Alien: Earth expertly recaptures the horror that the franchise is known for, but it also reminded me that paranoia is so inherent in so much fiction. Luckily, there are so many other wonderful shows and movies that remind you that a little paranoia and distrust are healthy things.
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The X-Files
Watch The X-Files on Hulu
The ultimate series about paranoia and a healthy distrust of those in power, The X-Files captured the nation’s imagination and fear during its run. Focused on everything from government conspiracies to controlling the population to secret plans for an alien invasion, this show truly has it all. At the center of everything is Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), FBI agents who work together to solve the eponymous X-Files cases.
While a lot of the show is dated now, and the quality becomes a little inconsistent in later seasons, it remains extremely binge-worthy, and there is definitely a lot to binge here.
5
Mr. Robot
Watch Mr. Robot on Netflix and Tubi
While The X-Files deals with the external forces that cause paranoia, Mr. Robot expands to include both external and internal. What do you do when you can’t even trust your own mind? Your own memories? These are the questions that plague us as we follow Elliot Alderson (Rami Malek), a hacker trying to change the world. But figuring out what and who is real in Elliot’s life is half the battle.
These themes make Mr. Robot an engaging watch throughout. Of course, remarkable performances from Malek and the cast surrounding him don’t hurt either. But the show trains you to question everything you see, and that’s a big part of its brilliance.
4
Scream
Watch Scream on HBO Max
While you might think of the Scream films as nothing more than clever satires on the slasher genre, a running theme of distrust pervades each film. They’re like slasher movies with a big whodunit element at their core, because you know that the killer or killers are characters you already know. More importantly, protagonist Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) and her circle of friends know this, and it feeds into the tension and underlying paranoia.
The first two Scream movies arguably do the best job with this balance of satire and tension fueled by mistrust and mystery, but it’s absolutely something each film in the franchise tries to replicate. If nothing else, you’ll have a fun time trying to guess who the killer is, especially if you’re watching with a group of friends.
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Us
Watch Us on Netflix
Doppelgängers as a means of delivering paranoia are certainly nothing new in film or television, but Jordan Peele’s Us is a disorienting example. A simple vacation is turned upside-down into a nightmare for a family that runs into homicidal versions of themselves. But it’s not just them. No, Peele paints a world where everyone has a counterpart (or Tethered, as they’re called here).
How did these Tethered come to be? Government experiments? Explanations are certainly offered in the narrative, but I can’t help but be suspicious of them, considering their origin. Peele seems to encourage this level of distrust as well. Regardless, Us is an incredibly strange and unrelenting horror film that is equal parts exciting and terrifying, and it made me question the very nature of existence.
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The Descent
Watch The Descent on Shudder
If you were to pitch The Descent to a friend, it might just sound like a simple horror film about a group of friends who go caving in the wrong place and end up face-to-face with monstrous creatures who hunt them. But there’s a lot more going on under the surface. It’s a movie that will have you asking questions like, “How well do I really know my friends?” Long-boiling tensions between the friends come to light as they’re being hunted, and not everyone has each other’s back.
The Descent works so well because each character is so well-defined before the horror begins, so that when the inevitable betrayals start, it doesn’t feel out of left field. More than that, these are characters who won’t go down without a fight, and what follows is an hour and a half of pure tension that never dares let up. It’ll leave you thinking about the bonds in your own life, and just how strong they actually are.
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The Mist
Watch The Mist on Paramount+
Much like The Descent, The Mist is a film that tests the relationships you have in everyday life. This time around, however, it’s a town shrouded in mist, where horrific monsters reside. As the people of this small, seemingly close-knit town are terrorized, bonds are tested, and neighbor turns on neighbor. It’s a fascinating character study about people and how they react to horrible situations.
Let’s just say that not everyone comes out of it looking exactly heroic. It’s enough to make you wonder how people in your life would respond to something akin to an apocalyptic event, and maybe leave you just a bit more distrustful than you were before.
Film and television are great sources for discovering the paranoia that exists in real life. Of course, if you’re also looking for some great suspense movies that won’t leave your head by the time the credits roll, we can help you out there, too.
