Psychological suspense thrillers are rollercoaster rides over the edge–you have no idea when the next drop is coming, and when it hits, it leaves you dizzy. The greatest of these movies not only frighten you; they play games with your brain, and you find yourself questioning everything you believe. If you enjoy stories that leave you sitting on the edge of your seat until the very end, strap yourself in. Here are 10 of the biggest surprises in psychological thrillers, and the countdown starts to the one that shocked everything.
10. Midsommar (2019)
Ari Aster’s Sunlight Horror welcomes you into the picturesque Swedish summer festival, only to dive into a dark and sinister story of cult rituals and psychological therapy. What starts as a therapeutic retreat for Dani and her friends becomes a hell on earth, eventually culminating in Dani’s eye-popping ascension to the queen of the ritual. The last scenes leave you questioning whether you’re looking at a victim or a survivor, unsettled long beyond the credits.
9. Hereditary (2018)
And another Ari Aster classic, Hereditary, is a deconstruction of the haunted-house genre. The downfall of the Graham family is drenched in trauma, tragedy, and supernatural horror, and it ends on a note that’s both inevitable and disgusting. The twist—the family had unknowingly been pawns in a satanic ritual—will reside in your mind so that all the interactions between members of the family from then on will be sinister by hindsight.
8. The Others (2001)
Nicole Kidman plays Grace, a mother who is certain that her mansion is haunted. The gothic tone builds to one of the most iconic twists in cinema: that Grace and her children are the ghosts that haunt the living. This twist completely recontextualizes the entire film and causes one to second-guess every shadow and creak on second viewing.
7. Triangle (2009)
What should be a simple yachting break becomes a dizzying rollercoaster of blood and guilt. Melissa George’s Jess is caught in a deadly loop, each turn of which reveals further horrors. The twist—that she is a murderer and a victim—guarantees Triangle a cult following among devotees of brain-twisting, puzzle-piece plotting.
6. The Prestige (2006)
Christopher Nolan’s story of competing magicians is a lesson in misdirection. As Angier and Borden double-cross one another, the final twist—Borden is a twin and Angier has been cloning himself—hit like a body blow, making everyone go back over every trick and double-cross in between.
5. Mulholland Drive (2001)
David Lynch’s neo-noir is a dreamlike journey through ambition, identity, and regret. What remains ambiguous to most of the film becomes a stunning twist: most of the film takes place within the fantasy of a failed actress. The third act is completely paradigm-shifting, with folks debating the sense of the film long after it’s over.
4. Memento (2000)
Christopher Nolan flips storytelling convention on its head with this back-chronology tale. Leonard, Guy Pearce, is tracking down his wife’s killer while suffering from short-term amnesia. The surprise—that Leonard has been manipulating himself into imbuing his life with meaning—is redefining him as a victim-turned-morally-ambiguous-antihero.
3. Unbreakable (2000)
M. Night Shyamalan’s low-key suspense thriller reimagines the genre of superhero genre. Bruce Willis’s David Dunn survives a fatal train crash with superhuman abilities—except the real twist is that Samuel L. Jackson’s Elijah plans the catastrophe. Misdirection turns self-discovery into a story of manipulation.
2. Oldboy (2003)
Park Chan-wook’s revenge epic is infamous for its shock value. Oh Dae-su’s quest for finding his kidnapper culminates in a gruesome realization: Mi-do, the woman he loves, is his daughter. The brutality and intelligence of the villain’s scheme render this shock irreversible.
1. The Sixth Sense (1999)
No list of psychological thriller twists would be complete without M. Night Shyamalan’s classic. Bruce Willis stars as Malcolm, a child psychologist aiding a boy who can see dead people. The now-legendary twist of the movie—the reveal that Malcolm is dead the whole time—redrew the rulebook and still has an impact on filmmakers. The twist is so well-crafted that it rewards repeat viewing and aids in making the film a classic.
If you’re in the mood for movies that’ll keep you up at night and leave you questioning what is real, these psychological thrillers are the ones to catch. Warning: once those plot twists kick in, nothing will ever be the same again.