20 Best Disturbing Movies on Netflix Right Now (2022) – There’s a movie to suit every mood. When you want to see something light and pleasant, you turn to a “feel good” film like “Forest Gump.” Then there are days when you need a pick-me-up to keep going, so you watch a motivational sports film like ‘Creed.’ Then there are those days when we have a love/hate relationship with the movies we’re watching. We seek out the scariest and most frightening films. We sit up all night watching them, then wonder why we would scare ourselves in this way, jeopardizing the rest of our week’s sleep.
Disturbing films, a subgenre of horror, provide a very different form of escapism to people who enjoy watching them. If you’re one of those folks that squirm, twitch, and squeal in terror yet still enjoy scaring themselves with torturous movies, you don’t have to scour the deep web for these. Netflix has a good selection of anxiety-inducing unsettling movies that will provide you with the type of fear you’re looking for. Check out the list of the most unsettling Netflix movies below, and make sure you’re buried deep in your covers and ready to throw up with all of your lights turned on before you press play. Some of these spooky, shockingly scary movies may also be available on Hulu or Amazon Prime.
Creep (2014)
‘Creep’ introduces us to struggling videographer Aaron, who accepts an offer to fly to a remote cabin for a day’s work. When Aaron arrives at the site, he meets his client, Josef, who claims he has a brain tumor and may die before his wife gives birth to their child. As a result, he assigns Aaron the responsibility of creating a video log as a gift for his expectant child. Things begin as a typical task, but quickly take a frightening turn when terrible secrets are uncovered. Furthermore, even after escaping with his life, Aaron is unable to get Josef off his back, raising the issue of whether the latter has been acting all along.
Under the Shadow (2016)
During the 1984 Tehran missile assaults, a father leaves for war, leaving his wife and daughter alone in their apartment. According to popular Islamic belief, Djinn are malevolent creatures brought by the wind to locations of horror and agony. When everyone else departs, the mother and daughter are left alone to search for the missing doll, which is very dear to the daughter but has now been seized by the Djinn, who intends to divide the two. A creepy dark spirit squirms in the shadows and haunts the mother and daughter as they battle to survive in their war-torn surroundings.
Unfriended (2014)
‘Unfriended,’ a terrifying film with unexpected twists, centres around a group of high school pals who get the shock of their lives when a deceased classmate, Laura Barns, appears to return and wreak havoc through an internet chatroom. Laura, the student in question, commits suicide prior to the events in the film after a video of her defecating at a party becomes viral. Although first adamant about admitting an extraterrestrial presence, the pals quickly discover that the chatroom invader means business when persons suspected of committing suicide are picked off one by one.
There’s Someone Inside Your House (2021)
‘There’s Someone Inside Your House,’ an adaption of Stephanie Perkins’ eponymous novel, follows Makani and a group of her Osborne High School classmates as they race against time to stop a frightening serial killer. The attacker, whose sole tactic is to murder while wearing the victims’ faces, appears to be targeting persons who have already harmed someone. However, as the group unearths one dark secret after another, the boundary between friends and foes becomes increasingly blurred, and Makani understands that anyone among them could be out for blood.
Things Heard & Seen (2021)
‘Things Heard & Seen,’ based on Elizabeth Brundage’s book ‘All Things Cease to Appear,’ centres around Catherine Claire, an art restorer who moves into a farmhouse in Upstate New York with her husband and daughter. Although she appears to have a wonderful family, the video quickly dispels that image when it shows her suffering from bulimia. Her husband, on the other hand, initiates an affair, while their daughter detects an unearthly presence in the house. However, when Catherine discovers an ancient Bible and an antique ring, the line between the actual world and the spirit realm starts to blur as each character is forced to confront the horrible consequences of their previous mistakes.
Eli (2019)
‘Eli,’ a supernatural horror film on Netflix, is about a young child who appears to have a rare disease that causes allergic responses anytime he goes outside. As a result, if he goes outside, he must wear safety equipment. His parents agree to have him admitted to a secluded clinic administered by Dr. Isabella Horn (Lili Taylor). Eli is overjoyed in the first few days since he is finally free to wander around without the cumbersome protective garment and can hug his parents. However, he quickly begins to see unexplained phenomena within the facility, leading him to conclude that it is haunted. Ciarán Foy, whose previous films include ‘Citadel’ and ‘Sinister 2,’ directed the film.
Clinical (2017)
In Netflix’s ‘Clinical,’ adolescent patient Nora Jane (India Eisley) attacks psychiatrist Jane Mathis (Vinessa Shaw) before attempting suicide. Jane is diagnosed with P.T.S.D. and sleep paralysis as a result of the incident. Alex (Kevin Rahm), a severely scarred guy, comes to her for therapy. Despite her doubts, she accepts him as a patient. She learns that Nora has been released from the mental institution where the young girl was being held. As strange occurrences begin to occur around her, Jane begins to suspect that Nora has returned to murder her. The script was written by Luke Harvis and Alistair Legrand, and the film was directed by Legrand.
