Table of Contents
Shutter Island is a twisty psychological thriller from direction Director Martin Scorsese. The story Edward “Teddy” Daniels, a troubled U.S, Marshall played by Leonardo DiCaprio as he is investigating the disappearance of a female patient from a mental asylum.
It is a psychological drama movie with brilliant writing and a very gripping screenplay with an unexpected series of events that just hold you tight on the edge of your seat. The acting of Leonardo Di Caprio is always mesmerizing to watch, but the addition of Mark Ruffalo adds another dimension to it. the acting of all the supporting stars cast along with the legendary Leonardo is just outstanding and a shockingly unbelievable twist and turns of the event through the climax leaves you speechless.
If you enjoy the suspense and psychological thriller genre, then here are 7 movies like Shutter Island you do not want to miss.
The Machinist
This movie serves you a psychotic thriller with suspense comedy as a side dish. It’s based on a character called Trevor (Christian Bale) who hasn’t slept in months and the effects of insomnia build-up when he meets with accidents and disbelief. He starts being followed by an imaginative character.
It’s based to inflict suspense as the entire movie is shown through a first-person perspective. We experience what Trevor is experiencing and learn all the things happening with him. This helps the story unfold very neatly. The best part definitely the acting of Bale. You definitely must have heard a lot of stories of what Bale did for his role in the Machinist movie. And all of them have paid off.
The director has placed a lot of objects and scenes where the subtext is explained. So you have to look carefully. Everything builds up the last moment where the story is revealed. This is not done as a big surprise or twist but with sets of plots all together helping us to find ourselves of what is happening. And then for our confirmation, they do explain it a little.
Identity
A thought-provoking ride from beginning to end. A great plot twist, quick and violent moments. It is one of those movies like Shutter Island or to say very close to it as the protagonist is wondering what is going on around him and the audience try to anticipate what could be next.
This murder mystery/thriller captures attention quickly with strong character and situation setups. What really sets this story apart is a rather massive plot twist that completely changes the viewer’s perception of the events. Some feel that this makes the movie more interesting, some feel that it destroys what had been a hitherto great narrative.
The movie includes John Cusack as the lead with noticeable performances from several supporting actors including Amanda Peet, Ray Liotta, and Alfred Molina.
Fight Club
An enigmatic action cum psychological movie with great cinematography, its interpretation has eluded the moviegoers for years. The opening scene which provides the background for the opening credits is visually arresting, with a hyper-realistic rendition of the electron microscopic view starting from the interior of the human brain with neurons and axons from inside out. It culminates in an unnerving close-up view of the cold barrel of the gun.
The film is highly allegorical with plenty of subtexts and metaphors, an enjoyable Easter egg hunt experience for an avid cinephile. Even after 20 years of the release, the plot still offers raw insights.
Enemy
A well-done psychological thriller about a man who’s in over his head, after finding out he has a doppelganger and figuring out his life. Gyllenhaal is fantastic in his double roles, giving each person their own facial features and even the way they carry themselves.
Enemy can be many meaningful things such as yourself or your adversary in a thrilling psychological battle between itself. It may not be for everyone, but this film was enjoyable to dive deeper into.
Black Swan
A psychological thriller that is as perfect as the protagonist. The plot is unique, and could be the evil mirrored twin of the classic ballet’s story ”Swan Lake”. The performances are amazing and the viewer gets lost in Nina’s mental illness, therefore feels whatever she feels, sees, and hears whatever she does, even if her visions do not belong in reality.
It’s a twisted movie, foreshadowing Nina’s loss of purity, stability, and self. The combination of the tragic ending of Odette in ”Swan Lake” and Nina’s is unbelievable, making the film ending even more tragic than the classical ballet. The viewer throughout the movie gets lost in Nina’s hallucinations and panic attacks that lead her to have delusions and harm herself, even unconsciously.
Inception
Inception is truly one of a kind. A concept that has long gestated in Christopher Nolan’s mind, his eye for drama mixed with his large scale sensibilities ring true in Blockbuster season making Inception a true original in the sea of reboots, remakes, and sequels.
Inception carries this dream thing forward to an extreme degree by stripping away the boundaries of reality to make us wonder if the dream has now become Cobb’s (Leonardo Dicaprio ) a reality. This can all be tracked through who has Cobb’s totem, but then how is never as interesting as the why. The why of Inception is what makes it Nolan’s defining work.
The Girl On The Train
This movie is based on a novel by Paula Hawkins of the same name. Commuter Rachel Watson (Emily Blunt) catches daily glimpses of a seemingly perfect couple, Scott and Megan, from the window of her train. One day, Watson witnesses something shocking unfold in the backyard of the strangers’ home.
Rachel tells the authorities what she thinks she saw after learning that Megan is now missing and feared dead. Unable to trust her own memory, the troubled woman begins her own investigation, while police suspect that Rachel may have crossed a dangerous line.
A puzzle with random pieces. Not a happy movie but a cinematic challenge. The audience will find it difficult to think that think the pieces would mesh together, but in the final moments, cohesion is accomplished. If you like surprise endings, you’ll enjoy this movie.