The best thrillers on Amazon Prime Video right now | Digital Trends (2024)

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Rear Window (1954)

A maestro of the thriller genre, director Alfred Hitchco*ck was busy during every decade of his life, with the 1950s giving us one of the auteur’s most renowned films, Rear Window. Adapted from the 1942 Cornell Woolrich short story It Had to Be Murder, leading man Jimmy Stewart stars as Jeff Jefferies, a photojournalist recovering from a recent leg surgery. Confined to his Greenwich Village apartment, Jefferies takes to people-watching as a hobby, until tragedy strikes. Witnessing what he believes to be a murder in a neighboring building, Jeff becomes obsessed with the horrors he believes to have occurred a stone’s throw away from his home. Considered one of the best thrillers of all time, Rear Window is a pure cinematic triumph.

Wolf Creek (2005)

Wolf Creek is a very unpleasant reminder that sometimes tourism should be confined to amusem*nt parks and museums. In the 2005 film, our hapless victims are a group of backpackers who take a trip into the Australian outback. They encounter a friendly bushman who offers to help with a car repair, and as one can guess, he starts picking off the travelers one by one. Still giving us chills all these years later, Wolf Creek is an unsettling journey from start to finish.

The Perfect Host (2010)

In co-writer/director Nicholas Tomnay’s 2010 film The Perfect Host, viewers will be treated to one of the most unusual and unnerving dinner events of the century. Our story begins when on-the-run felon John Taylor (Clayne Crawford) crashes the dinner party of one Warwick Wilson (David Hyde Pierce). Pretending to have survived a robbery, John’s ruse only goes as far as the glass of red wine offered to him by the kind proprietor. It turns out the drink was drugged, and Mr. Wilson may have a few screws loose. Featuring a tour de force performance from Frasier star Hyde Pierce, The Perfect Host will keep you guessing from start to finish.

Memento (2000)

Road House (2024)

Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this 100-mile-per-hour remake of the 980s cult phenomenon. Our story follows ex-UFC fighter Dalton (Gyllenhaal), who takes a job as a bouncer at a seedy Florida roadhouse. As he attempts to settle into the new role, the establishment’s frequently unruly occupants decide to make Dalton’s life a living hell. And of course, the only answers are kicks and punches. It’s not high-brow cinema by any means, but if you’re looking for a total adrenaline blast that never relents, Road Houseshould be your first consideration.

I Think We're Alone Now (2018)

Directed by Reed Morano from a script by Mike Makowsky, I Think We’re Alone Now stars Peter Dinklage as Del, a survivor of a sudden world-ending event that eradicates most of mankind, save for a woman named Grace (Elle Fanning, star of the Sofia Coppola movies Somewhere and The Beguiled). After discovering her unconscious inside her own car, Del nurses Grace back to life, at which point, the two learn to start living together. More of a tour de force for Dinklage and Fanning than a groundbreaking new take on the postapocalyptic tale, I Think We’re Alone Now has some brilliant performances you definitely don’t want to miss.

Take Shelter (2011)

The sophom*ore effort of writer-director Jeff Nichols, Take Shelter stars Michael Shannon and Jessica Chastain as Curtis and Samantha, parents to a girl named Hannah with a hearing disability. When Curtis starts having horrific visions of a world-ending storm, paranoia starts taking over his life. But are these more than just hallucinations? Nichols delivers a defiant film about family and fear, along with a subtextual reminder of how much money it can cost to stay afraid.

The Descent (2005)

Exploring subterranean caves may not be everyone’s idea of a great time, and it definitely becomes a chief regret of all the characters in the 2005 film The Descent. Following a group of female cave divers as they journey beneath the earth, what starts out as a brave adventure suddenly devolves into a nightmare when the explorers stumble upon blood-hungry monsters living far below. If you’re easily disturbed by confined spaces, you may want to steer clear of this perilous plummet to hells untold.

Foe (2023)

Based on Ian Reid’s 2018 novel of the same name, Foestars Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal as Hen and Junior, a young couple experiencing marital troubles. Living in an alternate future in the country, it seems that rural living proves quite the challenge in 2065. One day, a man named Terrance (Aaron Pierre) arrives, informing Junior that he’s been preselected to journey to an interstellar settlement orbiting Earth. Led by powerhouse performances from Ronan and Mescal, the film explores the idea of leaving civilization as we know it and how it only propels the couple’s downward spiral.

