Shubhabrata Dutta
A person can be termed a psychopath or sociopath if they are diagnosed with a lack of empathy, remorse, or guilt. Technically, it is an anti-social disorder. Unlike psychotics, who often lose their connection to reality, psychopaths know what they are doing. It’s just that they can’t control it or don’t care about the consequences of their actions. Likewise, not all criminals are psychopaths, and all psychopaths are not criminals, too. But whenever a criminal mind nurtures a deranged psychopath within it, it manifests into a cold-blooded serial killer. With all that said, here’s the list of really good psychopath movies on Netflix that are available to stream right now.
18. I Came By (2022)
Directed by Babak Anvari, this thriller pins a burglar against a psychopath who is, for the general public, a high court judge. 23-year-old graffiti artist Toby Nealey breaks into the posh houses of the elite class and writes the words ‘I Came By’ on the walls. This serves as his way of reminding them that they are vulnerable, too. But when he breaks into the house of Judge Hector Blake (Hugh Bonneville), he finds a man imprisoned in a basement. As the plot proceeds, we get to know Blake’s sadistic nature, which proves how different a person can be from how he/she/they appear. The question is, will he be brought to justice? Only Toby and his friend Jay (Percelle Ascott) can find out since only they know the truth. You can watch ‘I Came By’ here.
17. Bordertown: The Mural Murders (2021)
In ‘Bordertown: The Mural Murders,’ directed by Juuso Syrjä and featuring stars Ville Virtanen, Anu Sinisalo, and Sampo Sarkola, detective Kari Sorjonen faces his most challenging case yet. The imprisoned serial killer Lasse Maasalo’s face, along with a cryptic message urging to “make the world a better place,” is gruesomely painted in blood under an overpass. This macabre artwork thrusts Sorjonen into an intricate investigation, pushing the boundaries of his expertise and forcing him to unravel the disturbing mysteries surrounding this enigmatic mural, shaping up to be the most complex case of his distinguished career. You can stream the film here.
16. Manson Family Vacation (2015)
‘Manson Family Vacation’ is a dark comedy directed by J. Davis. The film follows the unexpected journey of two brothers, played by Jay Duplass and Linas Phillips, whose relationship is tested when one becomes obsessed with Charles Manson’s cult. As they embark on a tour of infamous Manson Family murder sites, the brothers confront their complexities and strained history. The movie weaves humor with underlying tension, exploring themes of family dynamics and the allure of infamy. The film garnered praise for its unique blend of genres and the performances of its lead actors, offering audiences a thought-provoking and unconventional cinematic experience. You can watch it here.
15. Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City (2019)
‘Twin Murders: The Silence of the White City’ unfolds in the atmospheric setting of Vitoria, Spain. Directed by Daniel Calparsoro, the film follows detective Unai López de Ayala, played by Javier Rey, as he investigates a series of gruesome murders echoing a mythical Basque ritual. Racing against time, Unai discovers connections to a chilling crime committed two decades earlier. As the body count rises, the detective must confront both personal demons and a relentless killer, plunging the audience into a suspenseful narrative that skillfully combines crime, mystery, and the haunting ambiance of the White City. You can watch the movie here.
14. The Plagues of Breslau (2018)
‘The Plagues of Breslau,’ a Polish crime thriller directed by Patryk Vega, immerses viewers in a dark and gripping tale set in the city of Wroclaw. The film follows police detective Helena Rus as she investigates a series of gruesome murders that mimic biblical plagues. Helena delves into the sinister underbelly of the city, unraveling a complex web of corruption and revenge. With a tense atmosphere, atmospheric cinematography, and a riveting performance by Malgorzata Kozuchowska, the movie crafts a compelling narrative of crime and punishment, blending elements of mystery and noir for an intense cinematic experience. You can watch the film here.
13. The Babysitter (2017)
Starring Samara Weaving, Bella Thorne, Judah Lewis, and Robbie Amell and directed by McG aka Joseph McGinty Nichol, ‘The Babysitter’ is a slasher comedy. In it, we have 12-year-old Cole, who finds out one night that his babysitter, Bee, belongs to a cult that makes human sacrifices to the Devil. There is nothing serious about the plot, and while you might find it cringe-worthy, the fact that the movie doesn’t take itself seriously makes it fun to watch. Needless to say, Bee is a psychopath who is joined by her psychopathic friends as well. To see how Cole finds a way out and escapes death, you can stream the movie here.
