Following ‘You’ – films and shows about stalkers to satisfy your watching obsession
What is it about being obsessed over something or someone that makes it so hard to stop that feeling—that you need to be with them, that you need to have what is often unattainable?
Here's an easy way to solve that problem: Watch a movie.
TRIGGER WARNING: Stalking
If you've been quietly obsessing over hit Netflix series, You, you're not alone. There were 54 million of you who watched the second season, with the third dropping only yesterday (Oct. 15) and already it's been announced that a fourth season is in the show's future.
You is based on author Caroline Kepnes’ 2014 book of the same name and follows the character of Joe Goldberg, a New York bookstore manager. When Joe meets aspiring writer Guinevere Beck, he becomes infatuated with her. To satiate his rather toxic obsession with Guinevere, Joe stalks her social media and uses technology to track her down and, along the way, “eliminates” anything that would come between them.
It's hardly the first time that the subject of stalking was covered in pop media, and if you're obsessed with “true crime” shows you'd know there are enough movies out there to scratch that suspense thriller itch.
Fear (1996)
Starring a very young Mark Wahlberg and Reese Witherspoon, Fear is about an attractive and mysterious young man named David McCall (Wahlberg) who begins dating Nicole Walker (Witherspoon), the teenage daughter in a wealthy family with a seemingly perfect life.
What started as a typical teenage romance quickly escalates into violence, as David—after being rejected—completely flips from boy next door to evil personified. The lovestruck teen begins terrorizing the Walker family, culminating in a home invasion and many, many violent deaths.
Greta (2018)
Frances (Chloë Grace Moretz) is a sweet and naive young woman who doesn’t think twice about returning a handbag she finds on the subway.
The handbag's owner is Greta (Isabelle Huppert), a French piano teacher with an aching loneliness. Frances immediately bonds with Greta and become the best of friends. That is, until Frances discovers that nothing in Greta’s life is what it seems.
The Boy Next Door (2015)
Jennifer Lopez stars as Claire Peterson, a high school teacher getting back in the dating game after separating from her cheating husband.
When handsome 19-year-old Noah (Ryan Guzman) moves in next door, Claire has a moment of weakness that leads to an intimate night together. Noah's attraction quickly turns into a dangerous obsession which forces Claire to do anything to protect her world from falling apart.
The Roommate (2011)
While adjusting to her new campus life, college freshman Sara (Minka Kelly) slowly realizes that her new roommate, Rebecca (Leighton Meester), is becoming obsessed with her.
Obsession: Dark Desires (2015)
This gripping series takes a look at true cases of women and men whose happiness, freedom and even lives have been jeopardized by someone's obsession with them.
Showing on Netflix, cases featured include a pregnant woman receiving threatening phone calls and a single mother being stalked by a serial killer.