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Best Psychological Thrillers

Arlington Road with Jeff Bridges and Tim Robbins is one of the creepiest movies ever made. It’s a slow burn. The film tells the story of a widowed professor who suspects his new neighbors are involved in terrorism and becomes obsessed with foiling their terrorist plot. DL fave Joan Cusack costars.

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by Anonymousreply 97November 30, 2023 10:01 PM

Is BOUND a psychological thriller?

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by Anonymousreply 1November 7, 2023 5:45 AM

I love this thread. I wish more men individuals were responding. I would love to know Series, too. I love Psychological Thrillers.

I really liked:

Before I go to Sleep

Sixth Sense

The Undoing

Nine Perfect Strangers

Swallow

The Gift

Rebecca

I can come up with more, too. lol. OP, do you know any good ones?

by Anonymousreply 2November 9, 2023 1:15 AM

No Way Out. A movie in which a dot matrix printer was necessary and incredibly tension building.

by Anonymousreply 3November 9, 2023 1:21 AM

Highly recommend the aforementioned "Arlington Road" and "No Way Out."

I'll add:

"Jagged Edge."

"The Firm."

"Suspect."

"Cast a Dark Shadow" (Dirk Bogarde).

by Anonymousreply 4November 9, 2023 1:40 AM

"Frailty" is great, underrated movie also. Not quite horror, definitely a thriller. Bill Paxton and Matt Mcconnaughey. Bill is great as the fanatic, demon killing, dad.

by Anonymousreply 5November 9, 2023 1:49 AM

I loved No Way Out but I laughed out loud when Costner runs out of a government building in Virginia and ends up running along the San Antonio Riverwalk. Actually, the whole audience laughed. Still a good movie.

by Anonymousreply 6November 9, 2023 1:56 AM

Mother by Bong Joon Ho

by Anonymousreply 7November 9, 2023 1:57 AM

Silence of the Lambs but everyone's probably seen that. Single White Female. Black Swan. Mulholland Drive. Many Hitchcocks - Vertigo, The Birds, Marnie.

by Anonymousreply 8November 9, 2023 2:02 AM

I remember "Mortal Thoughts" with Demi Moore being really good. Oh yes, Single White Female is great too. "Identity", oh and a newer one "The Lodge" with Elvis' grandddaughter, Riley Keough. I really like her.

by Anonymousreply 9November 9, 2023 2:04 AM

Keep them coming please!

by Anonymousreply 10November 9, 2023 5:58 AM

I just remembered Black Widow (1987); that was quite good in a cult classic way.

As for series, True Detective, Mindhunter, Luther, Killing Eve, The Fall..

by Anonymousreply 11November 9, 2023 7:16 AM

OP, I love the attached link. You can put in any year. Although, there are so many more movies/series that are not listed.

Here are more I absolutely recommend.

The Invisible Man starring Elisabeth Moss

Get Out

Six Feet Under

Dexter

Safe - Series

Unhinged

The Woman In The Window - Amy Adam’s

False Positive

Stay Close - Series

Behind Her Eyes - Series

Anatomy of a Scandal - Series

Unbelievable

Collateral- Series

Paranoid- Series

Severance

Servant

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by Anonymousreply 12November 9, 2023 7:26 AM

The Vanishing (Spoorloos)

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by Anonymousreply 13November 9, 2023 7:36 AM

R4 here:

"Dressed to Kill." (DePalma)

"Blow Out." (DePalma)

"Stage Fright." (Hitchcock)

"The Bedroom Window."

"The Double."

And in a very different genre, the WWII true story starring Jude Law and Ed Harris as master snipers in a deadly cat and mouse game:

"Enemy At the Gates."

by Anonymousreply 14November 9, 2023 8:46 AM

Copycat, Bone Collector, Se7en

by Anonymousreply 15November 9, 2023 12:00 PM

Basic Instinct (1992)

Copycat (1995)

Jagged Edge (1985)

Zodiac (2007)

Bound (1996)

Misery (1990)

Fatal Attraction (1987)

Sleeping With The Enemy (1991)

Shutter Island (2010)

Mulholland Drive (2001)

by Anonymousreply 16November 9, 2023 12:25 PM

More great psychological thrillers:

