Psychological thrillers aren’t just about scares – they’re about doubt. They worm their way into your head, and make you second-guess a character’s every look, word, and silence. The best psychological thriller movies blur the line between sanity and madness, reality and delusion. So, when you’re looking for a great one to watch, who can you trust? Ahem …
Below, we’ve put together a list of 20 great psychological thrillers that you can stream right now on Paramount+. The movies span decades, and even styles, from gothic to sci-fi. They feature stars like Christian Bale, Glenn Close, and Kristen Stewart delivering performances that burrow under your skin.
Whether it’s a cursed grin (Smile 2), a twisted hookup (Strange Darling), or a rent-free, if terrifying apartment (Apartment 7A), these movies are built to stay with you. Here are 20 psychological thrillers streaming now that will mess with your mind — in the best way.
1. Smile 2 (2024)
What it’s about: Pop star Skye Riley (Naomi Scott) is on the cusp of a career-defining world tour when she falls victim to the curse that, well, befell the poor folks in the first Smile movie.
Why you should watch: Director Parker Finn expands his 2022 breakout horror hit into a grander, more operatic nightmare. If the trademark grin stuck in your head after the first film, this sequel stretches it into something even more disturbing.
WATCH NOW: Smile 2
2. Apartment 7A (2024)
What it’s about: Terry Gionoffrio (Julia Garner), a young dancer struggling in New York City, lands a dream apartment that should mark a fresh start. But as unexplained sounds begin creeping through the walls and neighbors’ stares grow heavier by the day, Terry’s ambition and hope turn to paranoia. Directed by Natalie Erika James (Relic), the film serves as a chilling prelude to Rosemary’s Baby.
Why you should watch: Garner, an Emmy® winner for Ozark, delivers a performance that balances fierce determination with rising panic.
WATCH NOW: Apartment 7A
3. Rosemary’s Baby (1968)
What it’s about: Newlyweds Rosemary (Mia Farrow) and Guy (John Cassavetes) move into a storied New York building, where the fellow tenants strike Rosemary as just a little too friendly. Her pregnancy should feel joyful, but the dreams are all wrong, the smells wafting into the apartment are all wrong, and the “herbal” pendant from neighbor Minnie Castevet (Oscar® winner Ruth Gordon) is definitely all wrong. The more the young mother-to-be is told to relax, the more she knows something is very, very off.
Why you should watch: Filmmaker Roman Polanski’s Rosemary’s Baby, who adapted his screenplay from the Ira Levin novel of the same name, remains the gold standard for apartment paranoia – thin walls and thinner trust. Make it a double-feature thriller night, and pair it with Apartment 7A.
WATCH NOW: Rosemary’s Baby
4. Hard Home (2024)
What it’s about: When her daughter is killed, Mary (Yellowjackets‘ Simone Kessell) traps the murderer inside her smart home, and turns the house into a cage. Every room hides a new trap that forces the criminal to face what he’s done. As the night drags on, Mary’s fight for justice starts to look a lot like a plot for revenge.
Why you should watch: For anyone drawn to revenge fantasies that spiral into nightmares, Hard Home delivers the desired claustrophobic intensity.
WATCH NOW: Hard Home
5. Orphan: First Kill (2022)
What it’s about: Isabelle Fuhrman reprises her chilling role as Esther in this prequel to Orphan. This time out, Esther infiltrates the wealthy Albright family by pretending to be their missing daughter. Things get complicated when the matriarch (Julia Stiles) begins to suspect the horrifying truth.
Why you should watch: What’s creepier than being betrayed by the people we invite into our home?
WATCH NOW: Orphan: First Kill
6. Personal Shopper (2016)
What it’s about: Maureen (Kristen Stewart, in a masterful performance) is a fashion assistant in Paris who moonlights as a medium. Despite her psychic gift, Maureen waits in vain for a sign from her recently deceased twin. Suddenly, anonymous texts start appearing … Is this communication from the other side?
