35 of the best thrillers you can't tear yourself away from

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Cult directors and talented debutants will make you fidget in your chair until the credits.

Lifehacker has collected iconic films from several generations of directors: from Alfred Hitchcock to Alex Garland. All of them received high marks from viewers and critics and firmly settled in numerous tops. Most of the paintings were nominated for prestigious awards.

1. Joker

• USA, Canada, 2019.
• Thriller, drama, crime.
• Duration: 122 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 9.

Shy Arthur Fleck suffers from uncontrollable fits of laughter, moonlights as a clown and dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian. But it is increasingly difficult for him to contact others, and problems in life are accumulating. As a result, the hero begins to lose touch with reality and turns into the Joker.

2. Fight club

• Thriller, drama.
• USA, Germany, 1999.
• Duration: 131 minutes
• IMDb: 8, 8.

The hero spends his time on an unloved job and cannot even get enough sleep. But everything changes after meeting with a soap dealer named Tyler Durden. He convinces the hero that the main and only goal of life is self-destruction. Then friends open "Fight Club" - a secret place where anyone can come to fight.

3. Silence of the Lambs

• Thriller, detective.
• USA, 1990.
• Duration: 114 minutes
• IMDb: 8, 6.

FBI agent Clarissa Starling tries to catch a maniac peeling the skin from his victims. Only the genius Hannibal Lecter, a killer and cannibal in prison, is able to help her in her search.

4. Seven

• Thriller, drama, detective.
• USA, 1995.
• Duration: 127 minutes
• IMDb: 8, 6.

A neo-noir thriller by David Fincher about two fellow detectives - retired William Somerset and young David Mills. Together they are looking for a maniac who chooses his victims based on biblical sins.

5. Window to the courtyard

• USA, 1954.
• Detective, thriller.
• Duration: 112 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 5.

The film by the legendary Alfred Hitchcock is dedicated to a photographer who was literally locked at home after a broken leg. Out of boredom, he watches the neighbors from the window. And gradually it begins to seem to him that a murder has taken place in the apartment opposite.

6. Psycho

• Thriller, detective, horror.
• USA, 1960.
• Duration: 109 minutes
• IMDb: 8, 5.

One of the most famous films by Alfred Hitchcock. Mary Crane, dissatisfied with her lover, escapes with a large sum of money. Along the way, she decides to take a break at a motel run by a nice young man, Norman Bates. But she doesn't even know what this night will turn out to be for her.

7. Suspicious persons

• Thriller, drama, detective.
• USA, Germany, 1995.
• Duration: 106 minutes
• IMDb: 8, 6.

One of the best pictures by Brian Singer. The explosion on the ship carrying cocaine injured several dozen people. The police are trying to find out the cause of the incident and interrogate the only surviving witness - a cripple nicknamed Chatterbox. And he talks about a large-scale conspiracy, in the center of which is the elusive mafia boss.

8. Prestige

• Thriller, drama, fantasy.
• USA, UK, 2006.
• Duration: 125 minutes
• IMDb: 8, 5.

In the center of the plot of the painting by Christopher Nolan, the illusionists Alfred Borden and Robert Engier. They were once friends, but competition and a love triangle have turned them into bitter enemies. And now each of them is ready not only to disrupt the opponent's performance, but also to endanger the lives of his loved ones.

9. Apostates

• Thriller, drama, crime.
• USA, Hong Kong, 2006.
• Duration: 151 minutes
• IMDb: 8, 5.

Martin Scorsese's remake of the Hong Kong film "Castling Double" follows two graduates from the Police Academy. One of them was sent to law enforcement agencies by the mafia to leak data. Another is specially arrested in order to become one of the gang members and inform the police.

10. Remember

• Thriller, detective, drama.
• USA, 2000.
• Duration: 113 minutes
• IMDb: 8, 5.

Leonard Shelby is looking for his wife's killer. The search is complicated by a rare form of amnesia: Leonard remembers everything that happened before the murder, but is unable to say what happened 15 minutes ago.

11. Oldboy

• Thriller, detective.
• South Korea, 2003.
• Duration: 120 minutes
• IMDb: 8, 4.

