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Looking over your shoulder yet? Join us as we explore cinema's most mind-bending thrillers that will have you questioning everything around you! These psychological masterpieces blur the line between reality and fiction, making you wonder who's watching, what's real, and whether you can trust your own mind.
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00:00Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're counting down our picks for the top 20 movies that will
00:17make you paranoid. There's been much discussion about exactly how far has society gone into mirroring
00:37the events fictionalized in George Orwell's novel 1984. The paranoia in this film adaptation deals
00:44with, among other things, constant surveillance from Big Brother and the destruction of individuality.
00:50The complete hopelessness that goes along with the plot of 1984, as well as the tragic love story
00:56of protagonists Winston and Julia, not only makes us paranoid about the future, it honestly just
01:01makes us depressed. Still, that takes nothing away from the cautionary tale of 1984.
01:14Nor how effective writer-director Michael Radford was at bringing this book to the screen.
01:2019. Gone Girl
01:22Psychological thrillers are called this for a reason. They create an insane amount of nail-biting
01:31tension for the audience, and we wouldn't want it any other way. Gone Girl is one such thriller,
01:37a film where no one's motives are exactly what they seem, and everyone seems to have an angle.
01:42As a result, the paranoia is palpable, as the mystery behind the disappearance of Amy Dunn
01:48slowly begins to unravel a Russian doll of hidden motivations and secrets.
01:53Please, don't turn this investigation into a circle. Where's your wife, Nick? Let the police do
01:57their job. What did you do to your pregnant wife? We just love a good mystery, and the twists in Gone Girl
02:03not only keep us on the edge of our seats, they also make us paranoid, albeit in the best possible way.
02:1018. Vertigo
02:18Alfred Hitchcock was known as the master of suspense, and it's easy to see why,
02:23especially after watching Vertigo. This 1958 classic is widely regarded as one of Hitch's
02:29finest works, if not his absolute best. The film even managed to knock Citizen Kane from its top spot
02:36on Sight and Sound magazine's Great Films of All Time list.
02:47Obsession is a theme throughout Vertigo, but in addition to this is the crippling fear of heights
02:52possessed by the protagonist Detective John Scotty Ferguson. This fear is amped up in any scene where
02:58Scotty is either recalling his past trauma or attempting to confront it, and it plays into our
03:03own paranoid and deep-seated phobias. It's misdirection and paranoia done by one of the masters.
03:1017. Taken
03:22Okay, so we realize that the plot of Taken goes down some dark roads, but its basic core
03:36is the same. Who isn't afraid of home invasions or being accosted while on vacation?
03:48The paranoia affects us in different ways. The abduction of Kim Mills from her friend's
03:54cousin's apartment occurs in a place that's supposed to feel relatively safe. Then there's
03:59the fact that Kim is away from home and her family in a country where she may not speak enough of the
04:04language to help if she's in trouble. When trouble does occur, it's up to her father and his very
04:10particular set of skills to save her life. Unfortunately, not everyone has Liam Neeson
04:16available to hunt and catch the bad guys. 16. The Manchurian Candidate
04:22The world of international espionage seems tailor-made for paranoia to strike, especially
04:27when Hollywood comes calling to adapt a popular novel from this genre. The Manchurian Candidate got
04:33this treatment twice, but we're going to look at the OG 1962 version for our list, a magnificent
04:40Cold War-era thriller. The film stars Lawrence Harvey as a Korean war veteran who's secretly
04:46been programmed as a sleeper cell communist agent with plans to assassinate a leading presidential
04:51candidate. The paranoia here stems from just how much we may or may not know about our neighbors and
05:05exactly how many people behind the scenes pull strings or set wheels in motion within our political
05:11systems. It's chilling stuff.
05:1415. Inception
05:16Are our thoughts really our own? Or have they been implanted by someone else? This is one of the
05:29questions asked in the 2010 film Inception, a dense and cerebral thriller that could have only come
05:35from the mind of one Christopher Nolan. The film's heavy plot of incepting our subconscious mind
05:41could be more colloquially compared with the process of gaslighting, deliberately subverting
05:46another's mental perception to cause intentional or emotional pain or distress.
05:50Once an idea has taken hold of the brain, it's almost impossible to eradicate. An idea that is fully
05:56formed, fully understood, that sticks right in there somewhere. It's just one way to view how Inception
06:03plays upon this very real problem within relationships, albeit with its own twisted and heavy sci-fi
06:09narrative.
06:1614. Marathon Man
06:18The 1970s were a wellspring for challenging and creative cinema, and just one corner of that
06:24creativity lay within the genre of the paranoid political thriller. 1976's Marathon Man was one of
06:32those films, a harrowing exploration of secret identities and political intrigue peppered with
06:37moments of shocking violence. Themes of persecution and vengeance fit into this film, specifically with
06:45uncovering the identities of Nazi war criminals and just how far the US government will be willing to go
06:51and with whom they're willing to work to track these people down. Oh, and if you're sensitive to graphical
06:57dental mutilation, we, uh, recommend perhaps steering clear of this one.
07:03Is it safe?
