A Glean movie guide
Mind Games: The Best Psychological Horror
Don't trust your eyes.
Masterpieces of paranoia, isolation, and the terrifying fragility of the human mind.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
The Silence of the Lambs
A chilling masterclass in psychological manipulation and criminal profiling.
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 Shining
A legendary descent into isolation-induced madness within a haunted, sprawling hotel.
Jack Torrance accepts a caretaker job at the Overlook Hotel, where he, along with his wife Wendy and their son Danny, must live isolated from the rest of the world for the winter. But they aren't prepared for the madness that lurks within.
- 03
Psycho
The foundational slasher that redefined horror through the lens of a fractured identity.
When larcenous real estate clerk Marion Crane goes on the lam with a wad of cash and hopes of starting a new life, she ends up at the notorious Bates Motel, where manager Norman Bates cares for his housebound mother.
- 04
Hereditary
A visceral exploration of inherited trauma and grief that lingers long after the credits.
Following the death of the Leigh family matriarch, Annie and her children uncover disturbing secrets about their heritage. Their daily lives are not only impacted, but they also become entangled in a chilling fate from which they cannot escape, driving them to the brink of madness.
- 05
Get Out
A sharp, unsettling critique of social paranoia wrapped in a tense psychological trap.
Chris and his girlfriend Rose go upstate to visit her parents for the weekend. At first, Chris reads the family's overly accommodating behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship, but as the weekend progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to a truth that he never could have imagined.
- 06
Rosemary's Baby
The ultimate tale of urban paranoia and the terrifying loss of bodily autonomy.
A young couple, Rosemary and Guy, moves into an infamous New York apartment building, known by frightening legends and mysterious events, with the purpose of starting a family.
- 07
Black Swan
A haunting look at the destructive pursuit of perfection and the loss of reality.
A committed dancer struggles to maintain her sanity after winning the lead role in a production of Tchaikovsky's "Swan Lake".
- 08
The Babadook
A deeply moving and frightening metaphor for the weight of unresolved grief and depression.
A grieving single mother and her child fall into a deep well of paranoia when an eerie children's book manifests in their home.
- 09
Shutter Island
A twist-filled journey through memory and trauma set within a remote asylum.
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.
- 10
Misery
A claustrophobic battle of wits centered on obsession and the terror of being held captive.
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.
- 11
Perfect Blue
A surreal animated nightmare exploring the blurring lines between public persona and private identity.
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.
- 12
The Others
A masterfully atmospheric ghost story that relies on mounting dread and psychological suspense.
Grace is a religious woman who lives in an old house kept dark because her two children, Anne and Nicholas, have a rare sensitivity to light. When the family begins to suspect the house is haunted, Grace fights to protect her children at any cost in the face of strange events and disturbing visions.