25 International Psychological Thrillers That Will Haunt Your Thoughts
I love psychological thrillers because they don't rely on jump scares or gore to elicit fear in their viewers. Instead, they reel us in by twisting our minds and making us contemplate intense themes. Some of the best psychological horror films come from outside of the U.S.
1. Irréversible (2002)
This mind-bending French thriller tells the story of a woman's harrowing night in reverse chronology. After she's violated and beaten in an underpass, her current and former flings take matters into their own hands to seek justice.
2. The Platform (2019)
When a man awakes in a strange prison, his cellmate tells him the two are lucky this month. They're imprisoned in a sinister skyscraper that feeds its inmates with a cruel system: a platform with a feast descends between each cell through a hole in the floor, letting those at the top gorge themselves while those at the bottom starve to death. This month, the new inmate is near the top. But things change every single month.
3. Call (2020)
Call is an adventurous Korean thriller with many twists and turns. When two women living in the same home twenty years apart converge timelines over the phone, they realize a terrible serial killer could threaten both of their lives. But as they learn more about one another, they know they may not truly be able to trust one another.
4. The Skin I Live In (2011)
A traumatized plastic surgeon who spends his life developing new skin grafts to save the lives of burn victims finally brings his invention to fruition in this terrifying Spanish thriller. To test out his new potentially life-saving treatment, he forces a kidnapped woman to be his guinea pig.
5. Goodnight Mommy (2014)
This Austrian film is about two twin boys who feel uneasy when their mother returns home with her face completely bandaged up from surgery. As they reconnect with their mom, they believe she's not who she claims to be.
6. Inside (2007)
Inside is a French home invasion horror about a pregnant woman who recently lost her husband in a tragic car crash. Alone in her apartment on Christmas Eve, a strange woman shows up at her doorstep with a sinister plan.
7. Let The Right One In (2008)
When a bullied twelve-year-old boy meets his new neighbor, he quickly grows close to the strange, pale girl next door. But as a string of gruesome murders hits their town, the girl shares a secret with her neighbor that tests their friendship in this Swedish film.
8. Oxygen (2021)
This French horror will make anyone with claustrophobia panic. When a young woman wakes up trapped in a cryogenic chamber, she must battle with her AI helper for release. But she's running out of time and soon will be out of oxygen.
9. The Piano Teacher (2001)
The Piano Teacher is a French and German language film about a music professor at an elite conservatory in Vienna. She's stuck living with her overbearing mother and only escapes her watch when she's out pursuing her voyeuristic sexual fantasies or at work. Things turn dark quickly when she meets a student who catches her eye.
10. Caché (2005)
A couple in Paris with flourishing careers and a happy marriage becomes uneasy when they find videos of themselves left at their doorstep. The two watch the tapes without knowing who's filming them and uncover dreadful secrets that threaten to break up the happy couple and change their lives forever.
11. The Orphanage (2007)
When a woman who grew up in an orphanage and her husband bought the old orphanage to turn it into a center to care for sick kids, she moved her ill son into the facility. But when her son mysteriously goes missing, she begins to hear the voices of ghostly children that guide her to the answer in this twisted Spanish film.
12. The Babadook (2014)
The Babadook is an Australian psychological horror film about a single mother and her son struggling to cope with losing their father and husband. While preparing for bedtime, the boy finds a strange book on his shelf about a creepy spirit looming in their home called “the Babadook.” But what his mother initially believes is a twisted fairy tale turns out to be a very real uninvited house guest.
13. Lake Mungo (2008)
When a young Australian teen drowns on what was supposed to be a relaxing family trip to a lake, her family believes her ghost is trying to tell them something. After hiring paranormal investigators, the family realizes they don't know their daughter as well as they thought.
14. Repulsion (1965)
This classic British psychological horror is about a woman disgusted by the idea of being intimate with a man. In order to avoid contact with men, she locks herself in her apartment and begins to suffer from delusions and hallucinations.
15. Julia's Eyes (2010)
Julia's Eyes is a Spanish film about a woman with a degenerative illness that will cause her to lose her eyesight if untreated. After her twin sister dies in a suspicious accident, the woman undergoes eye surgery and must wear a bandage for a few weeks as her eyes heal. But when someone begins to mess with the woman's peace, she wonders if the same invisible man was responsible for her sister's untimely death.
16. Funny Games (1997)
When a family of three visits a lakehouse in Austria for a weekend getaway, they never expect the horrific events that would follow. Soon after they arrive, two sadistic young men hold the family captive in their own vacation home and unleash humiliating antics on each family member.
17. The Vanishing (1988)
The Vanishing is a Dutch psychological thriller about a young couple on a biking vacation in France. Suddenly and inexplicably, the woman goes missing at a gas station while her boyfriend waits outside. As years pass without a resolution to the mystery, the boyfriend becomes increasingly obsessed with finding the woman he loves.
18. Audition (1999)
This suspenseful Japanese thriller is about a man searching for love again after his wife passes away. He takes an unconventional approach to dating by searching for women by asking for audition tapes to be his girlfriend. After he meets a woman and begins to fall for her, he soon realizes she isn't what she seems.
19. The Wailing (2016)
When a strange viral outbreak in a small South Korean town causes people to go into a murderous rampage, the townspeople believe the horrors are linked to the arrival of a strange new man. As the police investigate, they struggle to decipher the truth from the hearsay.
20. The Feast (2021)
The Feast is an ominous Welsh horror film about a family who hosts a dinner party for a couple of businessmen working in the area. As the hosts attempt to butter up their guests, a quiet waitress serves the guests. But when the family reveals the real reason for hosting the dinner party, the waitress exposes a secret of her own.
21. A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)
In this South Korean film, two sisters reunite at their family home when one returns from a psychiatric hospital. When she gets home, she meets her father's new wife, and the sisters soon grow to dislike this new figure in their lives. When strange and sinister events occur at their house, the sisters have no idea what's behind them.
22. The Monitor (2011)
The Monitor is a chilling Norwegian psychological drama about a woman and her young son as they enter hiding to escape her abusive ex. While the child sleeps in a nearby room, his mother eases her mind by listening to him on a baby monitor. But when the monitor picks up a nearby frequency of people screaming in terror, the woman tries to figure out if someone is harmed.
23. When Animals Dream (2014)
This Danish horror film follows a teenage girl who begins to experience odd bodily changes. As she attempts to figure out what's happening to her, she unearths a family secret that changes her life forever.
24. Battle Royale (2000)
Battle Royale is a twisted last-man-standing horror film set in a dystopian Japan. When adults blame Japan's youth for a long-lasting and brutal recession, they force kids to behave by sending a group of teenagers to a remote island where they must kill each other in the hopes of being the sole survivor.
25. Rigor Mortis (2013)
This movie is terrifying and is one of the most loved horror films from Hong Kong. The movie centers around a former star who has lost everything in his life and when he tries to take his life, the ghosts of his building start being drawn to him.
