19 Twisted Psychological Thrillers You Can Stream Tonight

These tense tales are a reminder to trust no one. 

Rent-A-Pal psychological thriller
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: IFC Midnight

Psychological thrillers tend to overlap with other genres—most often horror, crime, noir, and action. These films  expose the darkest parts of human nature, examining how we deal with grief, loneliness, and isolation. They typically focus on the mental states and perceptions of their characters, showing a struggle that’s at odds with the reality around them. 

Related: 13 Mystery and Thriller Books That Inspired Films

As viewers, we find ourselves siding with and almost rooting for narrators that are often unreliable. These films have grown in popularity since Alfred Hitchcock began playing on our innermost fears in his films. 

If you’re in the mood for a story that will keep you on the edge of your seat and second-guessing your narrator, we’ve compiled a list of psychological thrillers that you can stream right now on Amazon, Hulu, HBO Max, and Netflix.

Amazon

Vivarium

Vivarium
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: Vertigo Releasing

In Yonder, you can purchase a home anytime you like, but you can never leave. 

Gemma (Imogen Poots) and Tom (Jesse Eisenberg) are a young couple searching for their perfect home. The two become trapped in a maze of identical houses in a suburban development called Yonder. When they try to drive away from the home that they were shown, they find themselves back where they began. 

RELATED: 20 Twisted Psychological Thriller Movies

Take Shelter

non horror movies take shelter
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: Strange Matter Films

Curtis (Michael Shannon) is haunted by a series of disastrous visions, and visual and auditory hallucinations of rain, violent birds, and being harmed by those closest to him. He questions whether he ought to take steps to protect his wife and child from the disasters he dreams of, or from his own fracturing psyche.

Curtis' increasingly bizarre behavior leads to a strain between himself and his family, and the town around them.

Midsommar

midsommar
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: A24

After a personal tragedy, Dani Ardor (Florence Pugh) travels with her boyfriend and his friends to a Swedish commune for a midsummer celebration that happens once every 90 years. 

What begins as a peaceful retreat quickly becomes a fierce and unusual tournament at the hands of a cult. 

Hulu

Black Swan

best scary movies
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) is a ballerina with the New York City ballet company. After the company forces their former prima ballerina into retirement, Nina gains the leading role in the company’s season-opening production of Swan Lake

During rehearsals, Nina begins to fall into dangerous hallucinations as she immerses herself deeper into the role. She also finds herself drawn to another dancer, a newcomer named Lily (Mila Kunis), who is free of the self-consciousness and rigidity that Nina struggles to break free from. 

RELATED: The Best True Crime Documentaries on Netflix You Can Stream Right Now

False Positive

false positive
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: A24

Having difficulty conceiving, Lucy (Illana Glazer) and Adrian (Justin Theroux) seek out a fertility doctor. Lucy becomes pregnant with the help of Dr. John Hindle (Pierce Brosnan), using his own proprietary technique. 

Lucy soon learns she's carrying triplets—but she has unsettling truths yet to uncover about Dr. Hindle. 

Fear of Rain

fear of rain
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: Lionsgate

A schizophrenic young girl struggles with horrific hallucinations. Rain (Madison Iseman) begins to suspect her neighbor, who is also a teacher, of kidnapping a child. Her family reassures her that there’s no need to worry, but Rain has repeated visions of her teacher dancing with the small child. Only one person believes Rain—and she’s not entirely sure he even exists. 

Rent-A-Pal

rent a pal
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: IFC Midnight

It’s 1990. David (Brian Landis Folkins) is a middle-aged man that lives with and cares for his mother, and uses a video dating service with little success. 

After going to the dating service's office to record an updated message, he comes across another tape called “Rent-A-Pal”. He finds that the host of the video pauses to allow the viewer to answer and interact with him. David finds companionship in “Rent-A-Pal”’s host, Andy. 

HBO

Dream House

dream house
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: Universal Pictures

Will Atenton (Daniel Craig) and his wife Libby (Rachel Weisz) have two young daughters, Trish and Dee Dee. The family is excited to live in their dream house near the forest in Fairfield County. 

