Best Thrillers of the Decade - Nightcrawler and Parasite
The thriller genre is difficult to nail down because the genre itself is so broad. Where does the thriller genre end and horror begin? Are all action movies thrillers, but not all thrillers action movies? While the definition isn’t exact, there are a few constants: red herrings, plot twists, cliffhangers, and, of course, suspense.
After a shift towards
And without further ado, here are my favorite thrillers since 2010!
Browse by year: 2010 – 2013 | 2014 – 2016 | 2017 – 2019 | 2020 – present
What it’s about: A ragtag group of environmental activists race against the clock to sabotage an oil pipeline.
Why it’s great: In many ways, How to Blow Up a Pipeline is a classic heist thriller in the vein of Ocean’s 11 as we watch a group of prior strangers come together to pull off a seemingly impossible feat. Director Daniel Goldhaber uses every second of runtime to slowly ratchet up the tension as the crew sets their plan to blow up the eponymous pipeline in motion.
Using a clever non-linear narrative structure the movie feeds you new information about each of the characters and their dynamics to add color to their personal journeys and complications to the mission at hand. The result is a near real-time stunning and anxiety-inducing but deliciously entertaining eco thriller. Read my full review.
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What it’s about: Emily (Bridgerton’s Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) are a crazy, sexy, cool couple drunk (and horny) on their recent engagement that they have to keep secret since they work together at a highly competitive hedge fund firm. But when Emily is promoted over Luke, insecurity, competition and jealousy threaten to destroy their relationship.
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Why it’s great: Fair Play plays like a ticking time bomb as the couple’s relationship is put under the strain of Luke’s arrogance and Emily’s ambition.
It’s the balancing of those two threads that make the movie — particularly writer director Chloe Domont’s sharp screenplay — so impressive. At times, the movie is a corporate barnburner about Emily navigating her newfound success as a woman in an industry that is decidedly a boy’s club. In others, it’s a darkly funny psychosexual relationship drama about how deviations from the traditional gender dynamics can send men into a tailspin — let’s just say Luke probably loved Joker. And at its most satisfying, both worlds come careening together as the pair navigate the minefield of their relationship in the workplace.
Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich give powerhouse performances that give the melodrama some much needed gravitas. Cutthroat, sharp and entertaining as hell, Chloe Domont didn’t come to play. Read my full review.
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What it’s about: Angela (Zoë Kravitz), whose agoraphobia due to a prior trauma — and now exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic — confines her to her apartment, works for a tech company monitoring the data from their smart speaker product Kimi (like an Alexa) for quality assurance. However, when one of the files she’s listening to sounds like a crime she’s faced with corporate red tape, conspiracy, and, her worst fear, going outside.
Why you should watch it: Kimi tells a story we’ve seen before — Rear Window and The Girl on the Train immediately come to mind. But Soderbergh throws in these tiny details that make it feel so relevant to our place and time.
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Like many people watching movies stuck at home, I had headphones on. In one scene, Angela puts on her AirPods to drown out the sound around her. When she puts her right earbud in, our right earbud goes silent. When she puts the left in, our left goes silent. It’s something that you might miss, but that small choice immerses you in this world that is so familiar.
When Angela goes outside for the first time, masked up with packets of hand sanitizer in her pockets, the camera switches from steady and deliberate to frenetic and chaotic as she’s faced with the anxiety of being around people. It elevates Kimi far past its thriller roots.
And sure, you can probably call many of the plot twists. But what Soderbergh constructed is a lean, mean, perfectly-paced thriller that recognizes the time that we’re in. Too many movies being made today ignore the pandemic and the past two years we’ve experienced. Instead, Soderbergh embraces it and uses it to his advantage to not reinvent the wheel but spin it at a different speed. Read my full review.
What it’s about: A young woman (Jessie Buckley) is driving with her boyfriend (Jesse Plemmons) to meet his parents for the first time. There’s one problem, she’s thinking of ending things. When she meets his mother (Toni Collette) and father (David Thewlis) things go from odd to flat out weird as the world around her changes.
Why it’s great: Loneliness is a prison. The memories, regrets, and what-ifs of life become trapped on repeat in your head forming a blend of reality and fantasy in your psyche in an effort to fill the void of silence that it creates. In the time of the coronavirus pandemic that feeling may hit closer to home, which is why Charlie Kaufman’s I’m Thinking of Ending Things feels so effective as a psychological thriller.
