The 15 Best Psychological Thrillers On Netflix

Some genre films in the horror and thriller space are blood-soaked plates full of empty calories; they shock and awe the audience with jump scares and severed limbs, then vacate the mind as soon as the end credits begin. These kinds of films are often awesome. But they're not what we're talking about today.

We're talking about the psychological thriller, a kind of film that gets under the skin and fulfills its genre contract with the audience by deepening the relationship between the character's interior life and their exterior circumstances. These movies' set pieces of suspense and terror come from some familiar pieces of thriller and horror storytelling — a serial killer here, a disturbed person there — but multiply in efficacy because of what they say about their characters' psychological state of being.

If you're looking for a great, streaming slate of these kinds of elevated yet spooky flicks, we've got your back. Check out the 15 best psychological thrillers on Netflix right now. Just, um, double-check all your doors are locked before you do.

Playing in some ways like a particularly prurient sequel to anime classic "Perfect Blue" or an Internet-soaked reboot of "Mulholland Drive," "Cam" is a surreal, reality-bending horror-thriller that dives headfirst into our queasy, oft-commodified relationship with the World Wide Web.

Madeline Brewer plays Alice, a camgirl who performs boundary-blurring sex acts on camera, using modern society's pornographic obsessions with "barely legal" content and sexual violence to her advantage. But when a mysterious doppelganger called "Lola" starts invading Alice's life, somehow stealing access to her account and clients, everything starts to fall apart in spectacular fashion.

"Cam" is provocative and salacious, no doubt, but is more interested in a slow-burning build of dread, tension, and suspense predicated on our relationship with the uncanny valley. As the idea of "truth" online gets further blurred with things like catfishing, misinformation, and AI, "Cam" remains equal parts relevant and horrifying. It's a wonderful debut for director Daniel Goldhaber and screenwriter Isa Mazzei, who went on to collaborate on 2022's "How to Blow Up a Pipeline."

In the 1960s, psychologist Stanley Milgram conducted a study where oblivious participants electrocuted people who couldn't answer questions correctly. The shocks were fake, but if they were real, they would've been fatal, and many of the participants followed these "deadly" instructions even after vocally protesting. It was a startling and revelatory experiment on the overwhelming effect of obedience.

Craig Zobel's controversial 2012 film "Compliance" takes this idea and barrels toward grim, excruciating conclusions (made even more grim when you know they're based on a real-life incident). Ann Dowd plays the manager of a fast-food restaurant who receives a phone call from an alleged police officer (Pat Healy). This officer offers no proof of his authority, but the suggestion of his authority is enough.

He manipulates Dowd's manager into detaining and interrogating a young employee, played by Dreama Walker. Where the film goes from there is degrading, infuriating, and psychologically disturbing. It's a tough watch, but an elucidating one.

Similarities between the controversial "Silence of the Lambs" and "Se7en" echo throughout "Copycat" (originally released just one month after "Se7en"), though when you learn its high-concept hook, you might appreciate these similarities as metatextual levels of thematic irony.

Dr. Helen Hudson (Sigourney Weaver) is a criminal psychologist and expert on serial killers. She's also a severe agoraphobe, living her life solely in her high-tech house after an escaped prisoner (Harry Connick Jr.) attacked her. But a series of serial murders sparks detective M.J. Monahan (Holly Hunter) to seek out Dr. Hudson's expertise. And when Dr. Hudson learns this killer is a copycat of other famous killers, from Ted Bundy to the Son of Sam, she becomes newly, and perhaps dangerously, inspired.

I love the "1990s gritty crime thriller" more than most genres, so "Copycat" is catnip to me. For those seeking timeless, throwback thrills with great performances and uncommonly sturdy filmmaking, it's a worthy stream.

You don't need to watch the first "Creep" to enjoy and appreciate "Creep 2". I mean, you can, and it will definitely add context and be a worthy watch. But "Creep 2" is a self-contained step up in both quality and psychological observation, giving us two smart and excruciating character studies among its tense set pieces.

A found footage horror-thriller, "Creep 2" follows aspiring documentarian Sara (Desiree Akhavan, a filmmaker herself) as she discovers a new, potentially inspiring subject: Aaron (Mark Duplass, reprising his role), a strange man who claims to be a serial killer. Sara follows Aaron to a secluded cabin in the woods, and a bizarre tete-a-tete ensues, full of emotional breakdowns, full-frontal nudity, and some terrifying eruptions.

This is an underrated and underseen gem, a queasy indie masterpiece full of cringe-inducing humor, outstandingly vulnerable performances, and hold-your-breath sequences of pure fear. Duplass himself wishes it had turned out better, but I 100% disagree.

One of the 21st century's most influential and potent cult classics (even though it almost didn't make it to theaters), "Donnie Darko" is a howling, angst-filled cry of maladjustment and anger. It also has a weirdo in a giant bunny rabbit suit, if that does anything for you.

