5 Newer Psychological Thriller Series So Disturbing Only The Bravest Fans Finished Them
Apple TV+ is a powerhouse of amazing streaming content that audiences can delve into and come out on the other side changed for the better. Each genre has a highlight on the platform, but psychological thrillers shine even more.
There are a handful of amazing shows on the streaming service that you should watch based on the takeaways alone. On the other hand, these shows have the potential to stick with viewers for very dark reasons that aren’t easy to describe. We have compiled a small list of more recent series that are not only great but also incredibly disturbing and sometimes even difficult to finish.
Before (2024) follows a child psychiatrist who gets Noah, a young boy, as a patient who somehow knows a lot about him. With the recent loss of his wife, the man is far more open to getting to the bottom of this than usual, and it leads to many scenes of psychotic episodes and hallucinations that are surprisingly darker than expected.
Before isn’t a horrific show, but as a psychological thriller, the series knows exactly how to shock its audience. The hallucinations themselves can be hard for people to deal with; couple that with the eerie mystery that surrounds Noah, and you have an unsettling series in Before.
Constellation (2024) is very much a psychological thriller, but it also blends in elements of sci-fi to make it feel like an episode of The Twilight Zone (1959-1964). The series follows a group of astronauts on the International Space Station when an object hits it, killing one person. As the others escape, one woman repairs the last capsule and returns with the corpse to find her world isn’t like she remembers.
Constellation is very much a story about the uncanny valley and the realization that what we remember isn’t the reality. These core fears create an inherent sense of panic that radiates to the viewers as they watch every episode to get to the truth. The problem is how much paranoia you can withstand to reach the end.
Starring Tom Holland and Amanda Seyfried, The Crowded Room (2023) is set in the late ‘70s and follows a man who speaks to a psychiatrist after being arrested in connection with a shooting. As he explains his life and the events leading up to the shooting, we see that Holland’s character is both complex and tortured in a way that leads to a shocking twist.
The Crowded Room is disturbing for how raw the story is conveyed and the struggles that its main character must endure. It’s not an easy watch, and the brutality shown sticks with you. By the time the final twist comes, everything makes sense, but it only makes the situation all the more unfortunate.
Surface (2022) explores the life of a woman who tried to end her own life only to awaken with amnesia. Learning she’s the wife of a wealthy man, her slowly returning memories discover a dark secret filled with infidelity and embezzlement, and now it’s up to her to figure out her next steps.
Surface isn’t disturbing for traditional reasons because there are no horror elements to speak of. But what makes this show such a tough watch is watching people at their worst do unspeakable things to one another. Even worse is a narrator who is unreliable, who forces you to question every move that’s made.
Produced by M. Night Shyamalan, Servant (2019-2023) follows a family who deal with a terrible loss in the death of their infant son. The only thing that gives the wife a mental break is a reborn doll to get her used to the loss. But when a new nanny arrives to care for the doll, it suddenly becomes real as things in the house get increasingly more supernatural.
Servant is a wild ride thanks to how many shocking twists and turns come with its four seasons, and it deals with heavy ideas like the loss of a child. What makes it disturbing is all of the strange ritualistic things that follow the nanny and the mystery accompanies it. It’s a surprisingly bloody show while leaning into the thrills as well, and each episode makes you wonder if you really want to get the answers you’re seeking.