Identity (2003)

The Game (1997)

Mystic River (2003)

The Good Son (1993)

The Hand That Rocks The Cradle (1992)

Dolores Claiborne (1995)

Rear Window (1954)

The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

Jacob's Ladder (1990)

The Box (2009)

by Anonymousreply 17November 9, 2023 10:31 PM

Arlington Road is a great thriller and quite prescient considering the shit going on now.

by Anonymousreply 18November 9, 2023 10:34 PM

Another great one is Red State which was loosely based on the WBC and Fred Phelps.

by Anonymousreply 19November 9, 2023 10:35 PM

Split with James McEvoy. A must see.

by Anonymousreply 20November 9, 2023 10:39 PM

Dead of Winter with Roddy McDowell and Mary Steenburgen. Nice and 80s

by Anonymousreply 21November 9, 2023 10:49 PM

Dawson’s Fifty Load Weekend

by Anonymousreply 22November 10, 2023 12:26 AM
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by Anonymousreply 23November 10, 2023 5:53 AM

Damages was a good thriller/whodunit with DL fave G playing evil sociopathic lawyer Patty Hewes. It employed the flash forward technique popularized by Lost.

by Anonymousreply 24November 10, 2023 5:58 AM

I [italic]loved[/italic] DAMAGES.

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by Anonymousreply 25November 10, 2023 6:05 AM

R24/R25 thank you! I absolutely love anything Glenn Close stars in and I will watch this series. It states it is a 5 season series and not a movie, correct?

by Anonymousreply 26November 11, 2023 10:53 PM

Yes. 5 seasons. Like with most shows, the earlier ones are the most interesting.

by Anonymousreply 27November 12, 2023 7:38 AM

Unfaithful

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by Anonymousreply 28November 12, 2023 8:03 AM

R24 omg, I just finished Season One of Damages. It kept my attention and was amazing, even the 13 episodes. Are the rest. of the Seasons Just as good?

by Anonymousreply 29November 15, 2023 2:21 PM

Glenn Close plays the scariest character I"ve ever seen on tv. And I actually loved the ending.

by Anonymousreply 30November 15, 2023 3:50 PM

Cape Fear (1991) by Martin Scorsese. It is a remake, but damn it is good!

With an amazing cast- Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange, Juliette Lewis, Joe Don Baker, Robert Mitchum, Fred Dalton Thompson, Martin Balsam, and Gregory Peck

by Anonymousreply 31November 15, 2023 4:03 PM

A Simple Plan was a good book turned into a movie.

by Anonymousreply 32November 15, 2023 4:16 PM

R32 great choice

by Anonymousreply 33November 15, 2023 11:37 PM

If you like Costa-Gavras, try Z, Missing, The Music Box or Betrayed.

by Anonymousreply 34November 16, 2023 8:34 PM

Manhunter with William Petersen. From 1986, with Brian Cox as Hannibal Lecktor.

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by Anonymousreply 35November 17, 2023 2:05 AM

Seance on a Wet Afternoon

by Anonymousreply 36November 17, 2023 2:06 AM

Apartment Zero

Hart Bochner & Colin Firth

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by Anonymousreply 37November 17, 2023 2:16 AM

R36 sounds kinky, I’m in!

by Anonymousreply 38November 17, 2023 2:37 AM

[quote]I just remembered Black Widow

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by Anonymousreply 39November 17, 2023 2:45 AM

If anyone is going to watch or re-watch "Arlington Road," being inspired by DLers, pay close attention to all the (adult) characters. There's one at the very end who should really make you think.

by Anonymousreply 40November 18, 2023 5:36 PM

About to re-watch the Meryl Streep--Roy Scheider suspense "Still of the Night."

Which reminds me:

"Marathon Man." (Dustin Hoffman, Scheider, Olivier)

"The Day of the Jackal." (Edward Fox)

"Dial 'M' For Murder." (Ray Milland, Grace Kelly)

"Double Indemnity." (McMurray, Stanwyck, Edward G. Robinson)

"The Two Mrs. Carrolls." (Bogart, Stanwyck)

"Midnight Lace." (Doris Day, Rex Harrison)

"Topaz." (Hitchcock)

by Anonymousreply 41November 18, 2023 5:53 PM

R40 the Boy Scout leader?

by Anonymousreply 42November 18, 2023 5:57 PM

Great trilogy Thanksgiving Friday night on TCM:

8:00 p.m.---"Wait Until Dark."