Fractured (2019)
‘Fractured,’ a Netflix psychological horror film, follows Ray Monroe (Sam Worthington), whose daughter Peri (Lucy Capri) falls into an unprotected hole after being chased by a stray dog. Ray and his wife Joanne (Lily Rabe) bring her to a neighboring hospital, where she is admitted. Later, he realizes that his wife and daughter are both missing, and the medical personnel denies any knowledge of their whereabouts. They even inform him that he came there by himself for treatment. Ray began his frantic search for his family, terrified for their safety. Worthington’s acting in the picture, as well as Brad Anderson’s direction and Björn Charpentier’s cinematography, were lauded by critics.
Hold the Dark (2018)
Jeffrey Wright plays Russell Core, an author with extensive understanding of wolf behavior, in Jeremy Saulnier’s Netflix film ‘Hold the Dark.’ Medora Slone (Riley Keough) approaches him from the imaginary community of Keelut, Alaska, and asks him to travel there and kill a group of wolves who she believes have kidnapped and killed three little children. Bailey, Medora’s son, is among them. Core travels to Keelut, knowing that wolves do not behave in this manner, and later discovers Bailey’s frozen body in the family’s home. Vernon (Alexander Skarsgrd), Medora’s husband, returns from Iraq and kills numerous officers in order to get his son’s remains from the authorities. ‘Hold the Dark,’ based on William Giraldi’s novel of the same name, resonates with a guttural sense of dread throughout its entire length.
The Open House (2018)
Netflix’s ‘The Open House,’ starring Dylan Minnette, Piercey Dalton, Sharif Atkins, Patricia Bethune, and Aaron Abrams, follows a mom, Naomi, and her son, Logan. Logan and his father confront financial troubles following the loss of Logan’s father in a horrific accident. They agree to travel to Naomi’s mountain retreat and stay there until a buyer is found through the open house event at the request of Naomi’s sister. After they arrive, they both begin to notice strange things happening around them. Items are misplaced. There are phone calls that appear to have no one on the other end. The police are of little assistance to them. They fight dread and paranoia while isolated from the rest of the tranquil village. Unbeknownst to them, the serial killer “Evil Boots” has broken into their home.
The Platform (2019)
This Spanish sci-fi horror film depicts the narrative of a remarkable multi-storey correctional facility that houses two inmates on each floor. Food is delivered by an elevator-like platform that stops on each floor for a set period of time, during which inmates must consume whatever they can. They are unable to save anything for later. If they do, the prison authorities will either boil or freeze them to death by adjusting the temperature in their cell. Goreng (Iván Massagué), the protagonist, has willingly joined the jail population in order to obtain a diploma. He suddenly realizes that he has committed the worst mistake of his life. The film’s director is Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia. Following its premiere at the 44th Annual Toronto International Film Festival, Netflix made ‘The Platform’ available to its global audience.
Cam (2018)
Netflix’s tech horror ‘Cam,’ directed by Daniel Goldhaber, presents a timely reflection on the digital era, loss of privacy, the perils of over-exposing yourself on the internet, and identity theft. While writing the narrative for the film, screenwriter Isa Mazzei drew on her own experience as a camgirl. It stars Madeline Brewer as Alice Ackerman, who uses the alias “Lola Lola” to live-stream sexual stuff on the website FreeGirlsLive. She realizes one day that she is unable to access her account. Further analysis reveals that it is currently being operated by a lookalike. Desperate to reclaim it, she contacts the website’s customer service, her followers, and even the police, but no one seems to be able to assist her. She becomes increasingly agitated and unstable as the film proceeds, blaming other camgirls of undermining her career.
Bird Box (2018)
In Netflix’s ‘Bird Box,’ Earth has been invaded by demonic beings who can take the form of a person’s deepest fear and drive them insane, eventually leading to suicide. The film is divided around two narratives that revolve around the same character, Malorie (Sandra Bullock), and are set five years apart. The first follows a pregnant Malorie as she tries to survive shortly after the invasion, while the second highlights her efforts to keep her children alive. The film, directed by Susanne Bier and based on Josh Malerman’s 2014 novel of the same name, earned largely good reviews from reviewers. It also became one of the most-watched original content on the streaming site.
