Mystery psychological thrillers have a habit of getting under our skin as they throw mental puzzles at the viewer to see how fast one can be figured out. One feels instant madness creeping up their skin if they do not know what will happen next. After all, every psychological thriller aims to toy with a person’s head while keeping them on the edge of their seat until the last second passes. We selected a few favorites that have been popular for obvious reasons.
Movie: Gaslight
Released: 1944
Synopsis: Every loving couple has their own set of dos for their relationship so that it flourishes. However, researching and working consistently on the green flags is not enough. Working on the innumerable red flag is also important. The question then arises: What makes a relationship unhealthy? Well, that is exactly what the diabolical motion picture, ‘Gaslight’ does.
The mystery psychological Ingrid-Bergman-Charles-Boyer-starrer is a masterpiece. Set at the end of the nineteenth century, it collects all modern-day relationship red flags and brings them under one roof. This movie is a terrible reminder for every person, who had to suffer abuse at the hands of a narcissist, who made their life, a living nightmare for them.
While romantic movies have convinced young lovers that the sooner they unite, the better it is for the relationship, this is definitely one red flag, which does not need to be overlooked. That’s exactly what happens with Paula Alquist, an opera singer-in-training, who falls in love with the charming Gregory Anton. Married after a whirlwind courtship, Anton convinces Paula that they live in the same house where her Aunt, a noted opera singer of her time was murdered.
Even though Paula is unsure about the decision to start a new life in the very house where her beloved mother-like aunt was brutally murdered, she entertains her new husband’s request and moves into the mansion. But that’s not all that Anton convinces Paula to leave. Isolating her from all her loved ones, her husband soon takes hold of all her life choices, dictating every domain of her life, eventually taking over her sanity as well. Making her believe that she is unsafe to exist around normal people, Paula has no realization of the active gaslighting, psychological exploitation, or the manipulation at the hands of everyone – from her husband to the servants.
However, not all is hopeless for Paula, for her predicament soon catches the interest of the local Scotland Yard Officer, Brian Cameron who is also a childhood friend of hers. The strange situation makes him open the murder case of her aunt. Although the Gaslight is arduously slow and quite clear to the audience, it is not to Paula, who has been conditioned by Anton to believe that she is losing her marbles.
Is Anton ever trapped in his web of deceit, manipulation, and lies? Ingrid Bergman’s portrayal of the vulnerable Paula Alquist’s defenselessness against the sly Anon hit audiences with its conviction that she won her first Oscar for this fantastic feature film.
Movie: The Silence of the Lambs
Released: 1991
Synopsis: What does one do when they want to catch a wolf? They lure them into a trap, using lambs for bait. And that’s what the movie, The Silence of the Lambs does with its audience. Dangerously delicious yet downright eerie, this top psychological horror thriller is based on Thomas Harris’s 1988 novel of the same name.
A magnificently mind twister of a movie, this flick teeters between disgust, horror, and outright goosebumps for audiences, even though it bloomed late and had been called a sleeper hit by film critics, this one does not get lost in the midst. Clarice Starling, one of the top trainee students at The FBI’s Training Academy is sent by her boss, Jack Crawford to interview the shrewd yet lethal, Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist of high cunning and intelligence. A vicious psychopath, Dr. Lecter is imprisoned for several callous acts of slaughter and cannibalism.
With a serial killer on the loose, Crawford believes that Dr. Lecter might be able to provide some kind of material about the serial killer, so that the FBI could profile him better and catch the culprit before he harms any more victims. Hence, for this matter, Crawford sends the young and pretty Starling, hoping that she may be able to soften Lecter so that he can divulge some info that may prove to be useful for the FBI. However, Lector is not just cunning, he is also egoistic and supposedly feels affronted when he finds out that a mere trainee has been sent to him by the task force.
However, the question remains: Does Lector help Starling sort out the clues to lead to the serial killer, that’s on the loose? What about Starling, does she turn the tables on Lector and play the game by her rules? Does Lector ever learn to respect Starling for being herself or does he find her to be just another wishy-washy person thrown his way? Why not utilize the HD movie channels on your Select TV and enjoy countless movie choices that you can watch whenever you want, wherever you want!
Movie: The Glass House
Released: 2001
Synopsis: Ruby Baker finds her life toppled upside down when she loses her parents, David and Grace, in a tragic car accident. As per the will of the Bakers, both the children are to be placed under the custody and protection of the Glasses, their family neighbors from many years ago. Since the Glasses are childless, they are overjoyed at having their new foster children live with them in their glass house on a beach in Malibu. Nonetheless, the situation is strange since the Baker children are forced to share a bedroom despite being of different ages. And then, even stranger things begin that are difficult to put together. Ruby finds that Mr. Glass does not see her with the eyes of a daughter.
He sees her with an eerie interest that makes her downright uncomfortable. However, all is not perfect as the Glasses portray in front of the social workers. With Ruby quietly putting the pieces together as to why the Glasses had been so enthusiastic in taking the Baker children under their wing, the Glasses feel threatened by the kind of knowledge that she has acquired within the short period.
Unfortunately, the Glass House bombed at the Box Office. Apparently for obvious reasons. One, it was released soon after the 9/11 attacks took place. Secondly, the film has a foregone conclusion for a plot. So the audience in a way knows what to expect next every time a scene movie forward, which essentially kills the whole point of the movie in the first place. Although viewers will find irrelevant yet exasperating shock buttons sprinkled here and there throughout the movie, it is not enough to sustain interest, even though the cast is nothing less than stellar. Yet it is unable to save a movie that gives everything away in its trailer, so now all they have to do is sit and wait how things will move forward, despite having a good idea about the action.
Wrapping Up
To wrap it all up, psychological thrillers and their multiple sub-genres, allow the viewer to engage and explore an odd set of situations that could take place in the real world. This way, viewers would be able to predict what to do if such a situation arises. That’s why people often like to watch a film genre, such as this, for it allows them to brainstorm solutions for an out-of-ordinary situation.
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