20 Psychological Thrillers You Must See Before You Die

19. Cold Weather

Much more of a hidden gem is this, Cold Weather, Aaron Katz's sorely underseen film from 2010. A thriller in the slacker/Big Lebowski/Stoner Logic sense, not much in the way of action happens here, let alone anything even close to a set-piece or an instance of violence. It achieves psychological thriller status though familiar means (a man becomes obsessed with the disappearance of his ex-girlfriend), but differs in that our hero, Doug (Cris Lankenau), is fully aware that he's acting like a detective, even stopping to buy a Sherlock Holmes style pipe to riff on the vibe (this is far and away the most meta film on this list). Cold Weather is a must see though, sublimely turning into an effective psychological study of how you or I might actually act if we decided to play detective. In it's own understated way, the film is a dazzling example of how to do more with less, and its final scene is the perfect, straightforward evocation of a case that comes to a refreshingly realistic and ordinary close.