Netflix, everyone’s favorite OG streamer, has one of the biggest selections of psychological horror films around. Psychological horror and its focus on the character’s emotions and inner world tend to stick with us in ways goofier jump-scare-heavy films don’t. If we want to be scared not just at the moment but for the rest of the week, then psychological horror is our go-to. Of course, with Netflix’s massive and sometimes oddly tagged library it can be hard to find the perfect film with just the right vibe. Fear not, because we’ve put together a list of some of our favorite psychological horror films currently on Netflix.
1922 (2017)
Director: Zak Hilditch | Run Time: 1h 42m
Cast: Thomas Jane, Molly Parker, Neal McDonough, Dylan Schmid
What better place to start a roundup of great psychological horror flicks than with a Stephen King adaptation? 1922 is based on a novella by the same name in King’s 2010 collection Full Dark, No Stars and was described by Collider’s Haleigh Foutch as “a visually elegant inspection of guilt and the consequences of violence, keyed in the theme of The Tell-Tale Heart.” Directed by Zak Hilditch, 1922 tells the story of Wilf James (Thomas Jane), a man who decides to kill his wife for the sake of preserving his farm and his livelihood. Of course, Monkeypaw-esque turns cause him to lose everything he has been fighting for.
The Devil All the Time (2020)
Director: Antonio Campos | Run Time: 2h 18m
Cast: Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Robert Pattinson, Sebastian Stan
The Devil All the Time, a grim ensemble tale of murder, religious extremism, and depravity in the mid-century Midwest, has a remarkable cast of stars Tom Holland, Riley Keough, Bill Skarsgård, Robert Pattinson, and Sebastian Stan. Based on a book by Donald Ray Pollock and directed by Antonio Campos, The Devil All the Time is certainly not a film for everyone but the fantastic cast and compelling story make it hard to look away, even as you know this won’t end well for the vast majority of the characters.
In The Tall Grass (2019)
Director: Vincenzo Natali | Run Time: 1h 41m
Cast: Harrison Gilbertson, Laysla De Oliveira, Patrick Wilson, Rachel Wilson
In The Tall Grass is another fantastic and horrifying film based on a Stephen King novella, this one written in collaboration with Joe Hill. In The Tall Grass follows a brother and sister who are lured into an overgrown field, only to find there seems to be no way out. In The Tall Grass plays some interesting games with time loops and is one of those films that isn’t just worth watching, it’s worth rewatching. In The Tall Grass is directed by Vincenzo Natali, the director behind sci-fi horror classics including Cube and Splice. Haleigh Foutch reviewed In The Tall Grass for Collider and praised Natali’s direction, noting that, “by all reason, a field of grass should just not be scary or cinematic, but Natali makes it feel like a pulse-pounding menace — and a stunning one at that.”
The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
Director: Scott Cooper | Run Time: 2h 10m
Cast: Christian Bale, Harry Melling, Gillian Anderson, Lucy Boynton, Robert Duvall
Many of the films on this list owe something to Edgar Allan Poe, but in The Pale Blue Eye, he’s actually a character! The Pale Blue Eye has Poe, played by Henry Melling, working with a retired detective, played by Christian Bale, to solve a string of gruesome and possibly occult murders at West Point in 1830. While the film is of course a work of fiction, it has a variety of clever Easter eggs for fans of Poe’s works. When reviewing the film for Collider, Maggie Lovitt praised the film’s gothic tone and director Scott Cooper’s expert misdirects. The Pale Blue Eye blends murder mystery and psychological horror, offering something for everyone.
A Classic Horror Story (2021)
Directors: Roberto De Feo and Paolo Strippoli | Run Time: 1h 35m
Cast: Matilda Lutz, William Merrick, Yuliia Sobol, Justin Korovkin
This Italian horror film is a pastiche of a variety of horror genres, from giallo, to folk horror, to found footage. Gorier than many of the films on this list, A Classic Horror Story is a twisting and suspenseful tale, where everyone has secrets and no one is safe. Matilda Lutz and William Merrick star as two members of a group sharing an RV to the town of Calabria, all for their own purposes. The trip quickly takes a turn for the deadly and the tension and gore don’t let up as the group stumbles from one nightmare to the next.