In the Tall Grass (2019)
Netflix’s ‘In the Tall Grass,’ based on another Stephen King novella (written in partnership with his son Joe Hill), is a brutal and violent tale loaded with all the classic Stephen King themes, such as incest, time travel, cannibalism, and insanity. Becky and her brother Cal (Laysla De Oliveira and Avery Whitted) are going to San Diego when they hear a small boy’s call for rescue from a field of tall grass. They enter the grass in search of the youngster, but quickly realize they can’t get out. Becky is 6 months pregnant, which complicates everything even further. They learn that the baby’s father, Travis (Harrison Gilbertson), is also stranded in the field. The film is directed by Vincenzo Natali and stars Patrick Wilson, Rachel Wilson, and Will Buie Jr.
1922 (2017)
Netflix’s horror-drama ‘1922,’ based on Stephen King’s 2010 novella of the same name, is set in the eponymous year on a farm in Hemingford Home, Nebraska, and chronicles the narrative of farmer Wilf James (Thomas Jane) and his family. He is content with the way things are at the farm and wishes to spend the rest of his life there. But his disillusioned and disgruntled wife Arlette (Molly Parker) wants to sell it. Wilf discusses murdering Arlette with his son Henry (Dylan Schmid), reminding him that she does not approve of his girlfriend, Shannon (Kaitlyn Bernard). Henry agrees to assist only unwillingly. After murdering her, they dispose of her body in a dry well on the property, where rats quickly feast on it. This heinous crime, however, dooms both the father and son for all time, as they almost voluntarily set themselves on their paths to ruin.
I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House (2016)
‘I Am the Pretty Thing That Lives in the House,’ an atmospheric horror film, follows a horror writer and her caretaker as they continue to encounter mysterious forces in their home. Iris Blum, the author in question, suffers from persistent dementia, therefore the managers of her home have hired Lily Saylor to look after her. Lily becomes alarmed as she notices shadowy forms of a woman in the house. In her perspective, the line between imagination and reality becomes increasingly blurred as time passes. We are reminded of Iris’s statement in one of her writings that there are places where the living and the dead coexist. Is her home a realm like that as well? Because of its setting and engaging people, this film has the charm of a vintage horror picture. This is the film to see if you like tight atmospheres than jump scares. The filmmaker’s restraint is the most distressing aspect of the film. There is a persistent sense of tension that can be extremely unsettling for the audience at times.
The Perfection (2019)
‘The Perfection,’ one of Netflix’s most terrifying originals, is a film that should be avoided by youngsters. The film’s principal character is Charlotte (Allison Williams), a musical genius who is attending the most prestigious music school at the invitation of her teacher. She befriends one of the brightest students in the school, Lizzie, and they eventually become sexually connected. When the two of them get to the school, they understand that something horrific is going on beneath the guise of a musical school. But how will the two of them withstand the vengeance of such heinous criminals? We ask that you watch this film with adults only because of the violence. Some of the scenes are too graphic for even the most jaded connoisseurs of cinematic violence. Richard Shepard, the director, expertly combines genre cliches to create a thriller that will stay with us for a long time.
Apostle (2018)
‘Apostle,’ one of the best horror films on Netflix, is written and directed by Gareth Evans. This film’s plot revolves around a guy named Thomas Richardson, who returns home to find out that his sister has been kidnapped by a dangerous cult and is now being held as a prisoner on their own island. Thomas is resolved to save her from this trauma and sets off right now. Thomas’ strategy is to infiltrate the group while posing as one of its members. As he approaches the island, he is astounded by their violent methods of carrying out ceremonies and rituals. He gradually realizes that the cult members intend to make a human sacrifice on his sister. The wonderful art direction that we see in this film is something that will stay with us for a long time. A persistent air of dread pervades the film, which is made possible by Evans’ expertise behind the camera.
Gerald’s Game (2017)
Gerald’s Game is a psychological horror film based on Stephen King’s novel of the same name. It begins innocently enough when a couple retreats to an isolated lake cottage with the purpose of spiceing up their sex life. When the husband dies abruptly, his wife Jessie is left tied to the bed frame. Jessie is horrified as the demons inside her thoughts begin to lurk in the shadows of the vacant house, as she battles to tame the resurrected darkness that had been buried deep within her for eons. The most troubling aspect of this picture is that it’s difficult to tell whether everything Jessie sees is genuine or just a reflection of her greatest fears.
Hush (2016)
Every now and again, writers opt to isolate themselves from the rest of the world in order to achieve serenity, which may have an impact on what they write afterwards. When author Maddie Young loses her hearing abilities as a teenager, she does something similar. She lives in complete isolation, away from the noise and commotion of society. But her calm is short-lived, and her peaceful retreat is shattered when the unsettling sight of a masked killer appears on one of her windows. As Emily tries to outwit the killer, your heart beats faster with each passing minute of the film.