Psychological Drama backdrop

Psychological Drama movies

Drama where an unstable mental state drives the plot: paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, identity breakdown, or psychological collapse.

191. 127 Hours

127 Hours
Adventure Drama Thriller Survival Adventure Survival Thriller
7.5
20101h 34minFrance, United Kingdom
Director: Danny Boyle

Overview

In a world where one wrong step turns paradise into a trap, a lone climber slips in a Utah canyon and an 800-pound boulder crushes his arm against the wall. With almost no water and only a camcorder for company, he digs, schemes, and spirals as the clock inside his body starts to run out.

Themes

Survival under isolation, Memory as motivation, Desperation and willpower, Bodily autonomy and adaptation, Self-reliance and endurance, Resourceful improvisation under pressure

Available on

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

192. Trust

Trust
Crime Drama Thriller Con Artist Crime Psychological Drama
6.9
20101h 44minUnited States
Director: David Schwimmer

Overview

A suburban family is torn apart when fourteen-year-old Annie meets her first boyfriend online. After months of communicating via online chat and phone, Annie discovers her friend is not who he originally claimed to be. Shocked into disbelief, her parents are shattered by their daughter's actions and struggle to support her as she comes to terms with what has happened to her once innocent life.

Themes

Online dating risk, Online predation and deception, Parental vigilance under strain, Digital harassment and doxxing, Teen trauma and recovery

Available on

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

193. Eat Pray Love

Eat Pray Love
Drama Romance Psychological Drama Feel-Good Romance
5.9
20102h 13minUnited States
Director: Ryan Murphy

Overview

Liz Gilbert had everything a modern woman is supposed to dream of having – a husband, a house and a successful career – yet like so many others, she found herself lost, confused and searching for what she really wanted in life. Newly divorced and at a crossroads, Gilbert steps out of her comfort zone, risking everything to change her life, embarking on a journey around the world that becomes a quest for self-discovery. In her travels, she discovers the true pleasure of nourishment by eating in Italy, the power of prayer in India and, finally and unexpectedly, the inner peace and balance of true love in Bali.

Themes

Romantic longing, Travel as soul searching, Self consciousness and resilience, Italian cuisine nourishment, Divorce as turning point, Balance and inner peace

Available on

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

194. Enter the Void

Enter the Void
Fantasy Drama Dark Fantasy Psychological Drama
7.2
20102h 41minFrance, Germany
Director: Gaspar Noé

Overview

This psychedelic tour of life after death is seen entirely from the point of view of Oscar, a young American drug dealer and addict living in Tokyo with his prostitute sister, Linda. When Oscar is killed by police during a bust gone bad, his spirit journeys from the past -- where he sees his parents before their deaths -- to the present -- where he witnesses his own autopsy -- and then to the future, where he looks out for his sister from beyond the grave.

Themes

Intergenerational trauma, Afterlife navigation, Memory fragmentation, Family loyalty under peril, Drug trade risk, Sex industry exploitation

Available on

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

195. Shutter Island

Shutter Island
Drama Thriller Mystery Mind Game Thriller Investigation Mystery
8.2
20102h 18minUnited States
Director: Martin Scorsese

Overview

On an isolated island that houses a psychiatric facility for the most dangerous patients, one of the inmates disappears without a trace. War veteran and U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels arrives on the island with his partner to investigate the mysterious disappearance.

Themes

Institutional control, Isolation and confinement, Ethics of experimentation, Unreliable perception, Deception and mind games, Memory vs trauma

Available on

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

196. Edge of Darkness

Edge of Darkness
Crime Drama Mystery Thriller Detective Mystery Crime
6.6
20101h 57minUnited Kingdom, United States
Director: Martin Campbell

Overview

As a seasoned homicide detective, Thomas Craven has seen the bleakest side of humanity. But nothing prepares him for the toughest investigation of his life: the search for his only daughter Emma's killer. Now, he is on a personal mission to uncover the disturbing secrets surrounding her murder, including corporate corruption, government collusion and Emma's own mysterious life.

Themes

Government private collusion, Corporate corruption, Activist risk, Weapon industry influence, Investigative resilience, Public accountability vs secrecy

Available on

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

197. A Single Man

A Single Man
Drama Romance Psychological Drama Passionate Romance
7.5
20091h 40minUnited States
Director: Tom Ford

Overview

Set in Los Angeles in 1962, at the height of the Cuban missile crisis, is the story of a British college professor who dwells on the past and cannot see his future. We follow him through a single day, where a series of events and encounters ultimately lead him to decide if there is a meaning to life after the death of his long time partner, Jim.

Themes

Memory shapes present, Grief fuels longing, Loss prompts reflection, Secrecy fuels tension, Aging exposes vulnerability, Lgbt invisibility challenged

Available on

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

198. Mr. Nobody

Mr. Nobody
Science Fiction Drama Romance Simulation & Reality-Shift Sci-Fi Psychological Drama
7.7
20092h 21minBelgium, Canada
Director: Jaco Van Dormael

Overview

Nemo Nobody leads a perfectly ordinary life with his family, until he wakes up in 2092 as a centenarian, unraveling memories of lives he never lived. What if every choice spun a new reality?

Themes

Free will vs fate, Love across timelines, Multiple timelines and choice, Memory as narrative device, Mortality and aging paradox, Time and entropy

Available on

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

199. Cell 211

Cell 211
Action Thriller Drama Kidnapping & Captivity Thriller Psychological Drama
7.6
20091h 48minFrance, Spain
Director: Daniel Monzón

Overview

The story of two men on different sides of a prison riot -- the inmate leading the rebellion and the young guard trapped in the revolt, who poses as a prisoner in a desperate attempt to survive the ordeal.

Themes

Loyalty under duress, Moral ambiguity of authority, Political bargaining under pressure, Survival through deception, Power struggles under confinement

Available on

Netflix
AMC Plus Apple TV Channel
AMC+ Amazon Channel
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

200. Battlestar Galactica: The Plan

Battlestar Galactica: The Plan
Science Fiction Action Drama Alien Invasion Sci-Fi Psychological Drama
7.1
20091h 52minUnited States
Director: Edward James Olmos

Overview

When the initial Cylon attack against the Twelve Colonies fails to achieve complete extermination of human life as planned, twin Number Ones (Cavils) embedded on Galactica and Caprica must improvise to destroy the human survivors.

Themes

Deception and betrayal, Genocidal ambition under disguise, Loyalty under competing agendas, Survival under omnipresent threat, Dual versions divided loyalties, Human vs machine threat

Available on

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