The movie is a slow-burn of conversations that begin as a little off and then become full-tilt bizarre as the world around the couple goes from real to surreal. At the core, psychological thrillers should make you question exactly what is real. In I’m Thinking of Ending Things, the question isn’t what is real, it’s what is reality at all.
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What it’s about: After escaping her abusive tech tycoon boyfriend (Oliver Jackson-Cohen), Cecilia (Elizabeth Moss) thinks she’s finally free from his grasp. However, a vague threat from the past and a series of odd occurrences make her think that he’s watching her every move.
Why it’s great: There is so much to love about director Leigh Whannell’s reinvention of the 1933 original film The Invisible Man, but the best place to start is perhaps the reinvention itself. Instead of treading similar territory, Whannell tackled the very 21st century story of toxic relationships, gaslighting, and emotional abuse.
However, the way he brings about those themes is by combining innovate modern cinematic techniques with the old-fashioned staples of building the suspense. Without compromising its rich themes or depriving the audience of moments of terror to hang onto, Whannell is able to make an artfully made and emotional movie that feels auteur-driven but still made for the mainstream. Read my full review.
Browse by year: 2010 – 2013 | 2014 – 2016 | 2017 – 2019 | 2020 – present
? Browse by year: 2010 – 2013 | 2014 – 2016 | 2017 – 2019 | 2020 – present
What it’s about: A poor family cons their way into working for a rich family through any means necessary. However, a shocking discovery threatens to destroy their carefully laid plans.
Why it’s great: Just calling Parasite a thriller is like calling 2001: A Space Odyssey just a space film. The true brilliance of Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winning film is how it mixes several genres and styles. There are elements of black comedy, drama, satire, and even horror that come together to create its madcap tone.
However, Bong never lets the film out of his steady grasp. Every single scene, shot, line of dialogue, and camera movement has intention. And even better, he doesn’t just have scenes build tension, the entire film slowly ratchets the tension before it comes apart in a thrilling but profound final scene. Not only is it one of the best thrillers of the decade, it’s one of the best films of all time.
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What it’s about: Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler) is a diamond dealer in New York who is always looking for the best way to make big money—that usually means making high-risk bets that don’t always pay off. Over the course of a few days, he must find a way to pay off his debts before it’s too late.
Why it’s great: Uncut Gems is really just a series of unfortunate decisions that cascade into an uncontrollable ball of chaos and discomfort. Instead of slowly ratcheting up the tension, the Safdies turn it up to the highest level and keep it there for the entire film. As uncomfortable as it is, it’s what makes the movie great. Sandler plays Howard as a man you can almost root for. You admire his sheer will and motivation—yet he always manages to disappoint you with the wrong decision.
There’s an unstoppable anxiety-inducing momentum that feels like a train wreck happening onscreen, but one you can’t look away from. But as much as it seems like the movie is going off the rails it’s clear that the Safdies are always in control. The frenetic editing, cosmic score by Daniel Lopatin, and a truly remarkable performance by Sandler are designed to make you feel uneasy—it’s challenging to get through. And it’s a challenge I will happily take on over and over again. Read my full review.
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What it’s about: Taking place completely on a laptop screen, Searching follows a single father (John Cho) as he helplessly searches for his missing daughter. As the police case goes cold, he dives into his daughter’s laptop hoping to find a clue to her disappearance.
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What it’s about: Joe (Joaquin Phoenix), an army veteran, is a hired gun who tracks down kidnapped children. His handler John McCleary (John Doman) delivers him a new job to track down the kidnapped daughter (Ekaterina Samsonov) of a New York State Senator. However, the job quickly spirals out of control.
Why it’s great: A third of the way through the breezy 90-minute running time, Joe lays down next to a hitman he has just shot. As “I’ve Never Been To Me” plays in the background, the two men lay side by side. The hitman extends his hand to Joe and they lay on the floor singing along.
It’s an odd moment of humanity in a movie filled with inhuman behavior and something you’d never see in another crime thriller. Ramsay isn’t interested in the violence aspect of the story, though there is plenty of it. Instead, she focuses on the characters and specifically Joe’s internalized struggle with his past. It’s essentially an arthouse version of Taken and it’s all the better for it.
