Related: Pamela Anderson Thought Nobody Would ‘Notice’ Her Makeup-Free Looks
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10 Near-Perfect Fantasy Movies You’ll Want to Rewatch Immediately
Movies have been captivating the human imagination for around 130 years now, especially fantasy films. This comes as no surprise, given that fantasy is one of, if not the oldest, genres of storytelling and ever-growing special effects allow us to bring mythological creatures and alien worlds to life. Even if the effects of older classics don’t quite hold up as well compared to modern ones, the best fantasy films can still be enjoyed thanks to how effectively they pull us into their worlds and make us believe for a few hours that the impossible is possible.
Thus, fantasy movies are a good source of comfort entertainment, especially as the world continues to become more and more uncertain. Most of the examples on this list you’ve probably already seen, but no matter how many times you watch them, they never lose their magical spark.
‘Time Bandits’ (1981)
Kevin (David Rappaport) is a young history buff who is shocked to find six dwarves in his room one night. They are the Time Bandits, former employees of the Supreme Being (Tony Jay and Sir Ralph Richardson) tasked with repairing holes in the universe, but would rather use them to get rich. They take Kevin with them as they rob history blind, unaware that the personification of Evil (David Warner) is watching them and intends to take their map for his use.
Time Bandits is the first of Terry Gilliam’s “Trilogy of Imagination,” and perfectly blends childlike wonder with comedy and some biting social commentary regarding consumerism. The Time Bandits themselves make for a very fun bunch of protagonists, thanks to how they simultaneously work together like a well-oiled machine and are at each other’s throats like a dysfunctional family. Gilliam’s creativity is also on full display, especially near the end when the Time Bandits go to the Time of Legends and pull from all eras of history to fight Evil.
‘Legend’ (1985)
Princess Lili (Mia Sara) is shown the last two unicorns in the world by her forest friend, Jack O’the Green (Tom Cruise), unaware that she is being followed by the goblin Blix (Alice Playten). When Lili ignores Jack’s instructions not to touch the unicorns, Blix kills the stallion and removes his horn, plunging the forest into a magical winter. While Lili protects the mare, Jack and his forest friends try to recover the horn, which has been taken to the fortress of Blix’s demonic master, Darkness (Tim Curry).
If you can find the extended edition of Legend, then you’re in for a fantastic fairy tale with some of the best practical effects from the 1980s. Curry, in particular, is completely transformed into an otherworldly beast, yet his charisma and charm shine through and keep you captivated with every word. The forest is also an incredibly constructed set, dripping with personality that makes it feel all the more real as a location.
‘The Adventures of Prince Achmed’ (1926)
A wicked sorcerer asks for the hand of the Caliph’s daughter in marriage and offers a magical flying horse. The Caliph’s son, Prince Achmed, tests the horse first, but can’t control it as it flies off into the horizon. When he finally gets it to land, he is in a foreign place and threatened by demons, forcing him to make new allies if he hopes to return home.
The Adventures of Prince Achmed is the oldest surviving animated film, and will soon be turning 100 years old. It also remains one of the most unique, thanks to its stylistic animation, done through painstakingly moving pieces of cardboard against bright backgrounds to create a shadow puppet aesthetic. The results are on-point movements that evoke every emotion felt by the characters without any spoken dialogue.
‘The Thief of Bagdad’ (1940)
A blind beggar reveals to a crowd in Basra that he is Ahmad (John Justin), the king of Baghdad, who was betrayed and usurped by his evil Vizier, Jaffar (Conrad Veidt). Before he was to be executed, he escaped the city with the help of a quick-witted thief named Abu (Sabu) and fled to Basra. There, Ahmad fell in love with its beautiful Princess (June Duprez), unaware that Jaffar also lusted after her and was well-trained in the black arts of sorcery.
The Thief of Bagdad is pure cinematic magic, and is perhaps the most influential film adaptation of the One Thousand and One Nights. It’s a beautiful movie full of bright colors, lavished sets, and the first use of blue screen technology, which really helps to make the magical moments feel otherworldly and distinct. Sabu and Veidt are the two actors who stand out the most: Sabu is bursting with energy that makes his young thief endearing, while Veidt uses his time during silent films to draw you in with nothing but his eyes.
‘Puss in Boots: The Last Wish’ (2022)
After being crushed in battle with a giant, Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) learns that he is on the last of his nine lives. At first, he brushes it off, but after a close encounter with a mysterious white wolf (Wagner Moura), he resigns himself to the life of a house cat. That is, until he learns that a map has been found that leads to the last Wishing Star, which he hopes to use to regain his missing lives and continue his life of daring adventures.
You wouldn’t expect a sequel to a spin-off released eleven years later to end up as one of the best animated films of the 2020s, yet Puss in Boots: The Last Wish pulled it off. First off, it looks gorgeous: the film uses stylistic graphics inspired by Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse to create a watercolor-like design that captures the feel of a storybook come to life. Story-wise, it manages to balance hilarious comedy full of clever nods to fairy tales with a hard-hitting story about accepting one’s mortality.
‘Beauty and the Beast’ (1991)
Belle (Paige O’Hara) is the bookish daughter of inventor Maurice (Rex Everhart) who longs for a more exciting life than the one she currently leads. She gets her wish when her father goes missing in the woods, and she finds him in the dungeons of an enchanted castle ruled over by a beast (Robby Benson). Belle offers to take her father’s place, and, over time, comes to see that there is more to the beast than first seems.
Beauty and the Beast is the first animated film to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture, and is perhaps the gold standard when it comes to updating a fairy tale for the modern day. It keeps the spirit of the story’s message about looking past rough exteriors to see the good inside, but adds character development for both of the leads, a plethora of beloved side characters, and a villain who, in any other story, would be the fairy-tale hero. It also boasts some of the best songs in any Disney film, courtesy of the legendary duo of Alan Menken and Howard Ashman.
‘The Princess Bride’ (1987)
A grandfather (Peter Falk) visits his sick grandson (Fred Savage) and reads him a fairy tale. It tells the story of Buttercup (Robin Wright), a farm girl who is chosen by Prince Humperdink (Chris Sarandon) to be his bride after her lover, Westley (Cary Elwes), is lost at sea. However, a trio of bandits captures Buttercup, planning to kill her and start a war with Humperdink’s neighbors, but they are pursued by a mysterious and highly skilled man in black.