10:00 p.m.---"Gaslight."

Midnight (!)---"Midnight Lace."

Not telling, r42! 😇

by Anonymousreply 43November 18, 2023 6:02 PM

L'Appartement, remade as Wicker Park.

The Talented Mr Ripley - Phillip Seymour Hoffman should have had a best supporting actor nom for that AND Magnolia in the same year

The Mothman Prophecies was creepy as fuck - plenty of gasps in the cinema

Panic Room

by Anonymousreply 44November 18, 2023 6:10 PM

R44 how’s the peeping, Tommy? How’s the peeping?

by Anonymousreply 45November 18, 2023 6:12 PM

The Woodsman, with Kevin Bacon and Kyra Sedgwick and a side of Benjamin Bratt. Creepy and disturbing, but with a happy ending.

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by Anonymousreply 46November 18, 2023 6:24 PM

The scene always reminded me of The Silence Of The Lambs where Clarice is in Jame Gumb's house and she realises who he is and he smiles and drops the cards, knowing she knows.

Matt Damon's smile is the same.

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by Anonymousreply 47November 18, 2023 6:25 PM

Along Came a Spider

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by Anonymousreply 48November 18, 2023 6:27 PM

Ruth Rendell/Barbara Vine rarely disappoints.

An early 90s BBC A Fatal Inversion was fantastic and if memory recalls had a shirtless if not full frontal Jeremy Northam.

by Anonymousreply 49November 18, 2023 6:34 PM

Eye of the Needle with Donald Sutherland.

I rarely smoke pot, but I was stoned and paranoid when watching it. At the same time, I was also immersed in the movie.

by Anonymousreply 50November 18, 2023 6:38 PM

I forgot about Eye of the Needle. The movie was as good as the book and Sutherland was great. Thanks, R50.

by Anonymousreply 51November 19, 2023 2:34 AM

Affliction — Nick nolte A simple plan - bill Paxton , Bridget Fonda , Billy Bob whatever Before the devil knows you’re dead — masterpiece to me ….. watched it many times Philip Seymour Hoffman Ethan hawke Albert finney Marisa tomei George Costanza

by Anonymousreply 52November 19, 2023 4:23 AM

Match Point

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by Anonymousreply 53November 19, 2023 7:26 AM

I'd forgotten about Match Point R53

I went to it knowing very little about it and it was very entertaining with all the twists

by Anonymousreply 54November 19, 2023 9:00 AM

Can't believe some of you praise homophobic trash like "No Way Out"

by Anonymousreply 55November 19, 2023 10:29 AM

Lady Beware manages the trick of making Pittsburgh seem sexy

by Anonymousreply 56November 19, 2023 10:30 AM

Apartment Zero wins this category

by Anonymousreply 57November 19, 2023 10:30 AM

Has DEAD CALM!

Sam Neill at his most beautiful and Billy Zane at his most naked.

Imagine a gay remake.

Richard Madden as Sam Neill, the sun damaged skipper taking his twink husband on a sailing trip to get over the death of their child, born to a surrogate

Froy as the twink husband

Brandon Flynn as the psychotic shipwreck victim they find with a dark secret, who it turns out killed the cast and crew of Dawson's Big Sea Adventure.

by Anonymousreply 58November 19, 2023 12:21 PM

Love all of these and I've seen many of them. Two of my favorites were Jagged Edge, and Mortal Thoughts. A lot of people are not aware of Mortal thoughts. Find it. Watch it. This was back when Demi Moore was married to Bruce Willis. Harvey Keitel was in it. And Jagged Edge?Jeff Bridges in his Prime. What can I say!

Here's my contribution: Klute.

by Anonymousreply 59November 19, 2023 2:30 PM

I remember the first time I saw Wait Until Dark with blind Audrey Hepburn, and I was a nervous wreck.

by Anonymousreply 60November 19, 2023 2:33 PM

A number of the Mamets, but Oleanna is the best/worst. If your skin isn't crawling while you're watching this, you're not paying attention.