? Browse by year: 2010 – 2013 | 2014 – 2016 | 2017 – 2019 | 2020 – present
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? Browse by year: 2010 – 2013 | 2014 – 2016 | 2017 – 2019 | 2020 – present
What it’s about: Will (Logan Marshall-Green) is surprised when his ex-wife Eden (Tammy Blanchard) and her new husband (Michael Huisman) invite him and his girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi) to a dinner party with old friends. Clearly, more must be stirring — or is it?
Why it’s great: The Invitation is the perfect example of a slow-burn thriller. Director Karyn Kusama, best known for directing Jennifer’s Body, extremely patient. She waits and makes you question what kind of movie it is until it finally reveals itself in a punch in the gut moment.
With a terrific minimalist score and sleek cinematography, The Invitation slowly ratchets up the tension to an unbearable degree. Every beat feels like it’s going to be the moment that something is going to happen. You’re constantly preparing yourself for the jump and when it comes it’s as satisfying as you’d imagine.
▶︎ Streaming on Netflix. Buy or rent on Amazon.
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What it’s about: In a tale as old as time, it’s punks vs. nazis. A punk band touring around the country takes a questionable gig at a skinhead clubhouse. And though their set goes well after seeing something they shouldn’t have they find themselves barricaded in the green room fighting for their lives.
Why it’s great: Director Jeremy Saulnier, who has two entries on this list, has a singular way of building a scene until it snaps—sometimes literally—into action. And as violent as these payoffs are, he never dwells on the violence. Saulnier is careful to keep his movie focused on the character, what they contribute to the situation, and their reactions to it.
Thrillers so often have each character just become part of a formula. Instead, he clearly states each characters’ strengths, weaknesses, and how they could contribute to getting themselves out of the club alive. Read my full review.
▶︎ Streaming on Showtime. Buy or rent on Amazon.
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What it’s about: After getting into a car accident, Michelle (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) wakes up in an underground bunker. Howard (John Goodman), the owner of the bunker, claims he brought her there after a chemical attack destroyed the outside world. Michelle and her bunker-mate Nate (John Gallagher Jr.) begin to suspect Howard is lying to them.
Why it’s great: Ten years after the original Cloverfield film, no one expected its sequel to look quite like 10 Cloverfield Lane. Exchanging the found footage format of the first film for classic Hitchcockian suspense, director Dan Trachtenberg not only subverter the lore of the original he completely flipped it on its head.
With brilliant sound design that puts you at ease and a set that constantly reveals new and clever details, the film is a perfectly constructed and irresistibly entertaining classic thriller where you’re kept on the edge of your seat until the very end. When the final reveal is made, it becomes all the better.
▶︎ Streaming on Pluto TV for Free. Buy or rent on Amazon.
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What it’s about: A group of teens (Jane Levy, Dylan Minnette, Daniel Zovatto) break into a blind man’s house thinking that it would be an easy score. However, they quickly find out that they’re in way more than they bargained for and find themselves finding to escape the house.
Why it’s great: Don’t Breathe is an impressive exercise in Hitchcockian suspense where some smart cinematography and narrative efficiency make for an… ahem, breathless experience. Director Fede Alvarez masterfully paces the film to keep you hooked but at the same time derive maximum tension.
Throughout the film, Alvarez practices some incredible patience, which is something not seen in thrillers today. He holds shots and moments as long as he can to truly make you uncomfortable and there are some moments that are almost unbearable to keep watching. That’s what makes this one of the best thrillers in recent memory.
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If I had to pick the movie I am most surprised I’m adding to this list, it’s this one. While Joel Edgerton’s directorial debut The Gift isn’t technically perfect, he showed an understanding that style and substance can exist in the same film. He is extremely polished in his camera placement, editing, and was able to pull out two incredible performances from Rebecca Hall and Jason Bateman. But similarly to The Invitation, which is a little further down the page, the reason this movie is on this list is because he shows a lot of restraint. The natural tendency with thrillers is to ratchet up tension and then give a release, then repeat. However, The Gift is an incredible exercise in restraint. It tightens ups slowly without giving many answers, but when it does your entire perception of the story changes.
