40 Psychological Thrillers That’ll Make Your Heart Race

Of the three films that have won the “big five” Oscars, The Silence of the Lambs is the one with the biggest mystery, the highest body count, and the unforgettable climatic face-off (wink, wink). Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is an FBI cadet brought in to help catch a serial killer. But to do so, she must tap into the mind of convicted cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). It’s dark. It’s twisted. It’s delicious.

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Based on Gillian Flynn’s bestseller, Gone Girl stars Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne, a man whose wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) goes missing. It’s soon clear that he’s the number one suspect…until he uncovers evidence that Amy is less of a damsel in distress and more of a secret mastermind. For another one of Flynn’s dark tales, stream HBO’s limited series Sharp Objects.

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Shutter Island has everything a brilliant psychological thriller needs: a 1950s insane asylum, a missing person, and Hollywood power couple Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio. The mystery begins when U.S. marshals Teddy (DiCaprio) and Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) arrive on the gloomy Shutter Island to search for a patient who disappeared.

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Alfred Hitchcock is the master of building suspense and dread, and he’s at his best in Rear Window. The film is told entirely from the point of view of a photographer (James Stewart) who’s left in a wheelchair after an accident. To pass the time, he watches his neighbors—and starts to believe one of them is a murderer. Is he onto something, or is it all in his head like his girlfriend (the one and only Grace Kelly) believes?

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For fans of Jordan Peele, his directorial debut is much, much different from his comedy sketch show Key & Peele. And while Get Out still has moments of big laughs, it’s an unnerving, sinister story about race. The smart writing is brought to life by Daniel Kaluuya’s performance as Chris, a Black man who realizes something is terribly wrong when meeting his white girlfriend’s family.

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Natalie Portman trained for more than a year to prepare for her Oscar-winning performance as Nina, a ballerina striving for perfection. But when Nina lands her biggest role yet, she learns her obsession with flawlessness comes at a price. Directed by Darren Aronofsky, this thriller follows the dancer as she loses touch with what’s real.

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When convicted rapist Max Cady (Robert De Niro) is released from prison after serving 14 years, he has one thing on his mind: getting even with his defense attorney Sam Bowden (Nick Nolte). Soon, Sam, his wife Leigh (Jessica Lange) and their teenage daughter Dani (Juliette Lewis) start seeing Cady everywhere they look, while Sam frantically works to keep his former—and violent—client away from his family.

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Directed by Bong Joon Ho, Parasite is the only foreign film to win Best Picture. It’s a rumination on class tension, following the impoverished Kim family (led by Song Kang-ho) as their paths cross with the lavishly wealthy Parks. The film is a yummy blend of squirm-in-your-seat discomfort and dark humor, tied together with a bloody good ending.

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While Watcher flew largely under the radar (don’t confuse it with Netflix’s mini series The Watcher), this indie is not one to sleep on. Starring Maika Monroe of It Follows fame, Watcher is the story of a girl who moves to Romania with her boyfriend. Without a job, without friends, and without being able to speak the language, she finds herself spending a lot of time alone, gazing out of her apartment window. And she notices a shadow across the street that’s always looking right back.

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Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman are Mills and Somerset, two detectives on the trail of a serial killer. As the list of victims grows, the detectives discover a sinister pattern: each murder seems to be inspired by the seven deadly sins.

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Chloe (Kiera Allen) is a teenage girl who, because of her many health conditions, doesn’t get out much. She’s homeschooled, uses a wheelchair, and never goes anywhere without her protective mother (Sarah Paulson). But one day, she starts having suspicions that her mother—her best friend—might be keeping disturbing secrets from her. Fans of the true crime series The Act will love this Hulu original.

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Thoroughbreds stars two powerhouses, Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy, as wealthy and troubled teenage girls who are estranged friends. As they grow close again, they confide in each other about their problems…and come up with a diabolical plan to put their headaches to rest once and for all. The film also features Anton Yelchin, in his final role.

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In 1968, a teenage couple were shot and killed in Northern California. More were murdered in the following years, and mysterious letters sent to the San Francisco Chronicle, all signed by the “Zodiac,” claimed responsibility. In this film by David Fincher, Jake Gyllenhaal plays the real-life cartoonist Robert Graysmith, who worked at the paper and hunted the killer.

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When Dan (Michael Douglas) sleeps with Alex, a woman he meets when his wife is out of town, he believes the affair was a one-time thing. But Alex (Glenn Close) has other ideas. She becomes obsessed with Dan, and that obsession takes a violent turn. For an updated reimagining of the story, check out the Paramount+ mini series starring Lizzy Caplan.

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Based on Stieg Larsson’s bestselling and posthumously published novel, The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo stars Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist, a journalist hired to investigate the disappearance of a woman 40 years earlier. Lisbeth Salander (Rooney Mara) joins his investigation, and together they uncover links between their missing persons case and murdered women spanning decades.

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When Susan (Amy Adams) receives a copy of a novel written by her ex-husband, it kicks off three different storylines: past, present, and fiction. In the past, Susan and her ex’s relationship begins deteriorating. In the novel, a road-tripping family is stopped on a remote highway late at night. And presently, Susan reminisces about her husband as she prepares to see him again. The stories are all tied together in a gorgeous neo-noir package.

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Psycho boasts the epitome of a plot twist. Hitchcock’s masterpiece opens with a secretary stealing thousands of dollars from her job. As she’s making her escape, she checks into the remote Bates Motel, where she meets its strange owner, Norman. The thriller was a box office smash, and its big reveal remains one of the most famous in movie history.

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Between the strings-heavy score, extreme close-ups, and frantic cutting between scenes, watching this Darren Aronosfky film feels like you’re constantly on the verge of an anxiety attack. Starring Ellen Burstyn, Jared Leto, Jennifer Connelly, and Marlon Wayans, Requiem for a Dream follows four people, each becoming more and more consumed by addiction.

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Jake Gyllenhaal is Louis Bloom, a crime journalist in Los Angeles. Determined to get the “best” footage (read: the most graphic and gory), he manipulates the scenes—and evidence—he’s covering. But as he ventures closer and closer to the violence, how far will he push his luck to get the perfect shot?

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When Noa (Normal People’s Daisy Edgar-Jones) meets the dashing Steve (Sebastian Stan) in the produce section of her grocery store, it seems too good to be true. And it isn’t long before she realizes the meet-cute was actually malicious, and that Steve is craving more than romance.

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