[Editorial] Top 15 Female-Focused Mind Horror Films

TW: Mentions of sexual assault

Many of the most effective horror films involve blurring the lines between waking life and a nightmare. When women in horror are emotionally and psychologically manipulated – whether by other people or more malicious supernatural forces – viewers are pulled into their inner worlds, often left with a chilling unease and the question of where reality ends and the horror begins.

The Haunting (1963)

Shirley Jackson's novel The Haunting of Hill House has several adaptations, including two movies and a limited series. Robert Wise's film adaptation closely focuses on Eleanor (Julie Harris), a shy, depressed and anxious woman who is willing to stay in a haunted house with strangers as part of an experiment. Inside a house designed to drive people to madness, it's only a matter of time before Eleanor's fragile mental state begins to show cracks.

Let's Scare Jessica to Death (1971)

This underrated gem of 1970s horror (directed by John D. Hancock) stars Zohra Lampert in an unforgettable performance as the titularJessica. A sensitive and kind woman, she moves into an old house with her husband, his best friend and a seductive female drifter. As Jessica tries to rebuild her life (she recently left a mental health facility), she tries to give her roommates the benefit of the doubt. Yet she witnesses troubling behaviour, especially from her leering husband and the menacing drifter, who seems intent on bullying delicate Jessica into a state of psychological chaos.

Unsane (2018)

Steven Soderbergh's psychological thriller Unsane stars Claire Foy as Sawyer, a woman trying to outrun the man who has been stalking her. A meeting with a counsellor lands Sawyer in a psychiatric hospital against her will, where she comes face to face with her stalker… who denies knowing her. Stuck in a system that dismisses her concerns due to her perceived mental illness, Sawyer must learn to trust her own mind, even when her version of the truth is so different from those around her.

Resurrection (2022)

On a list of films that are difficult to watch, Andrew Semans's devastating psychological thriller Resurrection may be at the top of the list. Low-key scream queen Rebecca Hall stars as Margaret, a single mom whose past returns to haunt her in the form of her abusive former partner David. During their time together, David subjected Margaret to extreme mental and physical abuse. When he reappears in her life, she fights not to lose control of her mind to the man who nearly destroyed her years earlier.

Repulsion (1965)

Many of Roman Polanski's films involve mind horror, but Repulsion (based on a story written by Polanski and Gérard Brach) tops the list. Catherine Deneuve stars as Carol, a vulnerable and anxiety-ridden young woman who is fearful of men and repulsed by sex. Left to her own devices in her sister's apartment, Carol begins having terrifying hallucinations of men attacking her and phantom hands grasping at her body from inside the walls of her apartment. Carol's fears reflect the real-life dangers of violence against women, and the heart-stopping ending of Repulsion provides a heartbreaking revelation about why she lived in a state of terror.

Baby Ruby (2022)

Bess Wohl's psychological horror film Baby Ruby is about Jo (Noémie Merlant), a successful lifestyle influencer and vlogger, who becomes pregnant with her first child. When she gives birth, she doesn't immediately connect with her baby; instead, she begins to suspect her baby is torturing her. Baby Ruby shows the very real horror of postpartum depression and psychosis, which are serious ailments affecting many people. While struggling to parent her child, Jo must also find a way to distinguish between what's actually happening and what's "just in her head."

A Tale of Two Sisters (2003)

In Kim Jee-woon's South Korean horror film A Tale of Two Sisters, Su-mi (Im Soo-jung) and Su-yeon (Moon Geun-young) are sisters recovering from the loss of their mother, who died by suicide. The two sisters are very close, united against their distant father and cruel stepmother. As her mother's ghost haunts Su-mi, a more frightening and unsettling truth about her death is revealed. A Tale of Two Sisters examines the effects that guilt, shame and sorrow have on the mind – and the debilitating effect they can have on one's perception of the world.

Black Swan (2010)

Natalie Portman stars as a ballet dancer who will sacrifice anything in order to get ahead in Darren Aronofsky's film Black Swan. Her encounters with a seductive fellow ballerina are fuelled with lust, competitive zeal and passion – but are they real? The boundaries between her performance onstage and her life outside the ballet become less and less clear; soon, the two have meshed in a terrifying nightmare.

Censor (2021)

Prano Bailey-Bond's brutal gem of a horror film (written by Bailey-Bond and Anthony Fletcher) centers around Enid (Niamh Algar), a film censor for the British Board of Film Classification during the era of 1980s' "video nasties." When crimes in the U.K. begin echoing horror films that Enid has approved, she starts to suspect a connection between films and real-life crimes – including her sister's mysterious disappearance. Soon, Enid starts to believe that she has finally found a way to save her sister. 

Men (2022)

Jessie Buckley stars in the wildly unnerving Alex Garland film Men. Like many of the women on this list, she is recovering from a recent traumatic event. During what is supposed to be an idyllic getaway in the country, she is plagued by menacing, leering men in her village. Are these men eerie manifestations of her complicated feelings about her husband's shocking death? Or are they real? And does it even matter?

Jagged Mind (2023)

Jagged Mind, which was written by Allyson Morgan and directed by Kelley Kali, stars Maisie Richardson-Sellers in a stunning performance as Billie, an art curator in Miami's Little Haiti. After meeting an enigmatic woman named Alex in a bar, the two quickly fall into a romantic relationship. But the romance doesn't last. Alex begins mentally and emotionally abusing Billie, even managing to erase Billie's memories of the abuse, thus making her even more vulnerable. Billie fights both supernatural and all-too-human forces to get her life – and her mind – back. 

Saint Maud (2019)

Saint Maud stars Morfydd Clark as a nun with a mysterious past who must tend to a manipulative dying woman. Written and directed by Rose Glass in her feature directorial debut, Saint Maud deftly shows the tension held inside someone whose religious devotion covers dark secrets and past shame. Maud tries and fails to make connections with the people around her, and her desperate attempts to keep her faith alive culminate in a horrifyingly bleak final act.

The Lodge (2019)

Cults, evil children, traumatic deaths, isolation and mental illness all factor into The Lodge. The film – directed by Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala, and written by Franz, Fiala and Sergio Casci – focuses on Grace (Riley Keough), a woman who ends up stranded in a snowstorm with her boyfriend's bratty children. However, bratty may be an understatement; these two are determined to wreck whatever semblance of stability Grace has put together after a traumatic upbringing in a cult. As the film progresses, Grace's grip on reality is weakened as the children's wicked machinations go much, much further than anyone anticipated.

Hereditary (2018)

Written and directed by Ari Aster, Hereditary is indisputably one of the scariest films in modern times. This study of a family beset by trauma, violence, death and abuse is anchored by Toni Collette's intense performance as artist, mother and wife Annie. After Annie's powerful and mentally unbalanced mother passes away, tragedy visits her family again and again. Annie must grapple with her family's past as she attempts to salvage their present. As the spectre of mental illness haunts Hereditary, Annie is torn between looking for logical explanations and falling prey to supernatural forces. 

Pulse (2001)

Kiyoshi Kurosawa's Japanese horror film Pulse is as emotionally devastating as it is terrifying. After a young man suddenly dies by suicide, his coworker Michi becomes ensnared in a dark mystery. While her friend has physically passed on, his spirit still seems to be present – via the internet. Pulse examines what happens when an epidemic of loneliness spreads across a community, and technological ties to those who have died still linger. The question posted by Pulse – how do technology, loneliness and mental health intersect? – is even more urgent today, more than two decades after the film's initial release.

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