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25+ Psychological Horror Movies Like ‘Get Out’ That'll Make Your Brain Spin

Just a bunch of mind-bending movies to keep you busy.

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Movies Like Get Out
Universal Pictures

Jordan Peele’s directorial debut in Get Out surprised audiences everywhere. For a man known for his comedic streak, Get Out was much darker than his usual fare. The 2017 film, which stars Daniel Kaluuya and Alison Williams as a couple, sees them heading out to visit her family. But Kaluuya’s character, Chris, soon realizes there’s something amiss with the family’s Black staff — as well as Black people in the neighborhood. What follows is a terrifyingly wild ride of Chris getting hypnotized, a few cases of the characters sinking into other characters’ bodies, and a few deaths, all while examining the topic of race. No psychological horror movies are complete without mind-melting terror, right?

After you watch Get Out, you’ll undoubtedly want to continue on that streak of thrillers. It’s only natural to want to continue to scare your brain until it becomes numb. Seriously, there’s a psychological component to humans’ enjoyment of fear. The flood of adrenaline, dopamine, and endorphins we experience when scared motivates us to replicate that fearful feeling — and the best way to get the benefits of that psychological response without the risk is to set yourself up for some scares at home.

So, with that in mind, we’ve picked out a selection of movies like Get Out for you to queue up after it. Check them all out ahead.

1. The Purge (2013)

For one short period of time each year, all crime becomes legal in The Purge. It’s the government’s way of letting people hold their fellow man accountable for whatever they deem fit. In this mind-bending film, which spawned multiple sequels, one family must stick together to make it through. Like Get Out, the family is the focal point, but unlike Get Out, the family in The Purge is a little less messed up.

2. Parasite (2019)

Much like Get Out, Oscar winner Parasite is also a psychological thriller that finds lightness amid the horror. In this movie, a family one by one infiltrates the home of a wealthier family, just like a parasite. They leech off of the unsuspecting family’s wealth until it all comes crashing down at the end. This movie is much more of a nail-biting thriller than a horror, and you’ll be on the edge of your seat the entire time.

3. Mother! (2017)

There’s no way around the fact that Mother!, starring Jennifer Lawrence and Javier Bardem, is an oddball film. None of the characters have actual names — beyond Mother and Him, etc. — and the psychological horror can be challenging to follow at times. However, you’ll get some of the same familial horror vibes as Get Out with this one if you’re willing to tough it out through some of the weirdness.

4. Donnie Darko (2001)

Jake Gyllenhaal’s Donnie Darko plays into the supernatural a bit but also centers a relationship, much like Get Out. While Get Out finds a dark side to a white family and explores the issue of race, Donnie Darko is more so about Donnie’s own mental instability and likelihood of committing crimes.

5. Gone Girl (2014)

Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, will have you baffled from beginning to end. This psychological thriller, Gone Girl, starring Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike, will have you baffled from beginning to end. This psychological thriller, based on the book of the same name, features so many screwed-up characters that you won’t even believe it. Similar to Get Out‘s totally hateable characters, Gone Girl‘s main characters are just as unlikable. Watch as Pike’s character Amy vanishes — before the whole story gets turned on its head.

6. Escape Room (2019)

You’ve heard of escape rooms, and, well, Escape Room is exactly that. Based on the strategy games you can actually go play, this movie blends thriller and horror concepts into it. The characters in this film get dropped into an escape room like you’ve never seen before and have to quite literally figure out a way out to survive. Despite having a wildly different storyline, the need to escape in this movie feels akin to the need to flee in Get Out.

7. Hush (2016)

A writer who is deaf and unable to speak must fight for her life while a masked killer runs loose in her neighborhood. It’s a twisted game of cat and mouse, and eventually, her disabilities give her a key advantage over him. In the desolate wooded area, help seems scarce for Maddie, but she ultimately saves herself with the help of her inner voice.

More Psychological Horror Movies Like Get Out

  1. Misery (1990)
  2. 10 Cloverfield Lane (2016)
  3. Split (2016)
  4. The Visit (2015)
  5. The Invisible Man (2020)
  6. Funny Games (2007)
  7. Us (2019)
  8. The Invitation (2015)
  9. Don’t Breathe (2016)
  10. Ma (2019)
  11. Antebellum (2020)
  12. Hereditary (208)
  13. The Skeleton Key (2005)
  14. Shutter Island (2010)
  15. The Strangers (2008)
  16. The Gift (2015)
  17. Memento (2000)
  18. You’re Next (2011)
  19. Old (2021)

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