The businessman O Dae-su is kidnapped by unknown persons and placed in a private prison. For 15 years he has been living in solitary confinement and only learns about events in the world through television. After the unexpected release of freedom, the hero's only goal is revenge.

12. Dizziness

• Thriller, melodrama, detective.
• USA, 1958.
• Duration: 128 minutes
• IMDb: 8, 3.

After the death of partner Scotty Ferguson was out of work due to prolonged depression and pathological fear of heights. He leaves the profession, but an old acquaintance hires a hero to follow his wife. Scotty saves a woman from suicide and realizes that he has fallen in love with her.

13. Taxi driver

• Thriller, drama.
• USA, 1976.
• Duration: 114 minutes
• IMDb: 8, 3.

The great Robert De Niro plays former Marine Travis Bickle. He suffers from chronic insomnia and therefore works as a night taxi driver. He meets many people and is constantly faced with filth and cruelty. And then Binkle buys weapons and decides to cleanse the city of crime himself.

14. Sixth Sense

• USA, 1999.
• Thriller, drama, detective.
• Duration: 107 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

Child psychiatrist Malcolm Crowe meets an unusual boy, Cole, who sees the ghosts of people who have not realized their death. Everyone thinks that the child is just hallucinations, but Crowe understands: this is really a way to connect with the other world.

15. No Country for Old Men

• Thriller, drama, crime.
• USA, 2007.
• Duration: 122 minutes
• IMDb: 8, 1.

In the darkest film of the Coen brothers, simple guy Llewelin Moss discovers a truck full of corpses and heroin. And besides that, there is also a bag with two million dollars. The hero decides to keep the money for himself, not even suspecting that he is already being tracked down by the assassin Anton Chigur.

16. Isle of the Damned

• USA, 2010.
• Psychological thriller, detective.
• Duration: 138 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

The bailiffs are sent to a psychiatric hospital on a closed island. They have to figure out the circumstances of the patient's disappearance, but it seems that the hospital staff themselves are trying to hide the evidence. On top of that, a hurricane hits the island that cuts off the heroes from the rest of the world.

17. Prisoners

• USA, 2013.
• Thriller, drama, detective.
• Duration: 153 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

Keller Dover's daughter goes for a walk with a friend and disappears. The first suspect - the feeble-minded Alex - is caught very quickly, but the police do not have enough evidence to arrest him. And then the girl's father decides to rule the court himself.

18. Disappeared

• USA, 2014.
• Thriller, drama, detective.
• Duration: 149 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 1.

The lives of Nick and Amy Dunn seemed quite rosy. But on the fifth wedding anniversary, the wife disappears. At first, everything looks like a kidnapping, but gradually the police begin to suspect the husband of murder.

19. Night of the Hunter

• USA, 1955.
• Thriller, drama.
• Duration: 92 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

The father of young John and Pearl is arrested and sentenced to death for robbing and killing two people. In prison, he tells a cellmate about the hidden money. And he decides to marry the widow of the executed in order to get to the cache. In fact, only children know about the whereabouts of the money.

20. Black Swan

• USA, 2010.
• Drama, thriller.
• Duration: 103 minutes.
• IMDb: 8, 0.

Stunning director Darren Aronofsky talks about ballerina Nina Sayers, who recently became the prima of the theater. The only problem is that she lacks self-confidence and relaxedness. And before the production of Swan Lake, a competitor also appears in the troupe.

21. Mulholland Drive

• USA, 2001.
• Thriller, drama, detective.
• Duration: 147 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

Having survived the accident, the heroine loses her memory. She accidentally wanders into the home of aspiring actress Betty, who decides to help her remember the past. The girls are getting closer, and what is happening around them becomes more and more surreal.

22. Stringer

• USA, 2014.
• Thriller, drama, crime.
• Duration: 118 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 9.

Former thief Louis Bloom is struggling to find a job. One day he sees a film crew arrive at the scene of the accident, and this inspires the hero to become a reporter. But in pursuit of hot stories, he can cross the line of what is permissible.

