“What would be worse: To live as a monster or to die as a good man?”
And the credits roll, and you’re left flabbergasted with what piece of cinema you just encountered. Shutter Island, with all its twists and turns, stands high in the list of psychological thrillers.
Shutter Island
Based on the journey of 2 U.S. Marshals to an Asylum in a remote island, called Shutter Island, and the truths revealed in front of them as they progress through their journey in the island and asylum there, Shutter Island is indeed a masterpiece, made beautifully with the brilliant storyline, a strong cast, smart camera angles, and intense scenes.
If you like this film and want more to fulfill your hunger for suspense and thrill, then you’re at the right place. In this article, we have covered all the other films like Shutter Island, or the ones that would leave you as blank as Shutter Island did, with their unpredictable plot twists and head-scratching endings.
Here are the film suggestions like Shutter Island to give you the same suspense vibes:
1. Gone Girl (2014)
- Director: David Fincher
- Writer: Gillian Flynn
- Cast: Rosamund Pike, Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Emily Ratajkowski, Kim Dickens
- IMDb Rating: 8.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87%
- Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu
“An unfaithful husband or also a cold-blooded killer??”
Based on the novel of the same title, “Gone Girl,” this movie is considered to be one of the best modern-day psychological thriller movies of Hollywood. The movie revolves around the sudden disappearance of Nick’s (Ben Affleck) wife, Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike). The suspicious journey of Amy and her good public image after media coverage of the case and all the other factors works in and against Amy and Nick the other times. With an unpredictable plot twist and with a lot of lies and thrills, this psychological thriller by David Fincher will keep you to the edge of your couch till the end.
2. Inception (2010)
- Director: Christopher Nolan
- Writer: Christopher Nolan
- Cast: Leonardo Di Caprio, Elliot Page, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Tom Hardy, Cillian Murphy
- IMDb Rating: 8.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 87 %
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime, Disney+ Hotstar, Vudu
Cobb and his teammates are involved in an unusual kind of robbery; they steal information from people’s subconscious. When a tycoon named Saito offers him an offer to him of wiping all his criminal records in exchange for a project even Cobb’s teammates weren’t certain if it’s possible, the entire lives of all the people involved changed, while some got stuck in their dreams, or maybe not.
Watch yourself to find out, but remember, it’s Nolan’s movie; watch closely and don’t try to come to a conclusion quickly. The situation of the protagonist Cobb might resemble somewhat to Shutter Island’s Teddy.
3. The Prestige (2006)
- Director: Christopher Nolan
- Writer: Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan
- Cast: Christian Bale, Hugh Jackman, Scarlett Johansson, David Bowie, Michael Caine
- IMDb Rating: 8.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 76%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime, Hulu, Vudu
Set in the late 1800s England, and it follows the life and rivalry of two magicians who once worked together and later, after an incident, turned into rivals. The two magicians, Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) and Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), and their battle to create the ultimate illusion before the other, illusion being so subtle that you might be lost in them if you don’t look closely.
The movie is sure to leave you flabbergasted at the end, and your world would stop for a while, and you’ll try to revisit whatever you see, trying to comprehend things. With unpredictable twists and a brilliant storyline, this movie is unarguably one of the best psychological thrillers.
4. Zodiac (2007)
- Director: David Fincher
- Writer: James Vanderbilt, Robert Graysmith
- Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr.
- IMDb Rating: 7.7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Based on the real events that jeopardized the city of San Francisco in the 1970s, this dark psychological thriller film tells the tale of a serial killer who played with police by sending them hints through letters, ciphers and even talking live on tv. But, even after an extreme police investigation, the case remained unsolved case.
5. Predestination (2014)
- Director & Writer: Michael Spierig, Peter Spierig
- Cast: Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, Noah Taylor
- IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 84%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
“What if you could kill a person who ruined your life? Will you kill him?”
The movie tells the story of a time-traveler agent (Ethan Hawke) working for a company that sends him on different journeys in time for fixing the few things that are mandatory to be fixed. For his final project, he now appoints his younger self and sends him on a journey to avenge a person who ruined his life. The mind-bending twist of this psychological thriller shake your reality or choke your mind. Remember Shutter Island? Well, this film’s plot twist and shock factor are harder to handle than that. Don’t try to make sense of movies like these; just savor them.
6. American Psycho (2000)
- Director: Marry Harron, Morgan J. Freeman
- Writer: Marry Harron, Guinevere Turner
- Cast: Christian Bale, Justin Theroux, Josh Lucas, Bill Sage
- IMDb Rating: 7.6 /10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 69%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime, Vudu
American Psycho is a dark satire film that follows the corporate and personal life of a successful stockbroker, Patrick Bateman, and his utter frustration from the shallow and pretentious lifestyle, and his escape from this, being the extreme brutality.
