Paranoia, drama, suspense: Find the best psychological thriller movies
Find a whole range of different and daring psychological thrillers using the JustWatch streaming guide. Discover the best psychological thrillers of all time, the mysterious movies that are off the beaten path, and exactly where to stream them.
Use JustWatch to search through the catalogs of all the major streaming platforms available in Australia in one place. Whether you’re using Max, Paramount+, Prime Video, Apple TV+, Netflix, or others, find the best psychological thrillers available right now. The JustWatch filter helps you navigate your search with specific criteria. Filter by release date to distinguish those stylish 90s thrillers like The Game from those in the 2020s that pay homage, such as The Little Things. You can also filter by price, IMDb rating, and age rating to make sure you find exactly what you’re after.
Watch the best psychological thrillers available to stream now
The psychological thriller genre features a slow, suspenseful plot that unfolds with layers of mystery, oftentimes murder, and more than a little madness. Expect shocking plot twists that leave you scratching your head, unreliable narrators with intense psychological problems, and investigations that are beset by red herrings. Legendary early movies in this genre include Hitchcock’s Psycho, Rebecca, and Vertigo, all of which contributed to defining the genre as it is today. David Fincher’s Se7en is one of the most celebrated psychological thrillers, and the movie cemented the filmmaker’s career as a maestro of the genre. He went on to direct Fight Club and Gone Girl, both of which are recognized as some of the best in the genre. No discussion of the best psychological thrillers is complete without Silence of the Lambs and the career-defining performance of Anthony Hopkins as a twisted serial killer. Parasite, the first ever non-English language movie to win Best Picture at the Oscars, is also among the best. Other unforgettable psychological thrillers include The Shining and Eyes Wide Shut from Stanley Kubrick, Taxi Driver with a standout performance from Robert De Niro, Christopher Nolan’s backward thriller Memento, Christian Bale’s breakout movie American Psycho, and, of course, David Lynch’s Mulholland Drive. A special mention must also be made to Jordan Peele’s genre-bending psychological thrillers Get Out and Us, both of which fascinated audiences with their unique storylines.
Psychological thrillers that lay off the beaten track
If you love psychological thrillers but haven’t seen too many outside of Hollywood, the best place to start is the standout entry from South Korea, Park Chan-wook’s Old Boy, which was later remade by Spike Lee. Perfect Blue by Satoshi Kon is a Japanese-language anime thriller that is as suspenseful as the best of them. Austrian director Michael Haneke’s movies Cache and Funny Games are both full of shock and awe. Returning to the lesser known psychological thrillers in English, both Killing of the Sacred Deer and Prisoners are two nail-biting cinematic journeys from filmmakers Yorgos Lanthimos and Denis Villeneuve. The Machinist by Brad Anderson and Nightcrawler are divergent takes on the genre, but both standout must-see movies. Honourable Australian mentions include Dead Calm starring Sam Neil and Nicole Kidman and The Nightingale which is a historical psychological thriller set in the 1820s.
Discover other genres
A host of excellent psychological thriller movies have been adapted into TV shows such as The Talented Mr. Ripley, which was reimagined as Ripley, and David Cronenberg’s Dead Ringers which was remade by the same name into a miniseries. The genre itself often crosses over with others; for example, Ex Machina is a sci-fi drama and a psychological thriller, while Zodiac is also a movie based on a true story. The Batman, while definitely a superhero movie, could also be considered a psychological thriller, borrowing the tropes of detectives conducting an investigation into a sadistic murderer. Spy movies are another common crossover genre, with standout movies such as Inception and The Lives of Others.
