37 best thriller movies that will keep you on the edge of your seat
Thriller movies are best served up under the covers with a glass of wine in hand. I mean, what better way to spend our nights piecing together the puzzle of a nail-biting movie, all while feeling all the feels of suspense, surprise, anticipation and excitement?
Luckily for us, thriller films fall under plenty of subgenres. Whether it's a tense whodunnit, a psychological mind-bender or even a dark comedy, there's plenty of viewing material out there that can keep us entertained and terrified for hours.
From absolute classics such as the Natalie Portman-starring Black Swan, Gwyneth Paltrow's movie Se7en and Harrison Ford's 1993 flick The Fugitive to recent favourites such as Blake Lively and Anna Kendrick's A Simple Favour and the critically acclaimed movie Promising Young Woman, we are spoilt for choice when it comes to thrillers.
There are also recent releases, such as Run Rabbit Run, The Strays, Don't Worry Darling and Luckiest Girl Alive, that had us confused 'til the end.
So let us help you decide on the best thriller movies to watch to make the most of your evenings…
© 2023 MRC II Distribution Company, L.P.Fair Play (2023)
Bridgerton's Phoebe Dynevor brings down the house in this thriller/drama centred around the misogynistic norms in corporate culture and how they infiltrate women's lives and their romantic relationships. It follows the story of Emily (Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) who keep their relationship under wraps when they're at work as financial analysts. But dynamics get intense when Emily is promoted over Luke, exposing patriarchal values in places you never want to find them – in the heart of someone you love.
TW: sexual assault and violence.
© 2022 Netflix, Inc.The Wonder (2022)
Florence Pugh leads the cast of this eerie period drama, based on Emma Donoghue's novel of the same name, which is set in Ireland just after the Great Famine, where a girl has been gaining notoriety for surviving without food for months. An English nurse (Pugh) visits the remote village where the girl resides to investigate if all is as it seems.
© 2010 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All rights reserved.Black Swan (2010)
It's the movie that earned Natalie Portman a much-deserved Oscar for Best Actress, so you know Black Swan is one to watch. The movie centres on ballerina Nina, who is the first choice to replace her dance company's prima ballerina for the opening production of Swan Lake. However, Nina is soon met with stiff competition for the role of newcomer Lily, and the rivalry between the two dancers takes shape in a series of twisted twists and turns.
UniversalProfile (2018)
Based on journalist Anna Erelle's book In the Skin of a Jihadist about her investigation into the recruitment of young women by ISIS, Profile sees journalist Amy Whittaker create a new Facebook group under the alias of Melody Nelson, who has recently converted to Island. Investigating how European women are coerced into joining ISIS, she is soon contacted by Bilel, an ISIS fighter from Syria, and she soon gets talking to him before eventually developing romantic feelings for him.
20th Century FoxGone Girl (2014)
Based on the bestselling book of the same name, Gone Girl stars Ben Affleck as New York-based writer Nick Dunne and his glamorous wife Amy, who appear to be the picture-perfect couple when they move to Missouri. However, when Amy suddenly goes missing, Nick becomes the prime suspect. With the relentless police interrogation and the media circus, his seemingly perfect life appears to crumble and begs the question of who Nick and Amy truly are.
Sarah Enticknap/NetflixRun Rabit Run (2023)
Photo Credit: Temma HankinMissing (2023)
Okay, who was left on the edge of their seats while watching 2018's Searching? If you were, then Missing is the movie's standalone sequel, and trust us, this flick will undoubtedly leave you audibly gasping in shock. Storm Reid stars as teenager June, whose joy to be home alone while her mother goes on holiday in Colombia with her new boyfriend is short-lived when she suddenly realises she's gone missing abroad. Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June creatively uses the readily available technology and does some digital sleuthing to get the bottom of her mother's whereabouts.