7. Donnie Darko (2001)
- Director: Richard Kelly
- Writer: Richard Kelly
- Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Jena Malone, Maggie Gyllenhaal
- IMDb Rating: 8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
A high school kid, Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) who was told by a figure in a bunny costume that the world’s going to end in around 28 days. Other than this, an unusual aircraft’s part collapsed over his house, which made his family shift somewhere for a few days. The days seem to be passing by normally, but there’s some spooky going on in Donnie’s mind, or maybe in Donnie’s Universe.
The film is one of the most thought-provoking in the Sci-Fi psychological thrillers genre.
8. Mulholland Drive (2001)
- Director & Writer: David Lynch
- Cast: Naomi Watts, Laura Harring, Justin Theroux
- IMDb Rating: 7.9/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 83%
- Where to Watch: Netflix, Disney+Hotstar
Rita, the only survivor of a car accident, lost her memory and made her way to an unknown house in LA, where she meets Betty, who come to the city to be an actor. Betty, on seeing Rita’s situation, decides to help her track her life before the accident and find her true identity.
Directed by David Lynch, this psychological thriller is as confusing as it can get. If you like Shutter Island, you’ll love Mulholland Drive, but again. don’t try to contemplate everything in one go.
9. The Sixth Sense (1999)
- Director & Writer: M. Night Shyamalan
- Cast: Haley Joel Osment, Bruce Willis
- IMDb Rating: 8.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 86%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime, Vudu, Disney+Hotstar
The Sixth Sense tells the story of a child (Haley Joel Osment) who sees the dead people, and they talk to him. The child’s psychologist, Malcolm Crowe, in the process of treating the child, discovers the secrets he was unaware of about the human psyche.
10. Taxi Driver (1976)
- Director: Martin Scorsese
- Writer: Paul Schrader
- Cast: Robert De Niro, Jodie Foster, Cybill Shepherd, Albert Brooks
- IMDb Rating: 8.3/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 96%
- Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime
Travis Bickle is a loner and a depressed 26 years old taxi driver. He drives through New York City all night long and sees all the filth and crime happening in the city every single day. He is disgusted by it and wants to change it. One day, he is driven to save an underage prostitute from her pimp in an effort to clean the city of its corruption.
11. Fight Club (1999)
- Director: David Fincher
- Writer: Jim Uhls
- Cast: Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, Meat Loaf, Zach Grenier
- IMDb Rating: 8.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 79%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime, Vudu
Directed by David Fincher, Fight club follows the story of a man (Edward Norton), stuck in his corporate job, suffering from insomnia who somehow befriended a man named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), a carefree soap salesman; together, these guys form an underground fight club. Man’s life turns upside down when Tyler starts asserting his control over the club and starts using it for other sinister purposes.
This movie has become a cult after its release in the year 1999. It’s one of the most enjoyable and most thought-provoking psychological thriller movies of the 20th century.
12. Memento (2000)
- Director & Writer: Christopher Nolan
- Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
- IMDb Rating: 8.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%
- Where to Watch: Netflix, Amazon Prime, Hulu, Vudu
Memento follows the story of Leonard Shelby, an insurance investigator who develops anterograde amnesia (the inability to form new memories), because of which he suffers short-term memory loss. The reason for his situation is a violent encounter in which his wife was killed. He tries to avenge the murder by finding her killer with the aid of photographs from a Polaroid Instant camera and permanent tattoos on his body as a memento.
With Nolan’s complex storytelling technique and its unique screenplay, Memento is one of the best neo-noir psychological thriller movies and the most mind-bending of its time.
13. Jacob’s Ladder (1990)
- Director: Adrian Lyne
- Writer: Bruce Joel Rubin
- Cast: Tim Robbins, Elizabeth Pena, Danny Aiello
- IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 73%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime
Jacob’s Ladder is a story of a man Jacob, who was a war veteran in his last days. He’s now haunted by weird visions and scary thoughts of his experiences at the Vietnam War, his son’s death, and his earlier marriage. As his situation goes unbearable, he craves to seek the truth.
14. The Gift (2015)
- Director: Joel Edgerton
- Writer: Joel Edgerton
- Cast: Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton
- IMDb Rating: 7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%
- Where to Watch: Netflix, Disney+Hotstar, Vudu
A married couple, Simon and Robyn Callem, has just moved to Los Angeles in their new house after Simon takes a new job. While out shopping, they run into Gordo, who happens to be Simon’s acquaintance from the past. This ‘stranger’ starts visiting their house, repeatedly unannounced with some of the other gifts. Things get weirder as the couple begins to get uncomfortable because of these regular visits and their uninvited guest.