The Princess Bride was not a huge hit on release, but the years have seen it re-evaluated as one of the most beloved and quoted fantasy films of all time. It has a beautiful tongue-in-cheek style of humor, which invites the audience to kick back and enjoy a story full of romance, witty banter, and plenty of self-aware jokes. It also helps that the actors all do a phenomenal job in their roles, especially Mandy Patinkin as the revenge-obsessed Spanish fencer, Inigo Montoya.
‘Mary Poppins’ (1964)
Ignoring his children’s request for a kind nanny, after they drove away their most recent one, George Banks (David Tomlinson) puts an ad in the paper for the strictest nanny he can find. The next day, a storm blows away everyone who answered it, while a woman named Mary Poppins (Dame Julie Andrews) floats down from the sky and convinces Mr. Banks to hire her. Though she is firm towards the children, she also takes them on many whimsical adventures alongside her friend, Bert (Dick Van Dyke).
Mary Poppins was a passion project of Walt Disney, and though author P. L. Travers hated what was done to her story, it was a smash hit, nominated for thirteen Academy Awards and walking away with five. It’s very easy to see why: the film taps into a pure and unspoiled kind of magic, shown through its many charming characters and iconic songs, courtesy of the Sherman Brothers. Yet the film also knows how to touch on more mature issues, as seen through George Banks’ character arc of mending the broken relationship with his children.
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (2001-2003)
After inheriting a magic ring from his uncle, Bilbo (Sir Ian Holm), the hobbit Frodo Baggins (Elijah Wood) learns from the wizard, Gandalf (Sir Ian McKellen), that it is the One Ring, forged by the Dark Lord, Sauron (Alan Howard), to dominate all life in Middle-earth. The only way to destroy it is to venture into the heart of Sauron’s land, Mordor, and toss it into the fires of the volcano from which it was forged. Aided by his friends and allies from the kingdoms of men, elves, and dwarves, Frodo sets off on his perilous quest, all while Sauron’s armies launch a brutal war of conquest.
Just like the books by J. R. R. Tolkien, The Lord of the Rings is one story told over three films, which were shot simultaneously. It wowed audiences with its groundbreaking use of special effects to bring Middle-earth and its people to life, to say nothing of how those effects were used to conjure some of the greatest battles in all cinema. Yet the story is what truly makes it timeless, as it touches on themes of finding hope in the darkest of moments, the corrupting nature of power, and the bonds of friendship, to name a few.
‘The Wizard of Oz’ (1939)
Stuck inside her farmhouse as it is caught in a tornado, Dorothy Gale (Judy Garland) can do nothing but watch as she is transported from Kansas to the magical land of Oz. She is given a pair of Ruby Slippers from Glinda (Billie Burke), the Good Witch of the North, after her house crushes their previous owner, the Wicked Witch of the East, and is told to seek out the Wizard of Oz (Frank Morgan) if she wants to get home. She is joined by a Scarecrow (Ray Bolger), Tin Man (Jack Haley), and Cowardly Lion (Bert Lahr), but they must contend with the deceased witch’s sister, the Wicked Witch of the West (Margaret Hamilton).
The Wizard of Oz overcame one of the most hellish productions in Hollywood history to become an iconic piece of cinema history. Though not the first film to make use of Technicolor, it’s the first one people think of thanks to how brilliantly it used it to make the land of Oz feel truly magical and otherworldly. Combined with timeless characters brought to life by the perfect actors, catchy songs, and a universal message about the importance of home, you have a movie that never fails to put a smile on your face regardless of age.
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Pamela Anderson opened up about being diagnosed with hepatitis C in the past, as she was honored at the amfAR Gala in Venice.
“It was a death sentence. That’s what my doctor told me — that I probably had around 10 years to live,” the Baywatch alum said at the event on Sunday, September 6, per Variety. “I’m sure that colored and corrupted my decisions. It was not fear of death, but fear of what might happen to my young children. It turned my life inside out.”
Anderson, 59, who was honored with amfAR’s Award of Courage on Sunday night, reflected on how being diagnosed with the blood-borne viral infection left her feeling vulnerable.
“But my experience of shame and guilt was also an unconscious journey. It stays with me; it haunts me,” she said. “And just like the sexual abuse that I endured as a child, it felt like it was carved into my forehead: damaged goods. And I presented myself as such.”
Anderson first went public with her hepatitis C diagnosis in 2002. She said she contracted the illness by sharing tattoo needles with her ex-husband, Tommy Lee, with whom she shares sons Brandon, 30, and Dylan, 28.
On Sunday, the actress said that she was “hep C free” by 2015 after a cure was found for the infection in 2011 but noted that “it took everything I had in my bank” to pay for her treatment.
The actress said she hasn’t “fully recovered” from her medical ordeal but that her struggles have propelled her career resurgence in movies such as The Last Showgirl and The Naked Gun.
“My truth has come through my work, finding ways to express myself through the arts. It gave me the ammunition I needed, a fertile life to use and play in,” Anderson said. “I’m not a victim, I’m a victor. I am strong and capable, more now than I could ever dream of … I’m not the damsel in distress, no matter how easy that role is to play.”
Pamela Anderson is embracing her natural beauty and inspiring so many others in the process. The Last Showgirl actress went makeup-free while attending Paris Fashion Week in September 2023. The decision to do so was deeply personal for Anderson after the death of her makeup artist, Alexis Vogel, in 2019 from breast cancer. “She was […]
Anderson previously opened up about overcoming hepatitis C in a 2015 interview with People.
“I think anyone struggling with a disease that they say you can live with is still — it still plays into a lot of your decisions in your life,” she said. “Twenty years ago they told me I would die in 10 years. And 10 years into that, they told me I would be able to live with it and probably die of something else, but it all was very scary stuff.”
“I’ve been too busy, I think it really hasn’t even hit me yet, but it’s exciting because now I get 20 years back on my life,” she added. “They came up with a cure just recently, and you know Tommy was cured a year ago, I was cured just Friday.”
Fat Joe has folks in their feelings after claiming he’s Black while defending his N-word usage during a recent interview, and Dr. Marc Lamont Hill shared his thoughts amid the backlash.
RELATED: Girl Dad Era! Joe Budden’s Fiancée Shadée Monique Confirms Pregnancy Amid Their Engagement (VIDEOS)
Fat Joe, whose real name is Joseph Antonio Cartagena, sparked an online debate after appearing on a recent episode of ‘The Joe Budden Podcast.’ The recording artist, who grew up in New York City’s Bronx neighborhood, expressed his views that he is Black.
Live Bitez shared the video on Instagram on Monday, September 7.
“I grew up in hip-hop, where they invented hip-hop,” said Cartagena.