12. The Killer (2023)
David Fincher’s latest film starring Michael Fassbender, ‘The Killer’ is about a professional assassin (Fassbender) who, despite our idea of how an assassin behaves and what one’s characteristics are, appears to be a psychopath who works like a machine, almost like a T-800 (for the uninitiated, we mean a terminator). While he doesn’t seem to miss his targets, we get to see what happens when he does miss one, killing an innocent. Following this, the killer’s love interest, Magdala, is attacked, which is clearly a punishment for his miss, if not a step to clean the trail in case someone comes looking and finds out about the client who paid for the hit. The way he tracks down the assassins who tried to kill his lady love, followed by the person who sent the assassins, makes this a silent yet powerful film executed in signature David Fincher style. You can stream it right here.
11. The Devil All the Time (2020)
Directed by Antonio Campos, this dark psychological thriller centers on young Arvin Russell, an orphan whom his grandmother brought up after his father Willard (a US Marine carrying the horrors of World War II within him) committed suicide for being unable to cure his wife (Arvin’s mother) of cancer; she succumbed to the disease. Arvin is surrounded by dark characters, which include the pedophilic preacher Preston, a dishonest Sheriff Lee, and a serial killer couple, Carl and Sandy, all of whom Arvin has encounters with. These encounters follow the connection among the characters, which we are subjected to via different sub-plots that then converge around Arvin. Full of psychopaths, ‘The Devil All the Time’ has a stellar cast that includes Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke, Sebastian Stan, Haley Bennett, Harry Melling and Robert Pattinson. You can watch the film here.
10. The Woman in the Window (2021)
From director Joe Wright comes this psychological thriller that tells the story of a woman (Amy Adams) who has agoraphobia (a state of anxiety that results from perceiving the surrounding environment to be unsafe) and has been living alone in an apartment, separated from her husband and daughter who lives with him. While we are made to think that she is the psychopath as she passes her time spying on her neighbors, a murder that she witnesses in the apartment across the street turns the tables in the blink of an eye. As she tries to contact the police and find a way to know who the killer is, she goes deeper into a darkness that seems to be the creation of her own mind’s hallucinations. Is she really hallucinating, or is she being lied to? To find out who the real psychopath is, because there is one, you may stream the film here.
9. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2022)
An homage to the classic 1974 slasher and the 9th installment of the popular franchise of the same name, this movie is directed by David Blue Garcia. Leatherface, the psychopathic killer, returns to “slash” a group of young entrepreneurs who intend on renovating Harlow, Texas, the hometown of Leatherface. In the endeavor, he also encounters a survivor of one of his previous killing sprees. With his iconic chainsaw and masks made of the facial skin of his victims, Leatherface is, no matter how sadistic it sounds, one of the most famous fictional psychopaths whom cinephiles can’t seem to get enough of. So naturally, this movie deserves a place on this list. You can check out the movie here.
8. Creep 2 (2017)
The found footage film ‘Creep 2‘ is a sequel to the 2014 flick ‘Creep.’ The movie revolves around an ambitious video artist, Sara, who wants to make a shocking breakthrough work. She chases lonely men, searching for the perfect “subject” for her work of art, but nothing takes off. One day, Sara comes across an advertisement for “video work” online. She decides to try her luck and goes for it. But Sara finds herself in a remote house in the forest with a creepy man who claims that he is a serial killer. Though the man makes her uncomfortable, Sara decides to shoot the video, believing it will become her masterpiece. But as the shoot progresses, she realizes she has made the gravest mistake, and there is no turning back. Directed by Patrick Brice, ‘Creep 2’ features Mark Duplass, Desiree Akhavan, and Karan Soni in the lead roles. You can watch the movie here.
7. The Call (2020)
A mind-bending South Korean psychological thriller directed by Lee Chung-hyun, ‘The Call,’ shows two women talking to each other on the phone. What’s surreal is that both are in the same house but in different timelines. 28-year-old Kim Seo-yeon lives in the present, while Oh Young-sook lives in the past (1999). As the plot progresses, the two get to know each other and their backgrounds, revealing their disturbing pasts. At the same time, the plot twists, most of which are repercussions of one woman’s actions on the other (since there was a time when both were around each other) while they try to help each other out, make us wait for more. The question that arises in our minds is, are the two women the same? Is Kim Seo-yeon a psychopath who is talking to herself in her mind or hallucinating whatever is going on? ‘The Call’ has the answer, and you can receive it right here.