It’s a slow-burning psychological thriller. The waiting will surely payout in the end.
15. Prisoners (2013)
- Director: Denis Villeneuve
- Writer: Aaron Guzikowski
- Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Hugh Jackman, Paul Dano, Melissa Leo, Terrence Howard
- IMDb Rating: 8.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime, Hulu, Vudu
Keller Dover’s 6-years old daughter and her friend went missing one night, and the police couldn’t find them, releasing one suspect, a teenage driver, after having no evidence against him also. Out of desperation to find his daughter, Keller (Hugh Jackman) decides to start the search himself. He gets close to find the truth yet always so far away. This suspenseful crime film is a must-watch movie with strong performances by Hugh Jackman and Jack Gyllenhaal.
16. Black Swan (2010)
- Director: Darren Aronofsky
- Writer: Andres Heinz, John J. McLaughlin, Mark Heyman
- Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder
- IMDb Rating: 8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 85%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime, Disney+Hotstar
Nina (Natalie Portman) gets a chance to lead as the White Swam for the Swan Lake play for New York City Ballet company. Nina, who is a determined dancer, got the role of White Swan, who would be portrayed as a generous and fragile one, whereas Lily (Mila Kunis) was appointed as the role for dark and sensually passionate Black Swan. But Nina’s world goes upside down when their role swapping is considered by the makers, and Nina, under pressure, seems to lose control of herself and turn into some insanely different person. The ending of the movie left you jaw-dropped like Shutter Island.
The movie is considered to be the best thriller film of Darren Aronofsky and was one of the best psychological thrillers of 2010.
17. Secret Window (2004)
- Director: David Koepp
- Writer: David Koepp
- Cast: Johnny Depp, Maria Bello, John Turturro
- IMDb Rating: 6.6./10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 46%
- Where to Watch: Amazon Prime, YouTube
Based on the novel by Stephen King, Secret Window is a psychological thriller film where a writer (Johnny Depp), suffering from depression and writer’s block, moves to a place in solace for a few months, and after a few months, he’s accused by another writer (John Turturro) for plagiarism, who appeared at his secret place. With an intense twist in the ending, this is one of the must-watch psychological thrillers films in that genre.
18. Fractured (2019)
- Director: Brad Anderson
- Writer: Alan B. McElroy
- Cast: Sam Worthington, Lily Rabe, Stephen Tobolowsky, Adjoa Andoh, Lucy Capri
- IMDb Rating: 6.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 59%
- Where to Watch: Netflix
Ray, with his wife and daughter, is driving back Home after a thanksgiving visit at his in-laws’ place. They stop at a gas station, and accidentally, Peri, his daughter, fell down into a hole. She lost her consciousness and is injured. Ray, with his wife, takes her to the nearest hospital. Peri fractured her arm and is taken to some room at the hospital accompanied by her mother while Ray waits for them in the waiting room. After several hours of waiting when he couldn’t get to them, he realizes that something is fishy with the hospital and its staff.
19. 12 Monkeys (1995)
- Director: Terry Gilliam
- Writer: Chris Marker, Janet Peoples, David Webb Peoples
- Cast: Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, Brad Pitt, Christopher Plummer, and David Morse
- IMDb Rating: 8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 89%
- Where to Watch: HBO Max, Amazon Prime
James Cole, a prisoner from the year 2035, is trained and sent back in time by a group of scientists to find out the reason behind the outbreak of a deadly virus that wiped out almost all of humanity. A group known as the Army of the 12 Monkeys is believed to have released the virus. James Cole must go back to the time before the outbreak of this virus and must find the reason.
This is one of those psychological thrillers that are very underrated but was actually very thought-provoking. Just do yourself a favor and watch this gem, and you’ll be left blank just like Shutter Island made you feel.
20. Following (1998)
- Director & Writer: Christopher Nolan
- Cast: Jeremy Theobald, Alex Haw, Lucy Russell, John Nolan
- IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Score: 81%
- Where to Watch: Netflix, Disney+Hotstar
A struggling young writer starts following people randomly to have a glimpse of their lives in order to help himself with his novel. But, soon, this hobby of his turns into an obsession, and he gets caught in the web he never imagined.
This is Nolan’s first feature film and is highly underrated. With all its plot twists and turns and with Nolan’s complex writing, this movie is a treat for all the psychological thrillers’ lovers.
These were the top movies that would have the shock factor like Shutter Island, and if not like Shutter Island, then maybe even more than that.
