Some of the best thriller movies have elements of dark romance embedded within – torturous love affairs turned into torment, titillating stories of betrayal, obsession, and secrecy. They also often feature sociopathic or psychopathic characters who are manipulative, conniving, and willing to do whatever it takes to meet their personal agendas. Here are the top best dark romance thriller movies featuring sociopathic characters that will chill your bones and make your heart skip a beat.
Cruel Intentions
Sarah Michelle Geller stars as the sociopathic, seductive, and manipulative Kathryn Merteuil in Cruel Intentions, someone who loves exerting power and control over others. Kathryn places a bet with her stepbrother Sebastian Valmont, challenging him to “deflower” the innocent daughter of the school’s new headmaster, Annette Hargrove, who he eventually falls for in his pursuit of winning the bet. Kathryn seems to be in “love” with Sebastian (as much as her capacity for love allows) and grows jealous of his budding relationship with Annette even as she pushes it forward, but also attempts to destroy his life once she realizes she is losing her “possession” and ownership over him, and Sebastian truly does fall in love with Annette beyond the bet. She plays puppeteer in sabotaging the lives of her peers, including another young woman, Cecille, who was pursued by her ex-boyfriend, as revenge. Her lack of empathy and penchant for “performance” as a saintly person while hiding her true motives make for a chilling display of what it looks like when a manipulator holds all the reins.
Basic Instinct
In Basic Instinct, Sharon Stone plays the dazzling Catherine Tramell, a crime novelist who doubles as a millionaire murderer heiress whose crimes reflect her novels. Catherine embodies the thrill-seeking, sensation-seeking habits of psychopathic individuals. She manages to evade lie detector tests and questioning detectives using her cunning callousness and provocative seductiveness when she comes under the suspicion for the murder of a rock star musician, Johnny Boz. Catherine exhibits the thrill-seeking, sensation-seeking habits of psychopathic individuals, including sexual promiscuity, criminal activity, ruthlessness, pathological lying, and drug use. As detective Nick Curran (played by Michael Douglas) grows closer to Catherine romantically and begins an explosive sexual relationship with her, he uncovers horrifying truths about her patterns and history of former lovers and criminal “associates.” Basic Instinct is a stellar dark romance movie that exemplifies the traits and behaviors of female sociopaths and psychopaths, including the way they can seduce anyone and everyone to do their dirty work for them.
Killing Me Softly
Killing Me Softly follows the love affair of Alice (played by Heather Graham), an American woman living in London, and mountain climber Adam (Joseph Fiennes) who appears to have an intriguing past. When Alice cheats on her boyfriend and has passionate sex with Adam after a chance run-in, she realizes what was missing in her relationship and leaves her boyfriend for Adam. Adam is said to be a hero who saved multiple people in an accident that took the life of his previous girlfriend, but his story has holes in it. He also has violent tendencies, as shown by how he beats a thief that tries to rob Alice, shortly before he proposes to her. Their marriage is tainted by a series of mysterious warnings from a shadowy figure that cause Alice to wonder who her husband truly is – but the true sociopath of the movie is an even more stunning revelation.
You Get Me
Tyler Hanson has just broken up with his girlfriend Alison. Enter Elizabeth “Holly” Viola (played by Bella Thorne) who he meets at a party. After a wild night, they begin a ravenous sexual affair that also causes them to bond more emotionally when they stay over at her house. A special rendezvous turns into nightmare, however, when Holly shows up as a new student at Tyler’s school and begins infiltrating his social group, keep tabs on his ex-girlfriend (who she later kidnaps), become buddies with his sister and even date his friend Gil. Holly is both sociopathic and somewhat psychotic in her obsession with her one-night-stand, and this is one dark “romance” you won’t want to miss.
50 Shades of Grey
Jamie Dornan plays the cold, possessive, and sociopathic Christen Grey, a 27-year-old billionaire entrepreneur who is interviewed by Anastasia Steele (played by Dakota Johnson) and becomes interested in making her his “submissive.” Christian introduces Ana into a dark world of sadomasochistic pleasure (though some would argue that it is more pain than pleasure in this series, since much of it is more coercive than consensual), and basically tries to force her into being a submissive even though she is uncomfortable. Christian’s emotional unavailability, possessiveness, history of scorned lovers, and stalker-like ownership of Anastasia, and simultaneous unwillingness to engage in a real intimate relationship with her makes for a dark romance filled with red flags.
Fatal Attraction
Dan Gallagher is a married and successful lawyer in Manhattan who starts a dark romantic affair when he meets Alexandra Forrest, an editor for a publishing company. Alex becomes “obsessed” with him, engaging in many disturbing behaviors to keep him around (including kidnapping his daughter and killing and boiling his daughter’s pet rabbit). While some have argued that Alex may have more borderline traits and behaviors due to her self-harm and frantic attempts to escape abandonment, her tendencies toward violence and sadistic cruelty towards others and animals seems to suggest a combination of many malignant traits, including narcissism and psychopathy.
Red Eye
Red Eye starts out like a rom-com but escalates into a beat-all-the-odds survivalist-like horror thriller. Rachel McAdams plays hotel manager Lisa Reisert, who meets the handsome Jackson Rippner (played by Cillian Murphy) at an airport bar en route to her flight to Miami. She and Jackson later find themselves seated next to each other on the flight, and viewers are led to believe this serendipitious meet-cute will evolve into a destined romance. Instead, (spoiler alert) Jackson turns out to be part of an assassination plot to murder Charles Keefe, the United States Deputy Secretary of Homeland Security, who is staying at Lisa’s hotel, and he is willing to do anything necessary to ensure she follows his instructions, including threatening her family’s life. The sudden and abrupt exposure of Jackson’s true sociopathic and manipulative character behind his good-boy charm leads to a dark “could have been” romance where Lisa is then forced to fight for her life using only her intelligence, instincts, and resourcefulness.
Gone Girl
Gone Girl follows the dark and twisted love story of psychopathic Amy Dunne and her narcissistic husband, Nick, who engages in an affair with a younger student. What started out as a fairytale romance becomes a psychological thriller about a woman who is willing to do anything to get revenge. Amy creates her own “whodunnit,” faking her own disappearance and alleged murder to frame her cheating husband who she feels has taken advantage of her throughout their marriage. Her plot is carefully constructed, and she plays the damsel-in-distress victim, ruthlessly engaging in pity ploys and “treasure hunts” to retaliate and make her husband pay for his actions.