Everett Collection Inc / Alamy Stock PhotoA Simple Favour (2018)
Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively were the duo we never knew we needed until we saw them in A Simple Favor. There's no room for girls' getaways and fun BFF nights out in the movie, which follows recently widowed, single mother Stephanie as she makes a glamorous new friend Emily, who appears to have it all. However, when she soon mysteriously disappears, Stephanie must race against time to find her, and that involves digging into her friend's past, which comes with shocking surprises along the way.
1996-98 AccuSoft Inc., All rightSilence of the Lambs (1991)
Does Silence of the Lambs really need an introduction? I mean, if you haven't watched it yet, then please cancel your plans for the evening to do so, but for the rest of it, it's almost like this weird thriller/terror-induced comfort watch. The movie sees Jodie Foster as the FBI's training academy's top student, Clarice Starling, who is asked to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter (played by Anthony Hopkins), a violent psychopath who is serving life behind following murder and cannibalism. Her boss primarily asks her to do so because, as an attractive young woman, he believes she may have an insight into his case that no one else does...
CHRIS HARRIS/NETFLIXThe Strays (2023)
We were constantly scratching our heads until the conclusion finally made the penny drop. The Strays sees the seemingly perfect, idyllic life of an upper-middle-class, light-skinned Black woman furiously begins to unravel when a pair of strangers turn up on her doorstep. Who are they, and what do they want?
Ashley Madekwe is brilliant as the lead in the British film.
Universal PicturesMa (2019)
A lonely, middle-aged woman lets a group of teenagers party in the basement of her home, with the main rule being that they never go upstairs. However, Ma's hospitality soon transforms into obsession as she begins terrorising the teens. But precisely what secret is she hiding, and will the victims be able to escape her clutches?
Warner BrosDon't Worry Darling (2022)
Directed by Olivia Wilde, Don't Worry Darling focuses on Alice and Jack (Harry Styles and Florence Pugh), a couple who loves in an experimental company town that houses the men who work on a top-secret project while their wives get to enjoy a life of luxury. However, when cracks begin to show in their flashy new life, Alice realises that something more sinister is at play and questions what exactly she's doing in the town of Victory.
©2017 EP Sacred Deer Limited Channel FourTelevision Corporation New Sparta Films LimitedThe Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)
Allen Fraser/NetflixRun (2020)
© Universal Pictures.Get Out (2017)
One of Jordan Peele's finest works, Get Out, follows the journey of an African-American man named Chris who decides to visit his Caucasian girlfriend's parents during a weekend getaway. However, upon meeting her family, things quickly take a dark turn, but nothing can prepare Chris for the horror ahead...
URSULA COYOTE/NETFLIXIntrusion (2021)
A husband and wife move to a small town when a home invasion leaves them both absolutely traumatised and suspicious of everyone around them. However, not all is what it seems. Who broke into their house, and what do they want? You'll literally never want to be left home alone after watching this one.
Sabrina Lantos/NetflixLuckiest Girl Alive (2022)
Luckiest Girl Alive is based on her 2015 novel of the same name by Jessica Knoll. Mila Kunis plays a New York City journalist whose perfect life begins to unravel when a true-crime documentary makes her confront her harrowing past, involving her dark high school history. So, what exactly happened during those days, and why did she make the choices she did that raised eyebrows?
© 2022 Netflix, Inc.The Good Nurse (2022)
Nurse Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain) is beside herself to learn that one of her colleagues and close friend (Eddie Redmayne) is accused of the murder of dozens of patients over sixteen years. Will he finally admit to his wrongdoings and explain why he did what he did? Based on a true story, this movie is chilling…
Ivan Sardi/NetflixThe Weekend Away (2022)
We all know and love Leighton Meester from the hit show Gossip Girl. But be prepared to say goodbye to the Upper East side and hello to a less than idyllic getaway to Croatia in The Weekend Away, where Beth (Meester) is accused of killing her best friend. As she attempts to unclear her name, a painful secret unravels, putting everything she ever knew into question. We're slightly nervous about our own next weekend away now…
NETFLIX © 2021The Guilty (2021)
It's a long and stressful night for demoted police officer Joe (Jake Gyllenhaal) on the call dispatch desk as he attempts to get to the bottom of an emergency phone call from a terrified woman (voiced by Riley Keough) who has been kidnapped on The Guilty. Nail-biting stuff!