23. Misery

• USA, 1990.
• Horror, thriller, drama.
• Duration: 107 minutes
• IMDb: 7, 8.

A popular writer finds himself in the house of a woman who claims to have saved him from death. Quite by accident, she turns out to be a big fan of him.

24. Game

• USA, 1997.
• Thriller, drama, detective.
• Duration: 129 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 8.

Wealthy banker Nicholas Van Orton suffers from depression and loneliness. In order to somehow diversify his everyday life, he decides to take part in a mysterious game. Its conditions are incomprehensible, and soon Nicholas's life turns into a series of tests.

25. Primal Fear

• USA, 1996.
• Thriller, drama, detective.
• Duration: 130 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

A frightened young guy is found near the place of the archbishop's murder. He denies all charges, and lawyer Martin Weil is taken to defend him, hoping to strengthen his reputation on a high-profile trial. The situation is complicated by the fact that the prosecutor is Veil's former mistress, and the defendant has personality disorders.

26. The machinist

• USA, Spain, 2004.
• Thriller.
• Duration: 97 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

Trevor Resnick has been unable to sleep for a year. He turned into a living skeleton and hardly distinguishes reality from hallucinations. And then the visions begin to influence everyday events.

27. Zodiac

• USA, 2007.
• Thriller, drama, detective.
• Duration: 158 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7

The maniac, nicknamed the Zodiac, after each murder leaves messages to journalists that should lead to his trail. Several employees of a large newspaper decide to help the police in identifying the criminal.

28. Operation "Argo"

• USA, 2012.
• Thriller, drama, biography.
• Duration: 120 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

Iranian Islamists seize the US embassy in Tehran and take 52 Americans hostage. Those who escaped manage to hide in the house of the Canadian Ambassador. And now a CIA agent is trying to come up with a plan to evacuate them. As a result, a completely insane idea appears: to disguise the removal of employees as the shooting of the movie "Argo".

29. Out of the car

• UK, 2014.
• Science fiction, thriller, drama.
• Duration: 108 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 7.

Alex Garland's directorial debut. An eccentric billionaire invites a young programmer to his mansion. He must use the Turing test to check the thought process of the new robot. But the car looks like a seductive young girl.

30. I've had enough

• USA, France, UK, 1992.
• Thriller, drama, crime.
• Duration: 113 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

William's life is full of failures: he was kicked out of work, it is forbidden to meet with his daughter. Stuck in a traffic jam on a hot day, he breaks loose and wreaks havoc at a nearby store. And now William can no longer stop: too much has accumulated inside.

31. American Psycho

• USA, Canada, 2000.
• Drama, thriller.
• Duration: 101 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 6.

Patrick Bateman looks perfect: he is energetic, caring for himself, politely communicating with people. But one day he meets a homeless man on the street and kills him. Crime awakens a latent passion for violence in Patrick.

32. Accomplice

• USA, 2004.
• Thriller, drama.
• Duration: 120 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 5.

A strange man gets into the taxi driver's car. He wants to go around five places where he needs to fulfill urgent orders. It is soon revealed that the client is a hitman. But because of the threat to his own life, the driver has to become his assistant.

33. The Talented Mr. Ripley

• USA, 1999.
• Thriller, drama.
• Duration: 139 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

Young and determined Tom Ripley is hired by one of the richest people in America.. The customer asks the young man to go to Italy and convince his son Dicky Greenleaf to return home. Tom quickly gains confidence in the young man, but is too carried away by a luxurious life and decides to take Dickie's place.

34. Eyes Wide Shut

• UK, USA, 1999.
• Thriller, drama, detective.
• Duration: 159 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 4.

In the family life of Bill and Alice Harford, there has long been no passion. Mired in boredom and jealousy, they decide to embody their erotic fantasies on the side. But gradually the heroes go too far.

35. Insomnia

• USA, Canada, 2002.
• Thriller, drama, detective.
• Duration: 118 minutes.
• IMDb: 7, 2.

After the accidental death of a partner, police officer Will Dormer cannot sleep. But despite this, he is trying to solve a convoluted murder. However, things get more complicated when the criminal himself makes contact with the detective.