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Over the course of the last 30 years, filmmakers of the stature of David Fincher and Christopher Nolan have gifted cinephiles around the world with some of the greatest psychological thrillers of modern times. Whereas a regular thriller is all about external stakes and physical danger, a psychological thriller is more about character-driven moral conflicts and mind games, most of the danger coming from the characters’ own interiority.
Whether it’s a crime thriller about a desperate father looking for his kidnapped child, an action thriller about a superhero fighting crime, or even a horror thriller about a kid who can see dead people, the best psychological thrillers that the big screen has seen since 1996 are true icons of the genre. If we get films that are even half as good for the next 30 years, fans of psychological thrillers will be able to consider themselves very lucky.
10
‘Prisoners’ (2013)
After his exceptional work in his native Canada, Denis Villeneuve made the jump to Hollywood with Prisoners—such a masterful thriller that it’s no wonder he’s had such an immensely successful career in the United States since. With a stacked cast and a perfect script that leads all the way to one of the most perfect final movie shots of the 21st century, it may very well be one of the greatest kidnapping thrillers ever made.
All of the tension and suspense in Prisoners comes from its powerful thematic exploration of loss and grief, as well as from the internal mental degradation of its characters, making it a perfect example of an incredible psychological thriller. Perfectly paced, psychologically deep, and profoundly atmospheric (in no small measure thanks to Roger Deakins‘ flawless camerawork), it’s one of the best outings of Villeneuve’s career.
9
‘The Sixth Sense’ (1999)
The Sixth Sense wasn’t M. Night Shyamalan‘s first film, but it sure was the one that made him a household name, as well as the one that established the signature tropes that characterize his work today. It’s also the only film of his that has ever obtained a Best Picture Oscar nomination, and for good reason: It truly is one of the best horror thrillers of the late 20th century.
The film is generally best-remembered for having one of the best twist endings of any movie, but that’s by no means the only thing that it has going for it. It’s also a thematically profound and tenderly moving exploration of grief, trauma, and human connection, bolstered by a trifecta of outstanding performances by Bruce Willis, Toni Collette, and Haley Joel Osment. Tense, creepy, and endlessly rewatchable even once you know the twist, it’s a masterclass in both psychological horror and psychological thriller filmmaking.
8
‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
For years, Christopher Nolan has been widely regarded as the king of Hollywood blockbusters. But even the greats have to start somewhere, and in Nolan’s case, the movie that put him in that aforementioned throne was the masterful The Dark Knight. Still hailed by many as both the greatest comic book movie and the greatest superhero movie to date, The Dark Knight stands out because it’s far more than just a superhero movie: It’s a proper action thriller masterpiece through and through.
Gritty, realistic, and packed with some of the most suspenseful and impressively-filmed set pieces in all of Nolan’s filmography, The Dark Knight is one of the most thrilling movies of all time. Further bolstered by Heath Ledger‘s Joker, far and away one of the most memorable movie villains of the 21st century, this action masterpiece is proof that there’s plenty of creativity and originality to be found in the superhero movie genre.
7
‘The Departed’ (2006)
It was The Departed that finally earned Martin Scorsese the Best Director Academy Award that he had deserved for decades, and for good reason. It’s one of the most intense gangster movies of all time, a crime thriller with one of the best ensemble casts and some of the best writing that the genre has seen at any point during the last three decades.
There are plenty of external sky-high stakes and threats in The Departed, but what makes it one of the best psychological thriller masterpieces of the 2000s is how the bulk of its narrative revolves around paranoia, identity crises, and cat-and-mouse tension. Brilliantly edited, shot, and paced in ways that one might expect from virtually any Scorsese project, it’s a magnetic work of thriller filmmaking.
6
‘Fight Club’ (1999)
Every generation has a master of the thriller genre, and there’s a very strong argument to make that David Fincher is the genre’s kind today. He’s the mind behind Fight Club, one of those must-watch ’90s cult classics, based on the novel by Chuck Palahniuk. Though it was originally a commercial and critical failure upon release, it found a second life and a cult appreciation upon its home video release.
