A Glean movie guide
Atmosphere Over Adrenaline
All the dread, none of the jumps.
Masterful suspense and psychological horror that skip the cheap startles.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
The Silence of the Lambs
A masterclass in psychological suspense driven by dialogue and chilling character interactions.
Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.
- 02
The Witch
A slow-burn folk horror that builds a suffocating sense of dread through its 17th-century atmosphere.
In 1630, a farmer relocates his family to a remote plot of land on the edge of a forest where strange, unsettling things happen. With suspicion and paranoia mounting, each family member's faith, loyalty and love are tested in shocking ways.
- 03
Parasite
An intense, genre-bending thriller where the tension is fueled by social commentary and narrative twists.
All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.
- 04
Zodiac
A meticulous procedural that maintains high-wire tension through its obsessive search for an elusive killer.
Over the course of a decade, editors of the San Francisco Chronicle entice themselves in the murders of the Zodiac Killer. However, as time runs its course, interest in the case dwindles in the eyes of the professionals. The Killer stops interacting with the public. However, believing he has the answers, an amateur cartoonist from the initial sightings races against time to prevent what he believes is another murder.
- 05
Midsommar
A disturbing exploration of grief and ritual that uses bright daylight to create a unique sense of unease.
Several friends travel to Sweden to study as anthropologists a summer festival that is held every ninety years in the remote hometown of one of them. What begins as a dream vacation in a place where the sun never sets, gradually turns into a dark nightmare as the mysterious inhabitants invite them to participate in their disturbing festive activities.
- 06
Rear Window
Hitchcock’s definitive exercise in voyeuristic suspense, built entirely on visual storytelling and situation.
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
- 07
The Invitation
A masterfully paced thriller that turns a simple dinner party into a gauntlet of social paranoia.
Will and his new girlfriend Kira are invited to a dinner with old friends at the house of Will’s ex Eden and her new partner David. Although the evening appears to be relaxed, Will soon gets a creeping suspicion that their charming host David is up to something.
- 08
Misery
A grounded and terrifying look at obsession that relies on psychological power plays and physical helplessness.
After an accident, acclaimed novelist Paul Sheldon is rescued by a nurse who claims to be his biggest fan. Her obsession takes a dark turn when she holds him captive in her remote Colorado home and forces him to write back to life the popular literary character he killed off.
- 09
Coherence
A mind-bending mystery where the breakdown of reality creates a constant, unsettling feeling of wrongness.
Four couples gather for dinner the night a mysterious and powerful comet passes overhead.
- 10
Nightcrawler
An intense character study that derives its tension from the protagonist’s complete lack of morality.
When Lou Bloom, desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. Aiding him in his effort is Nina, a TV-news veteran.