The Best Psychological Thrillers to Stream Now

Psychological thrillers blend elements of horror, drama and suspense, creating stories that can be both heart-stopping and captivating.

Whether you’re getting inside the head of a killer like in The Silence of the Lambs, figuring out who is lying like in The Woman in the Window or tracking down a real-life serial killer like in Boston Strangler, psychological thrillers can offer up gripping stories — all from the safety of your home.

Between the major streaming platforms — including Netflix, Hulu, Max, Amazon Prime Video, Paramount+ and Peacock — viewers have tons of choices for a psychological thrill: some lean toward horror, others are heart-wrenching dramas and some have more twists and turns than a long-running soap opera.

Here’s your guide to the best psychological thrillers streaming right now.

Netflix

Black Swan

Natalie Portman in Black Swan, 2010.
Fox Searchlight/Kobal/Shutterstock

In this 2010 psychological thriller, Natalie Portman gracefully steps into the pointe shoes of a dedicated ballerina named Nina. When the lead dancer retires — leaving the lead role in Tchaikovsky’s Swan Lake up for grabs — the company’s artistic director (Vincent Cassel) seeks someone to portray both the innocent White Swan and the seductive Black Swan. Nina, ideal for the former role, finds her match in her enigmatic rival Lily (Mila Kunis), igniting a corrupt friendship as her mind descends into a dark spiral.

Watch Black Swan on Netflix

Leave the World Behind

Mahershela Ali, Myha’la Herrold, Julia Roberts and Ethan Hawke in Leave the World Behind, 2023.

Jojo Whilden/NETFLIX

From writer, director and producer Sam Esmail (Mr. Robot), Leave the World Behind follows a married couple (Julia Roberts, Ethan Hawke) and their teenagers (Farrah Mackenzie, Charlie Evans) as they enjoy a family vacation in a lavish Long Island rental home. However, their getaway takes a twist when the homeowners (Mahershala Ali, Myha’la Herrold) return after escaping a peculiar N.Y.C. blackout. Subsequent cyberattacks wipe out their devices and the collapse of the world nears, which triggers a breakdown in the physical and mental well-being of both families.

Watch Leave the World Behind on Netflix on Dec. 8

Fair Play

Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor in Fair Play, 2023.

Sergej Radovic/Netflix

Financial analysts Emily Meyers (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke Edmunds (Alden Ehrenreich) find themselves in a hidden romance within their shared workplace: a high-pressure Manhattan hedge fund office. However, when Emily secures a promotion that Luke coveted, their relationship is strained to its limits.

Watch Fair Play on Netflix

Get Out

Allison Williams and Daniel Kaluuya in Get Out, 2017.
Moviestore/Shutterstock

Ready to go to the Sunken Place? Jordan Peele’s 2017 directorial debut, Get Out, explores issues of racism and bigotry as it follows a Black man (Daniel Kaluuya) in an interracial relationship who learns his white girlfriend’s (Allison Williams) family has a malicious ulterior motive masked by feigned acceptance.

Watch Get Out on Netflix

Us

Evan Alex, Lupita Nyong’o and Shahadi Wright Joseph in Us, 2019.

Universal/Moviestore/Shutterstock

As Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong’o) and her family (Winston Duke, Shahadi Wright Joseph, Evan Alex) escape to their summer retreat, sinister dopplegängers appear on their doorstep with a vendetta. Loaded with symbolic imagery, this 2019 thriller is a cinematic puzzle that might require a rewatch, inviting you to unpack the brilliance of Jordan Peele’s directorial genius.  

Watch Us on Netflix

Gerald’s Game

Gerald’s Game.

Netflix

In this Mike Flanagan-directed psychological horror adapted from a Stephen King novel, Jessie (Carla Gugino) and Gerald Burlingame (Bruce Greenwood) travel to a secluded Alabama lake house to reignite the spark in their marriage. However, when their foreplay takes a fatal turn with Gerald’s sudden death, Jessie — shackled to the bed without a key — has to summon every ounce of strength to survive, all while dealing with her inner demons.

Watch Gerald’s Game on Netflix

The Watcher

Eric Liebowitz/Netflix

Released as a miniseries in 2022 and loosely based on a true story in New Jersey, The Watcher follows a family after they move into their dream home, only to discover they’re being stalked. But it’s unclear who the culprit is … or if the family is lying. The series had a fantastic cast, including Naomi Watts, Bobby Cannavale, Jennifer Coolidge and Mia Farrow.