The artist went on to say that he grew up around Grand Master Flash and Melle Mel, and the Puerto Rican-Cuban rapper has long maintained that he grew up around Black culture. Furthermore, he called himself “Black.”
“I am Black! Fat Joe is the Blackest n*gga you ever seen in your life,” exclaimed the rapper. “That’s, go look it up!”
Marc Lamont Hill reacted to the clip, and he said he did not want to police folks’ ethnicity or race.
“He’s saying he is Black,” Hill said. “I am not trying to police anybody’s ethnicity…. but what I will say is that Fat Joe seems to be using Black ironically. Or he’s using it metaphorically.”
He added that while he loves Fat Joe, he does not think he should use the N-word.
“But Fat Joe is not Black,” continued Hill. “So while I love Fat Joe and I admire Fat Joe, and I appreciate Fat Joe, I don’t share his position that he can use the N-word by virtue of his proximity to the culture or his love for the culture. I don’t think that that’s enough.”
Fat Joe Sparks Online Debate
Fans reacted to the video on Instagram, and folks debated his comments about Blackness and N-word usage.
User @joanclaiton wrote, “Everyone wants to be black, until it’s time to be black. They’re obsessed with black culture.”
@gwap0_ replied. “If anybody get a pass it is definitely Fat Joe.”
User @_darealmooch replied, “Definitely not black just grew up in black culture same for Cardi.”
@the_black_madonna__ wrote, “No @fatjoe your FA+ you can’t force yourself to make us see and or believe you’re one of us lol yea nice try tho.”
@quintenzor joked, “Let’s chop this conversation up, and ask that he shows us his driver’s license.”
User @mynx019 added, “Ladies and gentlemen, the blackest 🥷 you ever met…”
@darrica_mars wrote, “I beg to differ!!!! I have never heard or seen him speak 🗣️ on ‘black peoples’ issues ever !!! He is culture vulture too.”
User @amillio_thegreat added, “Fat Joe is not Black and he should’ve never been allowed to get this comfortable using the n word especially after Black ppl expressed concerns about it.”
User @wandabbw1 added, “No 1 should say the N word. What are we talking about here. Smh. Stop disrespecting ourselves and our ancestors.”
Fat Joe Defended N-Word Usage In 2022
Fat Joe defended his N-word usage back in 2022 during an interview with ‘The Breakfast Club.’ Not only that, but the rapper claimed that although he knew he was Latino, he also thought he was Black.
“My grandmother’s projects is 99.9 percent Black, to be clear,” he said. “So I’m Spanish. I knew I was Latino, but the whole time I thought I was Black anyway. So, my mom lives there 40 years before I was born, in this project, and I’m born blond hair, green eyes. This sh*t crazy, right? She brings me there, the first thing is they go, ‘Oh, look at this little n*gga Joey. He got green eyes.’ The minute I’m walking, the guys in the building is like, ‘Yo, look at that little n*gga Joe, little Fat Joe.’ That’s all I knew my whole life before even elementary.”
Furthermore, he said he would not stop using the word because someone tells him to.
“No one’s going to pressure Fat Joe into feeling or saying anything that he loves or believes in…. No one’s ever going to do that. You get one life and nobody gonna try to tell me what to say, tell me do, tell me what to think,” he said.
RELATED: Fat Joe Responds To $20 Million Lawsuit As Alleged Victim’s Lawyer Gets Arrested Over THIS
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If You Miss ‘Severance,’ This Forgotten 4-Season Sci-Fi Series Is the Perfect Replacement
Severance’s premiere in 2022 on Apple TV+ was a game-changer for those waiting for the return of the golden age of television. It wasn’t just the critique of corporate America. The Adam Scott vehicle was strange and specific in all the right ways. The story of a corporation “severing” their home and work memories has fans urging the show to release more stories following its Season 2 hiatus.
While Severance takes some time in between seasons, viewers can still get their fill with another mind-bending series. Before Severance, Prime Video took its chance with another wild swing, The Man in the High Castle. Adapted from the Philip K. Dick science fiction novel, the four-season series has all the themes and social commentary that could satisfy Severance fans.
‘The Man in the High Castle’ Traps Characters In An Inescapable Nightmare
At first glance, The Man in the High Castle and Severance seem worlds apart. Though at their core they are discussing two wildly different stories, they use the same mechanics to tell that story. The alternate history uses the setup of entrapment, just as Severance does. One of the best Prime Video shows follows the lives of several characters in the 1960s who live in a universe where Nazi Germany won World War II. The United States has been colonized, split between the Third Reich and the Japanese Empire.
Juliana Crain (Alexa Davalos) lives in Japan-colonized San Francisco when she comes across a mysterious roll of film. This movie posits that there is a reality where the Allies won the war, and the Nazis were defeated. Juliana and a cast of characters struggle to find a way to that reality, but there is a lot of real estate between her and her goal. Like the Innies in Severance, she is trapped in an ongoing nightmare that never seems to end.
The Innies have no control over their own lives, forced to live in an endless loop. Their only recourse is to do something about it. Juliana has her own cross to bear, unable to sit by and allow this all-consuming fascism to continue. Both shows are about enlightenment, as these characters have to essentially “wake up” and fight against what seems like a daunting and unrelenting force.
There is hope in these narratives, no matter how bleak it may seem. They find their own sources of resistance in worlds that are the worst versions that could exist. These are high-concept stories that demand the attention of the viewers. Both Severance and The Man in the High Castle accomplish this by delivering shocking moments and jaw-dropping cliffhangers.
A story like Severance ultimately seems like there is only so far it can go. It found a way around that with the cliffhanger that changed everything. Season 1 increased the stakes and the mythology of the series with the shocking revelation that Mark’s (Adam Scott) wife, Gemma (Dichen Lachman), was still alive.
The Man in the High Castle also survives by using impactful twists that motivate fans to return season after season. It refuses to rest on its laurels and changes the rules of the world as soon as viewers get comfortable. Though the series veered off the path of the alternate history story that Philip K. Dick set forth, it takes on a life of its own that continues to strike a chord with audiences.
