the course of sixteen years, Directed by Tobias Lindholm, this movie explores the upsetting case of one of the most dangerous serial killers in history. Cullen held his job as a registered nurse in numerous hospitals across New Jersey and Pennsylvania, utilizing his position to deliver lethal doses of medication to his patients. Nobody was able to catch him in his criminal activity until a fellow nurse, played by Chastain in the movie, started to look into his weird behavior.
If you’re interested in true crime stories, this movie may be worth checking out.
Cast: Eddie Redmayne, Jessica Chastain, and Denise Pillot.
4. Side Effects:
Directed by Steven Sorderbergh Side Effects is a 2013 psychological thriller movie that follows a young woman named Emily Taylor who suffers from depression and anxiety following her husband’s release from prison. She makes an appointment with psychiatrist Dr. Jonathan Banks, who gives her a new medication that comes with risky and unforeseeable side effects.
Side Effects is a movie that deals with the themes of mental illness, the pharmaceutical industry, and the ethics of the medical profession. The movie is a complicated and well-made thriller that received positive reviews from critics who appreciated Sorderbergh’s direction and the cast. If suspenseful thrillers are what make your day, then this is the thing to watch.
Cast: Rooney Mara, Channing Tatum, Jude Law, and Catherine Zeta-Jones
5. The Platform:
Directed by Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia, this movie is a Spanish-language sci-fi horror movie. The movie takes place in a despotic future where prisoners are kept in a prison that uses a vertical tower-like structure, with each level having two prisoners. The platform, which is a large platform, starts descending from the top to the bottom of the tower; it contains food for all the prisoners, but the main focus of the story is that it stops at each level. Hence people at the lowest level almost get nothing to eat.
The Platform is a story that revolves around a guy named Goreng, a man who is placed in the tower and tries to understand the hierarchical game going on while trying to traverse the brutal and violent system of the prison.
The Platform has been appreciated for its views on the social strata of society and its thought-evoking exploration of human nature and the class divide. On the other hand, it has also been criticized for its extremely graphic scenes.
Cast: Iván Massagué, Antonia San Juan, Zorion Eguileor, Emilio Buale, Alexandra Masangkay