Saltburn (2023)

What hells may wealth bring? This is the question posed and explored in writer-director Emerald Fennell’s Saltburn. Barry Keoghan stars as Oxford student Oliver Quick, who is unmoored and disillusioned in his studies. That is until he strikes up a friendship with devil-may-care aristocrat Felix Catton (Priscilla‘s Jacob Elordi). After accepting an invitation to spend the summer at Felix’s luxurious family estate, he becomes immersed in a whirlwind world of socialites. Keoghan delivers an excellent performance in Fennell’s kaleidoscopic follow-up to Promising Young Woman.

Dark Nature (2023)

When life has got you down, one should retreat to the wilderness, right? In the wake of tribulations, getting more outdoor-time is a great way to push your demons away, unless you’re one of the characters in writer-director Berkley Brady’s 2022 film Dark Nature. Starring Hannah Emily Anderson as Joy, a woman on the mend from an abusive relationship, Joy joins her pal Carmen (Madison Welsh) on a wellness retreat into the Canadian woodlands. Spearheaded by the enigmatic Dr. Carol Dunnley (Kyra Harper), the getaway is soon interrupted by a horrific creature. A fitting exploration of PTSD, Dark Nature may retread similar paths, but is ultimately pushed a notch above the rest by its strong female cast.

The Wall (2012)

What would you do if you were cut off from the rest of civilization by an invisible wall? Short of panicking, most of us would have no clue, but these are the cards dealt to our main character in writer-director Julian Pölsler’s 2012 film The Wall. Starring Martina Gedeck as the unnamed protagonist, when our hero discovers the titular barrier between her and the rest of the world, the woman and her dog Lynx are forced into survival mode as nature starts taking over. Will she succumb to the unmovable façade, or will she perish? Watching The Wall may be a bit of a slow-going experience at times, but if you’re willing to go along with the nearly two-hour runtime, you’ll be privy to quite an amazing performance from Gedeck.

M.O.M. Mothers of Monsters (2020)

In M.O.M. Mothers of Monsters, we get more than your typical found-footage thriller. As viewers, we’re actually signing up for a pretty unique take on the “I think there’s something wrong with my child” narrative. Melinda Page Hamilton stars as Abbey Bell, a mother who fears her teenage son Jacob (played by Bailey Edwards) is plotting a school shooting. But when the boy is able to evade the system, Abbey is forced to act on her suspicions without lawful aid. Admittedly, the title is a bit on the lackluster side, but if you can look past the front cover, there’s a tense and impacting story at the core of M.O.M.

The Swerve (2018)

Once in a blue moon, a solid psychological thriller comes along that truly dips its toes into the world of disturbed and narratively unreliable psyches. Sure, there are plenty of films that try to dive deep into mental hellscapes, but when you see how brilliantly this type of conflict is pulled off by movies like The Swerve, you realize how many other flicks simply miss the mark. Starring Azura Skye as Holly, a high-school teacher, wife, and mother of two, Holly’s life is seemingly good on the surface. That is until a series of strange and hallucinatory events start unfolding around her. Compounded by the many stresses of daily life, including her rebellious children and an unusual student, Holly’s façade begins to crumble as past demons rear their heads. An excellent story of a methodically-paced breakdown, The Swerve is steered by an emotionally arresting lead performance from Skye.

Inside (2023)

Directed by Vasilis Katsoupis from a script by Ben Hopkins, Insidestars Willem Dafoe as cunning art hief Nemo. After a heist goes south, Nemo is forced to hide out in the New York City penthouse he initially invaded do he could rob its out-of-town owner of his Egon Schiele paintings. When Nemo attempts to flee the premises, the high-rise’s security system traps him inside, subjecting the criminal to long days of starvation and hallucinations. Dafoe never delivers a faulty performance, and his egocentric portrayal of Nemo becomes all the more dizzying when the man’s psychosis starts to kick in.

The Boondock Saints (1999)

An adrenaline-heavy cult film like no other, The Boondock Saints stars Sean Patrick Flanery and Norman Reedus as Irish-Catholic siblings Conner and Murphy. Tiring of the crumbling world around them, the brothers summon up all their religious spirit as the modus operandi for a spree of vigilante killings. But as they take down one mobster after another, a whip-smart FBI agent (Willem Dafoe) starts zeroing in on their killing spree. Wearing its influences on its sleeve, Boondock Saints looks and feels like an amalgamation of Tarantino cinema and B-movie action spectacles, a narrative and atmospheric blending that aims to please and does so effectively, at least for the most part.