- Release Date
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2015 – 2019-00-00
- Network
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Prime Video
- Showrunner
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Frank Spotnitz
- Directors
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David Semel, Daniel Percival, John Fawcett, Alex Zakrzewski, Karyn Kusama, Nelson McCormick, Brad Anderson, Bryan Spicer, Charlotte Brändström, Chris Long, Colin Bucksey, Daniel Sackheim, David Petrarca, Ernest R. Dickerson, Fred Toye, Jennifer Getzinger, Ken Olin, Michael Rymer, Michael Slovis, Paul Holahan, Richard Heus, Deborah Chow, Steph Green, Meera Menon
- Writers
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Wesley Strick, Rob Williams, David Scarpa, Erik Oleson, Jace Richdale, Rick Cleveland, Thomas Schnauz, Mark Richard, Chris Collins, Kalen Egan, Elizabeth Benjamin, Emma Frost, Eric Overmyer, Eric Simonson, Julie Hébert, Walon Green, William N. Fordes, Evan Wright, Lolis Eric Elie, Francesca Gardiner, Dre Ryan, Chris Wu
UPDATE 9/8/26, 2:30 a.m. ET: Pawn Stars’ Rick Harrison is now recovering at home after having emergency bypass surgery.
“Today, Rick was discharged from the hospital and is now resting at home. By all accounts, he’s now doing great,” a spokesperson for the Harrison family told TMZ on Monday, September 7.
Original story below:
Pawn Stars’ Rick Harrison is on the mend after undergoing emergency bypass surgery.
“He went in for a simpler procedure and they found he needed a bypass,” a spokesperson for the Harrison family told People on Friday, September 4. “He is resting comfortably and looking forward to a full recovery.”
The spokesperson added that Harrison, 61, was appreciative of the support he has received from the staff and his loved ones in the midst of his health scare.
“He is grateful for the doctors and staff at the hospital and that his wife and family can be with him during this time,” the statement concluded
Harrison is best known for starring on Pawn Stars, which documents the ins and outs of Harrison’s family business, the World Famous Gold & Silver Pawn Shop in Las Vegas, which opened in 1989. Rick ran the store with his late father Richard “Old Man” Harrison, son Corey “Big Hoss” Harrison and Corey’s childhood friend, Austin “Chumlee” Russell. Richard ultimately retired in 2017, and Rick has continued to run the store. (Richard died in 2018 following a battle with Parkinson’s disease.)
Pawn Stars premiered on the History Channel in 2009. The series is currently ongoing and in its 24th season, which premiered back in January.
Earlier this year, Rick wed his fifth wife Agripina “Angie” Polushkin after two years of dating. (Rick was previously married to Kim Harrison from 1982 to 1985, Tracy Harrison from 1986 to 2011, DeAnna Burditt from 2013 to 2020 and Amanda Palmer from 2021 to 2023.)
The couple tied the knot in January at the Little White Chapel in Las Vegas with an intimate reception held at Rick’s barbecue restaurant, Rick’s Rollin Smoke BBQ & Tavern.
Pawn Stars personality Rick Harrison is reflecting on the death of his son, Adam, at the age of 39. Adam died from a fentanyl overdose in January 2024. Harrison, 59, addressed the tragedy in an episode of the interview series “In Depth With Graham Bensinger” that was released via YouTube on Wednesday, March 20. “I […]
“1/3/26 we became Mr & Mrs Harrison 🥰,” Polushkin wrote via Instagram at the time.
Weeks later, they held a destination wedding at the Le Blanc Spa Resort in Cancun.
“My dream beach wedding came true on 1/26/26,” Polushkin wrote via Instagram following the couple’s second ceremony. “I married the most loving, caring, and supportive man I’ve ever met and the one that treats me like a princess every single day. Love you always & forever ♥️♥️♥️.”
Around the same time as Rick’s wedding, his son Corey was involved in a motorcycle accident in Mexico. He sustained serious injuries, including multiple broken bones.
“Pretty messed up but I’m good crash bars are awesome 3 nights in the hospital 11breaks in my rib cage,” Corey wrote via Instagram in January. “Will do an episode on @theCoreyHarrisonshow. Sorry Pops, looks like I’m missing your wedding.”
Editor’s Note: The following contains spoilers from Fire & Blood and potential spoilers for future seasons of House of the Dragon.
Even by Westeros standards, House Targaryen is not a normal family. But after the appearance of Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) in Daemon’s (Matt Smith) vision sequence in House of the Dragon Season 2, casual viewers might wonder just how connected are these two branches of the Targaryen tree? They both belong to the same noble house, of course, but are they even in the same bloodline? And Rhaenyra Targaryen (Emma D’Arcy), where does she fit? The answer, full of spoilers for the rest of the story of House of the Dragon, is not so simple.
Daemon Doesn’t Know Who Daenerys Is in His Vision
Daemon’s vision is filled with nods to the future of House Targaryen and Westeros as a whole — there are even White Walkers there. But the most surprising part of it is when he sees Daenerys with her three dragons. The vision is plucked directly from the Season 1 finale of Game of Thrones, when Daenerys grabs her three petrified dragon eggs and walks into Khal Drogo’s (Jason Momoa) funeral pyre. When the fire is spent, only Dany remains, unburnt, with her three children having miraculously hatched.
Crucially, this part of Daemon’s visio comes after he sees the dying of the dragons in Westeros — primarily caused by the current civil war. Daenerys hatching her three dragons is a sign that dragons will rise again. With the Others a constant and legitimate threat, the dragons are needed to fight them. Daemon understands that, for the world to have a fighting chance, the Targaryen who needs to sit on the Iron Throne must be his wife, Rhaenyra.
Although Daemon doesn’t know who Daenerys is, the audience are fully aware of her identity and the fact that she is one of the last members of the once great house. Due to the nature of his vision, he has no idea if this event takes place in a few years or centuries in the future. To him, Daenerys could be anyone.A future daughter, a granddaughter, or even a great-great-great-great-great-granddaughter — which just happens to be the truth.
Daenerys Is a Direct Descendant of Daemon and Rhaenyra’s Line
In order to understand how Daenerys is related to Daemon and Rhaenyra, we must wade into spoiler territory by exploring George R.R. Martin‘s Fire & Blood. It’s no secret that Rhaenyra dies at the end of the Dance of the Dragons. Joffrey Baratheon (Jack Gleeson) says as much in Game of Thrones when he reveals that she was eaten by Aegon II’s (Tom Glynn-Carney) dragon, Sunfyre. Daemon is also destined for a deadly confrontation against Aemond (Ewan Mitchell) at Harrenhal. Although they die, Daemon and Rhaenyra’s two sons eventually end up ascending to the Iron Throne after the fighting is done. Aegon III becomes king, but when two sons, Daeron I and Baelor I, leave no heirs, it’s his brother (and Daemon and Rhaenyra’s youngest son), Viserys II, who inherits the throne.