With some really naturalistic performances from the entire cast and a taut screenplay that avoids melodrama, Joel Edgerton creates a really smart film that knows exactly how much to give the audience. What makes this film great though is its theme of how much you really know a person and whether or not people can actually change from their past actions. Who is really the villain of your story? It’s an unexpected track for the film to take, but the payoff is well worth the build. The Gift is available on Blu-Ray and Digital HD on Amazon ➤
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I held off writing this description to last because it’s so difficult to put what makes Nightcrawler such a fantastic film into words. So, I’m going to use a comparison. Martin Scorsese’s best film in my humble opinion is Taxi Driver. The thematic undertones of urban decline offer an incredible juxtaposition to Travis Bickle’s vigilantism. This coupled with the psychological elements of this anti-hero make for a layered movie that is told from the perspective of a possible sociopath. But it’s that questioning of the main character that makes it so intriguing. The exact same can be said for Nightcrawler even though I think we are more aware of Louis Bloom’s sociopathy.
But the thematic undertones are still there. This time it’s a critique of TV news and the way that we consume media. Rene Russo stands in as a representative of media as a whole complete with the starry-eyed look at horrible events. Her performance is another key of success for the film. But as I alluded to earlier, this is the performance of Jake Gyllenhaal’s career. The charming sociopath is hard to pull off because you don’t want them to seem too sane, but also not too off-putting. He strikes the balance with a dash of social awkwardness that makes him disappear into the role. Nightcrawler is available to buy or rent on Prime Video ▶
? Browse by year: 2010 – 2013 | 2014 – 2016 | 2017 – 2019 | 2020 – present
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? Browse by year: 2010 – 2013 | 2014 – 2016 | 2017 – 2019 | 2020 – present
Crime thrillers are probably the most common kind of thriller and offer up the best of the genre. From red herrings to cliffhangers and plot twists, the melodramatic undertones of this subgenre is what makes it so appealing. However, no director does crime thriller quite like David Fincher. With Zodiac and Seven being among my favorite movies of all time, his 2014 adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s novel was bound to make the list. While Gone Girl, is a thriller that completely stands on its own as a book, Fincher is able to make the plot even more effective in the film. All those genre conceits like plot twists and red herrings come a diffidence as well. But Fincher doesn’t let the audience feel cheated when the mid-movie shock comes. In fact, he leaves us wanting more, and he certainly delivers.
Rosamund Pike anchors the film with a lead performance that few actors would be able to pull off. Her chilling looks and deliberate physicality make Amy one of the most interesting characters in movie history, in my opinion. But what makes this movie my second favorite Fincher film (the first being The Social Network) are the various undertones he is able to strike – a critique of marriage, a disavowment of the media and its ability to sway the public – and his embrace of the genre, for best or for worst. Gone Girl is available on Blu-Ray and Digital HD on Amazon ➤
2014 was a phenomenal year for film. However, there was a clear outlier in A Most Violent Year. In a callback to the mob films of the 70s (with The Godfather and Taxi Driver being the nearest comparisons), J.C. Chandor’s third film shows the same slow-building tension of Margin Call and All Is Lost without relying on grandiose style. Everything in this film is minimally but beautifully done from the natural dialogue to the 80s set and costumes.
Yes, the film may be slow, but you’ll never be bored. J.C Chandor controls the screen with his gripping atmosphere that keeps you guessing. You can never truly rest because the stakes are never lessened, the threats never dissipated, and the enemies never eliminated. What I’ve continually noticed from Chandor is that he doesn’t need a lot to speak thousands in his films. He thrives on the simplicity of dialogue and the simplicity of direction. However, he never shies away from the occasional moments of high-intensity action. Plus, bolstered by two career highlight performances by Jessica Chastain and Oscar Isaac, the story’s tension carries into their personal lives as well. While it lacks the loud noises and epic imagery of some thrillers, its nail-biting tension is there all the same. Check out my review here! A Most Violent Year is available on Blu-Ray and Digital HD on Amazon ➤
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More than any movie on this list, Blue Ruin proves that you don’t need to be loud to make a tense movie. Over its short 90 minute running time, Blue Ruin never really gets as crazy as its premise suggests. However, when it does flirt with action, Jeremy Saulnier is able to use the space his scenes inhabit to build tension slowly, which makes the movie an almost excruciating watch. And while Saulnier’s direction is a real high point here — as well his symbolic cinematography — Macon Blair’s performance as the main character — a father seeking revenge on a man that wronged him — is what makes the movie great.