But shortly after they move in, a series of disconcerting events take place. The girls say that they spot a strange man lurking on the grounds, as well as teenagers in the basement. They soon learn that there were horrifc crimes committed in the house five years earlier...

RELATED: Terrifying Horror Movies You Can Stream on Netflix

Fracture

fracture
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: New Line Cinema

When Ted Crawford (Anthony Hopkins) learns that his young wife is having an affair with a detective, he plans to kill her. His meticulous scheming ensures that the crime he’s set up goes off without a hitch, making him a worthy opponent for the district attorney (Ryan Gosling) prosecuting his case. 

The Lady Vanishes

the lady vanishes
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: MGM

This early Hitchcock classic centers around a young, rich girl (Margaret Lockwood) traveling by train. She realizes that her compartment companion, an elderly woman, has disappeared from the train. When she questions the other passengers, asking if they’ve seen her, they all deny having ever met or noticing the woman at all. 

One Hour Photo

one hour photo
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: Fox Searchlight Pictures

Sy Parrish (Robin Williams) is a photo technician at a one-hour photo service. He's deeply isolated, and has become obsessed with the Yorkin family, who have come to the one-hour photo for years. In fact, Sy has secretly taken doubles of their photos and created an altar to the family in his apartment. 

He’s tried to become closer to the family, but as Sy is a shy individual, his attempts have failed. Yet as he develops more of their photos, his obsession grows deeper. 

Five Days

five days
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: HBO

This limited British series follows five non-consecutive days in the investigation of a missing mother and her two children. The series follows the friends, family, police, and news stories surrounding the disappearance on days 1, 3, 28, 33, and 79. 

Netflix

Shutter Island

postimage
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: Paramount Pictures

This neo-noir follows widower Deputy U.S. Marshal Edward “Teddy” Daniels as he investigates a psychiatric facility on Shutter Island. One of the patients, a murderer, has gone missing from this hospital for the criminally insane. As Teddy and his partner, Chuck Aule (Mark Ruffalo) investigate, they find a series of confounding clues among the disturbed patients.

The Woman in the Window

the woman in the window
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: Netflix

Based on a book of the same name , this film follows an agoraphobic woman (Amy Adams) who begins to spy on her neighbors. When she believes that she’s witnessed a horrible crime, she tries to prove what she saw. But when she's questioned at every turn, she questions her own sanity. 

The Vanished

the vanished
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: Saban Films

When Paul (Thomas Jane) and Wendy (Anne Heche) Michaelson’s daughter goes missing during a family camping trip, they have to rely on themselves to find her. The local authorities don’t take the search for her seriously enough, leading Paul and Wendy to take matters into their own hands. As they do, they uncover a disturbing number of local secrets.

Related: 9 Psychological Thrillers Books That Will Make You Trust No One

The Guest

netflix scary movies the guest
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: Picturehouse

David (Dan Stevens) introduces himself to the Petersons, claiming to be a friend of their son, who was killed in action. The Petersons welcome David into their home, and shortly after, a series of tragedies occur. They seem to be connected to David, despite his kind and friendly demeanor. 

 Mirage

mirage
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: Netflix

This movie is set around two storms separated by 25 years—one in 1989, and another in 2014. In 1989, a young boy named Nico hears his neighbors fighting during an electrical storm. He’s discovered filming them, and as he tries to escape, he’s hit by a car. 

In 2014, a married couple moves into Nico’s house with their daughter, Gloria. The TV set that they find broadcasts the same events occurring the night that Nico died.

Clinical

clinical
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: Netflix

Dr. Jane Mathis (Vinessa Shaw) is a psychiatrist and confrontational therapist that suffers from PTSD and sleep paralysis after she's attacked by one of her patients. She continues to practice, against her own therapist’s advice. 

Strange events begin to occur in Jane’s home—her security system is tampered with, footprints are found, and bloody photographs appear.

Homunculus

homunculus
  • camera-icon
  • Photo Credit: Netflix

Based on a Japanese manga series, this film follows a homeless amnesiac who awakens from an experimental procedure called trepanation. The procedure involves drilling holes in a person’s head, with the goal of improving the blood pressure within the skull. 

But when the man awakens from the procedure, he’s gained the ability to see people’s innermost traumas.