Through Viserys II, the Targaryen line continues, from his terrible son, Aegon IV (“the Unworthy”) to Aegon V aka Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell) from A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms who is Daenerys’ great-grandfather and Rhaenyra’s great-great-great-grandson to the Mad King, Aerys II (David Rintoul), Daenerys’ father. In total, Daenerys Targaryen is eight generations removed from Rhaenyra Targaryen, making Rhaenyra Daenerys’ great-great-great-great-great-grandmother. It’s important to point out, however, that this is following Fire & Blood, since Game of Thrones removed Jaehaerys II, who is Aerys II’s father in the books, from its lore, according to Maester Aemon (Peter Vaughan) in Season 1. Unless some retconning takes place, in the show franchise, Daenerys is just seven generations removed from Rhaenyra.
Lizzo is looking back at the peaks and valleys of her career.
“I wasn’t even really perceiving how famous I had gotten,” the “Truth Hurts” singer, 38, said during her appearance on the Monday, September 7, episode of Dax Shepard’s “Armchair Expert” podcast. “I feel like a regular girl in the Twin Cities, walk into the bar, going to get some cheese curds and a beer. I still feel like that girl.”
Lizzo continued, “But the whole world is like, everything I did was news. I had been going full throttle. It was like, clothing line. It was like, TV show, tour, album, actually really doing well. Like, oh my God. I didn’t even know how well the album was doing. I wasn’t paying attention.”
Lizzo shot to fame in 2019 with her hit “Truth Hurts,” which was released two years prior but later went viral thanks to its appearance in the Netflix film Something Great. The single reached No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 and increased interest in her third studio album, Cuz I Love You. Lizzo won three Grammy Awards in 2020: Best Pop Solo Album, Best Traditional R&B Performance and Best Progressive R&B Album. (Three years later, Lizzo also won Record Of The Year for her single “About Damn Time,” off her 2022 album, Special.)
Lizzo is opening up about how her plans for her music comeback have changed. The “Good as Hell” singer, 37, spoke about reentering the music industry after she was the subject of multiple harassment and hostile work environment lawsuits in an interview with Vulture published on Monday, September 8. “I put out those two singles, […]
At the height of her career, Lizzo expanded her profile to include TV and film, hosting a 2022 reality series called Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls and starring in her own documentary, Love, Lizzo. She also launched her own clothing line, Yitty, that same year.
In August 2023, Lizzo became the subject of controversy when three of her former backup dancers filed a lawsuit against the singer, her production company and her dance captain Shirlene Quigley, accusing them of sexual, religious and racial harassment, disability discrimination, assault, false imprisonment, creating a hostile work environment and weight-shaming.
Lizzo’s former wardrobe assistant, Asha Daniels, also sued the Grammy winner and her touring company over alleged racial and sexual harassment in 2023.
Lizzo has denied all allegations. In December 2025, a judge dismissed the fat-shaming allegations in the suits filed by Lizzo’s former backup dancers. The remaining claims are still pending in court.
A judge ultimately removed Lizzo as an individual defendant in Daniels’ case in 2024. On Tuesday, September 1, the federal court dismissed the remaining claims against her touring company due to a lack of evidence.
Amid the controversy, Lizzo took a break from releasing music until her fifth studio album, BITCH, in June. The project struggled commercially and failed to produce any chart hits.
Lizzo has had enough of the negativity she is feeling online. “I’m getting tired of putting up with being dragged by everyone in my life and on the internet,” the Grammy winner, 35, wrote via Instagram on Friday, March 29. “All I want is to make music and make people happy and help the world […]
Lizzo said on Monday that she had always planned to take extra time to work on her latest album, but the hiatus came at a time when “the world stopped f***ing with me.”
“I was like, ‘Whoa, this feels like my life is over,’” she recalled. “And so with the fame thing and the success and the public perception being super positive and being overly loved and people understanding me, I wasn’t looking over my shoulder for a shoe to drop because I really genuinely was moving so purely. I really, which they say you shouldn’t do, just really showed the whole world my heart.”
Lizzo continued, “When everybody started hating me, I kind of didn’t understand. … I had experienced little waves of it, but this time after my [Special Tour] ended, it was, like, legitimate. So I really did feel like my life was over because music had been my life, and I didn’t feel like anyone wanted me to make music anymore.”
Lizzo said she wondered if she should “cease to exist” amid the backlash.
“It was really heavy. It’s really heavy. And I think you have to kind of go to a very, very, very, very low place to be able to kind of float back up to the top,” she added, noting that she ultimately had to find herself as a person again.
“You know, what I came to is knowing who you are and not what you do. I feel like I had been identifying myself as what I do for so long, instead of remembering who I am because that’s my job,” she concluded. “It was extremely freeing because I’m like, ‘Oh, only I know me, only I know who I am and I need to remember that and not allow someone to change that because I can do that too.’”
If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, help is available. Call or text 988 or chat at 988lifeline.org.
Millie Bobby Brown enjoyed soaking up the views with her loved ones during a picturesque getaway to Italy.
The Stranger Things actress, 22, made memories with her husband, Jake Bongiovi, and their daughter during a stay at SAN SONNEA, a five-star luxury resort and “secluded sanctuary” based in Luson, South Tyrol, which is for families to reconnect deeply with nature.
“Different in the dolomites @sansonnea.family,” she captioned her post on Monday, September 7, including a video of herself holding her baby girl while walking llamas alongside Bongiovi, 24, in front of a gorgeous scenic background.
She also included a clip of ducks on the premises, as well as a snapshot of a peaceful mountain getaway viewed from inside a cozy room in addition to a close-up pic of white roses.
In her recap was also a photo of Bionjovi sunbathing shirtless outside and a photo of Brown rocking a string bikini and “Italia” tank top in honor of their family trip. She paired the look with brown sunglasses, a beaded necklace and hoop earrings.
It’s been just over a year since Brown announced that she and Bionjovi expanded their brood.
“This summer, we welcomed our sweet baby girl through adoption,” the couple shared in their August 2025 announcement. “We are beyond excited to embark on this beautiful next chapter of parenthood in peace and privacy.”
Millie Bobby Brown shared a sweet photo of herself getting affectionate with husband Jake Bongiovi in honor of his 24th birthday. “My person’s day, today and always,” she captioned a PDA photo of the couple via Instagram on Thursday, May 7, marking his first birthday as a father after Brown, 22, and Bongiovi welcomed their […]
Brown and Bongiovi have been married since May 2024, when they first tied the knot in an intimate ceremony followed by another larger ceremony held in Tuscany that October.
The parents have opted not to share their little one’s name with the world following her adoption, although Brown did give rare insight into her journey to motherhood in a December 2025 interview.
