Watching ‘Verity’ was a claustrophobic, edge-of-your-seat experience, and for all the right reasons. Drawing from gothic elements, this psychological thriller just kept getting messier and messier, culminating in one tangled web where you just can’t separate reality from fiction.
Fortunately, this isn’t the first time we have gotten such a movie, especially from a distinct female perspective. And it definitely won’t be the last. Here are more movies similar to ‘Verity’ about unreliable narrators with layers of secrets that will keep you hooked.
10. Crimson Peak (2015)
Don’t get fooled by this gorgeous gothic romance by Guillermo del Toro, because it is quite literally a fever dream of a movie. Set in Victorian-era England, we follow an aspiring author named Edith Cushing. After her father’s death, Edith decides to marry the charming baronet Thomas Sharpe and move to his decaying mansion, Allerdale Hall. But soon she is terrorised by a presence in the mansion, who is maybe trying to warn her about an upcoming danger.
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9. A Simple Favour (2018)
Widowed single mother Stephanie Smother is a parenting vlogger, whereas Emily Nelson is a hot shot PR director for a big fashion company. Despite their differences, they quickly form an unlikely friendship. So, when Emily asks Stephanie for a simple favour to babysit her kid, Stephanie immediately agrees. But Emily never returns, and then things take a violent turn, sucking Stephanie into a twisted mystery as she sets out to figure out the mystery behind Emily’s disappearance.
8. The Girl On The Train (2016)
Recovering alcoholic Rachel has lost her job and her marriage, and now she spends her day aimlessly riding a train. She likes to observe the life of the seemingly perfect couple Scott and Megan from the train window. But when Megan goes missing one day, Rachel gets entangled in the police investigation. She surely knows something, but her alcohol-induced memory blackouts don’t help. Rachel gets stuck uncovering layers and layers of infidelity, manipulation and violence within a suburban household.
7. The Invisible Man (2020)
This criminally underrated science fiction explores psychological terror in such a way that it physically pains you. Elisabeth Moss stars in the role of Cecilia Kass, who believes that she is being stalked and gaslit by her abusive ex-boyfriend. But he is supposed to be dead. She reaches out to the authorities, but they refuse to believe her. Cecilia takes matters into her own hands to fight back against this invisible man.
6. Fatal Attraction (1987)
An important film that movies like ‘Verity’ definitely draw from is ‘Fatal Attraction’. It is a pioneering film in the genre of psychological thrillers that explore domestic anxieties and themes of obsession and control. A seemingly casual fling turns into his worst nightmare when Dan cheats on his wife with a colleague named Alex. When Dan tries to end the affair, Alex begins stalking him and his family. The movie is a cinematic experience that must be watched at least once.
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5. Swimming Pool (2003)
British crime novelist Sarah Morton heads up to her publisher’s secluded villa in the south of France to cure her writer’s block. But her solitude is disrupted by the unexpected arrival of Julie, who claims to be the publisher’s daughter. Sarah starts to develop a voyeuristic fascination with the rebellious and enigmatic Julie, but then a violent turn of events starts to blur the boundaries between fiction, obsession and reality.
4. The Handmaiden (2016)
Set in 1930s Korea, ‘The Handmaiden’ is a masterfully executed deception in the form of a movie that will challenge your perception of everything you see. Unfolding in three parts, it tells the story of Sook-hee, who is hired to be a maid to a wealthy Japanese heiress, Lady Hideko. But secretly, Sook-hee is working for a con man to help him seduce Hideko and steal her inheritance. When an unexpected romance blooms between the two women, a far more twisted story begins unravelling.
3. Jane Eyre (2011)
Here is where we were first introduced to the famous “madwoman in the attic”. ‘Jane Eyre’ has been adapted many times, but the 2011 version is a good starting point. It chronicles the life of the titular heroine, especially her move to the secluded Thornfield Hall where she takes a job as a governess and falls for her employer, Rochester. But soon, she starts to discover twisted and dark secrets about the family she’s stepping into.
2. Rebecca (1940)
This Daphne du Maurier classic is absolutely the blueprint for stories like ‘Verity’. When the aristocratic widower Maxim de Winter marries a young, never-named woman, we see his second wife enter their imposing seaside estate. But as she juggles her new role as a wife, Maxim’s late first wife Rebecca starts to become a constant presence in their lives even though she is dead.
1. Gone Girl (2014)
It was ‘Gone Girl’ that gave us an unreliable female narrator who has become both a literary and cinematic sensation. Amy Dunne goes suddenly missing on her fifth wedding anniversary, and the police and media start to hold her husband Nick in a chokehold. Soon, what seems like a perfect marriage starts to unravel, revealing abusive cracks, and Nick becomes the prime suspect in the case. The movie is a fascinating exploration of marriage, manipulation, identity and especially the female voice.
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