SuspenseA story that slowly generates feelings of anxiety, anticipation and uncertainty in the audience. Common elements: slower pace, heightened anticipation, audience knows more than main character, dramatic music.
Pacing is the most obvious way to define these genres, which is why I grouped them together initially. Think of it as a sliding scale, with Suspense on the low side, Action-Adventure on the high side, and Thriller somewhere in the middle.
Suspense, with its focus on anxiety and building tension, can have a much more mundane set of external events while focusing on the internal conflicts or employing dramatic tension (see below.) Action-adventure is on the other end of the spectrum with more overt conflicts between two opposing forces, be it a conflict with a nefarious villain or the natural environment as in disaster movies.
Thrillers fall in-between by having a more action-oriented plot than suspense, while still digging into the complex psychological aspects that make suspense so engaging for the reader. You want to capture that edge-of-your seat feeling here more than either of the other two genres. In terms of content, thrillers are one of the hardest genres to define because they blend so well with other genres:
That's resulted in a bumper crop of superior thrillers and suspense movies from every era of the genre's history, starting with the advent of sound. A good handful of directors and actors have made names for themselves for their work within the thriller genre, including titanic figures of the film industry, like Alfred Hitchcock, David Lynch, and Anthony Hopkins.
Updated by Arthur Goyaz on June 5, 2024: Thriller and suspense movies sure know how to keep viewers on the edge of their seats. This list was updated to add more movie recommendations and to reflect CBR's current formatting standards.
Starring a young Viggo Mortensen and Lindsay Duncan, The Reflecting Skin is centered around Seth, a young boy convinced his next-door neighbor, a lonely widow, is a vampire. As mysterious murders start happening in the county, a maddening darkness gradually takes over the sunny afternoons of Idaho's countryside.
Set in the 1950s, The Reflecting Skin sets up a vampire thriller where the presence of the creature is only merely suggested. That's because the movie is set almost entirely in broad daylight. In that sense, viewers find themselves captive of Seth's fertile imagination as a lingering danger evolves into a violent series of crimes. Beyond its intense premise lies an effective anti-war message through the character of Mortensen, a veteran suffering from the consequences of nuclear testing.
Call it a hard-boiled thriller, a cold action movie, or even a horror story, few movies in recent memory are as intense as Brawl in Cell Block 99. Suspense drives the narrative in unexpected directions when Bradley Thomas gets caught in a police shootout and finds himself at the mercy of his enemies. Locked behind bars, he has a bloody path ahead to accomplish a life-threatening mission: find a way to be sent to a maximum-security prison and kill an assigned target there.
Violence escalates in a gruesome fashion in Brawl in Cell Block 99. Vince Vaughn is terrifying as a ruthless anti-hero impossible not to root for, even though he spends the entire movie consumed by unspeakable rage. As far as the film's intensity goes, viewers will have a hard time predicting what direction Brawl in Cell Block 99 will go next, making for a hypnotic watch.
Directed by legendary crime filmmaker Jean-Pierre Melville, Army of Shadows is a movie set at the height of World War II, blending espionage thriller with a bleak revenge story. The movie follows Philippe Gerbier, who escapes from a Nazi prison camp and goes after the man who ratted him out. Surrounded by enemies from all sides, Gerbier fights a silent battle against the Nazis and himself.
An oppressive atmosphere of suspicion and danger envelops Army of Shadows from beginning to end. The constant threat of unseen enemies is more aggressive than the actual enemies, hence the Army of Shadows title, conducting intense action in moments of quietude and inertia. The film sets up a gut-wrenching finale, illustrating the bleak reality of the few who manage to survive.
Kiyoshi Kurosawa knows how to make every movie feel like the most devastating thing one's ever seen, taking advantage of a hopeless tone in every frame. Cure revolves around a series of brutal murders sweeping Tokyo, causing Detective Takabe to go down a rabbit hole in search of subtle connections between the killings and their mysterious perpetrator.
Cure is a thriller deep-rooted in horror, unfolding through an eerie game of cat and mouse. In the shattered psyche of a quiet and hopeless young man, the movie finds evil in its purest form. Cure's psychologically charged suspense relies on ambiguity to dissect humanity's darkest impulses, diving into the unknown with a surprisingly grounded narrative.