07:08No, it's not safe. It's very dangerous. Be careful.
07:12To paraphrase one infamous scene, it is not safe.
07:1713. Three Days of the Condor
07:20You're in violation of secure communication procedures, Condor.
07:23Listen, you son of a bitch, I'm telling you, I came back with lunch and it was raining and the
07:27whole house was murdered. Everybody is dead.
07:29The paranoia central to many 1970s thrillers has to do primarily with a post-Watergate America.
07:36President Nixon's resignation and a divisive war in Vietnam largely smashed any idealized
07:42versions of the country within the minds of many, especially young people. As a result,
07:47we have films like Three Days of the Condor, where no governmental agent is safe, not even if they
07:53push pencils for a living. Here, the written word becomes deadly as the CIA assassinates all but one
07:59member of its own division, one that's responsible for unintentionally leaking ties to an internal plot
08:06involving oil and the Middle East. It all ties into American cynicism, fear, and paranoia
08:12during this difficult time in history. 12. M
08:26One of your neighbors is responsible for a heinous, horrible crime. But which one?
08:32This is one of the questions asked in M, a classic slice of German expressionist cinema that remains
08:45deeply affecting and troubling to this day. The story revolves around the abduction of young locals
08:51and the relentless manhunt that occurs trying to root out the suspect. M plays like a procedural but
09:01almost leans into horror at points. So striking is the cinematography and chilling are the images.
09:07Moreover, the everyone's a suspect mentality rises to such a fever pitch within the bloodthirsty town mob
09:14that the hunger for vengeance feels as if it's going to boil over. You'll never forget this one.
09:20I always have to go through the streets and I always feel that there is someone behind me. I am myself and follow me.
09:3211. Seven Days in May
09:34Seven Days in May may have been released in 1964, but there are some striking and shocking similarities to
09:41some big-name news events in the modern day. This film adaptation of the 1962 novel presents a White House
09:48in turmoil when it's revealed that the Joint Chief of Staff are seeking to overthrow their sitting
09:54president. It's then a race against time to prevent this from happening. All as a historic
10:00nuclear disarmament deal with the Soviet Union is set to be ratified.
10:04If you want to talk about your oath of office, I'm here to tell you face-to-face, President Hyman,
10:08that you violated that oath when you stripped this country of its muscles, when you deliberately
10:11played upon the fear and fatigue of the people and told them they could remove that fear by the stroke
10:15of a pen. There are some chilling parallels to the events of January 6th, 2021. It's surreal
10:22and frightening at the same time. 10. All the President's Men
10:27We mentioned the Watergate scandal earlier,
10:44and arguably no film dramatized this incident better than All the President's Men. The cover-ups,
10:50secret sources, and political intrigue going on within the film all tie into the paranoia of the
10:551970s. This palpable sense that something was broken and needed to be fixed. Furthermore, All the
11:02President's Men is actually based on the real-life experiences of journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob
11:08Woodward, whose work with the Washington Post helps blow the Watergate wide open.
11:13If you're going to do it, do it right. Here are my notes. If you're going to hype it,
11:16hype it with the facts. I don't mind what you did. I don't mind the way you did.
11:19Sure, the film may have made investigative journalism seem more romantic, glamorous,
11:24and dangerous than it actually is, but at the same time, it emphasizes the importance and necessity
11:29of this art form within a free society. 9. The Matrix
11:49It's the sci-fi film that launched a thousand blogs and think pieces. It's The Matrix, and it helped
11:55revolutionize and energize the genre back in the late 90s. While fans still debate whether the
12:01Wachowskis were truly inspired by Dark City while making their futuristic dystopian action flick,
12:08The Matrix stands on its own two feet with regards to its story and themes.
12:13It led its audience to question reality, to wonder about the human experience and how much value to
12:30place on material pleasures of The Matrix versus a search for something greater. There were both
12:36religious and political allegories present within The Matrix, all the while reminding us of the paranoia
12:42that's always lurking in the back of our minds each day.
12:498. The Parallax View
13:04Some of the paranoia we've discussed so far on this list can be chalked to imagination or perception,
13:09but the plot of The Parallax View contains some very legitimate reasons for its characters to be
13:16paranoid. This is because witnesses of a calculated political assassination are being eliminated one by
13:22one by a shadowy organization, and it's up to one determined reporter to find out why.
13:29The Parallax View is an incredibly stylish and creepy film, with a certain austere aesthetic that makes it
13:35truly one of a kind. The Parallax Corporation is actively recruiting assassins, and the scenes
13:41involving their personality profile tests lean into our paranoid obsessions about big business and
13:46their connections to political heavyweights. 7. Blowout
13:52If there was ever an American successor to Alfred Hitchcock's Master of Suspense tag, it has to be Brian
13:58De Palma. De Palma made a career out of updating Hitch's aesthetic with a more visceral and voyeuristic
14:04touch, inspired by the stylish Italian giallo films of the 1970s. Blowout was De Palma's reimagining of
14:12the 1966 film Blow Up, also out of Italy, and starred John Travolta as a sound effects engineer who
14:18accidentally captures too much on his microphone. From there, it's a story of dangerous obsession,
14:24as audio of a political assassination unfurls to include blackmail, intrigue, and tragically,
14:30more murder. There's also an analogy here to the JFK assassination, and the paranoia surrounding how
14:36the country's political theater can become so deadly. 6. Buried
14:54This Debbie Downer of a film starred Ryan Reynolds inside a dark, dark coffin in Iraq. That's right,
15:07the American truck driver couldn't be buried alive domestically, it had to be overseas. Armed with
15:13only a flashlight, lighter, a flask, thank god, a pen, a phone, and glorious glow sticks, Paul Conroy
15:20must either decide to get drunk and call it a life, or find his way out of the darkness.