“Being a mother expedited this version of me,” she told Allure at the time. “Nothing could get in the way of me being who I need to be for my daughter.”
Brown said she was determined to instill good values in her daughter and lead by example.
Millie Bobby Brown is opening up for the first time following the news that she and husband Jake Bongiovi adopted a baby girl. While playing a game with TIME and her Stranger Things castmates on Thursday, October 16, Brown, 21, revealed her daughter is the one thing she can’t live without after Noah Schnapp thought the answer was Bongiovi, 23. […]
“I want her to see me take care of myself,” she said, quipping, “You have to do everything 10 times quicker, and you don’t really get to do your gua sha in the morning.”
“I have to talk to myself kindly,” the Enola Holmes actress continued, noting it can be easy to “talk badly about yourself and your body.” Brown continued, “After becoming a parent, I couldn’t imagine talking about myself like that anymore, because she’s going to watch me do that.”
The most unexpected Tom Cruise character needs no introduction, and he knows it, for the entire 123 minute run-time of this classic. It’s rare that a film’s final scene, final line, or final needle drop are the best. But in this beloved horror film, all three are the case. Back in 1994, before the movie star became known for stunts and running, Cruise let loose as a melodramatic, seductive, bloodsucking vampire second only to Dracula in infamy. To paraphrase Homer Simpson, every time he’s not on the screen you’re wondering where he is—making his jump-scare entrance in the coda all the more delicious.
This spooky season, you can revisit it in full. The 1994 film adaptation of Anne Rice‘s novel Interview with the Vampire, starring Cruise as well as Brad Pitt, Kirsten Dunst, Christian Slater and Antonio Banderas, is now streaming on HBO Max. Thandiwe Newton and Stephen Rea also play supporting roles. Neil Jordan directed, and Rice herself wrote the screenplay. While the finished product is not necessarily considered the best adaptation of Rice’s Vampire Chronicles, it is a very re-watchable and very 90s film.
Cruise’s Lestat is not the protagonist of the film. That would be Pitt’s character, Louis de Pointe du Lac, a vampire recounting his life to a seemingly objective observer, Slater’s Daniel Molloy, as the gothic narrative plays out in flashback. Louis bemoans his immortal existence through various trials and tribulations: getting turned in the late 18th century, honing and occasionally eschewing his killer instincts, raising a vampire daughter (Dunst’s scene-stealing performance as Claudia), attempting to kill his maker, and worst of all, moving to Paris. The through line in his life post-death? Lestat, Lestat, Lestat, Lestat, Lestat.
Why Didn’t Tom Cruise Return for the ‘Interview with the Vampire’ Sequel?
Interview with the Vampire was well received. It made $223 million worldwide at the box office in its original release, according to Box Office Mojo, and was nominated for two Academy Awards despite mixed reviews from critics. However, when Warner Brothers went about making the sequel, titled Queen of the Damned after the third book in Rice’s series, Cruise did not reprise the role. “At the time,” Jordan told Entertainment Weekly in 2024, Cruise simply “wasn’t doing sequels.” Now, from franchises like Mission: Impossible to legacy sequels like Top Gun: Maverick and the upcoming Days of Thunder, he can’t get enough. One can imagine that, if Cruise was doing sequels at the time, the second movie would have drawn more from Rice’s second book: The Vampire Lestat.
Queen of the Damned was eventually released in 2002 with Stuart Townsend in the role of the vampire Lestat. Despite a standout performance by singer and actress Aliyah, who tragically died ahead of the premiere, the film only brought in $45 million worldwide. Rice, who initially expressed doubt over Cruise in the role, later recanted and praised his performance. Society had and/would continue to move on to other vampire narratives like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Twilight, True Blood, and The Vampire Diaries.
Twenty-four years later, however, Rice fans are having a particularly good moment. AMC’s Interview with the Vampire, which stars Jacob Anderson, Sam Reid, Delainey Hayles, Eric Bogosian, and Assad Zaman, and restyled itself as The Vampire Lestat for Season 3, is set to return for a fourth season officially titled Queen of the Damned with Sheila Atim in the titular role as Akasha. The cable network’s other televised Rice adaptation, Mayfair Witches, returns for Season 3 in 2027, with Eliza Scanlen joining Alexandra Daddario in the cast.
Plus, there’s Tom Ford‘s upcoming film adaptation of Rice’s historical novel Cry to Heaven starring Nicholas Hoult, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Julianne Moore, Hunter Schafer, and Adele to look forward to in the near future. That movie is about the cutthroat (among other things) world of opera singers in 18th-century Italy, not monsters in the more traditional sense. But there’s never been a better time to be an Anne Rice fan.
Stay tuned at Collider for more.
Seventeen years ago, Megan Fox played a monster in one of the only 2000s teen comedies that really holds up — and as this satire is not without its screams, it’s also become one of the best horror cult classics of the century. There are very few cringe-worthy millennial jokes, and all in all, the movie has only gotten better with age. Over the last 20 years, audiences have only become more willing to get behind — and really enjoy — a succubus killing creepy guys, finally giving the movie the attention it deserved in 2009.
This fall, you can reevaluate one of cinema’s biggest comebacks for yourself, as Jennifer’s Body is now streaming on Hulu and Pluto TV. The movie also stars Amanda Seyfried, Adam Brody, J.K. Simmons, Amy Sedaris, Kyle Gallner, and Johnny Simmons. In addition, Chris Pratt plays a police officer in one of his first big-screen roles. Jennifer’s Body was directed by Karyn Kusama and written by Diablo Cody, hot on the heels of her Academy Award win for Juno. That’s a winning combination on paper, but it took a while for the result to be appreciated.
Seyfried actually plays the protagonist, a shy high school student aptly named Needy (short for Anita) whose popular best friend Jennifer, played by Fox, has become possessed by a demon and must commit murder to survive. Needy tries to help Jennifer as her killing spree continues. But does she kind of have a point? Who’s actually protecting who? Is this a love story? As with so many things when you’re a teenager, the situation is complicated.
Why Is ‘Jennifer’s Body’ Considered a Cult Classic?
Jennifer’s Body grossed $31 million worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. As it turns out, Hollywood did not know how to properly market a feminist horror comedy in 2009. According to Cody in a retrospective Vox interview, she wanted to reach female audiences, but the executives focused on trying to get male fans into theaters. Considering how blatantly misandrist Jennifer is, however, that seems like an uphill battle doomed to fail. Critics gave Jennifer’s Body mixed reviews that often missed the film’s intentions as well. “Just what we were waiting for,” opened Roger Ebert‘s original review, “Twilight for boys, with Megan Fox in the Robert Pattinson role, except that I recall Pattinson was shirtless.” And he gave it four out of five stars! Imagine what the people who didn’t like it were saying.
