Everyone loves a good mind-bender, and here's a list of international psychological thrillers that, we believe, fans of the genre would enjoy and cherish...

Slideshows

Movie Recos: 35 must-watch psychological thrillers

Team CE

Published:21st Jul, 2020 at 2:14 PM

American Psycho (2000) -A supercharged and hyper-violent serial killer film directed by Canadian filmmaker Mary Harron. What makes this controversial film even more compelling is its satirical nature.

Black Swan (2010) -The demands of a ballerina's gruelling rehearsals cause her to lose a grip on reality in this Darren Aronofsky film. Natalie Portman won a well-deserved Best Actress Oscar.

Cure (1997) -Kiyoshi Kurosawa’s Cure is reminiscent of Christopher Nolan’s early work. It's not every day that you come across a film that is this horribly unsettling

Death Note (2006) -Based on the Japanese manga series of the same, Death Note is a deliciously wicked psychological thriller with supernatural elements. Its sequel is twice as complicated.

Duel (1971) -No vehicle has looked more menacing and intimidating in cinema than the truck in Steven Spielberg’s feature directorial debut. What is more terrifying is the unseen truck driver.

El Aura (The Aura) (2005) -A Spanish psychological thriller starring Ricardo Darin as an epileptic taxidermist obsessed with committing the perfect crime. From director Fabian Bielinsky (Nine Queens).

Garde a vue (The Grilling) (1981) -A one long interrogation sequence from start to finish, starring Lino Ventura and Michel Serrault and directed by Claude Miller.

Gone Girl -Starring Rosamund Pike and Ben Affleck as a couple who find their carefully constructed facade slowly eroding after the former goes missing. A skillfully staged thriller from David Fincher.

Inception (2010) -Mind-hopping spies, dreams and spectacular stunts are served in Nolan's second original screenplay after Following. The immaculately staged thriller turned 10 this year.

Insomnia (2002) Insomnia is arguably Nolan's most underappreciated film. Though it doesn't boast the spectacle and complex narratives, it still remains a competently made psychological thriller.

Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion -Italian director Elio Petri's fascinating film is about a high-ranking cop who commits a heinous crime to find out whether someone would implicate him.

Mad Detective (2007) -A mentally unstable Hong Kong detective with psychic abilities is coaxed out of retirement when a policeman goes missing. A brilliantly crafted thriller that plays with your mind

Memento (2000) -Guy Pearce plays a man suffering from anterograde amnesia hunting for his wife's killer. Mental health experts have lauded the film, calling it the most accurate depiction of anterogra

Memories of Murder (2003) -At once unsettling and thought-provoking, this Korean thriller from Parasite director Bong Joon-Ho is a potent combination of riveting storytelling and striking camera work

Misery (1990) Kathy Bates' Anne Wilkes is one of the most frightening characters I've seen. If you happen to be a famous celebrity, you don't want to end up with a fan like her.

Mulholland Drive (2001) - This is a David Lynch film that is hard to explain but worth creating theories about. It's like a jigsaw puzzle that takes a long time to put together.

Nocturnal Animals (2016) - Tom Ford’s Nocturnal Animals has the dark and emotionally scarring sensibilities of David Fincher with the stylistic flourishes of Alfred Hitchcock and Pedro Almodovar.

Peeping Tom (1960) -It's not every day that one sees an empathetic killer despite his unspeakable violent acts. Once we discover the dark truth about him, we begin to see him in a completely new light

Prisoners (2013) -Denis Villeneuve's Prisoners follows the story of a man who pursues his own brand of justice when his daughter goes missing. It serves some delicious twists and turns.

The Face of Another (1966) -An offbeat and surreal film from Japanese filmmaker Hiroshi Teshigahara. It's disturbing imagery drives home the point of some of its thought-provoking themes.

The Game (1997) - David Fincher's film is an atmospheric head-trip with a terrific lead performance from Michael Douglas as a wealthy investment banker with issues.

The Killing of A Sacred Deer -An appropriately creepy and unsettling psycho thriller from Greek filmmaker Yorgos Lanthimos. Like any other Lanthimos film, it has enough deliciously twisted ideas.

The Man Who Haunted Himself -James Bond actor Roger Moore plays a businessman whose life is turned upside down when his evil doppelganger wreaks havoc.

The Medusa Touch (1978) - This Richard Burton-starrer is a grossly underrated horror/thriller film that has not received its due. The chilling background score sets the right tone of the film.

The Offence (1972) -One of director Sidney Lumet's most overlooked films, The Offence is a brilliantly layered and disturbing psychological thriller that had Sean Connery cast against type.

The Prestige (2006) -This incredibly twisty psychological thriller from Christopher Nolan revolves around two rival magicians playing mind games in Victorian-era London.

The Tenant (1976) -A shy and timid man grows increasingly paranoid and suicidal after he starts to witness strange occurrences in the new apartment building he has just moved into.

The Treatment (2014) -This slow-burn thriller is one of the most unsettling serial killer films. It follows the life of a detective haunted by the disappearance of his younger brother during childhood

The Woman in the Window -Things don't go well for a lonely Professor after an encounter with an attractive woman. It is director Fritz Lang's second collaboration with Edward Robinson and Joan Bennett

The Conversation (1974) -Francis Ford Coppola's film about unchecked paranoia has Gene Hackman as a surveillance expert whose life turns into a nightmare when he finds something suspicious.

The Gift (2015) -Joel Edgerton's directorial debut is a part-Hitchcockian thriller, part-relationship drama.

The Shining (1980) - Jack Nicholson is perfectly cast in one of his iconic, terrifying roles as Jack Torrance, the caretaker of a haunted mountainside hotel, in this Stanley Kubrick film.

Una pura formalita (A Pure Formality) (1994) -Directed by Giuseppe Tornatore (Cinema Paradiso), this haunting psychological thriller is about a novelist who becomes a murder suspect.

Zodiac (2007) - Zodiac is the kind of compelling cinema that excites most thriller fans. Fincher's attention to details here is more prominent and awe-inspiring than in all his other films.

Angel Heart -Starring Mickey Rourke and Robert De Niro, this one is a blend of two genres - private detective thriller and horror. One of the most unsettling psychological thrillers ever made.