20 Psychological Thrillers You Must See Before You Die

13. Don't Look Now

Nicolas Roeg's celebrated Don't Look Now is a masterpiece of the genre, taking influence from Daphne Du Maurier's short story of the same name to present a paradoxical, grief ridden thriller complete with one of cinema's great twists and endings. In Venice to grieve the death of their young daughter, married couple Laura and John (Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, who later share one of film's great sex scenes) are visited by two elderly sisters, one of whom brings a sinister warning. Full of famous iconography (the red coat), Don't Look Now is helped immeasurably by the Venetian setting, the architecture of which lends a European Gothic chill to proceedings. Chronologically complex, the film is a high watermark in the psychological thriller come horror, and one of the finest examples of one which imbues itself with growing unease rather than outright violence or gore.