Thirteen Lives (2022)

In director Ron Howard’s harrowing and emotional Thirteen Lives, is the real-life story of the Wild Boars, a Thai soccer team made up of twelve players and their coach. When the team ventures off into the Tham Luang cave, heavy rains flood the cavern, trapping them inside. After the parents of the boys alert authorities, a globalized rescue effort, comprised of professional divers and other emergency responders, must race against the clock to save the Wild Boars before it’s too late. Dialing in the dramatized strengths from other Howard-honed pictures like Apollo 13, there’s plenty at stake in Thirteen Lives, and the longtime auteur deftly tackles the many anxiety-inducing feats of one of the world’s most death-defying search-and-rescue efforts.

All the Old Knives (2022)

Espionage thrillers make up a unique subset of the genre, and director Janus Metz’ All the Old Knives is a more than fitting contribution to the narrative traditions. ‘ Chris Pine and Thandiwe Newton star as Henry Pelham and Celia Harrison, CIA operatives and ex-lovers who are forced to work together to uncover a mole within the organization’s Vienna satellite location. As the duo closes in on the perpetrator, chemistry resurfaces and past demons arise, leading to some near-insurmountable obstacles that stand in the way of their mission. Pine and Newton are at the top of their game in this one, delivering a dynamic performance fueled by old haunts and new deceit.

Jungle (2017)

A cinematic retelling of Yossi Ghinsberg’s 1981 foray into the Amazon jungle, director Greg McLean’sJunglestars Daniel Radcliffe as Ghinsberg, an Israeli outdoorsman who travels to Bolivia. Taking up a local guide’s offer to venture into the heart of the jungle with a group of fellow adventurers, Ghinsberg’s fight-or-flight instincts are soon put to the test when the expedition goes completely haywire. A tantalizing survival thriller that leans on the desperation and resourcefulness of its core cast, with Radcliffe leading the charge. Junglemay not be the greatest “nature versus man” film, but it’s a gritty and captivating addition to the sub-genre nonetheless.

Lansky (2021)

Meyer Lansky (Harvey Keitel), a notorious crime lord, is on his last leg, a fact that the authorities are all too aware of. Hoping to track down Lansky’s hidden fortune, the Feds do everything in their power to make Lansky talk — and talk he does. In the vein of The Usual Suspects, the patriarchal puppet master begins weaving an intricate tale of his past, with specifics on how he rose to power. Keitel is perfectly cast as Lansky, delivering a tour-de-force performance that carries much of this true-crime thriller.

The Courier (2021)

Based on a true story,The Courierstars Benedict Cumberbatch Greville Wynne, your run-of-the-mill British businessman who’s handed the seemingly impossible task of negotiating with a Soviet spy (Merab Ninidze) to defuse international tensions, a massive effort by the U.K.’s MI-6 to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis. A tactful and rewarding espionage thriller,The Courierfinds Benedict Cumberbatch at the top of his powers, delivering yet another engrossing leading-man performance.

Blow the Man Down (2019)

From writer-director duo Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy, Blow the Man Down is a bleak seaside thriller with black comedy undertones. Siblings Priscilla (Sophie Lowe) and Mary Beth Connolly (Morgan Saylor) aren’t on the greatest of terms after their mother’s funeral. Further complicating their sisterly struggle is a murder they must commit (in self-defense). Disposing of the body, the sisters are far from out of the woods when local law enforcement begins a search for the very man the duo pitched in the ocean. Add to that another body washing up on the shore, and Blow the Man Downsheds a layer to reveal a deeper underbelly of feminist power-playing and malicious intent. A film that builds an immersive tone and atmosphere from the get-go,Blow the Man Downis a whodunit that keeps you drawn in for its 90-minute runtime.

The Handmaiden (2016)

Dubbed an erotic psychological thriller, this South Korean film, also known as Ah-ga-ssi, is inspired by the novel Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, with a change in setting from the Victorian era to Korea during Japanese colonial rule. At the heart of the story is a con man with a sinister plot to seduce a Japanese heiress so he can have her committed and steal her money.

You Were Never Really Here (2017)

Joaquin Phoenix is on point in Lynne Ramsay’sYou Were Never Really Here.The Oscar-winning actor plays Joe, a brutalizer-for-hire, with a specialty in rescuing trafficked girls. Suffering from suicidal thoughts and years of trauma from his childhood through his military career, Joe agrees to a new mission. It’s standard fare: Rescue a senator’s daughter and take down anyone that gets in the way. The only trouble is that those involved are part of a much deeper political conspiracy, and Joe lands right in the middle of the villains and their victims. You Were Never Really Herehas teeth, and it bites — a lot. Those uneasy with gore may want to choose something else on this list. For those that can stomach Joe’s reign of hammer-blows, you’ll be rewarded with a brilliantly directed character study and a mesmerizing lead performance from our latest cinematic Joker.