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by Anonymousreply 61November 19, 2023 2:51 PM

Korea makes great thrillers. Memories of Murder and The Chaser are my favorites.

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by Anonymousreply 62November 19, 2023 4:12 PM

House of Games. Joe Mantegna and Lindsay Crouse. Excellent thriller.

by Anonymousreply 63November 19, 2023 4:21 PM

I don’t really like Anna Kendrick or Blake Lively, but a friend dragged me to A Simple Favor and it was pretty good.

by Anonymousreply 64November 19, 2023 4:23 PM

Yes, I enjoyed A Simple Favour, especially with Henry Golding.

by Anonymousreply 65November 19, 2023 4:46 PM

LOVE A Simple Favour- It was supposed to have a sequel-

I hope that this is still happening

by Anonymousreply 66November 19, 2023 4:57 PM

Looking for Mr. Goodbar

Suspect Zero

by Anonymousreply 67November 19, 2023 5:34 PM

Apartment Zero with Hart Bochner as the American mercenary turned serial killer and Colin Firth as the repressed neurotic cinema owner who falls in love with him, all set in the ruins of post-Malvinas anglophone Buenos Aires, is just amazing. Hart Bochner redefines sexy.

by Anonymousreply 68November 19, 2023 6:53 PM

Live IDF conference reporting that Noa Marciano, the 19 year old hostage, was being held hostage in a building next to the hospital. She was wounded in an airstrike where her captor was killed and she was then taken to the hospital where she was executed.

They're now showing CCTV from inside the hospital on October 7th showing hostages from Thailand and Nepal taken into the hospital. There are medical staff everywhere when the hostages were taken in. There's also footage of the vehicles used to kidnap hostages in Israel filmed at the hospital that morning.

by Anonymousreply 69November 19, 2023 7:00 PM

R69 I'm assuming you have the wrong thread?

by Anonymousreply 70November 19, 2023 7:03 PM

thanks R70, yes it was the wrong thread.

No doubt someone is developing a thriller based on the Hamas attacks on Kibbutzim and Nova festival.

Mark Ruffalo plays a father who rushes to the site of the Nova rave to rescue his daughter only to find out it's a false flag attack orchestrated by Netanyahu (Mel Gibson) and works with Christiane Amanpour (Susan Sarandon) to uncover the truth.

by Anonymousreply 71November 19, 2023 7:19 PM

Malice with Alec Baldwin, Nicole Kidman and Bill Pullman. It's an excellent, but underrated thriller

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by Anonymousreply 72November 19, 2023 7:38 PM

"Primal Fear." (Richard Gere, Ed Norton)

by Anonymousreply 73November 21, 2023 12:52 AM

"Presumed Innocent." (Harrison Ford)

Same for a number of other HF thrillers: "Firewall"; "The Devil's Own"; "Patriot Games"; "The Fugitive."

by Anonymousreply 74November 21, 2023 8:28 AM

What Lies Beneath!

by Anonymousreply 75November 21, 2023 8:32 AM

R41 here, to add:

"A Perfect Murder." (Michael Douglas, Gwyneth Paltrow)

"Sleuth." (Olivier, Caine)

"The Statement." (Caine)

"Flawless." (Caine)

"The Odessa File." (Voight)

"Reservation Road." (Ruffalo, Phoenix)

by Anonymousreply 76November 21, 2023 9:10 AM

Brian De Palma’s Sisters was creepy AF.

by Anonymousreply 77November 21, 2023 9:23 AM

Mark Ruffalo running through war torn Palestine to get his child’s binkie.

by Anonymousreply 78November 21, 2023 9:29 AM

Been there done that R78 - see R71

by Anonymousreply 79November 21, 2023 9:39 AM

"Suspect Zero." (Eckhart, Kingsley)

by Anonymousreply 80November 21, 2023 11:07 AM

[quote]Manhunter with William Petersen. From 1986, with Brian Cox as Hannibal Lecktor.

Oh, dear.

