Psychological Thrillers on Netflix

The best psychological thrillers on Netflix are never easy to find, but throughout the years of scouring Netflix, I've come up with a pretty good movie list for them. It takes a lot to be one of the good psychological thrillers on Netflix because there are so many that try too hard to be one. Today I will bring you some classic psychological thrillers on Netflix and some new ones that hit the ground running. Some of them are the most popular movies on Netflix right now and some are throwbacks to enjoy.

Memento

Here we have one of the classic movies on Netflix. When you first watch Memento it doesn't take too long for your head to start spinning. It's almost like you're in Guy Pearce's position and you just can't remember things quick enough to really put the pieces together. I remember Memento being one of the first movies I saw that had the whole backward film mentality. Don't worry, you'll know what I mean once you watch it. That may be why Memento is one of the top psychological thrillers on Netflix. The whole premise was the first of its kind and now it's the standard that many psychological thriller movies are held up to. Another challenging aspect of Memento is that it requires a surprising amount of concentration to try to grasp what's actually going on. I'm usually not one for having to think too hard while I'm watching a movie but Memento was just too intriguing to not want to try your best to unravel the mystery in your head before it's laid out on the screen in front of you. Consequently, it might be one of the best mystery movies on Netflix too. Carrie Ann Fisher is a striking character and she just adds to the confusion when you finally think you're starting to get a grasp on things. All and all when the complexity of Memento washes over you, it has a very entertaining effect and is a psychological thriller on Netflix for which many movies pale in comparison.

Baskin

Some would label Baskin as only being a horror movie but there are definitely wrong. While it is a horror movie on Netflix, it's also a good psychological thriller that will test your limits of grotesque viewing. Although, it should still probably be in your top 10 scary movies on Netflix. Baskin isn't exactly a movie that is impossible to solve, but it does test your mind simply for the fact that you don't know dream from reality. As opposed to being a backward playing movie, Baskin has a way of jumping around the plot and timeline. What made Baskin one of the most interesting psychological thrillers on Netflix for me was that I think we can all relate to a nightmare you can't wake up from. I'm sure I'm not the only person who's had a nightmare they were trying to wake up from only to find that they actually woke up in a new nightmare! You kind of feel like Baskin took a page out of the Twilight Zone even though it's a Turkish movie.

I Am Not a Serial Killer

I Am Not a Serial Killer is one of the good psychological thrillers on Netflix because it makes you see the world through the eyes of the main character. Sixteen-year-old John Wayne Cleaver is a coming of age boy who seriously considers the thought that he might be a serial killer. Because of this, you start to try to watch I Am Not a Serial Killer as if you're in the mind of a serial killer. But everything is not what it seems in this one. I don't want to give anything away but I can tell you right now that there's no point in trying to dissect this one with any rational answers. The second you start to think you're getting a grasp on what's going on, things will take a U-turn on you. There's a lot of horror and drama aspects in I Am Not A Serial Killer but the part that plays with your mind is the thrill of the chase and the resolution your mind needs to get some clarity on just what the hell is going on.

Sun Choke

Let's see, where do we start with Sun Choke? If you want a psychological thriller on Netflix, watch this one tonight. Sun Choke may have just made it to the top of the list for weird movies on Netflix. It throws you right in the middle of some mental relapse and you might just start to think you're having your own mental breakdown while you're watching this mind-bender. It's probably one of the craziest movies on Netflix. I keep hearing about how everyone is calling Sun Choke an "impressionistic mood piece". Whatever that means, the mood is definitely a "crazy" one. The story follows Janie down the path of past and present mental breakdowns. The first thing I noticed about Sun Choke was that I wasn't going to find any answers in what I was viewing. It's not to say that Sun Choke is just a random waste of time movie, far from it. It's just that if you're the type of person that needs to get the answers to a film by the end of it, this might not be for you. But hey who knows, maybe I'm just too dense to understand the underlying message in this garbled story of mental struggle. So do me a favor? Email me when you figure this one out because I would love to hear it! For me, this was just one of the trippy movies on Netflix.

The Wailing

Ok, to be fair, The Wailing doesn't exactly come off as one of the clear cut psychological thrillers on Netflix. It takes time for the plot to build up before you can start to judge what's going on. Even more so, it takes time for the mystery to start to build up in your head. That's when you might find yourself questioning what's going on and where all this evil is coming from. I may be going out on a limb with The Wailing being on this list, as it's definitely a very good horror movie, but what makes me want to put this in the category of a psychological thriller is the whole ending of the movie. If you really think about the ending you start to look back and think about all the stuff you might have missed. I think it's fair to say that when a movie plays with your mind like this, it should be in the psychological thriller category.

We Need to Talk About Kevin

We have yet another good psychological thriller on Netflix that puts you right into the mind of the main character. We Need to Talk About Kevin is a psychological horror movie for parents. This movie is terrifying, shocking, and disturbing all in one. Once you try to put yourself in Tilda Swinton shoes you start to understand how she could have a mental breakdown at any time dealing with Kevin. What I thought was the most gripping part of We Need to Talk About Kevin was how the director was able to take such a beautiful thing as having children and turning it into a real life nightmare. Though I'm not sure such evil exists in this world quite like this movie, I'm sure that if any parent has experienced even a little of the stuff that goes on in this movie, watching this once would be a horrible reminder of something you pray would never happen to your child. We Need to Talk about Kevin didn't get much love at the box office but it's one of the most underrated Netflix movies.

It Follows

I remember seeing It Follows as one of the movies coming to Netflix and I didn't think much of it. Low and behold, It Follows is now thee psychological thriller for me. I can't believe that there is actually some originality in this day in age when it comes to horror movies. In fact, purely for an entertaining horror movie, I thought It Follows was genius. It played with my mind in ways I never knew existed. It's that feeling of constantly thinking of impending doom. Watch this alone and you might just find yourself looking over your shoulder making sure nothing is slowly chasing after you. For teen actors, there were great performances throughout It Follows and I particularly liked the main character. Another thing about It Follows is that it doesn't fall back on the usual jump scares you find in every other horror movie on Netflix. What it does bring to the table is a glaring stare of death which eerily drifts closer and closer to you. So if you want horror, It Follows is also one of the best scary movies on Netflix.

I had a great time watching all of these psychological thrillers on Netflix. The best movie to watch on Netflix is the one that plays with your mind and keeps you guessing. I advise you to give a least one of them a shot and since it's one of the oldest movies on here, why not start with Memento? It's one of the great movies to watch on Netflix and I think it will really take your mind for a spin. If you enjoyed this list and want some more thrillers to add to your Netflix list, I update my streaming Netflix movies list daily and you're sure to find some good ones on my homepage.

Enjoy!