Content Warning: The following article contains discussions about agoraphobia and depictions of violence.
Movies about agoraphobia speak to a fundamental desire for security in one's own home. In a recent example, Joe Wright's The Woman in the Window, Amy Adams plays a reclusive writer who's sucked into the shocking and bloody intrigue occurring among her new neighbors across the street.
At their best, these films invite their audiences to experience the fear of the outside world their protagonists do, to imagine the terror that can come from an obsession with a confined space and from having that comfort zone compromised by outside forces beyond their control.
The Invisible Man (2020)
In the latest spin on H.G. Wells' classic sci-fi novel The Invisible Man, Elisabeth Moss delivers one of her best performances as Cecilia Kass, a woman who becomes terrified to leave her home after escaping the clutches of her abusive partner, wealthy inventor Adrian Griffin. Her paranoia becomes reality as she learns that Griffin is using invisibility technology to torture her, gaslight her, and even frame her for murder.
An agoraphobic protagonist is a perfect counterpart to an invisible villain. The fear of an unseen enemy lurking in the shadows is fundamental to both the horror genre and many phobias, and as her most irrational fears are realized in a form that no one else can see, the film becomes both a frightening horror and a potent allegory for emotional abuse.
We Have Always Lived In The Castle (2018)
An adaptation of the Shirley Jackson novel of the same name, We Have Always Lived in the Castle follows two sisters, Constance and Merricat, who live on their family estate with their uncle. Their secluded domestic life, protected (or so claimed to be) by Merricat's sympathetic magic, is turned upside down by the appearance of their charming cousin Charles, who violently feuds with Merricat while attempting to coax Constance out of the house.
This underrated thriller succeeds at portraying its characters' agoraphobic worldview by blurring lines between fantasy and reality. It's left ambiguous whether Merricat's magical protection is truly effective, and the consequences of their space being infiltrated range from a Frankenstein-esque angry mob to the very real threat of loss of independence.
The Falling (2014)
In the first of many great performances by Florence Pugh, she stars in The Falling as Abbie, a 1960s English schoolgirl who becomes patient zero for a mysterious fainting illness. At the same time, she experiences a tangled web of rotten relationships with her best friend, Lydia (Maisie Williams), and Lydia's family, including her supernaturally-inclined brother and her agoraphobic hairdresser mother.
The film is stuffed with shocking details of death, assault, incest, and other traumatic experiences that unfold over its 102 minutes, but are always anchored by a nuanced approach to relationships between women and mass psychogenic illness. While agoraphobia may not be its primary focus, it's one of many elements that make this drama so intriguing and skin-crawling.
Shirley (2020)
In what could easily be a strong double-feature with We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley stars Elisabeth Moss as Shirley Jackson herself. Telling a largely fictional story of the author's life as she wrote her 1951 novel Hangsaman, the film follows a newlywed couple who find themselves entangled in the twisted affairs of Jackson and her husband, Stanley Hyman (Michael Stuhlbarg).
Combining the psychosexual tension of Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? with the chilling atmosphere of a Jackson story, it's an engrossingly unpredictable film full of simmering fury. While Moss once again plays an agoraphobe, she gives Shirley a cold, mischievous energy, contrasted with The Invisible Man's spiraling Cecilia.
Copycat (1995)
A product of the post-Silence of the Lambs wave of serial killer crime thrillers, Copycat features Sigourney Weaver as Dr. Helen Hudson, a criminal psychologist specializing in serial killers who confines herself to her high-tech home after being assaulted by one of her former clients. She's unwillingly drawn out when she becomes connected to the case of a "copycat" killer who mimics the behaviors of past notorious murderers like Jeffrey Dahmer.
Copycat makes great use of the premise of someone who quite literally wrote the book on serial killers becoming the subject of their attacks, and Weaver shines in her role as the agoraphobic Dr. Hudson, aided by equally stellar work from Holly Hunter as the lead detective on the case. As Helen is housebound, the movie is set primarily in her elaborate San Francisco apartment in a triumph of modern production design.
Intruders (2015)
Also known as Shut In or Deadly Home (and not to be confused with the Canadian films Shut In and The Intruders), this low-budget horror flick deals with Anna (Beth Riesgraf), an agoraphobic woman who's set upon by robbers after offering a large sum of money to a friendly Meals on Wheels worker. What starts out as a fairly standard home invasion thriller takes a Saw-like twist as Anna turns the tables on her captors.
As absurd as things get in the film's twisty back half, it's an effective and unpredictable horror movie that makes the most of its 90-minute runtime, anchored by a strong cast that also features Rory Culkin and Martin Starr. Riesgraf makes for an engaging lead protagonist, and the film's moody visuals set the right tone of grisly terror.
The Wolf Hour (2019)
While some of these films treat agoraphobia as a garnish to their scares, it's truly front-and-center in The Wolf Hour, which primarily consists of Naomi Watts losing her grip on reality while confined to her New York apartment during the Summer of Sam. Still, the film's creeping paranoia manages to build to a fever pitch thanks in part to the unseen nature of her perceived threat and the chaotic real-life backdrop it sets up.
With a 50% on Rotten Tomatoes, this movie has been polarizing, but thanks to its interiority and Watts' understated performance, it may be a particularly relatable portrayal for those who've actually experienced agoraphobia. Watts doesn't sensationalize her character's fear but rather makes it relatable and believable to the viewer.
The Nesting (1981)
This old-school slasher was one of the "obscene" films seized in the '80s video nasty panic in the U.K. thanks to its violent and sexual themes. Robin Groves stars as an agoraphobic writer who rents out a creepy old mansion and quickly begins to experience paranormal phenomena that drive her to kill. She ultimately learns that the house was once a brothel, still haunted by the ghosts of sex workers killed there.
As macabre and slow-moving as it may be, The Nesting sets a spine-tingling mood with its creepy score and unique location (the octagonal Armour–Stiner House in New York). With its atmospheric visuals and shocking ending, fans of '80s haunted house movies will find plenty to enjoy in this movie.
The Lodgers (2017)
Not unlike We Have Always Lived in the Castle, The Lodgers is a period Gothic film about a pair of siblings spending their days cloistered in their old family estate. A sinister, ghostly presence (the titular Lodgers) forces a set of rules on the twins, essentially binding them to the house until a troubled veteran (Eugene Simon) becomes invested in helping them escape.
Set against the backdrop of Ireland's newfound independence, this film distinguishes itself from many in the haunted house subgenre by having its ghosts be present and appear regularly from early on in the film, making its 92-minute runtime surprisingly brisk despite its creeping atmosphere.
The Last Days (2013)
This Spanish thriller is more rooted in sci-fi than horror, but its unique premise and connection to current events make it more than sufficiently terrifying. The Last Days revolves around the aftermath of an epidemic of acute agoraphobia, which causes its sufferers to experience deadly shock if forced outside of their shelter. The protagonist, Marc (Quim Gutiérrez), sets off to find his missing girlfriend without ever going outside.
What was once a somewhat implausible premise feels almost prescient in the time of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, wherein the concept of a post-apocalyptic thriller whose hero must avoid going outside at all costs feels perfect and particularly frightening for the moment. Even beyond that, it's a riveting premise that allows for twists and turns as the reality of the epidemic is revealed in flashbacks.