Why you should watch: Writer/director Olivier Assayas crafts a whisper-quiet tale where there’s nothing scarier than loneliness. The texting sequences alone will raise your heart rate.
WATCH NOW: Personal Shopper
7. Parallel (2024)
What it’s about: After losing her daughter, Vanessa (Danielle Deadwyler) becomes convinced she can reach the child in a parallel reality. Alongside brothers Alex (Aldis Hodge) and Martel (Edwin Hodge), Vanessa discovers an alternate universe where she can have everything she wants. But at what cost?
Why you should watch: You like your psychological terror served with a side of sci-fi? Then this is for you. You won’t be distracted by explosions and spectacle, you’ll be focusing on what you’d do if you were in Vanessa’s shoes.
WATCH NOW: Parallel
8. Slingshot (2024)
What it’s about: Astronaut John (Casey Affleck) joins a space mission under the command of Nash (Laurence Fishburne). As the crew members’ isolation deepens, and the spacecraft moves further and further from Earth, paranoia and distrust take root and grow.
Why you should watch: You won’t know which way is up as you try to figure out what’s actually happening in this tale of a space mission gone wrong … that is, if they’re even actually in space. Director Mikael Håfström (Escape Plan) stages the ultimate mind game, and you’ll be happy (or horrified) to play along.
WATCH NOW: Slingshot
9. Strange Darling (2024)
What it’s about: A hookup between two strangers (Willa Fitzgerald and Kyle Gallner) spirals into violence, deception, and survival. All we know for sure is this; one of the two people is a serial killer. Told in out-of-order chapters, writer/director JT Mollner’s thriller flips perspective, constantly reassigning the roles of predator and prey.
Why you should watch: You should watch Strange Darling because it’s literally great to look at: The old-school 35mm cinematography gives the film a raw, classic feel. And it doesn’t hurt that it’s a rug-pull thriller that’ll keep you off balance until the final (35mm) frame.
WATCH NOW: Strange Darling
10. Fatal Attraction (1987)
What it’s about: An affair between married attorney Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) and editor Alex Forrest (Glenn Close, in an Oscar®-nominated performance) detonates into obsession when Dan ends their relationship. Calls at his workplace turn into visits to his home, a simmering stew becomes a roiling boil – and things don’t end well for a pet bunny.
Why you should watch: One word: Iconic. Like Alex, Fatal Attraction can’t be ignored.
WATCH NOW: Fatal Attraction
11. Significant Other (2022)
What it’s about: Ruth (Maika Monroe) and Harry (Jake Lacy) set out on a backpacking trip through the Pacific Northwest. But when Harry starts acting strangely, Ruth begins to wonder if the man beside her is the same person she arrived in the forest with — or if something else has taken his place.
Why you should watch: Your jaw’s feeling a little tight. It needs an adjustment. A jaw-dropper, one might say, is called for. Significant Other – and its third-act twist – will do just the trick. Jaw. Dropper.
WATCH NOW: Significant Other
12. The Cut (2024)
What it’s about: Orlando Bloom plays a disgraced boxer staging a comeback with the help of his estranged wife (Caitríona Balfe) and an enigmatic trainer (John Turturro). What starts as a redemption story morphs into a nightmare as the extreme measures he takes to cut weight start to break down his mind and body.
Why you should watch: Sean Ellis directs with a moody intensity, turning the boxing ring into a stage for psychological combat. It’s The Wrestler by way of Cape Fear.
WATCH NOW: The Cut
13. The Girl in the Pool (2024)
What it’s about: Tom (Freddie Prinze Jr.) has built the perfect suburban life — that is, until his mistress (Gabrielle Haugh) is found dead in his backyard pool. When suspicion falls on him, his marriage, career, and sanity begin to unravel.
Why you should watch: Prinze Jr., once the face of late ’90s teen horror, makes a striking return to the horror genre with a darker, more desperate role. The film scratches the same paranoia itch as Unfaithful or Fatal Attraction, that has you side-eyeing your partner, and wondering what’s in his or her text history. It’s a suburban nightmare that asks how well you really know the person beside you.
