Top 20 Movies That Will Make You Paranoid

There’s been much discussion about exactly how far has society gone into mirroring the events fictionalized in George Orwell’s novel “1984.” The paranoia in this film adaptation deals with, among other things, constant surveillance from Big Brother and the destruction of individuality. The complete hopelessness that goes along with the plot of “1984,” as well as the tragic love story of protagonists Winston and Julia, not only makes us paranoid about the future… it honestly just makes us depressed. Still, that takes nothing away from the cautionary tale of “1984,” nor how effective writer/director Michael Radford was at bringing this book to the screen.

Psychological thrillers are called this for a reason: they create an insane amount of nail-biting tension for the audience, and we wouldn’t want it any other way. “Gone Girl” is one such thriller, a film where no one’s motives are exactly what they seem, and everyone seems to have an angle. As a result, the paranoia is palpable as the mystery behind the disappearance of Amy Dunne slowly begins to unravel a Russian doll of hidden motivations and secrets. We just love a good mystery, and the twists in “Gone Girl” not only keep us on the edge of our seats. They also make us paranoid… albeit in the best possible way.

Alfred Hitchcock was known as “The Master of Suspense,” and it’s easy to see why, especially after watching “Vertigo.” This 1958 classic is widely regarded as one of Hitch’s finest works, if not his absolute best. The film even managed to knock “Citizen Kane” from its top spot on “Sight & Sound” magazine’s “Great Films of All Time” list. Obsession is a theme throughout “Vertigo,” but in addition to this is the crippling fear of heights possessed by the protagonist, Detective John “Scottie” Ferguson. This fear is amped up in any scene where Scottie is either recalling his past trauma or attempting to confront it, and it plays into our own paranoid and deep-seated phobias. It’s misdirection and paranoia done by one of the masters.

Okay, so we realize that the plot of “Taken” goes down some dark roads, but its basic core is the same: who isn’t afraid of home invasions or being accosted while on vacation? The paranoia affects us in different ways. The abduction of Kim Mills from her friend’s cousins’ apartment occurs in a place that’s supposed to feel relatively safe. Then, there’s the fact that Kim is away from home and her family, in a country where she may not speak enough of the language to help if she’s in trouble. When trouble DOES occur, it’s up to her father (and his very particular set of skills) to save her life. Unfortunately, not everyone has Liam Neeson available to hunt and catch the bad guys.

The world of international espionage seems tailor-made for paranoia to strike, especially when Hollywood comes calling to adapt a popular novel from this genre. “The Manchurian Candidate” got this treatment twice, but we’re going with the OG 1962 version for our list, a magnificent Cold War-era thriller. The film stars Laurence Harvey as a Korean War veteran who’s secretly been programmed as a sleeper cell communist agent, with plans to assassinate a leading presidential candidate. The paranoia here stems from just how much we may or may not know about our neighbors, and exactly how many people behind the scenes pull strings or set wheels in motion within our political systems. It’s chilling stuff.

Are our thoughts really our own? Or have they been implanted by someone else? This is one of the questions asked in the 2010 film “Inception,” a dense and cerebral thriller that could’ve only come from the mind of one Christopher Nolan. The film’s heady plot of incepting our subconscious minds could be more colloquially compared with the process of “gaslighting,” deliberately subverting another’s mental perception to cause intentional and emotional pain or distress. It’s just one way to view how “Inception” plays upon this very real problem within relationships, albeit with its own twisted and heady sci-fi narrative.

The 1970s were a wellspring for challenging and creative cinema, and just one corner of that creativity lay within the genre of the “paranoid political thriller.” 1976’s “Marathon Man” was one of those films, a harrowing exploration of secret identities and political intrigue, peppered with moments of shocking violence. Themes of persecution and vengeance fit into the film, specifically with uncovering the identities of Nazi war criminals, and just how far the U.S. government will be willing to go (and with whom they’re willing to work) to track these people down. Oh, and if you’re sensitive to graphical dental mutilation, we, ah… recommend perhaps steering clear of this one. To paraphrase one infamous scene: it is NOT safe.

The paranoia central to many 1970s thrillers has to do primarily with a post-Watergate America. President Nixon’s resignation and a divisive war in Vietnam largely smashed any idealized versions of the country within the minds of many, especially young people. As a result, we have films like “Three Days of the Condor,” where no governmental agent is safe, not even if they push pencils for a living. Here, the written word becomes deadly, as the CIA assassinates all but one member of its own division, one that’s responsible for unintentionally leaking ties to an internal plot involving oil and the Middle East. It all ties into American cynicism, fear, and paranoia during this difficult time in history.

One of your neighbors is responsible for a heinous, horrible crime. But which one? This is one of the questions asked in “M,” a classic slice of German expressionist cinema that remains deeply affecting and troubling to this day. The story revolves around the abduction of local children and the relentless manhunt that occurs trying to root out the suspect. “M” plays like a procedural, but almost leans into horror at points, so striking is the cinematography and chilling are the images. Moreover, the “everyone’s a suspect” mentality rises to such a fever pitch within the bloodthirsty town mob that the hunger for vengeance feels as if it’s going to boil over. You’ll never forget this one.

“Seven Days in May” may have been released in 1964, but there are some striking and shocking similarities to some big-name news events in the modern day. This film adaptation of the 1962 novel presents a White House in turmoil when it’s revealed that the Joint Chiefs of Staff are seeking to overthrow their sitting President. It’s then a race against time to prevent this from happening, all as a historic nuclear disarmament deal with the Soviet Union is set to be ratified. There are some chilling parallels to the events of January 6, 2021. It’s surreal and frightening at the same time.