The Bridge Curse (2020)
Director: Lester Hsi | Run Time: 1h 27m
Cast: Summer Meng, J.C. Lin, Chang Ning, Vera Yan
The Bridge Curse, a 2020 horror thriller out of Taiwan starts with the classic setup of a group of friends deciding to test a local urban legend. In this case, it is a legend of a vengeful spirit who attacks those who look back while walking on a bridge at night. (This is based on an urban legend at Tunghai University, though the location and other details were changed for the movie.) Stars, JC Lin, Vera Yen, Summer Meng, and Cheng Ming, do a great job to sell the horror with relatively minimal special effects, and a twist towards the end helps push the film from good to great.
Bird Box (2018)
Director: Susanne Bier | Run Time: 2h 4m
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, Jacki Weaver, John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson, B.D. Wong, Machine Gun Kelly,
Bird Box was one of the most popular films on Netflix in 2018, with its simple premise of monsters that can’t be looked at spawning memes, dangerous challenges, and over 45 million views in its first week. The film stars Sandra Bullock in the lead role as Melanie, a woman trying to take care of two young children in a post-apocalyptic world terrorized by monsters who cause anyone who sees them to die by suicide almost immediately. Of course, views on movies are always subjective and viewers and critics have been divided on the film’s choice to show so little of the monsters. Haleigh Foutch, reviewed Bird Box as well and described it as “a pretty solid thriller.” Anyone who enjoyed Bird Box should be sure to keep an eye out (or possibly be covered) for the upcoming Bird Box Barcelona. Bird Box is a Netflix original, so we don’t expect it to leave the streamer anytime soon.
Ouija: Origin of Evil (2016)
Director: Mike Flanagan | Run Time: 1h 39m
Cast: Elizabeth Reaser, Annalise Basso, Lulu Wilson, Henry Thomas, Doug Jones
A fantastic film from the talented Mike Flanagan, Ouija: Origin of Evil is a period piece set in the 1960s, featuring a struggling young widow and her children who are running a séance scam in an attempt to support themselves. Of course, when they add an Ouija board into the mix things take a turn for the sinister. With only a PG-13 rating, it may be more appropriate for younger teens and families than most of the movies on this list. Unlike some of the other movies in the Ouija franchise, Ouija: Origin of Evil was well received by both audiences and critics with Perri Nemiroff‘s review calling it, “an improvement on the first film, in large part because it keeps the focus on family.” He also praised Ouija: Origin of Evil’s cast.
Hypnotic (2021)
Director: Matt Angel and Susanne Coote | Run Time: 1h 29m
Cast: Dule Hill, Kate Seigel, Jason O’Mara
Hypnotic, a 2021 thriller, focuses on a woman (Kate Seigel) who turns to a famous hypnotherapist to help her improve her life. Of course, it turns out that there are dangerous consequences for giving this man so much control over her life and actions. While Hypnotic’s plot may not be terribly original, the fantastic cast makes it more than worth a watch.
Umma (2022)
Director: Iris K Shim | Run Time: 1h 23m
Cast: Sandra Oh, Fivel Stewart, MeeWha Alana Lee, Dermot Mulroney
Horror that focuses on generational trauma has been popular for a while now but that doesn’t mean that Umma, a 2022 film starring the incomparable Sandra Oh, isn’t worth a watch. Oh plays Amanda, a single mother avoiding dealing with the pain of her abusive childhood by avoiding anything having to do with her past and her Korean heritage, while also sheltering her own daughter from the world. When the ashes of Amanda’s mother (or umma in Korean) are brought to her, Amanda must finally face everything she has been trying to avoid. Collider’s Therese Lacson gave Umma a B+ and praised it as “a solid entry for Shim’s debut with a strong story and standout leading performance from Oh.”