In recent years, especially after the MeToo movement brought the themes to the surface, Jennifer’s Body started to resonate more. It’s still kind of difficult to get certain audiences on board with movies that are feminist and funny. Even the act of insisting that empowerment doesn’t have to be dour makes you sound a little desperate… but it’s true! Anyway, the film has been reevaluated by critics and audiences alike, and is now considered a queer feminist cult classic. It only took a decade and some change!
Stay tuned at Collider for more.
- Release Date
-
September 18, 2009
- Runtime
-
107 minutes
- Director
-
Karyn Kusama
- Producers
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Brad Van Arragon, Daniel Dubiecki, Jason Reitman
We love watching a good mind game unfold before us. The allure of a psychological thriller lies in seeing how characters inflict psychological terror or overcome it. Throughout movie history, there have been some extraordinary masterpieces of psychological thriller cinema, but only ten are genuinely perfect.
From timeless legends to modern classics, these films have served as the blueprint for the genre over time. Some have haunted our nightmares while others reshaped the rules of cinema. No matter how they played with your mind, these movies continue to be some of the very best of all time.
10
‘Donnie Darko’ (2001)
A brilliantly underrated cult classic, Donnie Darko earned its way into psychological thriller history. Written and directed by Richard Kelly, the film follows Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal), a troubled teenager who, after sleepwalking, narrowly escapes death from a falling jet engine and is guided by Frank (James Duval), a mysterious, grotesque figure in a giant rabbit suit to uncover secrets of time and destiny. Donnie Darko deliberately blurs the line between clinical paranoid schizophrenia and actual supernatural destiny for a powerful coming-of-age drama about teenage isolation, death, and existential purpose.
The brilliance of Donnie Darko lies in being forced to see the world through a troubled teen’s vantage point. Gyllenhaal is pitch perfect in his breakout role, guiding the film to its final destination. By questioning the validity of Frank and the time-travel scenario, or whether it’s all a symptom of his disease, viewers are kept on their toes. His ability to humanize isolation and anxiety is profound. The film is not a flat-out obvious story, as Kelly tasks the audience to personally interpret every single moment and image. With a haunting atmosphere and a brilliant soundtrack that included “Mad World” by Gary Jules, it serves as the perfect aesthetic world-building. Donnie Darko is a terrifyingly accurate story of being misunderstood.
9
‘Rosemary’s Baby’ (1968)
One of the most iconic physiological horror thrillers of all time, Rosemary’s Baby took Ira Levin’s novel and transformed it into a stellar and sinister story. Directed by Roman Polanski, the film follows Rosemary Woodhouse (Mia Farrow) and her husband Guy (John Cassavetes) as they move into an old, eerie apartment building in New York City. Rosemary begins to suspect her odd neighbors, Roman and Minnie Castevet (SydneyBlackmer and Ruth Gordon), and her ambitious husband belong to a satanic cult plotting to use her unborn child for evil rituals. A story built on psychological dread and paranoia, Rosemary’s Baby taps into how society strips away a pregnant woman’s personal choice and agency.
With deep-seated social fears, gaslighting, and slow-building paranoia, Rosemary’s Baby traps you in Rosemary’s mind. You’re forced to determine if Rosemary’s fears of a satanic conspiracy are real or just the paranoid delusions of a pregnant woman. As Rosemary is gaslit by everyone she believes she can trust, she loses her autonomy and power, exposing a universal sense of unease. The terror of Rosemary’s Baby is not entirely the threat of giving birth to the devil but the revelation that it’s the unsuspecting individuals around you that make up the cultist monsters. It may be a period piece today, but Rosemary’s Baby remains poignant today.
8
‘Mulholland Drive’ (2001)
Many will try, but no one will have a mind quite like David Lynch. The visionary has given the world some of the most daring projects, including Mulholland Drive. His 21st-century classic is a surrealistic psychological mystery about an actress in Los Angeles and an amnesiac car crash survivor who try to uncover the survivor’s true identity. Betty (Naomi Watts), an ambitious, bright-eyed aspiring actress who’s new to Los Angeles, and Rita (Laura Harring), an enigmatic woman with amnesia, try to piece together Rita’s past, only for reality and illusion to crash into one as Betty and Rita are anything but. Mulholland Drive explores psychological collapse, guilt, and the dark underbelly of Hollywood by depicting a warped nature of ambition, betrayal, and a shattered mind.
Mulholland Drive is a mind-blowing thriller that demands close attention to the story Lynch proposes. The first two-thirds of the film operates as a a fantasy created by a failed and heartbroken actress. She imagines herself as something grander when, in truth, it couldn’t be further from reality. Lynch presumes that severe trauma is shielded by a safer identity, despite who it hurts in the process. Yet the dark landscape of Los Angeles is an illusion she uses to excuse her failure. Mulholland Drive is a brilliant script brought to life flawlessly, earning itself as Lynch’s very best.
7
‘Black Swan’ (2010)
The obsession for artistic perfection is put on full display in the mind-bending Black Swan. A brilliant psychological masterpiece from Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan follows Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a dedicated, perfectionist ballerina, who loses her grip on reality when rival dancer Lily (Mila Kunis) earns the role she greatly desires. Nina’s relentless drive for technical perfection turns into a mental prison, pushing her past the brink. Black Swan takes the duality of the White and Black Swan to represent the inner battle between a sheltered, fragile young girl and an indecent, sexually revitalized young woman.
Black Swan represents the mindset all artists experience as they strive for greatness. Nina’s mental breakdown comes from the desire to become the best through perfection as she’s pushed by the pressure of her career, the industry, and her overprotective mother, Erica (Barbara Hershey). Through visceral body horror and spellbinding visual direction, Black Swan puts you squarely inside Nina’s mind. It’s a high-tension, claustrophobic atmosphere that dives deep into Nina’s repressed self and her darker desires. A mesmerizing film that redefined Portman’s career, Black Swan is a true work of art.
6
‘Fight Club’ (1999)
If you love Fight Club, defy the rules and talk about Fight Club! Director David Fincher brought Chuck Palahniuk’s novel to life in perfect fashion. The narrative (Edward Norton) tracks an unnamed office worker whose mundane profession turns him into an insomniac. He finds emotional relief by attending a fake terminal illness support group where he meets Marla Singer (Helena Bonham Carter), another impostor. Then he forms an underground fight club with a charismatic soap salesman named Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt). As the group transforms into a radical, destructive anti-capitalist organization called Project Mayhem, the truth comes out about Tyler’s true twisted identity. The psychological thriller traps the audience in a fractured, unreliable mind where the line between objective reality and delusion blurs.