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6. The Occupant (2020)
Directed by Àlex Pastor and David Pastor, this Spanish movie tells the story of Javier Muñoz (Javier Gutiérrez), a former advertising executive who now has to sell his apartment due to unemployment. His wife has left him and takes their son with her as well. With nothing he can call his own, Javier becomes obsessed with the new tenants of his once-home property. But things start getting complicated when he begins to interfere in their lives. He misses his former home and the superficial wealth that he had grown accustomed to, and now that everything has been snatched from him, he decides to get involved in the lives of the tenants and their happy lives, something he never really got to live. Slowly, his methods turn malevolent. Will this lead to him hurting the tenants? To find out, you can stream the film here.
5. The Paramedic (2020)
We know an accident can be dangerous in more ways than one, but ‘The Paramedic’ takes it to a new level. Directed by Carles Torras, it is a Spanish thriller that shows a loving boyfriend/paramedic, Angel (Mario Casas), turn into a psychopath following an accident that paralyzes him from the waist down. His paralysis makes him paranoid, and he thinks that his girlfriend, Vane (Déborah François), who is pregnant, is cheating on him. This paranoia takes a significant toll on him as he begins to torture his girlfriend by injecting her with an epidural, tying her to a bed, and gagging her, as well as killing those who try to get too close to them. We find out in the movie whether Vane can escape from Angel’s clutches. You can stream it here.
4. The Good Nurse (2022)
Starring Jessica Chastain and Eddie Redmayne and directed by Tobias Lindholm, ‘The Good Nurse’ is a tense, gripping, and horrifying psychological drama adapted from the 2013 true-crime book ‘The Good Nurse: A True Story of Medicine, Madness, and Murder’ by American journalist/author Charles Graeber. The book is about serial killer Charles Cullen, a nurse who confessed to killing at least 40 people while serving in different hospitals. Many of these killings were carried out by administering the victims with high doses of insulin. In the film, Redmayne plays the role of Cullen, while Chastain plays the role of Amy Loughren, a former nurse who helped the police arrest and prosecute Cullen.
Needless to say, Cullen was a psychopath, and he is presently serving life imprisonment at a New Jersey prison. The film showcases the remorseless brutality with which Cullen killed his victims, as well as the strength that Loughren showed while helping the police and maintaining a friendly relationship with Cullen at the same time. You can watch the film here.
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3. Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
Directed by Joe Berlinger, ‘Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile’ is based on real-life serial killer Ted Bundy’s former girlfriend Elizabeth Kendall’s memoir, “The Phantom Prince: My Life with Ted Bundy.” Starring Zac Efron as Bundy and Lily Collins as Kendall, the film looks at Bundy from the POV of single mother Kendall, who fell for him only to find out that the man of her dreams is suspected of multiple kidnappings, rapes, and murders. As Bundy defends himself in court, Kendall struggles to cope with a truth that shocked not just America but the whole world. You can watch the movie here.
2. Oldboy (2003)
Directed by Park Chan-wook, ‘Oldboy’ follows Choi Min-sik’s character, Oh Dae-su, who is set free after being held captive for 15 years in a windowless room. His wife has been killed, and his daughter was given up for adoption. All he has is a phone and a handful of cash. He has two options: he can either get a new life or find the person who kidnapped him. He decides to do the latter, and while revealing how he does it would be to ruin it for you, we assure you that his actions, one of which is him eating a live octopus (Choi Min-sik did it for real), are bound to immortalize him in your head as a psychopath who knows nothing but revenge. For more references, you can stream ‘Oldboy’ here.
1. Joker (2019)
Directed by Todd Phillips, ‘Joker’ is a film based on the popular DC comic character Joker, the archenemy of Batman. The film shows how failed comedian Arthur Fleck, with a neurological disorder that brings fits of laughter, tries to find his place in a city (Gotham) that is bent on reminding him that he is irrelevant and has no value. Bullied, isolated, and disregarded, he slowly descends into madness and takes on the identity of the Joker, who would go on to become the most feared villain in the history of Gotham. Arthur Fleck/Joker is played by Joaquin Phoenix, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his captivating performance. You can watch the film here.
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