Watch The Watcher on Netflix

The True Story Behind Netflix’s The Watcher

Missing

Sony Pictures Entertainment/Courtesy Everett

Missing (2023) is a standalone sequel to the 2018 hit Searching. In the film, a daughter (Euphoria’s Storm Reid) searches for her mother after she fails to return from a vacation to South America. The entire movie is shown through laptops, phones and security footage, and it’s never clear who the audience can trust.

Watch Missing on Netflix

Nocturnal Animals

Merrick Morton/Focus Features

Nocturnal Animals (2016), based on the 1993 novel Tony and Susan, follows Susan Morrow (Amy Adams), a woman who receives a novel manuscript from her ex-husband, Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal). The film depicts often violent and abusive scenes from the novel, and as the film goes on, the line between reality and the novel gets blurred, and Susan is forced to reconcile with the fact that the character in the book might actually be based on her.

Watch Nocturnal Animals on Netflix

The Woman in the Window

Netflix

When recluse Anna Fox (Amy Adams) gets new neighbors across the street, she begins spying on them through her window — and witnesses a horrific crime occur in their living room.  A series of twists and turns keeps viewers on their toes until the very end. Joining Adams in the film are Julianne Moore, Gary Oldman and Anthony Mackie, among others.

Watch The Woman in the Window on Netflix

Circle

Votiv Films

In 2015’s surprise indie hit Circle, 50 people wake up in a mysterious dark room, arranged in a circle. They discover that someone will die every two minutes — but they can choose who dies by voting. Race, religion and personal biases all factor into how the group votes, showing what humans could become in the worst of scenarios.

Watch Circle on Netflix

1922

Amazon Studios

Based on Stephen King’s novella of the same name, Netflix’s 1922 is a mix of psychological horror and drama. In the film, Wilf (Thomas Jane) convinces his son to help murder his wife after hearing she wants to sell their family farm and move to the city. After the murder, Wilf’s life crumbles under his own guilt and the trauma of his actions, leaving audiences to wonder if he’s still a villain … or now a victim.

Watch 1922 on Netflix

The Weekend Away

Ivan Sardi/Netflix

A girls’ trip to Croatia goes horribly wrong when Beth’s (Leighton Meester) best friend goes missing. She must put the pieces together quickly, and each clue reveals more sinister information. With tons of shady suspects and twists and turns at every corner, this thriller will make viewers think twice about booking a vacation with their bestie.

Watch The Weekend Away on Netflix

Hulu

Appendage

Brandon Mychal Smith in Appendage.

Courtesy of Hulu

Meet Hannah (Hadley Robinson), a young fashion designer dealing with the strangest accessory of all: the appendage. This monstrous growth becomes the physical manifestation of her relentless self-doubt, which worsens her health and amplifies her anxieties within her professional and personal life — proving that imposter syndrome is a deadly disease.

Watch Appendage on Hulu

Swallow

Swallow, 2019.

Charades/IFC Films/Kobal/Shutterstock

Despite seeming to have everything one could wish for, housewife Hunter (Haley Bennett) struggles with acclimating to her opulent life within a grand New York mansion. In an attempt to reclaim a sense of control, Hunter begins compulsively eating inedible objects, pushing her boundaries to discover the limits of what she can devour.

Watch Swallow on Hulu

Clock

Courtesy of Hulu

In 2023’s Clock, Dianna Agron plays Ella Patel, whose family and friends convince her to have a child before she gets too old. Unable to become pregnant, Ella undergoes an experimental procedure that produces horrible hallucinations and volatile behavior. Throughout the film, Ella must grapple with the pressures that society and her religion place on women to be nothing more than mothers.

Watch Clock on Hulu

Boston Strangler

20th Century Studios

The unbelievable true story of the Boston Strangler case is chronicled in Hulu’s 2023 film starring Keira Knightley. Knightley plays journalist Loretta McLaughlin, who is desperately trying to track down the person responsible for 13 murders in just a decade. But with unreliable informants, potential accomplices and the possibility of copycat killings, audiences are left guessing until the very end.

Watch Boston Strangler on Hulu

Run

Allen Fraser

In Run (2020), Chloe is a teenager who uses a wheelchair as a result of her numerous health ailments. After she discovers a dark secret about her own past, Chloe learns just how much of her life has been controlled and ruined by her manipulative mother (Sarah Paulson), who refuses to let her go.

Watch Run on Hulu

Candy

Tina Rowden/Hulu

In 1980, Candy Montgomery (Jessica Biel) was accused of killing her best friend, Betty Gore (Melanie Lynskey), by striking her with an ax 41 times. Montgomery claims it was self-defense, but the evidence proves otherwise. Hulu’s miniseries takes viewers inside Montgomery’s mind to explain why and how she might have killed her best friend.