Fight Club is a fervent mix of psychological turmoil and philosophical dread. Tyler embodies everything the narrator desires to be. He embodies freedom, danger, and confidence that the narrator simply lacks. By the time the big twist is revealed, it all makes complete sense, as Fincher spelled it out in plain sight. That said, it reframes everything prior, making a subsequent watch more than worthwhile. Rather than just a critique of modern life, consumerism, and corporate monotony that creates a numb society, the chaotic nature and danger of a broken identity. Fight Club remains a cinematic game changer.
5
‘The Shining’ (1980)
Even though Stephen King wasn’t completely satisfied with The Shining, it remains a sensational work. Directed by Stanley Kubrick, the big-screen adaptation follows Jack Torrance (Jack Nicholson) as he takes a job as a winter caretaker of the Overlook Hotel. Moving in with his wife, Wendy (Shelley Duvall), and their son, Danny (Danny Lloyd), they become isolated and trapped within the confines of the estate where evil spirits exploit Jack’s past struggles with alcohol and anger, slowly driving him to madness. A haunting portrayal of addiction, trauma, and isolation, The Shining is a masterclass in psychological horror.
The Shining uses the hotel to represent the sick cycle of violence and cruelty that traps people who ignore the past. Using Sigmund Freud’s concept of “the uncanny,” Kubrick built the locale to evoke the unsettling feeling of the familiar feeling wrong. Every set piece, architectural element, and visual trigger dread and unease. The Shining taps into pure dread and fear, thanks to some of the moldy iconic moments in horror history. From the twins to the bloody elevator, “redrum” to “Here’s Johnny!” The Shining remains a profound part of cinematic history.
4
‘Get Out’ (2017)
The horror genre has been elevated thanks to the genius of Jordan Peele and Get Out. The subversive thriller follows Chris Washington (Daniel Kaluuya), a young Black photographer, who uncovers a terrifying, racially motivated conspiracy when he visits his white girlfriend’s, Rose Armitage (Allison Williams), family estate. He uncovers a terrifying truth that the Armitage family runs a sinister cult in which Black individuals are lured to the estate in order to surgically transplant the consciousness of wealthy white buyers into their healthy bodies, trapping the original victims in a paralyzed mental state known as the “sunken place.”
Get Out uses horror and satire to critique modern racism, microaggressions, cultural appropriation, and the commodification of Black bodies in America. Locked into Chris’ perspective, the audience is forced to see and feel every microaggression and racist comment. The horror comes from the complete and utter gaslighting as how the “villains” cause Chris and the audience to question if they are truly a present threat. Get Out flips the horror tropes of dark locales into a bright, out-in-the-open seemingly safe suburban neighborhood. Get Out’s perfect blend of comedy, mystery, and heavy social commentary weaves a modern classic.
3
‘Psycho’ (1960)
Alfred Hitchcock proved that with one big twisted decision, the trajectory of cinema would change forever. Bringing Robert Bloch‘s novel to life, Psycho follows Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), who steals $40,000 and escapes to the remote Bates Motel, run by the fascinatingly intriguing Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins). After being brutally stabbed in the shower the next morning, Marion’s sister Lila (Vera Miles) and boyfriend Sam Loomis (John Gavin) search for her, only to discover the truth about Norman and the Bates Motel. An iconic film that defined horror within pop culture, Psycho subverted audiences’ attention while providing a masterful exploration of the human psyche.
Psycho is a brilliant story, but the film soars to great heights thanks to Hitchcock’s risky decision to kill off his star within the film’s first act. In doing so, it forces the audience to be on their toes as anything can and will happen. Leaving them in suspense became the film’s greatest asset. Psycho is grounded in ordinary reality, where a seemingly shy, polite, and regular guy is anything but. Norman serves as the ultimate ordinary monster that may be lurking around the corner. With sensational direction and a shrieking score from Bernard Herrmann, Psycho is fear and terror to the max, serving as an inspiration for the genre.
2
‘Inception’ (2010)
There are some extraordinary films across multiple genres on Christopher Nolan‘s resume, but when it comes to psychological thrillers, it doesn’t get much better than Inception. A sci-fi action thriller, Dom Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) commits corporate espionage by infiltrating his target’s mind during shared sleep states. Hired by Saito (Ken Watanabe), Dom is offered a clean slate and a reunion with his children should he commit the perfect crime: perform inception by planting a new idea in the mind of his rival CEO, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphy). Assembling a specialized team to commit the mission, Cobb and company must maintain stability across deeper dream layers as he’s haunted by psychological projections of his dead wife, Mal (Marion Cotillard).
A richly layered dream drama, Inception uses a high-concept, high-stakes framework to pull off a brilliant sci-fi heist movie. Nolan builds the perfect architecture to play within. Guilt, grief, and self-sabotage play the role of the antagonist, as the only way Cobb can succeed is to defeat his own demons. Inception weaves the mechanics of the human subconscious directly into the narrative. Nolan evokes a unique pacing structure as time slows in each layer, making the pressure-cooker race against the clock even harder to sustain. Using Nolan’s signature production style, practical sets and stunts give the film a tangible feel. Inception is the perfect psychological thriller because we’re still debating the ending and that damn spinning top.
1
‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)
Cinema has some of the greatest villains, but no one is more terrifying than Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). And yet, even behind bars, he is a terrifying threat because of the incredible mind games he plays. In The Silence of the Lambs, FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is assigned to track down serial killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), who abducts and skins women. To get inside the killer’s mind, she interviews Hannibal in exchange for offering her own personal traumas from her past. The Silence of the Lambs is a tense battle of wits and psychological leveraging that gave the horror genre a seat at the awards table.
The Silence of the Lambs is pure horror, but rather than jump scares, the terror and suspense come through psychological warfare. It’s a truly twisted tale that is acted to the max. Foster and Hopkins deliver career-defining performances that set the gold standard for this subgenre of crime thriller. Director Jonathan Demme opts for dread over gore, stillness over chaos, and claustrophobic tension over high-stakes action. Earning the Big Five at the Academy Awards, the thriller doesn’t get more thrilling than this film.
The Silence of the Lambs
- Release Date
-
February 14, 1991
- Runtime
-
119 minutes
- Director
-
Jonathan Demme
- Writers
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Ted Tally, Thomas Harris
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