WATCH NOW: The Girl in the Pool
14. The Road (2009)
What it’s about: A father (Viggo Mortenson) and son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) walk through a burned-out United States, scavenging for food and dodging the worst of humanity – what’s left of it, anyway. Every stranger they meet could be a friend or a foe, a reason to maintain hope or another obstacle to their continued survival.
Why you should watch: As a psychological survival tale, The Road proves devastating and oddly cleansing. It’s a top-notch adaptation, too (of the acclaimed Cormac McCarthy novel of the same name, natch).
WATCH NOW: The Road
15. The Last Stop in Yuma County (2023)
What it’s about: Stranded at an Arizona rest stop, a traveling knife salesman (Jim Cummings) stumbles into a diner where he is held hostage by two armed criminals. What unfolds is a tense standoff during which every patron becomes both suspect and potential victim.
Why you should watch: This film, a minimalist thriller, with its action confined to just the diner, recalls the movies of Joel and Ethan Coen in its bleak humor and sense of mounting dread. You wouldn’t think so much suspense could be built from silence and long stares. You’d be wrong.
WATCH NOW: The Last Stop in Yuma County
16. The Painter (2023)
What it’s about: An ex-CIA operative turned painter Peter Barrett (Charlie Weber) tries to bury his past in his art. When a mysterious young woman (Madison Bailey) appears, he’s drawn back into a world of secrets and coded betrayals.
Why you should watch: The Painter offers a late-career showcase for the Oscar®-winning Jon Voight as Peter’s former mentor turned adversary; the onetime leading man is sneaky good in shadowy roles.
WATCH NOW: The Painter
17. The Infernal Machine (2022)
What it’s about: Novelist Bruce Cogburn (Memento‘s Guy Pearce) has lived in isolation since his controversial book inspired a crime. When he begins receiving an endless series of letters, he must confront the possibility of an obsessive stalker. Or maybe his own guilt is messing with his mind …
Why you should watch: This slow-burn thriller is tailor-made for fans of obsession-driven films like Misery.
WATCH NOW: The Infernal Machine
18. Crisis (2021)
What it’s about: Three intersecting stories play out against the opioid epidemic: a university researcher (Gary Oldman) pressured to bury damning findings, a DEA fixer (Armie Hammer) threading a cross-border sting, and a grieving mother (Evangeline Lilly) digging into her son’s death.
Why you should watch: Crisis is the thriller as pressure cooker, where every choice made by a character feels like the wrong one. And the best thing? You’re not the one under fire. You just get to sit back, and watch other people go through it.
WATCH NOW: Crisis
19. Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon (2021)
What it’s about: Mona Lisa Lee (Jeon Jong-seo), a young woman with eerie mind-control abilities, escapes a psychiatric ward and lands in neon-drenched New Orleans. There a scheming single mom (Kate Hudson) sees opportunity. Night after night, the duo’s hustles escalate and loyalties wobble as cops, club owners, and gawkers get pulled into the orbit of a girl who can make you do anything.
Why you should watch: Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon is a vibe-forward urban fairy tale where power is the scariest magic of all.
WATCH NOW: Mona Lisa and the Blood Moon
20. The Autopsy of Jane Doe (2016)
What it’s about: A father-son coroner team (Brian Cox and Emile Hirsch) works through the night on an unidentified body. The injuries on the corpse seem impossible: shattered bones that exhibit no external trauma and eyes that tell the tale of someone who’s been dead for a while and veins that say the opposite. As the autopsy progresses, so do the phenomena – whispers in vents, radios tuning themselves, and dead bodies that won’t stay still …
Why you should watch: The Autopsy of Jane Doe is a chamber piece that turns procedure into ritual, with each incision offering up another clue – and another curse.
WATCH NOW: The Autopsy of Jane Doe
