Best Obsession

Rebecca is a Gothic novel by Daphne du Maurier, published in 1938 by Victor Gollancz. The story follows an unnamed young woman who marries the wealthy widower Maxim de Winter and moves to his Cornish estate, Manderley, where she contends with the pervasive influence of his deceased first wife, Rebec...

Donna Tartt's 1992 debut novel is a psychological thriller detailing the murder of a classics student by his peers at an elite New England college. The narrative unfolds in reverse, revealing the events that led to the crime and the psychological unraveling of the perpetrators. The book was a commer...

Misery is a psychological horror novel written by Stephen King and first published by Viking in 1987. The story centers on Paul Sheldon, a bestselling romance author who is rescued from a car crash and subsequently held captive by Annie Wilkes, a deeply disturbed nurse obsessed with his literary wor...

Directed by Darren Aronofsky and released in 2010, Black Swan is a psychological thriller starring Natalie Portman as Nina Sayers, a New York City ballet dancer pursuing the lead role in a production of Swan Lake. Portman won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her performance. The film received...

The Secret in Their Eyes is a 2009 Argentine psychological thriller directed by Juan José Campanella and based on the novel by Eduardo Sacheri. Starring Ricardo Darín, the film follows a retired legal counselor who decides to write a novel about an unresolved homicide case from decades prior. The na...

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer is a historical psychological thriller novel written by German author Patrick Süskind and published in 1985. The narrative follows Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, an orphan in 18th-century France who possesses an extraordinary, superhuman sense of smell but lacks any perso...

Papyrus is a 2017 Saturday Night Live digital short featuring actor Ryan Gosling as a man tormented by the typography of the Avatar movie logo. The sketch centers on his inability to accept that director James Cameron utilized the widely available, default Papyrus font for a major science fiction bl...

"Strangers on a Train" is a psychological thriller novel written by Patricia Highsmith, first published in 1950. The plot centers on two strangers who meet on a train and propose a theoretical exchange of murders to avoid detection, an idea that ultimately leads to obsession and danger. The book was...

"Decision to Leave" (헤어질 결심) is a 2022 South Korean romantic mystery film directed by Park Chan-wook, starring Park Hae-il as a detective and Tang Wei as a suspect in a murder case. The film blends elements of noir with a nuanced exploration of attraction and obsession. It earned Park the Best...

American Beauty is a 1999 American drama directed by Sam Mendes from a screenplay by Alan Ball. Kevin Spacey plays Lester Burnham, a disaffected suburban father whose midlife rebellion exposes tensions involving sexuality, status, family resentment, and appearances within two neighboring households....

Sunset Boulevard is a 2003 Broadway musical drama based on Billy Wilder’s film of the same name. The production explores themes of fading fame and obsessive devotion through the story of Norma Desmond, a forgotten silent movie star. It features music by Andrew Lloyd Webber and a book by Don Black an...

Iris Murdoch's 1978 Booker Prize-winning novel about a retired theatre director whose retreat to the seaside becomes an exercise in delusion and obsession, widely read as an exploration of renunciation and self-knowledge.

“The Fourth Man is a 1983 Dutch film exploring themes of obsession and guilt through a chilling narrative. Director Paul Verhoeven’s work combines elements of psychological thriller with surreal imagery rooted in religious symbolism. The story centers on a man's escalating fixation following a tragi...

Pearl is a 2022 American psychological horror film directed by Ti West, notable as a prequel to X and for Mia Goth's terrifying portrayal of a disturbed farm girl.

Lurker is Alex Russell's 2025 feature debut, a psychological thriller about a retail worker who infiltrates the entourage of a rising musician.

Directed by Darren Aronofsky, this 1998 American psychological thriller follows a paranoid mathematician, notable for its stark black-and-white style.

Fool for Love is a one-act play by American dramatist Sam Shepard, first produced in 1983. Set in a motel room on the edge of the Mojave Desert, it centers on Eddie and May, former lovers whose recurring attraction is bound to anger, abandonment, and a concealed family connection. The tightly confin...

"The Orchid Thief" is a 1998 nonfiction book by journalist Susan Orlean, expanded from her 1995 article in "The New Yorker." The narrative centers on John Laroche, a Florida plant dealer who was arrested in 1994 for poaching rare orchids, including the Ghost Orchid, from the Fakahatchee Strand State...

The Secretary is a 1990s erotic thriller that follows a young office professional who becomes romantically and dangerously entangled in her employer's deceptive, illicit activities.

Saint Maud is a 2019 British psychological horror written and directed by Rose Glass in her feature debut, focusing on a devoutly religious hospice nurse.

Caroline Kepnes's 2014 psychological thriller details a bookstore manager's violent obsession, notable for its unsettling second-person perspective and a popular Netflix adaptation.

Developed by Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, this American psychological thriller follows a dangerously charming bookstore manager who becomes obsessed with his customers.

Emma Cline's 2016 debut psychological thriller explores a vulnerable teenager's indoctrination into a 1960s cult, notable for being loosely inspired by the Manson Family murders.

Stir of Echoes is a 1999 American supernatural psychological thriller directed by David Koepp, adapted from Richard Matheson's 1958 novel.

Directed by Adrian Lyne, this 1987 American psychological thriller about a married man's affair became a massive box office hit and sparked widespread cultural debate.

Map of the Human Heart is a 1992 romantic drama directed by Vincent Ward, noted for its sweeping narrative about an indigenous pilot's passionate affair amidst World War II.

Sommersturm is a 2004 German coming-of-age drama directed by Marco Kreuzpaintner, notable for its sensitive, erotic exploration of teenage homosexuality during a summer rowing camp.

Directed by Barbet Schroeder, this 1992 American psychological thriller stars Bridget Fonda as a woman terrorized by her obsessive roommate, becoming a cultural archetype.

Emerald Fennell's 2023 British black comedy psychological thriller starring Barry Keoghan as an Oxford student who insinuates himself into a wealthy aristocratic family with increasingly sinister intent.