© 2002 Columbia Pictures IndustriesPanic Room (2002)
Check out Kristen Stewart in action in one of her first major movie roles! The 2002 classic Panic Room sees the Twilight actress take on the role of Jodie Foster's diabetic daughter, who both take refuge in their newly-purchased home's panic room after a group break-in searching for a missing fortune.
Warner BrosThe Fugitive (1993)
In the thriller The Fugitive, Harrison Ford stars as Dr. Richard Kimble, who is wrongly accused of his wife's murder. He sets out to find the real killer, all while being at the centre of a nationwide manhunt by a ruthless U.S. Marshal. Well, if that isn't stressful, we don't know what is!
2021 © Netflix Inc.The Woman In The Window (2021)
Based on the 2018 novel of the same name, The Woman In The Window stars Amy Adams as Anna Fox, an agoraphobic woman living alone in New York. She becomes a witness to a crime when spying on her new neighbours, but will anyone believe her?
The Girl On The Train (2016)
In The Girl On The Train, Emily Blunt stars as an alcoholic divorcée who finds herself embroiled in a missing person investigation when she notices that one half of a seemingly perfect couple she catches glimpses of every day on her daily train commute goes missing.
Jack ZemanSecret Obsession (2019)
Remember London Tipton from Disney Channel's The Suite Life of Zack & Cody? Well, it's not glitz and glamour for actress Brenda Song anymore, as she finds herself in immense danger following a long recovery from a traumatic accident in Netflix's Secret Obsession.
John BramleyUntraceable (2008)
A cat and mouse chase is never fun, especially when you are FBI agent Jennifer Marsh (played by Diane Lane) in the movie Untraceable. She finds herself hunting down a ruthless serial killer who posts live videos of his victims being tortured on the internet - but things quickly become personal.
Warner Bros.Prisoners (2013)
Prisoners boasts a star cast of Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Viola Davis. When Keller Dover's daughter and her friend go missing, police arrest but quickly release a young suspect, but Dover is not convinced about his innocence and takes matters into his own hands as pressure mounts to find the girls.
Skip BolenUnhinged (2020)
Russell Crowe ignites the engine on one of the worst (on-screen) cases of road rage we have ever seen in Unhinged. His character revels in terrorising and chasing down Rachel (Caren Pistorius) following a confrontation at a gas station.
Focus FeaturesPromising Young Woman (2020)
Promising Young Women is a critically praised flick starring Carey Mulligan, who was nominated for Best Lead Actress at the Oscars 2021 for this role. She plays Cassie, a woman who seeks revenge after a past traumatic event. Ps. Paris Hilton's catchy 2006 song Stars Are Blind features on the soundtrack!
NBC UniversalOld (2021)
Imagine enjoying a holiday on a secluded beach with your family, but then suddenly you find yourself ageing rapidly until old age - all in the span of one day. Not fun, but that's exactly what happens in M. Night Shyamalan's film Old. Give this film a watch before you run out of time...
COOPER - 1Shutter Island (2010)
A Leonardo DiCaprio classic, Shutter Island sees a U.S. Marshal investigating the disappearance of a murderer who escapes from a hospital for the criminally insane back in the fifties. Also stars Mark Ruffalo, Emily Mortimer and Michelle Williams.
Jessica KourkounisLost Girls (2022)
Lost Girls sees Mari Gilbert drive her own investigation after her daughter Shannon goes missing in a gated Los Island community, bringing focus to over a dozen murdered sex workers. Warning: this movie starring Amy Ryan and Thomasin McKenzie is a difficult watch.
Warner BrosSe7en (1995)
Who can forget this classic starring Brad Pitt, Morgan Freeman and Gwyneth Paltrow? The 1995 film Se7en sees two detectives, a rookie and a veteran, team up to hunt down a ruthless serial killer who uses the seven deadly sins as his motives. Truly grisly stuff.