One of the most revered movies to premiere at Cannes in the past years, Burning is a thriller suspense movie that sets up a lighthearted story on the surface, only to take a mysterious dark turn halfway through. It follows young Jongsu struggling to make a living when he meets Haemi. A romance sparks between them, but their relationship is threatened when Haemi returns from a trip abroad with Ben, a charming friend with a mysterious hobby.
Burning might be the best adaptation of a Haruki Murakami short story. It takes its time exploring the characters before jumping into nail-biting suspense, where both the main characters and the audience find themselves completely disoriented by how things turn out. Subtle and thought-provoking, but also cruel in its own terms, Burning's lack of answers will strike viewers as surprisingly satisfying.
Your blog brilliantly dissects the intricacies of popular plot tropes in psychological thrillers, offering keen insights that enhance our appreciation for the genre. A must-read for any suspense enthusiast!
A great psychological thriller is notable for containing dark, engrossing, and suspenseful plot-driven stories. It keeps its viewers captivated from the beginning until the end when the plot finally unfolds. Yet sometimes, it is easy to overlook the finer details, which viewers may only pick up after a second viewing. Thrillers such as No Country For Old Men draw viewers back thanks to its unique combination of startling violence and darkly humorous edge. Other thriller movies, like Get Out, warrant a revisit due to their complex layers and masterful symbolism.
During the first viewing, a thriller will give its audience heightened feelings of suspense, excitement, anticipation, and anxiety, which means viewers may initially overlook subtle hints. Only during a re-watch will a viewer be more open to accessing the true identity of the film's main antagonistic force. Although the initial surprise has passed, viewers can now focus on different facets of the movie. Certain thrillers are true cinematic masterpieces and deserve a re-watch, which can reward the audience with even greater reveals. Fans looking for these films to revisit will be glad to know there's no shortage of gripping thriller movies to watch out there.
A biting satire of the fine dining industry as well as the food documentary genre, the film manages to shock and scare audiences with its delightfully thrilling twists and turns. Anya-Taylor Joy's stellar performance manages to stand out among the star-studded cast, all of whom wonderfully embrace their darkly comedic roles. The film is worth watching over and over again to laugh and be mortified by the wild events that happen that evening, not to mention the subtle clues hidden throughout the movie.
The psychological thriller American Psycho showcases Christian Bale's stellar performance as the sadistic Patrick Bateman. From the outset, Patrick appears to be a clean-cut businessman, but this illusion quickly dissipates as the character reveals his true self. What eventuates is a surreal nightmare filled with brutal violence.
What begins as a typical thriller soon becomes one of complexity due to its perplexing ending. During the initial viewing, American Psycho's plot twists confused many fans leaving many questions unanswered. This alone is sufficient to re-watch and uncover further clues throughout the film.
Jordan Peele's directorial debut in the psychological thriller Get Out carries its audience along a twisted yet engrossing and entertaining journey. This suspenseful, thought-provoking social thriller is deeply unsettling to watch. As the theme explores benevolent racism, the film makes its viewer feel a growing sense of unease and horror.
However, there is much more to the suspenseful movie Get Out than initially meets the eye. The film contains numerous symbols and imagery, including the unsettling Swahili song, "Sikiliza." This song plays predominantly at the film's beginning and finale, translating into a warning for the main protagonist. Get Out works on so many levels, and its true meaning can only be fully revealed by re-watching this critically acclaimed masterpiece.
Mulholland Drive is a memorable and haunting film that carries viewers along both a surreal and nightmarish depiction of Hollywood. The perplexing thriller purposefully leaves room for interpretation, and double meanings, warranting repeat watches, and further discussion.
Science-fiction thriller Donnie Darko is a disturbing cult classic that deals with many themes, including mental health conditions, violence, destiny, and time travel. Following a bizarre and nearly tragic incident, troubled teenager Donnie (Jake Gyllenhaal) begins to hallucinate a life-sized rabbit named Frank. As the film progresses, visions soon drive Donnie into a state of darkness and frustration.
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