Saw (2004)
Two men wake chained in a filthy bathroom and discover they are pawns in a sadistic puzzle designed by the Jigsaw killer. Saw is James Wan's 2004 American horror film depicting two men who wake chained in a filthy bathroom…
Genre: Psychological
Films where the battlefield is a mind. Psychological thriller and drama reviews for stories that unsettle without a single monster on screen.
Foreign MoviesAudition (1999)
Takashi Miike directs the story of a widower staging fake auditions to find a new wife, with consequences he could not anticipate. Audition is Takashi Miike's 1999 Japanese horror-thriller film depicting a Tokyo widower who stages fake film auditions to…
HorrorThe Silence of the Lambs (1991)
An FBI trainee consults imprisoned cannibal Hannibal Lecter to catch a serial killer skinning his victims. The Silence of the Lambs is Jonathan Demme's 1991 American psychological-thriller film adapted from Thomas Harris's 1988 novel, depicting an FBI trainee who consults…
HorrorPsycho (1960)
Hitchcock's adaptation of Robert Bloch's novel about a woman who steals from her employer and stops at the wrong motel. Psycho is Alfred Hitchcock's 1960 American horror-thriller adapted from Robert Bloch's 1959 novel, depicting a Phoenix real-estate secretary who steals…
HorrorMisery (1990)
Misery is Rob Reiner's 1990 American psychological-thriller film adapted from Stephen King's 1987 novel, depicting a romance novelist who crashes his car in a Colorado snowstorm and is rescued by his self-described number-one fan, who imprisons him in her isolated…
Detective
DramaOne Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975)
Forman's 1975 mental hospital drama. Nicholson as McMurphy, Fletcher as Nurse Ratched.
PsychologicalThe Game (1997)
David Fincher's 1997 psychological thriller. Michael Douglas as a wealthy banker experiencing immersive CRS service.
HorrorThe Sixth Sense (1999)
Night Shyamalan's 1999 ghost story with the most-quoted twist of its decade. Bruce Willis, Haley Joel Osment, a script that earns its reveal twice.
PsychologicalVanilla Sky (2001)
Tom Cruise psychological thriller. Substantial ambitions, uneven execution.
ActionMemento (2000) Review
Christopher Nolan's directorial breakthrough. Guy Pearce's career-defining performance.
CrimeGreatest Serial Killer Films and TV Episodes
Twenty films and TV episodes that use the serial killer as a lens for examining the world rather than as spectacle — from Silence of the Lambs to Mindhunter. What separates the serious from the exploitative, and what fiction writers…