unsettling backdrop

Movies with unsettling vibe

A World Without Thieves

351. A World Without Thieves

Action Drama Buddy Action Relationship Drama
7.2

20041h 53min

China, Hong Kong SAR China

Director: Feng Xiaogang

Overview

A con-team couple head west after taking a city businessman for his BMW. But an encounter with a naive young carpenter traveling home with his life savings challenges their fate as thieves.

Themes

Loyalty under threat, Deception and allegiance, Greed vs protection, Risk and reward dichotomy, Protecting innocence, Order under pressure

Available on

Shout! Factory TV
Plex
Plex Channel
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Control

352. Control

Thriller Action Mindfuck Thriller
6.2

20041h 44min

United States, Canada

Director: Tim Hunter

Overview

Lee Ray Oliver, a death row inmate, is given a second chance at life if he agrees to undergo a new chemical treatment used to modify behavior.

Themes

Ethics of experimentation, Surveillance and autonomy, False identity consequences, Control vs guidance, Therapy vs placebo, Rehabilitation paradox

Available on

The Roku Channel
Plex
Plex Channel
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Enduring Love

353. Enduring Love

Drama Thriller Mystery Romance Relationship Drama
6.3

20041h 40min

France, United Kingdom

Director: Roger Michell

Overview

Two strangers become dangerously close after witnessing a deadly accident. On a beautiful cloudless day a young couple celebrate their reunion with a picnic. Joe has planned a postcard-perfect afternoon in the English countryside with his partner, Claire. But as Joe and Claire prepare to open a bottle of champagne, their idyll comes to an abrupt end. A hot air balloon drifts into the field, obviously in trouble. The pilot catches his leg in the anchor rope, while the only passenger, a boy, is too scared to jump down. Joe and three other men rush to secure the basket. But fate has other ideas...

Themes

Hot air balloon obsession, Obsession and boundary crossing, Trauma and fixation, Picnic aftermath, Surveillance and pursuit, Guilt and memory

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Village

354. The Village

Drama Mystery Thriller Unreliable Perspective Mystery Mind Game Thriller
6.6

20041h 48min

United States

Director: M. Night Shyamalan

Overview

When a willful young man tries to venture beyond his sequestered Pennsylvania hamlet, his actions set off a chain of chilling incidents that will alter the community forever.

Themes

Memory and trauma, Fear of the unknown, Isolation and control, Leadership coercion, Deception through legend, Tradition vs modernity

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Marebito

355. Marebito

Horror Supernatural Horror
6.0

20041h 32min

Japan

Director: Takashi Shimizu

Overview

A fear-obsessed freelance cameraman investigates an urban legend involving mysterious spirits that haunt the subways of Tokyo.

Themes

Primal fear as knowledge, Urban legend, Found footage aesthetic, Urban isolation, Voyeurism through surveillance, Care vs predation, Human-creature boundary


The I Inside

356. The I Inside

Thriller Mystery Drama Psychological Drama Mindbender Mystery
6.0

20041h 30min

United Kingdom, United States

Director: Roland Suso Richter

Overview

When Simon awakens in the hospital after surviving a near-fatal accident, amnesia has erased the last two years from his memory. He learns that his brother was killed, he has married a woman he doesn't remember and he's haunted by strange visions of the woman he loved.

Themes

Memory vs reality, Time loop, Guilt and accountability, Dual timelines, Paranoia and deception, Infidelity under strain

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Taking Lives

357. Taking Lives

Thriller Investigation Suspense
6.2

20041h 43min

United States

Director: D.J. Caruso

Overview

Recruited to assist Montreal police in their desperate search for a serial killer who assumes the identities of his victims, FBI profiler Illeana Scott knows it's only a matter of time before the killer strikes again. Her most promising lead is a museum employee who might be the killer's only eyewitness.

Themes

Investigative pressure, Self reinvention, Violent trauma, Identity impersonation, Blurred boundaries, Unreliable testimony

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Reckoning

358. The Reckoning

Crime Drama Mystery Historical Drama Whodunit
6.4

20041h 52min

Spain, United Kingdom

Director: Paul McGuigan

Overview

In 14th Century England, this tale of murder and mystery follows a fugitive priest who falls in with a troupe of actors. As they arrive in a small town, the actors encounter a woman being sentenced to death for practicing witchcraft and murder. Discarding the expected bible stories, the actors now stage a performance based on the crime. Through the performance of the play, they discover a mystery.

Themes

Class inequality, Public spectacle, Unreliable testimony, Mob justice, Art as inquiry, Power and revolt

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed

359. Ginger Snaps 2: Unleashed

Drama Horror Fantasy Thriller Werewolf Horror
6.4

20041h 34min

Canada

Director: Brett Sullivan

Overview

Brigitte has escaped the confines of Bailey Downs but she's not alone. Another werewolf is tailing her closely and her sister's specter haunts her. An overdose of Monkshood - the poison that is keeping her transformation at bay - leads to her being incarcerated in a rehabilitation clinic for drug addicts where her only friend is an eccentric young girl by the name of Ghost.

Themes

Deception and misperception, Dependency under treatment, Transformation under pressure, Hauntings as memory, Coercive exchanges for care, Therapy as confinement

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Speak

360. Speak

Drama Coming-of-Age Drama
7.2

20041h 33min

United States

Director: Jessica Sharzer

Overview

Freshman high-school student Melinda has refused to speak ever since she called the cops on a popular summer party. With her old friends snubbing her for being a rat, and her parents too busy to notice her troubles, she folds into herself, trying to hide her secret: that star senior Andy raped her at the party. But Melinda does manage to find solace in her art class headed by Mr. Freeman.

Themes

Power dynamics, High school pressure, Peer pressure, Trauma and silence, Classroom authority, Rape aftermath, Stigma and belonging

Available on

fuboTV
Paramount+ Amazon Channel
Paramount+ Roku Premium Channel
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.