The Best Thrilling Movies to Watch (Page 7)
When it comes to memorable viewing experiences, it’s usually all about the scenes that pull you to the edge of your seat. Whether you’re into suspenseful mysteries or emotional dramas, here are the most thrilling movies and shows to stream.
James Norton plays a Russian-British banker who has stayed away from his family’s links to organized crime. When his fund is threatened, he accepts a shady investor recommended by his uncle, which introduces him to the world of international crime as a money launderer. It’s very well-made, and successfully juggles many stories at once. However, […]
In his debut feature, Jonathan Glazer masterfully subverts our expectations of heist movies to thrilling effect: what should be a perfunctory moment — the classic recruitment scene — is stretched out into nearly an entire film of its own here, and we’re not off the edge of our seat for even a second of it. […]
Despite being colorful and full of music like many Bollywood films, there’s a noirish sensibility to Talaash that makes it stand out. The plot takes on a familiar investigation. The protagonist, portrayed by Aamir Khan, is broody and jaded due to grief. And of course, there’s a femme fatale portrayed by Kareena Kapoor Khan, who […]
Oh, forbidden love. There are many a film centered around that intense, passionate experience, but that’s because there’s something so beautiful about love thriving despite anything that could come between the two lovers. It’s gorgeously captured in A Moment of Romance. While the melodramatic plot would be familiar, the remarkable images are not, styled with […]
There is a lot to admire about this revenge film from director Mouly Surya—the breathtaking shots of rural Indonesia, the grisly practicality of the titular Marlina, the relevant observations on gender politics, and the simple yet stylistic way all of this is revealed. Fans of Westerns and Spaghetti Westerns are also treated with an Eastern […]
Long before his battles with King Kong, this sci-fi classic set the foundations of what was to become the world’s longest running film franchise. It’s an interesting rewatch, decades later. That’s not because the monster in the title is huge and awesome, though it certainly helped when it finally emerged from the water. No, what […]
It’s a miracle that an animated series like Samurai Jack was ever made—much less allowed to endure—on a children’s network: barely any dialogue, action that approaches the realm of the avant-garde, and storytelling that doesn’t rely on jokes or moral lessons. For its first four seasons that aired from 2001 to 2003, it barely had […]
Crime thrillers have plenty of cops undercover, so Hong Kong’s Protégé won’t be the most unique and extraordinary entry that we’ve ever seen in the genre. But, that doesn’t mean it’s a bad movie. It’s a bit formulaic, but the film takes what’s best about the genre– the life-or-death stakes, the drama inherent in mistrust […]
Mystery films and whodunits have placed the rich and powerful in their crosshairs for generations now, and Murder Mubarak proudly follows in that tradition through a tried and tested formula. So while there isn’t anything particularly surprising here, the film nails the tone it needs, smartly placing the focus away from the central crime and […]
In Ken Loach’s conspiracy thriller, an American human rights activist (Frances McDormand) and a no-nonsense UK police officer (Brian Cox) work tirelessly to uncover the truth behind a suspicious death — but this is no rousing triumph of good over evil, only a bitter pill about corruption and complicity. Human rights lawyer Paul (Brad Dourif) […]
Very violent, very Western, and, in a breath of fresh air: very female. Godless is a grim and visually stunning series about a small New Mexico town populated almost entirely by women, including Alice Fletcher, a reserved and self-reliant widow played by Michelle Dockery. Roy Goode (played by Jeff Daniels, who won an Emmy for […]
Steven Soderbergh’s Black Bag has almost everything you’d expect from a spy movie: explosions, betrayal, sexual tension, and beautiful actors. The plot, too, which involves a software program that could trigger nuclear war, is nothing new. But what makes Black Bag an enjoyable treat is less content and more delivery. Black Bag is swift and […]
In 1994, Danish auteur Lars von Trier came up with a TV series called The Kingdom, an absurd supernatural comedy that takes place in a rundown hospital in Copenhagen. The show was well-received enough to warrant a second season, but just as von Trier was polishing up the third and final installment, the deaths of […]
Some of the best novels of all time will probably take a few pages to introduce their premise, backstory, and key characters, and might demand some patience until the plot fully unfolds. This might be a hard sell in today’s world of short attention-spans, but some stories just need the time. Rectify is one of […]
Undefeated won an Oscar but since it’s a documentary, few sadly paid attention to it. It tells the story of a football team in a poor area in Tennessee. Kids without a bright future, until the new coach arrives. Yes, that sounds like a very old, cliché tale. But keep in mind it is a […]
Striking, epic, and occasionally gruesome, Sword of the Stranger is an excellent film about ronin redemption. From the title alone, the film promises and delivers thrilling sword-fighting sequences from the titular stranger Nanashi (or “no name” in Japanese). His bouts with Ming Chinese warriors, as well as the Caucasian Luo-Lang, are so graceful, yet at […]
Combining elements of a police procedural with other action-thriller quirks, Tracker stands as a familiar but nevertheless competently made drama that sits snugly between easy viewing and harder-edged entertainment for adults. With only a few episodes out at the time of this writing, the jury’s still out on whether Tracker will be able to focus […]
Bad Lieutenant is no misnomer: Harvey Keitel’s policeman really is one of NYPD’s worst. Already corrupt, abrasive, and abusive at the film’s outset, the movie chronicles his coked-out descent into total depravity after he’s called to investigate a heinous crime amid rapidly worsening personal circumstances. The brilliance of Bad Lieutenant is therefore a counterintuitive one: […]
Due to the fictional romantic subplot and the need to explain the historical background, it takes around half its runtime for North Face to get to where they want to go. For some viewers, that might be too long. But for others, the lengthy set-up eventually rewards them with an exhilarating adventure, as the two […]
