Gaslight

Paula Alquist has escaped into marriage with the charming Gregory Anton, but the new life in her late aunt's home soon unsettles her. After moving into the old family manor, Paula experiences unsettling sounds, shifting lights, and a sense that someone is undermining her grip on reality. Gregory remains attentive, yet the house feels mapped with secrets Paula cannot quite name. A series of small misfortunes and whispered rumors around the house feed her fear that she is losing her mind. When a lonely servant Miss Thwaites offers cautious explanations and a skeptic friend, Brian Cameron, arrives to help, Paula begins to doubt whether the danger is external or born from within the home. Paula's fragile perception fuels tension throughout.

Directed by George Cukor, Gaslight reimagines the Victorian era's psychological tension on screen. Based on Patrick Hamilton's play, the 1944 film updates the setting while preserving the brisk dialogue and tense cat and mouse dynamics that define the story.

The film earned multiple Academy Award nominations and culminated in Ingrid Bergman winning the Best Actress Oscar for her portrayal of Paula Alquist. The film's craft and Bergman's performance have endured in lists of classic thrillers, underscoring its impact on the genre and elevating prestige productions.

The film helped popularize the term gaslighting, and its tense atmosphere and Bergman performance influenced later thrillers. The strong supporting turn by Lansbury and the claustrophobic mansion setting became a reference point for subsequent suspense dramas and stage adaptations. Its lines and visuals still echo in modern thrillers.

Critics praised its taut pacing, Bergman intensity, and Cukor's control of psychological horror in a closed setting. Some viewers noted melodrama in the later stretches, but the film's spare sound design and clever use of silence still influence contemporary thrillers. Audiences in the 1940s embraced its suspense and Bergman's magnetism.