The title character (Jake Gyllenhaal) is a troubled teenager in the suburbs of Anytown, USA. One night, he sleepwalks into the street, following a voice that eventually leads him to Frank (James Duval), the aforementioned bunny suit-clad weirdo, who tells Donnie that the world will end in 28 days. When Donnie returns home, he discovers a jet engine has fallen from the sky and crashed into his bedroom. News of the world's ending somehow prevented Donnie's ending. And from there, "Donnie Darko" spirals into a surreal, scary, and science fiction-tinged odyssey of psychological instability, nihilistic musings, and interrogations on the paradoxes of time travel.

On a modern watch, parts of the film may play a little overcooked, but if you've been itching to get back in touch with your inner morose teenager, "Donnie Darko" is the head trip for you.

Breaking out in "Parks and Recreation" as the deadpan April Ludgate, Aubrey Plaza uses her persona of steeliness to great and devastating effect in the 2022's "Emily the Criminal," a suspense and crime thriller that gets great mileage out of the psychological microscope it places its lead character under.

Emily Benetto (Plaza) lives a difficult life in Los Angeles. She has a crummy apartment with bad roommates, a series of gig-based jobs that barely make ends meet, and a felony conviction that prevents her from getting a better, more "traditional" job. So she turns to a scheme led by the charismatic but equally steely Youcef (Theo Rossi), where shoppers use fake and stolen credit cards to make big purchases for a criminal ring before getting caught (Plaza actually learned how to commit credit card fraud for the role). Emily finds this work to be lucrative and, in odd ways, fulfilling, even as the stakes surrounding her commitment to this lifestyle grow deadly.

"Emily the Criminal" is an astonishing watch, made simply and brutally, with lots to say about this horrible, late-stage capitalistic society we live in. Aubrey Plaza fans, stream immediately. 

From debut filmmaker Chloe Domont, "Fair Play" is the kind of movie I want to see studios fund more of. It's a high-stakes thriller for grown-ups unafraid to wade into the knotty weeds of sexual politics, never talking down to its audience, and made with steely style and excellent performances.

Emily and Luke (Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich) are coworkers at a cutthroat New York City hedge fund — they're also in a secret relationship that turns quickly into a secret engagement. But when Emily gets a prized promotion and valuable attention from the fund's higher-ups, leaving Luke in the professional dust, jealous gender dynamics rear their ugly head, leading the couple down a dangerous path of spiraling obsessions and possessions.

If you saw "Fair Play" in the theater, it would be the perfect "way homer," the kind of film you'd discuss and debate excitedly in the car on the drive home. But since you're gonna be streaming it on Netflix, you can mimic the effect with a bottle of wine to lubricate the post-stream convo.

"The Good Nurse" is a fastball down the middle, the platonic ideal of the "prestige thriller." It's got two charismatic stars — Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne — committing wholeheartedly to a ludicrous high concept. Its filmmaking is competent and assured, but its narrative elements are pulpy enough that it makes for a fun watch — at least, as "fun" as a psychological true crime thriller can be.

Chastain plays Amy Loughren, a nurse who strikes up a friendship with Charles Cullen (Redmayne), a fellow nurse. Both nurses have a secret. Amy has cardiomyopathy, a condition that could severely affect her ability to work. And Charles is, um, a serial killer who uses his access as a medical professional to access new victims. So, maybe not the most equal of secrets, but secrets nonetheless.

Can Amy look past her allegiance to help stop him? And can Charles use his charisma to obfuscate the truth?

"Holy Spider," also based on a true story, is nowhere near a "fun" watch. But it is a gripping one, an essential and disturbing look at a dogged determination for the truth among communities that people typically ignore.

Zar Amir Ebrahimi plays journalist Arezoo Rahimi, who's on the trail of an Iranian serial killer named Saeed Azimi (Mehdi Bajestani), who targets and strangles prostitutes to death in the middle of the night. While evidence of Saeed's guilt mounts more and more, Arezoo faces lots of resistance to the case because of many people's unwillingness to support prostitutes, not to mention the religion-based support Saeed starts to gain. Can Arezoo burst through these societal walls and capture the spider for good?

"Holy Spider" has enjoyed lots of critical acclaim, showing at the Cannes Film Festival and winning its Best Actress award for Ebrahimi. But despite these accolades and heavy subject matter, it's not a "vegetables" watch. It's endlessly compelling and visceral as it examines the systems that make such atrocities possible.

The term "Horse Girl" is typically a derogatory one, a brusque description of a type of woman whose single-minded obsession with horses curdles into a sort of arrested development regarding her human relationships. Director Jeff Baena and star/co-writer Alison Brie take this term and bend it until it breaks, crafting a disquieting, abstracted, and often surreal character study. It's one of Brie's best movies as a result.

