10 Best Psychological Thrillers Of All Time
3. Memento
If you’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing any of Christopher Nolan’s films, then you’ll likely have had your mind blown thanks to his knack for experimenting with the concept of time.
Unsurprisingly, Nolan’s talent for warping how reality is presented in his films makes for the ideal foundation for a psychological thriller, and he gave us that with the momentous Memento in 2000.
Based on an idea pitched by Nolan’s brother (which was later turned into a short story titled Memento Mori), the film sees Guy Pearce as an anterograde amnesia sufferer searching for the people responsible for his wife’s death. Unable to form new memories, however, Leonard uses polaroid photographs and tattoos to help him remember what he’s discovered.
While this sounds like a phenomenal premise for a psychological thriller, the genius of Memento is how Nolan splices two timelines together to tell Leonard’s story. With black and white sequences being in chronological order and those in colour being in reverse order, you likely won’t notice the clever trick Nolan has pulled on you until the finale at which both timelines eventually come together.