He is not your typical thriller hero. He doesn’t have “a special set of skills” that will help in this situation. He’s completely out of his depths. However, it’s an increasingly charming performance that makes you really root for him all the way until the final beats of the movie. Blue Ruin is available on Blu-Ray and Digital HD on Amazon ➤
Paul Greengrass is a proven thriller director with the Bourne franchise, Green Zone, and my personal favorite, United 93. This decade, he went back to directing a film based on a true event with Captain Phillips. By taking place in a single, isolated, and claustrophobic setting, the film introduces an innate uneasiness. It makes the cat-and-mouse setup of the film all the more menacing. As the film progresses and the darkness of the ship becomes an ally to the crew you are able to breathe a sigh of release. That is until the climactic finale.
However, like with many thrillers, the impressiveness of the film comes from the climax which features truly incredible performances by Tom Hanks and Barkhad Abdi. Greengrass so adroitly turns a two-person scene in one space into a truly epic end that has the same melancholic gravitas that the ending of United 93 and Seven had. Captain Phillips is available on Blu-Ray and Digital HD on Amazon ➤
Pretty much as psychological of a thriller as a film can get, Denis Villeneuve’s Enemy is a masterclass in the sub-genre. The dark and neutral color palette, which is a nice homage to many David Fincher films, adds to the mystery of the film. But it’s the Hitchcockian base of the film that bolsters it onto this list. The motif of mistaken identity is Hitchcockian in particular, but it quickly diverts into the labyrinth mystery that we have to solve and ultimately interpret.
Jake Gyllenhaal’s dual performance as a depressed college professor and a bored actor is him nearly at the top of his game (see further down the list for the top). It’s those small distinctions in tone and physicality that makes his performance so impressive and really elevates the film past its premise. He has so much on his shoulders in this role. He has to carry the narrative without giving too much away. However, he gets some help from the always wonderful Mélanie Laurent. The reason this movie is on this list and is arguably one of the best psychological thrillers of all time is that it is so unbiased in its presentation of the facts of the film. It allows the viewer to make their own interpretations from beginning to end, which ends up being a gift with the final shock. Enemy is available on Blu-Ray and Digital HD on Amazon ➤
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In terms of political thrillers, this decade seems to have had a lack of choices. The height of the genre came during the Cold War era with The Manchurian Candidate and All the President’s Men. While the 2000s brought a resurgence with Syriana and Munich, but that hasn’t carried over. That was until Kathryn Bigelow’s follow-up to her Best Picture-winning The Hurt Locker came along. Zero Dark Thirty tackles “the greatest manhunt in history,” the search for Bin Laden. The chase is epic in scope and covers nearly a decade. However, she filters it through the view of a young upstart CIA agent, Maya. Jessica Chastain’s performance in the role not only grounds the film and humanizes a subject that could easily be politicized, she adds an emotional depth.
However, this is a list of thrillers and what makes Zero Dark Thirty such an effective thriller is that you know the outcome. You know we get the guy. But Bigelow frames it as the puzzle that has the answers constantly shifting away and uses red herrings not as a plot device, but as a character motivator. It, of course, comes with its own set of political intrigue that sets back the hunt, but that’s what makes it so thrilling. You want to know how we got the guy and when we finally get to the climactic 20-minute raid scene, you know it’s worth the wait. Zero Dark Thirty is available on Blu-Ray and Digital HD on Amazon ➤
The very best psychological thrillers leave you guessing until the end. However, Jeff Nichols’ Take Shelter will have you guessing even at the end. That’s the beauty of his slow-burning, but effective thriller about a man experiencing troubling and increasingly violent apocalyptic dreams. So much of the reason why this movie works is because of Michael Shannon’s performance in the central role. Not only does he sell you on his mental turmoil, he also makes you feel empathetic towards him. It’s a particularly hard job considering some of the decisions the character makes throughout the movie.
Though Nichols is usually a quiet filmmaker — he doesn’t often through overzealous flourishes into his films — the visions that Curtis, the main character, experiences are thrilling to see despite their shortness. When you get to the end, you feel as if you earned the right towards it. It’s a hard thing to do for a movie that has little payoff throughout. Take Shelter is available on Blu-Ray and Digital HD on Amazon ➤
? Browse by year: 2010 – 2013 | 2014 – 2016 | 2017 – 2019 | 2020 – present
Hey! I’m Karl. You can find me on Twitter here. I’m also a Tomatometer-approved critic.
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