Watch Candy on Hulu

The Clearing

Narelle Portanier/Hulu

In the 2023 miniseries The Clearing, a woman tries to stop a cult from killing a missing girl, but to do so, she must confront her inner demons and examine her own upbringing in a cult. The series is loaded with suspense and puts a psychological twist on the crime thriller genre. Leading the cast are Teresa Palmer, Miranda Otto and Guy Pearce.

Watch The Clearing on Hulu

Amazon Prime Video

Smile

Smile.

Paramount Pictures/Courtesy Everett

After Dr. Rose Cotter (Sosie Bacon) witnesses one of her patients kill herself with an eerie grin, possessed by a soul-snatching spirit, she finds herself in the same inexplicable ordeal she was warned about. Battling disbelief from those around her, Rose fights to avoid the same fate and confronts her traumatic past to ensure her survival.

Watch Smile on Amazon Prime Video

Inside

Wolfgang Ennenbach / Focus Features / Courtesy Everett

Willem Dafoe stars in Inside (2023), a thriller about a thief who gets trapped in an opulent Manhattan apartment mid-burglary. As his physical health and sanity deteriorate, he begins to have hallucinations and questions if he might die. The movie is claustrophobic and suspenseful, showcasing Dafoe’s acting talent.

Watch Inside on Amazon Prime Video

Promising Young Woman

Promising Young Woman, 2020.

Merie Weismiller Wallace/Focus Features/THA/Shutterstock

Emerald Fennell’s directorial debut — which snagged her an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay — follows Cassie (Carey Mulligan), a med school dropout who orchestrates her own form of justice: playing the drunken damsel at nightclubs to expose predatory men. Reconnecting with a former classmate, Ryan (Bo Burnham), Cassie’s journey takes a dark twist as she takes revenge on those who’ve wronged her best friend. Wrapped in a candy-colored palette and accompanied by a bubblegum soundtrack, Promising Young Woman weaves a dark feminist tale with unexpected twists, and features exceptional performances from Mulligan, Burnham, Alison Brie, Chris Lowell, Jennifer Coolidge and more.

Watch Promising Young Woman on Amazon Prime Video

Dead Ringers

Niko Tavernise/Prime Video

In a gender-swapped reimagining of the iconic 1988 film led by Jeremy Irons, Rachel Weisz takes the reins as brilliant twin gynecologists, Beverly and Elliot Mantle. With ambitions to revolutionize women’s healthcare through a pioneering birthing center, their journey spirals into a haze of drug-induced malpractice and ethical gray areas while on the clock.

Watch Dead Ringers on Amazon Prime Video

Homecoming

Tod Campbell/Amazon Prime Video

In season 1 of Homecoming, the Homecoming Transitional Support Center offers a place for soldiers with PTSD to heal and readjust to the civilian world. But in helping these soldiers, the facility has another, darker goal, unbeknownst to its patients. Julia Roberts leads a fantastic cast that includes Dermot Mulroney, Stephan James and Sissy Spacek.

Watch Homecoming on Amazon Prime Video

We Need to Talk About Kevin

BBC Films/Kobal/Shutterstock

We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011) centers on Eva (Tilda Swinton), a mother struggling to cope following a mass murder committed by her son, Kevin (Ezra Miller). Kevin seems incapable of emotion and appears to feel no remorse for the killings.

Watch We Need to Talk About Kevin on Amazon Prime Video

Nope

Universal Pictures

Through an alien who feeds on earthlings, Jordan Peele’s 2022 hit Nope tackles exploitation, spectacle and whether wild animals can never be truly tamed. This is a horror movie with Western vibes and a psychological thriller that forces you to think. For Nope, Peele teamed up with Get Out lead Daniel Kaluuya, who stars alongside Keke Palmer.

Watch Nope on Amazon Prime Video

Jordan Peele Teases Possible Nope Sequel: ‘We’re Not Over Telling All of These Stories’

Black Box

Amazon Studios

After surviving a deadly car accident, a widower (Mamoudou Athie) receives an experimental treatment meant to bring back memories and improve his concentration. But the procedure is not what he expected, and everything he believes to be real is turned upside down. The film premiered in 2020 as part of Prime Video’s Welcome to the Blumhouse anthology film series.

Watch Black Box on Amazon Prime Video

Knock at the Cabin

Phobymo/Universal Pictures

M. Night Shyamalan shared his vision of the apocalypse in Knock at the Cabin (2023). In the film, four strangers appear at a remote cabin to tell two fathers and their daughter that one of them must die to prevent the apocalypse. Watching the family struggle with the monumental decision turns the film into much more than just a horror movie: It’s also deeply emotional and thought-provoking. The film stars Dave Bautista, Rupert Grint, Ben Aldridge and Jonathan Groff.

