10 Best Psychological Thrillers Of All Time

9. The Sixth Sense

Mulholland Drive
Buena Vista

The film that catapulted writer-director M. Night Shyamalan to international success, The Sixth Sense is (if you somehow don’t know about this film) the six-time Oscar-nominated box office sensation that revolves around a young boy (Haley Joel Osment) who has the ability to see and talk to ghosts. Along with the aid of his psychiatrist (Bruce Willis), the pair work together to help each other and a handful of spirits who reach out to Cole.

A film that’s brought up whenever psychological thrillers are mentioned, it would only be fair to include it on this list. Both heartfelt and genuinely horrific (the tent sequence still sends shivers down our spine), this film exemplifies everything that established Shyamalan as a filmmaking sensation during his early career.

And like all great psychological thrillers, this is a film that’s able to bury itself deep into our heads and pull the rug right from under our feet in a twist ending that you likely know all about by now. However, what makes The Sixth Sense so noteworthy is how Shyamalan seeds clues throughout his film that elude to the final revelation.

Contributor
Contributor

Glasgow-based cinephile who earned a Masters degree in film studies to spend their time writing about cinema, video games, and horror.