15:34Hmm, what would you do? Watch the latest WatchMojo clip and then make a phone call? So many options.
15:43Just don't ever leave home or you could be buried alive.
15:465. Contagion Here's a film that will
15:50make you think you're allergic to everything and possibly inspire a life of seclusion.
15:54My wife makes me take off my clothes in the garage, and she leaves out a bucket of warm water and some
16:00soap, and then she douses everything in hand sanitizer after I leave. I mean, she's overreacting,
16:06right? Not really. And stop touching your face, Dave.
16:10It all started with a Minnesota woman played by Gwyneth Paltrow, whose character enjoyed more
16:16than just a little Hong Kong during a business trip. What happens? The entire world dies. Or at least,
16:23all of your favorite movie stars do. Which is kind of the same thing.
16:26What happened to her? What happened to her?
16:30Okay. Okay.
16:31Okay. Steven Soderbergh freaked out the entire world with Contagion and probably made 70% of the population
16:38gluten-free. Don't ask. It's real. Contagion is coming. Wait a minute. Some may argue that it's
16:45already here.
16:524. The Conversation Released during the Watergate scandal,
16:56but not in response to the Watergate scandal, The Conversation chronicled the devastatingly
17:02boring lifestyle of a surveillance expert and the San Francisco couple he's creeping on.
17:07He'd kill us if he got the chance.
17:09Harry Call likes jazz, but doesn't like human contact. He'll listen to your conversation,
17:15but will sweat profusely if his ethics are questioned. Uh, did we mention this film wasn't
17:21in response to Watergate? Why are you following me? I'm not following you. I'm looking for you.
17:27It's a big difference. Even though director Francis Ford Coppola swore the 1966 blow-up inspired the film,
17:34he believed audiences felt the subject matter was too similar to the presidential scandal to ignore.
17:40While Coppola ended up losing the Best Picture Oscar for this film that year to himself,
17:45the conversation's legacy is secure because Harry Call's paranoia rubbed off on us all.
17:51We know that you know, Mr. Call. For your own sake, don't get involved any further. We'll be listening to you.
17:58Number 3. The Truman Show
18:00Is he looking at us? Jesus, do you think he knows?
18:04Hello? Better call Kristoff. Hello? Come in, Major Burbank.
18:11Oh hey, Truman Burbank. Did we mention your entire life as a sham? In Peter Weir's The Truman Show,
18:21Jim Carrey stars as the unsuspecting title character who enjoys life on a Los Angeles soundstage. He was
18:28born into the figurative hands of a corporation which broadcasts his entire life, repeat, entire life,
18:35to all of Earth. Keep that in mind, Mojoholics. As a film that preceded the outstanding cultural
18:42gems that are reality TV shows, The Truman Show made viewers check for cameras at home
18:47and question their entire existence. Maybe we're all living on a grand stage.
18:52Was nothing real? You were real. That's what made you so good to watch.
18:59Number 2. Jaws
19:08It doesn't matter where you swim. It doesn't matter what body of water you're in. Jaws will swallow you
19:14whole. Well, at least that was the general vibe we got from the release of Steven Spielberg's horrifying
19:21film. Though our bodies are mostly made of H2O, and many of us enjoy a dip in the water from time to
19:30time, Jaws ruined everything by making us afraid of bloodthirsty sharks. Even those poor bastards in
19:37Minnesota thought Jaws was roaming their land of 10,000 lakes. Now, that's just a damn shame. Screw you,
19:45Jaws. You're not real.
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20:15Number 1. Memento
20:17Okay, so what am I doing?
20:21Oh, I'm chasing this guy.
20:26Oh, he's chasing me.
20:29If you can't trust your own memories, what can you trust?
20:33The feeling of paranoia is hardwired into the DNA of Memento right from Jump Street. As it's revealed,
20:39our protagonist can't make new memories, and loses them in the short term every 15 minutes.
20:46As a result, every character here is unreliable, even the narrator, as Memento tries to piece together
20:53just what happened to Guy Pearce's character and his wife, while also questioning the motives of nearly
20:58every other character. It's the sort of manic and dizzying narrative we've come to love and
21:09respect from Christopher Nolan, with Memento being the kind of film that simply needs to be viewed
21:14multiple times to truly latch on to the mystery at hand.
21:19We all need mirrors to remind ourselves who we are.
21:21What are your favorites? Let us know in the comments.
21:30First of all, let us know in the comments.
21:44Let's go.
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