Watch Knock at the Cabin on Amazon Prime Video

Max

The Silence of the Lambs

Ken Regan/Orion/Kobal/Shutterstock 

Considered by many to be the quintessential psychological thriller, The Silence of the Lambs (1991) follows FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) as she interviews the notorious serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) about another active killer, Buffalo Bill, still on the loose. Clarice must figure out who and where Buffalo Bill is through Lecter — who has sinister motivations of his own.

Watch The Silence of the Lambs on Max

The Outsider

Bob Mahoney/HBO

In the 2021 miniseries The Outsider, a murder in a small town has everyone on edge. Even more confusing is that, despite there being ample evidence placing Terry Maitland (Jason Bateman) as the killer, there’s also plenty of evidence proving he’s innocent. The police and town grapple with a murder that doesn’t make sense — and consider that supernatural forces may be at play. Bateman is joined in the cast by Ben Mendelsohn and Cynthia Erivo, among others.

Watch The Outsider on Max

Gone Girl

Merrick Morton/20th Century Fox/Regency/Kobal/Shutterstock

The 2014 adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s best-selling novel stars Ben Affleck as Nick Dunne, a writer accused of the murder of his wife (Rosamund Pike). Despite his claiming innocence, his apparent apathy toward her disappearance is alarming to the public, pushing him further into the spotlight. Gone Girl was critically acclaimed, garnering nominations for a slew of awards, including Pike for an Oscar and director David Fincher for a Golden Globe. 

Watch Gone Girl on Max

Don’t Worry Darling

Warner Bros.

On top of its dramatic press cycle, 2022’s Don’t Worry Darling was also a gripping psychological thriller. In Victory, Calif., men go to work while their wives live a life of leisure and tend to their homes, chatting with friends over lunch. But as the film goes on, Alice Chambers (Florence Pugh) becomes suspicious of her idyllic lifestyle and discovers a sinister secret — showing that Victory is anything but ideal. Pugh stars alongside Harry Styles, Olivia Wilde (who also directed) and Chris Pine.

Watch Don’t Worry Darling on Max

Peacock

Donnie Darko

Jake Gyllenhaal in Donnie Darko.

Newmarket Releasing/Courtesy Everett Collection

In Richard Kelly’s cult classic, teenager Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) begins to slip in and out of a space-time disturbance. A mysterious rabbit figure tells him the world is ending, and Donnie narrowly escapes death — for the time being. The indie film’s cast includes Jake’s sister Maggie Gyllenhaal, Drew Barrymore and Patrick Swayze.

Watch Donnie Darko on Peacock

The Black Phone

Universal Pictures / Courtesy Everett

From the same creative team as Sinister (2012), The Black Phone (2021) uses a totally different type of horror to scare viewers. After a teenager is kidnapped and locked in a basement, he speaks to other victims over a black rotary phone — one of the only objects in the room. Ethan Hawke stars as the kidnapper (known as the Grabber) and creates one of the creepiest villains in modern horror. The Grabber’s motivations remain unclear, loading the movie with nonstop tension.

Watch The Black Phone on Peacock

The Invisible Man

Universal Pictures

Adapted from the classic H.G. Wells short story of the same name, The Invisible Man (2020) is a traditional thriller with a few major twists. With a suit that allows the wearer to become invisible, scientist Adrian Griffin uses the technology to terrorize his ex, Cecilia (Elisabeth Moss). To get her life back, Cecilia must find out who is stalking her and how to stop them.

Watch The Invisible Man on Peacock

You Should Have Left

Universal

Kevin Bacon and Amanda Seyfried costar in this 2020 psychological horror film. It follows an odd couple — retired banker Theo and his much younger wife Susanna — as they vacation in Wales with their daughter in an attempt to fix their relationship. However, nothing is quite like it seems; Theo was accused of murdering his first wife (though the charges were dropped), and their vacation house has an equally dark and creepy past.

Watch You Should Have Left on Peacock

The Sacrament

AJ Bowen in ‘The Sacrament’.

Magnet Releasing

Heavily inspired by the Jonestown cult and its infamous 1978 massacre, The Sacrament (2013) follows a film crew as they visit Eden Parish, a remote, utopian commune led by an enigmatic leader known as Father. When the film crew threatens Father’s control, he commands all his followers to drink poison. As with the actual Jonestown story, the scariest parts of the massacre aren’t the deaths themselves but the psychology behind them. Produced by horror maestro Eli Roth and written and directed by Ti West, the movie is sure to disturb even the most hardened thriller fans.

