Are you a fan of suspenseful, edge-of-your-seat thrillers? While big-budget blockbusters often dominate the thriller genre, plenty of lesser-known films are just as gripping and captivating. From psychological mind-benders to heart-pumping action flicks, these are Cinephiles’ top 12 picks every thriller junky should watch.
1. The Night House (2020)
After her husband’s suicide, a widow begins to uncover unsettling secrets about their lakeside home and her late spouse, causing her to question her sanity. This horror thriller was one of the best I’ve seen in recent years, and Rebecca Hall gives an award-worthy performance.
2. Trance (2013)
When an art auctioneer is coerced into a heist by a group of criminals who seek to uncover the location of a valuable painting he’s hidden, a blow to the head causes him to forget where he’s stashed the loot, leading him down a perilous path of deception, danger, and betrayal.
3. The Call (2020)
Amidst the chaos of a deadly global pandemic, a disparate group of strangers receives cryptic phone calls that prompt them to embark on a dangerous mission to save themselves and those around them as they unravel the sinister conspiracy behind the mysterious calls.
4. Timebomb (1991)
With the clock ticking down on a lethal time bomb implanted inside him, a desperate man races against time to uncover the sinister forces behind his predicament, leading him on a heart-pounding journey of danger, deception, and self-discovery.
5. Homicide (1991)
As a Jewish detective investigates a homicide within his tight-knit community, his loyalties and beliefs are put to the test, forcing him to navigate a treacherous moral landscape of guilt, betrayal, and identity.
6. Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead (2007)
In their desperate quest for money, two brothers (Philip Seymour Hoffman and Ethan Hawke) hatch a plan to rob their own parents’ jewelry store, but as their meticulously plotted heist begins to unravel, they find themselves embroiled in a web of deceit, corruption, and violence that threatens to tear their family apart forever.
7. Cold in July (2014)
After killing an intruder in his own home, a small-town businessman becomes embroiled in a deadly conspiracy that leads him down a dark path of vengeance, redemption, and self-discovery as he confronts the demons of his past and the secrets of his present.
8. Let Him Go (2020)
When a retired sheriff and his wife set out on a perilous journey to rescue their grandson from a dangerous and violent family living off the grid in the Dakotas, they must confront their fears, doubts, and regrets as they navigate a harsh and unforgiving landscape of betrayal, revenge, and survival.
9. Memoir of a Murderer (2017)
A retired serial killer with Alzheimer’s disease must confront his past and protect his daughter when a copycat killer emerges and threatens to unravel his carefully guarded secrets.
10. The Vanishing (1988)
When a couple’s idyllic holiday takes a sinister turn, and the woman vanishes without a trace, her partner becomes consumed by grief and obsession as he embarks on a relentless quest for answers and closure, leading him down a dark and dangerous path of deception and revenge.
11. A Simple Plan (1998)
When three friends stumble upon a crashed plane containing a fortune in cash, they’re forced to confront their deepest desires and darkest fears as their simple plan for wealth and happiness unravels into a complex web of lies, betrayal, and murder.
12. The Number 23 (2007)
After reading a mysterious book about a detective’s obsession with the number 23, a man becomes convinced that the number holds a dark significance in his life, leading him down a dangerous path of paranoia and delusion.
Source: Reddit.
