1. Vivarium: This 2019 film, starring Jesse Eisenberg and Imogen Poots, is about a young couple looking for affordable accommodation. Here comes Yonder Homes, a real estate service with a bizarre agent, Martin. The couple Gemma and Tom is trapped inside the Yonder Homes colony, given no choice but to stay in House no.9 and later provided with tasteless artificial food dropped by unknown sources in a box kept every day in front of their house. Afterwards, they are even forced to bring up a boy, who turns out to be an annoying 7 yr old in just 3 months. Strange things unfold and both Gemma and Tom become sick and weak and start aging fast. The boy who calls Gemma his mother and annoys both of them with his continuous weird behavior grows into a huge strong man whom both of them become scared of. His very existence and how he sucks energy from the once lively couple are intensely creepy. The conversations between Gemma and the Boy add elements to make things more disturbing.
Gemma: All we wanted was a homeBoy: Silly mother, you are home
The film uses a metaphorical incident of a cuckoo bird laying its egg in another bird's nest and later hatching out to be a stronger chick by overpowering and throwing out the other chicks off the nest. Similarly, Martin and the boy are depicted as inhuman/alien creatures that lure human beings who are forced to raise an alien offspring "to prepare for the world" and later are left to die and zipped in body bags. This movie is surely going to play with your mind when you watch it.
2. Midsommar: This 2019 film is about a couple Dani (Florence Pugh) and Christian (Jack Reynor) who are going through a very tumultuous phase in their relationship and decides to accept an invitation from one of Christian's Swedish friends, Pelle to attend a local midsummer festival called Harga in Sweden. What follows and torments the group are a series of horrible incidents during the seemingly beautiful village festival. The movie is disturbing to the core, leaving you repulsive at many points and yet you get fixated on the continuous and unexpected shocking happenings throughout its runtime. Florence Pugh is a vision in herself. This film is a must-watch for psychological horror lovers, provided you have the heart to bear the atrocities shown in the film.
You sometimes fail to differentiate between visions, dreams, nightmares and real happenings. It is unpredictable and actually stirs a sane man's brain. The film supposedly signifies the turbulent emotional phase that Dani is going through due to her personal loss and an unsupportive partner. Whatever it is, all praises for the director Ari Aster (Hereditary) for presenting the audience with a visual feast that plays terrible tricks with their mind. And for me, I am never going to visit a Scandinavian village in summer.
3. Don't Worry Darling: This 2022 film has been in the news much before its release because of a few controversies between the cast and the makers. The film that has an interesting cast of Florence Pugh, Harry Styles, Chris Pine and Olivia Wilde ( she is the director too), is about a young couple Jack (Styles) and Alice (Pugh), who live in a 1950s upscale community of Victory, amidst a desert. The women are housewives, dressed in stylish tailor-cut outfits, made to look good, doing all household chores and raising kids (basically being good homemakers and doing all feminine jobs) while all the men go to the Headquarters in the morning to work in a very secretive Victory project under the able leadership of Frank (Pine). The women are prohibited from driving cars and are barred from going to the Headquarters. They spend their time cooking, cleaning, learning ballet, and going shopping. When Alice realises something very unusual is going on behind this seemingly perfect world of theirs, Hell breaks down.
The film centres around a make-believe world where women are reduced to submissive and obedient housewives, and the men are the ones who go out to earn a living. This movie was originally planned with Shia Labeouf as the main lead. That might have worked, but in my opinion, Harry Styles' portrayal of the loving and caring husband turning to the unsuspectingly sudden violent and dominating individual his wife despises is pretty good. Although the movie has faced mixed reviews, I feel it's a good one-time watch, especially because of the splendid performances of Pugh and Wilde.
4. Run Sweetheart Run: The 2020 movie may appear to be a normal "run for your life" survival thriller, but there is more to it. This film stars Ella Balinska as Cherie, a young single mother and an aspiring law student who works as a secretary at a LA law firm. Her boss arranges for a sudden client meeting at dinner, and she is forced to go for that and meets the charming and handsome Ethan (Pilou Asbaek) at his house. They have dinner outside and some fun time together. Cherie is charmed by Ethan's good looks and politeness but seems hesitant due to some reactions of his that appear to be quite out of place, like his disapproving expressions on being corrected while he refers to astronomy as astrology or his sudden outburst on being barked at by a dog. Still, she accepts his invitation to have a drink at his house later on. And there she is, attacked by him. Although what exactly happens is never shown, the audience can imagine it as something terrible as Cherie is shown coming out of the house in fear with blood stains all over and ripped clothes. What follows is a bloody and terrifying cat-and-mouse chase.
As discussed in the beginning, it is not a normal chase movie; it is about Ethan, who represents the dominant and misogynistic men who show the women "their actual place". There are audacious degrading remarks like "You walked inside my house with your F***k me dress, I know what exactly you wanted." "I am going to hunt you, then if you make it through the night, I am going to let you live. Do you want to play?" And here comes the director's clever craftsmanship of bringing out an extraordinary tale of a single woman's plight against an annoyingly patriarchal environment where women are constantly reminded of the consequences of the choices they have made.
5. Goodnight Mommy: This 2022 movie stars Naomi Watts as a former actress and the mother to 2 boys Elias and Lukas. She is divorced from her husband and estranged from her kids, but the boys come to stay with her. She is distant from her sons and wears a bandage on her face after getting cosmetic procedures done. The 2 boys are given to follow certain strict house rules by the mother. Slowly they discover some suspicious things about her and try to contact their father to report her strange and quite often ruthless behavior towards them. The boys try to escape but are again taken inside the house by the mother.
This movie sounds like a tale of a psychopath mother's torture saga of her children, but the final twist at the end leaves the audience shaken. At some points, it reminds me of the cult Korean horror classic, A Tale of Two Sisters. This film is definitely a must-watch for psychological horror fans.
So these are the Top 5 creepy films that can mess up your brain and that you can choose to watch this weekend. What is your choice? Is there a film you would want me to watch? Let me know.