We mentioned the Watergate scandal earlier, and arguably no film dramatized this incident better than “All the President’s Men.” The cover-ups, secret sources, and political intrigue going on within the film all tie into the paranoia of the 1970s, this palpable sense that something was broken, and needed to be fixed. Furthermore, “All the President’s Men” is actually based on the real-life experiences of journalists Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward, whose work with The Washington Post helped blow the Watergate wide open. Sure, the film may have made investigative journalism seem more romantic, glamorous, and dangerous than it actually is, but at the same time, it emphasizes the importance and necessity of this art form within a free society.

It’s the sci-fi film that launched a thousand blogs and think-pieces. It’s “The Matrix,” and it helped revolutionize and energize the genre back in the late nineties. While fans still debate whether the Wachowskis were truly “inspired” by “Dark City” while making their futuristic dystopian action flick, “The Matrix” stands on its own two feet with regards to its story and themes. It led its audience to question reality, to wonder about the human experience, and how much value to place on material pleasures of the Matrix versus a search for something greater. There were both religious and political allegories present within “The Matrix,” all the while reminding us of the paranoia that’s always lurking in the back of our minds each day.

Some of the paranoia we’ve discussed so far on this list can be chalked to imagination or perception, but the plot of “The Parallax View” contains some very legitimate reasons for its characters to be paranoid. This is because witnesses of a calculated political assassination are being eliminated, one by one, by a shadowy organization, and it’s up to one determined reporter to find out why. “The Parallax View” is an incredibly stylish and creepy film, with a certain austere aesthetic that makes it truly one-of-a-kind. The Parallax Corporation is actively recruiting assassins, and the scenes involving their personality profile tests lean into our paranoid obsessions about big business and their connections to political heavyweights.

If there was ever an American successor to Alfred Hitchcock’s “Master of Suspense” tag, it has to be Brian De Palma. De Palma made a career out of updating Hitch’s aesthetic with a more visceral and voyeuristic touch, inspired by the stylish Italian giallo films of the 1970s. “Blow Out” was De Palma’s reimagining of the 1966 film “Blowup,” (also out of Italy) and starred John Travolta as a sound effects engineer who accidentally captures too much on his microphone. From there, it’s a story of dangerous obsession as audio of a political assassination unfurls to include blackmail, intrigue, and tragically, more murder. There’s also an analogy here to the JFK assassination, and the paranoia surrounding how the country’s political theatre can become so deadly.

This Debbie Downer of a film starred Ryan Reynolds inside a dark, dark coffin...in Iraq. That’s right, the American truck driver couldn’t be buried alive domestically, it had to be overseas. Armed with only a flashlight, lighter, a flask (thank God), a pen, a phone and glorious glow sticks, Paul Conroy must either decide to get drunk and call it a life or find his way out of the darkness. Hmm…what do you do? Watch the latest WatchMojo clip and THEN make a phone call? So many options. Just don’t ever leave home or you could be buried alive.

Here’s a film that will make you think you’re allergic to everything and possibly inspire a life of seclusion. It all started with a Minnesota woman played by Gwyneth Paltrow, whose character enjoyed more than just a little Hong Kong during a business trip. What happens? The entire world DIES, or at least all of our favorite movie stars do, which is kind of the same thing. Steven Soderbergh freaked out the entire world with “Contagion” and probably made 70 percent of the population gluten-free. Don’t ask. It’s real. Contagion is coming. Wait a minute… some may argue that it’s already here...

Released during the “Watergate” scandal, but not IN RESPONSE to the “Watergate” scandal, “The Conversation” chronicled the devastatingly boring lifestyle of a surveillance expert and the San Francisco couple he’s creepin’ on. Harry Caul likes jazz, but doesn’t like human contact. He’ll listen to your conversation, but will sweat profusely if his ethics are questioned. Uh, did we mention this film WASN’T in response to “Watergate?” Even though director Francis Ford Coppola swore that 1966’s “Blow-Up” inspired the film, he believed audiences felt the subject matter was too similar to the presidential scandal to ignore. While Coppola ended up losing the Best Picture Oscar for this film that year to himself, “The Conversation”’s legacy is secure because Harry Caul’s paranoia rubbed off on us all.

Oh hey, Truman Burbank… Did we mention that your entire life is a SHAM? In Peter Weir’s “The Truman Show,” Jim Carrey stars as the unsuspecting title character who enjoys life on a Los Angeles soundstage. He was born into the figurative hands of a corporation, which broadcasts his entire life – repeat ENTIRE life – to all of Earth. Keep that in mind, Mojoholics. As a film that preceded the outstanding cultural gems that are reality TV shows, “The Truman Show” made viewers check for cameras at home and question their entire existence. Maybe we’re all living on a grand stage?

It doesn’t matter where you swim, it doesn’t matter what body of water you’re in – JAWS will swallow you whole. Well, at least that was the general vibe we got from the release of Steven Spielberg’s horrifying film. Though our bodies are mostly made of H20, and many of us enjoy a dip in the water from time to time, “Jaws” ruined everything by making us afraid of bloodthirsty sharks. Even those poor bastards in Minnesota thought Jaws was roaming their land of 10,000 Lakes. Now that’s just a damn shame. Screw you, Jaws. You’re not real…you’re not real (*crying*).

If you can’t trust your own memories, what can you trust? The feeling of paranoia is hardwired into the DNA of “Memento” right from jump street, as it’s revealed our protagonist can’t make new memories, and loses them in the short term every fifteen minutes. As a result, every character here is unreliable, even the narrator, as “Memento” tries to piece together just what happened to Guy Pearce’s character and his wife, while also questioning the motives of nearly every other character. It’s the sort of manic and dizzying narrative we’ve come to love and respect from Christopher Nolan, with “Memento” being the kind of film that simply needs to be viewed multiple times to truly latch on to the mystery at hand.