Brie plays Sarah, someone that you could call a "Horse Girl" (her childhood horse's name is Willow). She struggles with severe introversion, random medical maladies, inexplicable nightmares, and the specter of her mother's suicide. But when things in her life promise to evolve, especially with the arrival of a potential love interest (John Reynolds), her brain starts to splinter with increasing urgency. Lost time, dreams blending into the real world, beliefs in alien abductions – can Sarah's fractured psyche handle all of these stressors? Or, just maybe, is she telling the truth?

Thus far, every film on this list comfortably slots into the "psychological thriller" category. "I'm Thinking of Ending Things," on the other hand, is its own beast. It has some of the ideas and tones of a cerebral, emotion-driven horror film, and it's certainly interested in excoriating the human psyche. But Charlie Kaufman's beguiling, agonizing film tends to render simple classifications useless. And all of this makes it, of course, a surreal masterwork.

Jessie Buckley plays an unnamed woman, who by the end of the film will have been called many names. She's unhappy with her relationship with Jake (Jesse Plemons), but agrees to a road trip to visit his parents (Toni Collette and David Thewlis). From that point on, the film takes many discursions, folding in on itself multiple times and bombarding the viewer with horrific images and emotional pulverization.

It's an acquired taste, to be sure, even for those used to Kaufman's funnier works like "Adaptation" or "Being John Malkovich." But if you can get on its wavelength, "I'm Thinking of Ending Things" will affect you like nothing else on this list.

"Parasite" won the Best Picture Oscar, the Palme d'Or at Cannes, and was named the best film of the 21st century by the New York Times. I, personally, feel comfortable calling it one of the best films ever made. If you haven't seen it, you simply must, and if you have, you'll find something new on a rewatch, I promise you.

Bong Joon Ho's masterpiece concerns the poor Kim family, led by a sad, struggling patriarch played by Song Kang-ho. When the door opens to upward mobility in the form of assisting the wealthier Park family, the Kims undergo a series of cons and schemes to get their slice of the pie by any means necessary, even when the Parks use their status in dehumanizing ways. By the end of the picture, both families' lives will be forever changed and forever scarred.

This is an endlessly entertaining, well-paced, and impeccably made thriller with bleak comedy, harrowing tragedy, and poignant social commentary. It's cinema of the highest order.

Wes Craven's "Red Eye" is a point-blank shot of fun, an unsubtle suspense thriller with a crackerjack screenplay from Carl Ellsworth designed to provoke intense reactions while putting its characters through the wringer.

Rachel McAdams plays a workaholic hotel manager taking the red-eye flight back home after her grandmother's funeral. At the airport, she meets, and is eventually seated next to, Cillian Murphy, and as many of us would do, she strikes up a flirtatious conversation with the undeniably charming stranger. But when the flight departs, Murphy's demeanor changes, and he reveals nefarious purposes that put McAdams and her father (Brian Cox) in direct danger.

"Red Eye" is a great script because it gives all of its characters, even one-scene distractions, a deeper sense of humanity than you'd expect. Thus, when the thrills ensue, staged with simplicity by horror maestro Craven, they hit deeper because we know how they affect the humans beyond the generic plot machinations.

Another South Korean thriller, "Revelations" would make a great double feature with "Copycat." It's a gritty, rainy serial killer story about morose detectives chasing real-life monsters, with religious and even supernatural twists that place it a cut above the rest.

Detective Lee Yeon-hee (Shin Hyun-been) has a tortured past; her sister was sexually assaulted by a criminal named Yang-rae (Shin Min-jae) and driven to suicide as a result. But Detective Lee still sees visions of her deceased sister, visions that taunt and motivate her in equal measure.

Meanwhile, Pastor Sung Min-chan (Ryu Jun-yeol) is haunted by a longstanding belief that the punishment of criminals is an act of divine intervention from God, no matter how severe said punishments get. And when Yang-rae is suspected of kidnapping a child from Sung's church, he and Detective Lee cross paths with perilous results. "Revelations" is grim but fascinating stuff, a required watch for fans of other disturbing South Korean horror movies like "I Saw the Devil."

And now, a great double feature with "Holy Spider"!

"Under the Shadow" takes place in 1980s Tehran, Iran, during the "war of the cities," where the Iraqi military relentlessly bombed major Iranian cities. It stars Narges Rashidi as a politically radical medical student with a young daughter, Dorsa (Avin Manshadi). Rashidi's husband (Bobby Naderi) is called to the military, but she insists on staying in the city with their daughter rather than retreating to a potentially safer area. But as the shellings continue and Dorsa meets some other survivors, a persistent and seemingly supernatural, malevolent force begins to stalk the family. And what does Dorsa's favorite doll have to do with all this?

This is a great film with lots of layers, its period setting giving grounded realism to one of the scariest mythological monsters in horror movies. Filmmaker Babak Anvari, making his directorial debut, uses his genre tools to examine what happens to the mind and soul during horrific, trying times, resulting in a film that haunts long after the credits roll.