Anyone even slightly familiar with Fight Club, as well as with the mind-blowing third-act twist that completely recontextualizes the entire narrative, will know precisely why this is one of the most psychologically intense thrillers ever made. It’s a brilliant critique of modern consumerist culture and male toxicity which has aged like fine wine, so great that breaking the first rule is pretty much obligatory in this case.
5
‘Parasite’ (2019)
If there was any South Korean filmmaker who would one day be able to bring home the first Best Picture Academy Award ever won by an international motion picture, it had to be someone of the stature of Bong Joon Ho. Indeed, Parasite is nothing short of historic, but it also happens to genuinely be one of the best dark comedy movies of the 21st century thus far.
It’s one of the most masterfully genre-bending masterpieces of modern times. It works as a dark comedy every bit as well as it does as a psychological thriller, as a social drama, and as a powerful allegory for class disparities in South Korean society. It’s intense, vibrantly paced, full of excellent performances, and complete with one of the most breathtaking third acts that South Korean cinema has ever had to offer.
4
‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007)
The Coen brothers have made several of the most exceptional thrillers of modern times throughout the entirety of their careers, and it’s no coincidence that one of their best is also the one that became their first film ever to win the Best Picture Oscar, No Country for Old Men. Blending the syntax and tropes of both the neo-Western and neo-noir genres, they crafted a deeply hard-hitting tale about the dangers of modernization and the dark side of progress.
No Country is one of the best neo-noir thrillers of the last 50 years, with a relentless sense of cat-and-mouse tension and a philosophical complexity that make it an undeniable psychological thriller, even if it contains elements of several other genres. It’s a bleak, masterfully paced exploration of the very concept of fate, bolstered by Javier Bardem‘s Anton Chigurh, another one of the 21st century’s greatest villains.
3
‘Fargo’ (1996)
As if any more proof were needed that the Coen brothers’ psychological thrillers have dominated the genre over the course of the last 30 years, there’s also Fargo, praised by some as the duo’s greatest film. It’s the type of ’90s thriller that holds up better than most of today’s movies, a delectably quirky and humorous yet undeniably bleak and violent neo-noir unlike any other we’ve seen since 1996.
It’s a film all about how a cascade of bad choices shatters ordinary lives—both externally and psychologically—, brilliantly subverting the tropes of the traditional crime thriller in all sorts of genius ways. Balancing irresistible suspense and hilarious absurdity consistently over the course of just under an hour and 40 minutes can’t be easy, but then again, the Coens have never been ordinary filmmakers.
2
‘Oldboy’ (2003)
Bong Joon Ho isn’t the only exceptional South Korean master of the thriller genre in town: There’s also Park Chan-wook, whose Venceance Trilogy as a whole is one of the greatest thematic trilogies in the history of cinema. There’s really no question regarding which installment of the series is the best of the bunch, though. It has to be Oldboy, almost universally praised as the greatest movie in Park’s stacked filmography.
It’s the second chapter of one of the best R-rated movie trilogies ever, itself one of the best R-rated thrillers of the 2000s by far. It’s brutally shocking to the point that it’s definitely not for the faint of heart, but those who enjoy action thrillers that challenge their stomachs ought to watch this one at least once in their lives. It’s one of the most gripping revenge thrillers in history, balanced with a psychological tragedy that’s tremendously effective.
1
‘Memento’ (2000)
Conversations about psychological revenge thrillers can never possibly be complete without talking about Memento. Well before he sat on the throne of Hollywood blockbuster filmmaking, Christopher Nolan was but an up-and-coming indie filmmaker, and Memento was the masterpiece that truly put him on the map. As one of those rare thriller movies without any flaws, it’s no wonder why it’s still referred to by many as Nolan’s best movie to date.
What’s not to praise about this absolute masterpiece? Nolan’s reverse-chronological writing is some of the best of his career, his airtight direction is every bit as admirable, Guy Pearce‘s lead performance is criminally underrated, and the structure of the film is challenging without ever feeling confusing. Endlessly rewatchable and emotionally engrossing, Memento is the peak of what the psychological thriller genre has had to offer over the course of the last three decades.
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Diego Pineda Pacheco
Almontather Rassoul
