10 Best Psychological Thrillers On Netflix

8. Gerald's Game

Tau 2018
Netflix

Mike Flanagan's adaption of Stephen King's 1992 novel Gerald's Game is equal parts cerebral and cringeworthy.

When an attempt at using kinky sex to spice up her marriage goes wrong, Jessie is left handcuffed to a bedframe in an isolated lake home. As she tries to free herself, she must fight off hunger, dehydration, and insanity.

Gerald's Game is brutal movie. As the viewer, you are tied with Jessie at every moment. This forces you to empathize with her on levels you'd probably rather not.

Her situation is not one to be envied, and watching her struggle as hard as she does to survive against all the odds is painful. What we learn about her through her memories adds even more to her overall strife, as they make it clear that her life has not been an easy one to live.

The thing that makes Gerald's Game such gem is how it treats Jessie as a person. It would be easy to have her come off as a helpless victim, but she is anything but. She's a survivor through and through, willing to go to any lengths to make it out alive.

Contributor
Contributor

Part-time writer, full-time Kurt Russell enthusiast.