It's Lecter.

by Anonymousreply 81November 21, 2023 11:51 AM

Oh, dear, R81.

Brian Cox played Hannibal LECKTOR in Manhunter.

It was spelt Lecter in Red Dragon novel and Lecktor in the Manhunter movie adaptation.

Hand in your superior queen card now.

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by Anonymousreply 82November 21, 2023 12:00 PM

I'm now watching a terrific medical thriller with Hugh Grant and Gene Hackman :

"Extreme Measures."

This thread is awesome!

by Anonymousreply 83November 21, 2023 1:10 PM

Amen for Suspect Zero and A Perfect Murder. Loved Primal Fear, too. I want to add Jagged Edge with Jeff Bridges and Glenn Close.

R76 is The Statement about a war criminal in hiding? Charlotte Rampling? Great movie.

by Anonymousreply 84November 21, 2023 5:22 PM

Does Sigourney Weaver's movie, Copycat qualify as a psychological thriller? I enjoyed it very much.

by Anonymousreply 85November 21, 2023 5:23 PM

Yes, R83, I agree! Great thread.

by Anonymousreply 86November 21, 2023 5:23 PM

R84, Oh, the terrific "Jagged Edge" has been given its due here!

I watched it again yesterday. I thought of what a (different) twist it would have been for the killer to be Robert Loggia's character, or the Casanova tennis coach.

I've mentioned so many movies already, but one more won't hurt:

"Child 44." (Tom Hardy)

by Anonymousreply 87November 21, 2023 5:42 PM

R74, here's an interesting sidebar about Harrison Ford: Presumed Innocent was filmed in Detroit and the surrounding area, and before filming commenced, Harrison Ford came to Detroit incognito and hung out in the Wayne County Prosecutor's office with the assistant prosecutors for a couple of weeks.

I had a chance to meet him when they started filming, he is the most ordinary, nondescript guy. You could walk right passed him and not realize it's him. And he is not as tall as I thought. Also very nice guy. Very down to earth and kind. Also met Brian Dennehy and Paul WInfield. Brian was a storyteller. He loved to talk and was very knowledgeable about all kinds of stuff. Very enjoyable. The kind of guy you could sit with in a bar or a pub and drink and tell stories all night. Winfield was painfully shy and not much of a talker.

by Anonymousreply 88November 21, 2023 5:55 PM

R87, I loved Robert Loggia!

by Anonymousreply 89November 21, 2023 5:56 PM

I'm creating quite a list of movies to watch from this thread. Thanks everyone, especially the OP!

by Anonymousreply 90November 22, 2023 12:05 AM

R89, Moi aussi! And have since "T.H.E. Cat"!

by Anonymousreply 91November 22, 2023 4:41 AM

The "Blank Check" podcast is on their David Fincher series and have been more enthusiastic (rightly IMO) about Zodiac, Girl With The Dragon Tattoo, and Gone Girl, than about Seven and Fight Club, which seem to be more popular. All great thriller adjacent movies. I think Zodiac is the best of it's kind since Silence of the Lambs, although it's more of a newspaper/police movie.

by Anonymousreply 92November 22, 2023 5:18 AM

R42, r40 here. Apparently for decades I have been under the misapprehension that the car-crashed girlfriend and the interviewed student ("Ponytail Girl") were the same person, and thus the GF was a terrorist. And more than a few others had this notion, too! But no.

Two different characters, two different actresses (Hope Davis, Jennie/Jenni Tooley)!

Ponytail Girl student WAS a terrorist plant in Faraday's class, though.

Sorry to have misled you.

by Anonymousreply 93November 22, 2023 9:52 AM

Aesthetically ZODIAC is sublime. As an actual movie, it cures insomnia.

by Anonymousreply 94November 22, 2023 10:52 AM

10:00 p.m., TCM:

"The Parallax View." (Warren Beatty)

by Anonymousreply 95November 23, 2023 12:42 AM

Murder in the First, Whispers in the Dark, Eyewitness.

by Anonymousreply 96November 28, 2023 4:55 PM

“My Big Fat Greek Fisting 3” was an edge of the seat thriller, in my book!

by Anonymousreply 97November 30, 2023 10:01 PM
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