Mr. Harrigan’s Phone (2022)
Director: John Lee Hancock | Run Time: 1h46m
Cast: Donald Sutherland, Jaeden Martell, Joe Tippett
Another film based on work by horror master Stephen King, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone was co-produced by Blumhouse Television and Ryan Murphy Productions. More subdued than many projects from those studios, Mr. Harrigan’s Phone focuses on a friendship between a teen, Craig (Jaeden Martell), and a wealthy older benefactor, Mr. Harrigan (Donald Sutherland), and how that friendship continues and warps once the elderly Mr. Harrigan dies. Collider’s Marco Vito Oddo reviewed the film for the site and noted that while it was arguably more coming-of-age drama than horror, it was still worth a watch.
Creep (2014)
Director: Patrick Brice | Run Time: 1h 17m
Cast: Mark Duplass and Patrick Brice
Creep, a deeply unsettling found footage film from Duplass Brothers Productions and Blumhouse Productions, is a masterclass in dread. Patrick Brice plays Aaron, a videographer who accepts the job of helping Josef, a man with an inoperable tumor, create a video diary for his unborn child. As the day goes on Josef’s (Mark Duplass) behavior becomes more and more erratic, setting off alarm bells for both Aaron and the audience that something is very wrong. This is definitely one of those films that will have you looking over your shoulder for the next week or more. Creep 2 is also on Netflix and is one of the few sequels considered as good as, if not better than, the original. When Duplass talked with Collider in 2020 he said:
“the reason there is no Creep 3, or that there is no Creep 3 yet, I should say, is that we don’t have an idea that’s good enough…We have promised ourselves that we will not make a third Creep, unless it is worthy of being made and we have at least a decent shot of it being good. We’re just not there yet.”
The Ring (2002)
Director: Gore Verbinski | Run Time: 1h 55m
Cast: Naomi Watts, Martin Henderson, David Dorfman, Daveigh Chase, Brian Cox
The Ring, an American remake of the classic Japanese film by the same name, brought the J-horror aesthetic to the American mainstream and made teens everywhere scared to answer the phone. While the technology that drives much of the plot may seem quaint today, the scares are still very real. Home phones and videotapes may largely be relics of the past, but the horror of a curse that you must pass to someone else in order to save yourself and the sinking dread of realizing you’ve misunderstood the type of ghost story you’re in, never go out of style. While there have been many sequels to The Ring, the 2002 film remains a classic for a reason.
Lights Out (2016)
Director: David F. Sandberg | Run Time: 1h 21m
Cast: Teresa Palmer, Gabriel Bateman, Alexander DiPersia, Billy Burke, Maria Bello
Lights Out uses the common fear of the dark to great effect in a story of ghosts, abusive friendships, and the power of familial love. Teresa Palmer stars as Rebecca, a young woman who is trying to help her mother Sophie (Maria Bello), and younger brother Martin (Gabriel Bateman) following the death of her stepfather and concerns from Child Protective Services. While at first, it appears that Sophie is dealing with a mental health crisis, it soon becomes clear that there are paranormal influences at play as well. Collider’s Perri Nemiroff praised Lights Outas a “consistent blend of scare-heavy horror and family drama,” and with only a PG-13 rating it could be a great pick for tween slumber parties.
Gerald’s Game (2017)
Director: Mike Flanagan | Run Time: 1h 43m
Cast: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Henry Thomas,
What better place to end a list of a psychological horror than with one last Stephen King adaptation? Gerald’s Game, which had long been considered unfilmable, was made into a film by one of the modern masters of ominous slow-burn nightmare fuel: Mike Flanagan. Gerald’s Game follows a woman named Jessie (Carla Gugino) who finds herself chained to a bed with her dead husband (Bruce Greenwood) beside her, following a romantic getaway gone horribly wrong. Alone and slowly dying, Jessie must contend with her own inner demons as well as possibly more literal demons as well. Collider’s Haleigh Foutch praised the film as “an excellent psychological horror that investigates hard topics without flinching and without exploiting … with its heart and its head firmly in the right place; a rejection of toxic masculinity, oppressive silence, and cycles of abuse.”
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