Watch The Sacrament on Peacock

Paramount+

10 Cloverfield Lane

Paramount

Unlike the original Cloverfield (2008), which was full of monster madness, its sequel 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016) took more of a psychological horror approach. After she wakes up in a bunker, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) discovers she’s been taken there by a man (John Goodman), who claims that the U.S. has been invaded. But Michelle sees very little proof and plans an escape. 

Watch 10 Cloverfield Lane on Paramount+

Red Eye

DreamWorks LLC/Kobal/Shutterstock

In Wes Craven’s Red Eye (2005), hotel manager Lisa Reisert (Rachel McAdams) finds herself embroiled in a high-stakes assassination plot when she meets a winsome yet menacing Jackson Rippner (Cillian Murphy) during a red-eye flight to Miami. As Jackson holds Lisa’s father hostage, he coerces her to aid in his plan by reassigning the target’s hotel room, leaving her with a moral dilemma between saving her dad or preventing a terrorist act — all while 30,000 feet above the ground.

Watch Red Eye on Paramount+

Shutter Island

Leonardo DiCaprio and Michelle Williams in ‘Shutter Island’.

Andrew Cooper/Paramount

The 2010 blockbuster hit Shutter Island, directed by Martin Scorsese, stars Leonardo DiCaprio as a U.S. marshal who travels to a psychiatric hospital for criminals located in the middle of Boston Harbor to search for a missing patient. But the hospital is not what it seems, and the movie is loaded with twists.

Watch Shutter Island on Paramount+

The Machinist

Christian Bale in The Machinist.

Paramount Classics

In 2004’s The Machinist, Christian Bale stars as Trevor, a factory worker who suffers from severe insomnia and hasn’t slept in a year. After Trevor causes an on-the-job accident, he begins having hallucinations and becomes paranoid that his co-workers are out to get him. Not even viewers will know what is real in this gripping psychological thriller, which Bale famously lost more than 63 lbs for.

Watch The Machinist on Paramount+

Significant Other

Allyson Riggs/Paramount+

In 2022’s Significant Other, invading aliens begin harvesting humans and taking their shape. Their first target before launching a full-blown invasion is a couple hiking in the woods. It’s impossible to know who is real and who is a decoy in this wildly trippy ride. The film stars Maika Monroe and Emmy nominee Jake Lacy.

Watch Significant Other on Paramount+

Basic Instinct

StudioCanal/Shutterstock 

The controversial film Basic Instinct (1992) was a career-defining project for Sharon Stone, who plays novelist Catherine Tramell. She is the prime suspect in her boyfriend’s murder, but as someone who knows how to tell a story, it’s impossible to deduce whether Catherine is telling the truth or trapping detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas) in a web of lies.

Watch Basic Instinct on Paramount+

Fatal Attraction

Monty Brinton/Paramount+

In 2023, Paramount+ reinvented the hit 1987 thriller Fatal Attraction as a series starring Lizzy Caplan and Joshua Jackson. In the show, an affair turns deadly when Alex (Caplan) refuses to let her married lover (Jackson) break things off. Alex is willing to do anything to keep the relationship alive, including manipulation, deceit and even murder.

Watch Fatal Attraction on Paramount+

Disney+

WandaVision

Marvel Studios

Elizabeth Olsen and Paul Bettany reprised their roles as Avengers Wanda Maximoff and Vision in the 2020 miniseries WandaVision. In the series, Wanda and Vision live the perfect suburban life — or so they think. The walls of reality begin to blur, and the couple realize they’re in danger. Also in the cast was Kathryn Hahn, who stole the show as audience favorite Agatha Harkness.

Watch WandaVision on Disney+

Elizabeth Olsen Says WandaVision Won’t Have a Second Season: ‘It Is a Limited Series’

Moon Knight

Disney+/Courtesy Everett 

The 2022 series Moon Knight was notable for taking a much darker tone than other Marvel productions. It follows Steven Grant (Oscar Isaac), a gift shop employee who realizes he has an alter ego, Marc Spector, a mercenary with connections to Egyptian gods. On top of being an action-packed series, the show is one of the most unique Marvel entities to date.

Watch Moon Knight on Disney+

Werewolf by Night

Disney+/Courtesy Everett 

Werewolf by Night is a standalone Marvel special centered on a group of monster hunters gathered at a castle, all hoping to gain possession of a rare and powerful gem. However, many in the competition aren’t who they seem to be. Leading the cast is Gael García Bernal, best known for his Golden Globe-winning performance on Mozart in the Jungle.

Watch Werewolf by Night on Disney+

Categories: Trends
Source: HIS Education