Film

The Imposters

Name: The Imposters
Genre: Thriller
Released: 2023
Cast: Marie Everett, Julia Haworth, Amanda Michaud, Tegan Mordt, Chynna Marie Walker

A queer psychological thriller about Maya, freshly heartbroken, who falls for the charismatic Hattie—only to discover her new lover might be a carefully constructed lie. It's a tense, intimate chamber piece that asks how well we can ever really know another person, bolstered by strong performances and a willingness to keep you off-balance.

If you liked this

Carol2015

A luminous portrait of forbidden desire between two women, with the same intimate focus on how attraction blinds us to red flags. Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara create genuine electricity and vulnerability.

But It's a period piece set in the 1950s, and the pacing is deliberately unhurried rather than thrilling—patience required.

Mulholland Drive2001

David Lynch's masterpiece about Hollywood deception and fractured identity. It shares that same vertiginous feeling of reality shifting beneath your feet, with a twist that recontextualises everything.

But It's 147 minutes, deliberately cryptic, and demands active interpretation rather than handing you answers. Very Lynch.

Gone Girl2014

A sleek thriller about a marriage that isn't what it appears, told through unreliable narration and sharp reversals. Rosamund Pike's performance is a masterclass in playing someone who isn't who they claim.

But It's cynical and misanthropic—nobody here is sympathetic, and that bleakness isn't for everyone.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Imposters

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Swallow2020

Both explore how intimacy becomes a form of entrapment, using physical discomfort to mirror psychological violation. The Imposters plays with perception; Swallow goes inside the body of someone losing agency.

A debut feature about a woman with pica—she compulsively swallows dangerous objects. It's a body-horror meditation on control, self-harm, and the performance of wellness in a stifling marriage. Deeply unsettling and hypnotic.

But It's visually grotesque, with extreme close-ups of swallowing and internal spaces. Hard to watch; not a thriller but a nightmare from the inside.

The Handmaiden2016

Park Chan-wook's sensual con-artist thriller set in 1930s Korea. Like The Imposters, it's a game of seduction and deception where every character has hidden depths and the camera catches desire with real tenderness.

But It's nearly two and a half hours, and some viewers find the plot twists too busy. Also sexually explicit, which matters if that's a consideration.

Killing Eve2018

A cat-and-mouse series between an MI6 agent and a psychopath who falls into obsession with each other. It captures that same dark intimacy and the thrill of psychological cat-and-mouse with wit and style.

But Tonally uneven—it swings between darkly funny and genuinely disturbing, and some viewers find it tries to have it both ways.

You2018

A psychological thriller told from the perspective of a stalker in love. It shares the claustrophobic two-person dynamic and that queasy feeling of attraction mixed with violation and deception.

But It's deliberately repellent at times, and the protagonist's internal monologue can wear thin. Also prone to melodrama in later seasons.

Rebecca2020

Hitchcock's Gothic masterpiece, remade here with lush cinematography. It's about a new bride slowly realising her husband's past is a trap; that same mounting dread as the walls close in.

But Depends on which version you pick. The 2020 Netflix film is beautiful but lacks the original's psychological precision.

Stoker2013

Park Chan-wook again. A cousin arrives at a grieving family's home and seduces the vulnerable teenage daughter. Gorgeous, sinister, with that same sense of manipulation wrapped in attraction and charm.

But It's oblique and relies heavily on mood and visual suggestion rather than plot clarity. Some find it glacial and frustrating.

Rope1948

Hitchcock in real time: two men strangle a friend and host a dinner party with the body hidden nearby. It's a masterclass in mounting tension within a single room, just two people and their secrets.

But It's from 1948, and the theatrical staging takes adjustment. The homophobic subtext is also dated and troubling by today's standards.

The Killing of a Sacred Deer2017

Both use romantic or familial relationships as the entry point for terror. Neither film trusts what it appears to show you. Impostors hides the deception *in* one person; this hides it in a whole family dynamic.

Yorgos Lanthimos creates dread through formal precision and off-kilter dialogue. A surgeon's family is invaded by a mysterious young man. It's not quite naturalistic, which makes the horror feel more acute and strange.

But It's deliberately artificial—dialogue that sounds wrong, a static camera, a mounting sense that logic doesn't apply. Many find it chilly and inaccessible rather than thrilling.

A Dark Song2016

Like The Imposters, it's built on the tension between two people in a confined space, where one may be deceiving or dangerous. But it trades psychological thriller for metaphysical mystery—the deception is about what's real, not who someone is.

An occult thriller about a grieving woman who hires an occultist for a mysterious ritual. It's intimate, quiet, and builds to something transcendent. More mood and relationship than plot—hypnotic and strange.

But It moves slowly, stays deliberately vague about its mechanics, and asks patience rather than providing thrills. The ending is ambiguous in ways that frustrate plot-focused viewers.