When A Better Tomorrow was released, its producers expected a box office bomb. It was more melodramatic than most action films prior, and the cast was not well known then. Instead, this gangster flick became a surprise box office hit. The reasons it was expected to fail were also the very reasons it succeeded, as […]
Look, Short Sharp Shock is standard crime thriller stuff. The plot has been done before– an ex-convict trying to keep himself from the underground, but still gets pulled into it by his friends– and you can tell in some shots that it takes inspiration from classic American gangster films. But, by the time of its […]
Often deemed as South Asian John Wick, Monkey Man, of course, has plenty of the stylish action that’s been captivating today’s filmmakers and audiences alike. Dev Patel, now writing and directing alongside leading the film, created a crazy combination of action sequences that mess around with perspective, that’s fuelled by insane choreography, and that take […]
While the mixed reception of its near-faithful American remake Vanilla Sky might make some viewers pause, there’s an intuitive brilliance in the Spanish original Open Your Eyes that isn’t easy to translate. Sure, the apparent differences help– it’s shorter and less complicated, and Cesar’s face turns more grotesque than David’s does. But what’s startling about […]
Even a director of William Friedkin’s caliber had his work cut out for him with this remake of the towering 1957 drama tracking a jury’s fraught deliberations in an apparently open-and-shut murder trial. Wisely, he changes little: most of the incisive dialogue remains the same, and the film still only takes place in one sweltering […]
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Sneaky Pete is probably the Amazon Prime Original that suffers the most from the platform’s awkward branding. Had it been on Netflix, your co-workers wouldn’t stop talking about it. Four years after the finale of the mighty Breaking Bad aired, Bryan Cranston is back with some thrilling, far-fetched, but furiously entertaining TV. A con man […]
The 2000s film Sexy Beast, is already a niche entry in the crime comedy genre, so if you’re going to make a prequel about it, it better be good. This 2024 series unfortunately is not it. Whereas the film’s performances were explosive and dynamic, the show’s were derivative and cartoonish. Fans of the original will […]
When it wants to be, City Hunter is a fun neon-lit buddy cop comedy that giddily and at times gorily takes us through the seedy underbelly of Tokyo. Leading man Ryo is charismatic, the perfect blend of cool and comedic, while leading woman Kaori is just as adept and charming. The film is also as […]
Created during his divorce and his exile from his native then-communist Poland, Possession is Andrzej Żuławski’s best known feature. It’s absolutely terrifying. It’s not because there are plenty of ghosts, zombies, or werewolves, though there is a tentacled creature so gory and gruesome that escapes explanation. It’s because of how tormented its unlucky protagonists get, […]
More a recounting of the matches and key moments of the 2023 Six Nations season (albeit from a more personal point of view) than a more analytical documentary series, Full Contact nevertheless delivers where it matters most. By never privileging one team’s experience over another, the series establishes a different set of stakes for every […]
When reading the premise, Tokyo Fist seems, at first glance, like the primordial eclectic mix of Challengers and Fight Club, with tennis swapped for boxing, and with sweat swapped for bruises. The film is entirely centered on a love triangle spurred on by a sport, with both players out to settle their rivalry, triggered again […]
With an acrobat in a sanitarium, elephant trunks spouting blood, and a religious cult whose patron saint is a rape victim, Santa Sangre isn’t going to be an easy watch, especially with the avant-garde direction of the iconic Alejandro Jodorowsky. It’s tough to watch the explicit scenes, both of Fenix’s childhood circus reality and his […]
Produced by David E. Kelley, one of the most prolific TV writer-producers and the mastermind behind Boston Legal, Picket Fences, and, more recently, the amazing HBO show Big Little Lies, Goliath follows Billy McBride, a formerly brilliant but washed-up lawyer, who becomes an alcoholic after having acquitted somebody who went on to kill an entire […]
A 40 minute, often jaw-dropping movie about an innocent man accused of killing a teenage girl and the attempt to clear him from the murder. The man in question is Juan Catalan, a young father of two who had had a fair share of interactions with the law. His brother had recently been convicted for […]
Best known for landmark cyberpunk anime Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo crafted strange and terrifying visions of a world that has not yet come, imagining technology that surpassed that of today, but in much pessimistic light compared to that of the genre. Three of his manga short stories are depicted in Memories, with Otomo partnering with Kōji […]
If you are a fan of Hong Kong martial arts films, you probably already know who Jet Li is. The iconic action star has plenty of great titles in his filmography but the work that shot him to continent-wide stardom was Once Upon a Time in China, and for good reason. His competitive background in […]
First released in 1998, HBO’s From the Earth to the Moon is a fittingly epic series that captures the magnitude of NASA’s missions to the moon. It’s equally informative and dramatic, featuring more real-life characters than you can track and more information than you can sometimes process. Thankfully, Tom Hanks appears at the start of […]
A Danish cargo ship is hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. The pirates demand millions of dollars in ransom and from there on, a psychological drama between the pirates and the ship owner develops, as they negotiate the price for the ship and its crew. A really great thing about this film is […]
When we think about dog films, we think about overly sentimental, feel-good flicks, with the dogs sometimes voiced by famous actors, that affirm the relationship between man and his best friend. White God is a dog movie, but it’s not that kind of dog movie. The dogs are not voiced, but yet they feel so […]
