A Glean movie guide
Mind-Bending Psychological Thrillers
Don't trust what you see.
Films designed to challenge your perception and leave you questioning reality.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Memento
A masterclass in non-linear storytelling that forces you to experience the protagonist's memory loss firsthand.
Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife's killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.
- 02
Shutter Island
An atmospheric mystery where the line between a criminal investigation and insanity begins to blur.
World War II soldier-turned-U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels investigates the disappearance of a patient from a hospital for the criminally insane, but his efforts are compromised by troubling visions and a mysterious doctor.
- 03
Mulholland Drive
A surreal, dream-like puzzle that shifts realities and demands multiple viewings to fully decode.
Blonde Betty Elms has only just arrived in Hollywood to become a movie star when she meets an enigmatic brunette with amnesia. Meanwhile, as the two set off to solve the second woman's identity, filmmaker Adam Kesher runs into ominous trouble while casting his latest project.
- 04
Perfect Blue
A haunting look at the loss of identity as a pop star's reality and career begin to fracture.
Rising pop star Mima quits singing to pursue a career as an actress. After she takes up a role on a popular detective show, her handlers and collaborators begin turning up murdered. Harboring feelings of guilt and haunted by visions of her former self, Mima's reality and fantasy meld into a frenzied paranoia.
- 05
Coherence
A tense dinner party turns into a nightmare of alternate realities and existential dread.
Four couples gather for dinner the night a mysterious and powerful comet passes overhead.
- 06
The Game
A high-stakes thriller where a wealthy banker can no longer distinguish between a game and his actual life.
In honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a cold-hearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad: a gift certificate to play a unique kind of game. In nary a nanosecond, Nicholas finds himself consumed by a dangerous set of ever-changing rules, unable to distinguish where the charade ends and reality begins.
- 07
Black Swan
A visceral descent into madness as a dancer’s obsession with perfection manifests in terrifying ways.
A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake".
- 08
Enemy
A slow-burn exploration of identity and subconscious desire featuring a man who finds his exact double.
A mild-mannered college professor discovers a look-alike actor and delves into the other man's private affairs.
- 09
The Prestige
A complex narrative of rivalry and obsession built around a series of cinematic magic tricks.
A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.
- 10
Gone Girl
A sharp, manipulative thriller that constantly shifts perspectives to keep you off-balance.
With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.
- 11
Oldboy
A brutal and shocking revenge tale that culminates in one of cinema's most disturbing revelations.
With no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors.
- 12
Jacob's Ladder
A terrifying journey through a veteran's fractured psyche as he struggles to separate reality from nightmare.
After returning home from the Vietnam War, veteran Jacob Singer struggles to maintain his sanity. Plagued by hallucinations and flashbacks, Singer rapidly falls apart as the world and people around him morph and twist into disturbing images. His girlfriend, Jezzie, and ex-wife, Sarah, try to help, but to little avail. Even Singer's chiropractor friend, Louis, fails to reach him as he descends into madness.