There are many forms of obsession, all driven by different things. Whether out of love or hate, obsession is almost always dangerous. There are plenty of movies out there that showcase truly obsessive characters and storylines. There are movies about the obsessed artist trope and plenty of films about the obsessed stalker, but in these movies are a select few that truly show how when one is overcome by obsession.
From American Psycho to V for Vendetta, these films highlight the perils of obsessive behavior. It shows audiences the danger obsession causes to the lead and those around them, so be careful about what catches your eye.
1 'The Novice' (2021)
College student Alex (Isabelle Fuhrman) joins the rowing squad at her school and sets out on an obsessive physical and mental quest to make it to the top of the team. Whatever the price. In an effort to surpass her teammates, Alex pushes herself outside her comfort zone, alienating everyone in her path.
Director Lauren Hadaway masterfully creates an atmosphere of constant anxiety and stress, as there is not a scene in which Alex looks at ease. Paired with a strictly gray palette over the movie, The Novice manages to draw the audience to the point where when watching, they'll think that they are a part of the rowing team themselves.
2 'Greta' (2018)
Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) doesn't think twice about returning the purse she finds on the subway. The owner turns out to be Greta (Isabelle Huppert), an eccentric French piano teacher with an aching loneliness who will become a surrogate mother for Frances after having recently lost her own. Soon Greta's maternal charm begin to dissolve and grow increasingly disturbing as Frances discovers that nothing in Greta's life is what it seems.
Greta is a film about grief-driven obsession. With both characters having suffered loses and filled with loneliness, they rejoice in being able to cling to one another. However, the danger lies in how hard you cling to a stranger for support.
3 'The Girl on the Train' (2016)
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The Girl on the Train follows Rachel Watson's (Emily Blunt) life post-divorce. She takes the train to work in New York every day, and every day the train passes by a couple, Megan and Scott Hipwell (Haley Bennett and Luke Evans), who lives in a beautiful house. She creates a wonderful dream life for them in her head, and her obsession grows into something that fills her with a yearning for their life and an alcohol addiction.
One day, Megan Hipwell goes missing, and her perfect fantasy comes crashing down around her as she is forced to question if she played a part in Megan's disappearance. As she investigates everything around her, Rachel's obsession grows into something that places her in great danger instead of endangering others.
4 'Adaptation' (2002)
When director Charlie Kaufman was tasked with the book to film adaptation of The Orchid Thief by Susan Orleans, he soon realized that the struggles he would encounter could be spun into one of the most self-aware films ever. A masterpiece in metacinema, Adaptation is a director's obsession turned into a wonderful film.
The film stars Nicolas Cage as an analog for Kaufman himself. As the film unfolds, it is clear that Kaufman is both trying to turn the book into a film and is on an obsessive journey to find purpose in his life.
5 'The Prestige' (2006)
Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman), his devoted wife Julia McCullough (Piper Perabo), and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are companions and magician's helpers in London at the close of the nineteenth century. Robert accuses Alfred of causing Julia's unintentional death during a performance, and the two men grow resentful toward one another. Both grow into popular and competitive magicians who strive to undermine each other on stage.
The obsession in The Prestige lies in the need for revenge. With Robert hellbent on upstaging Alfred, especially after Alfred pulls off an amazingly impossible trick, the two leading characters spend the entirety of the movie falling further down the well of obsession.
6 'Nightcrawler' (2014)
Set in the jaws of the crime world in Los Angeles, Nightcrawler follows a driven con man, Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), as he endeavors to find work. That is when he discovers the world of L.A. crime journalism. Everywhere he turns, there is enough crime to record and sell to the highest bidder. In order to be first at the scene, Lou begins to play around with the moral obligations that come with the job.
Lou's obsession with his new job grows as he increasingly blurs the lines between observing the crime and participating in it, all to get the money shot. With his obsession comes lies on top of lies that put everyone around him at risk, including the very victims themselves.
7 'Black Swan' (2010)
A perfect depiction of the price for perfection, Black Swan is the front-runner for obsessed artists. A true outstanding and memorable performance from Natalie Portman as Nina, a ballerina blessed yet cursed with the role of a lifetime as the lead in Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake.
The iconic thriller leads audiences into an in-depth exploration of the strain both Nina's psychical and mental well-being undergoes as she pushes herself to be the perfect dancer. With pressure thrown against her from her overbearing and jealous mother, the creepy and strict theater director, and her fellow dancers around her, Nina slowly loses her sanity and lets obsession take hold of her.
8 'The Batman' (2022)
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Matt Reeves gave DC fans everywhere a new take on the famous superhero Batman. With a new and more somber take on Bruce Wayne, Reeves highlighted the hero's obsession with justice. In The Batman, Robert Pattinson delivers a performance that is arguably the best when it comes to the many takes on the character of Batman. With a gritty backdrop of a fully realized version of Gotham City, The Batman showcases Bruce Wayne as more of an anti-hero.
Bruce is obsessed with his life as the Batman, never going out as himself anymore. Fully under the cloak of darkness, he has even begun to adapt to the nocturnal lifestyle. As gruesome murders tighten their grip on his city, Bruce is forced to let go of his obsession with eradicating Gotham to see that there are some parts worth saving.
9 'V for Vendetta' (2005)
A fascist Britain reigns in the not-too-distant future. One individual, only known by the moniker V (Hugo Weaving), dares to oppose the government and is branded a terrorist amid all this mayhem. V may seem charming and passionate about justice, but he also harbors a severe resentment against the government for something that happened to him years ago.
V is overcome by his obsession to end the government's tyrannical rule that he is blind to what is in front of him. That being the woman he rescues one night, Evey Hammond (Natalie Portman). Surprisingly the two grow close, and Evey becomes an unlikely ally in V’s war, but his need for revenge threatens to push away and harm the only person to ever care about him.
10 'American Pyscho' (2000)
Centered around the lives of rich materialistic Wall Street businessmen in the '80s, American Psycho deems to present an American society enthralled with capitalism and the need to keep up appearances. The film's focus is Patrick Bateman (Christian Bale), who is everything the era represents. The story follows Bateman as he struggles against his murderous impulses to kill people for no apparent reason.
The danger in the film lies in Bateman's full, forced obsession with himself. His whole life is boiled down to the perfection of his self. Quick to anger about anything better than him, Bateman needs everything to be the best, leading him to murder his colleagues.