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The thrill of the chase. The thrill of the kill. The thrill of…watching good thrillers. Yes, the thriller genre is one of the most coveted of cinephiles, as it inspires adrenaline-pumping, thought-provoking cinematic experiences galore. Yet, as the decades progress and more and more films fill the digital shelves, many great thrillers are overlooked, cast aside, and simply forgotten.
That is, until now. Here are the best thrillers released over the last twenty years that most audiences have never encountered. Some dazzle with vibrant action sequences, like the heart-racing Cold Eyes, while others cause the viewer to look more inwardly, such as the introspective Coming Home in the Dark. Whichever way you like your thrills served up, all these little-seen rarities will leave quite the memorable (long overdue) impact.
10
‘No Mercy’ (2010)
Some of the best thrillers put their lead character into, let’s say, “challenging” moral territory. When a scrupulous person is forced to chose between committing a truly reprehensible deed or having their most cherished loved one irreparably hurt, things start to get quite interesting. That’s precisely what occurs in the little-seen Korean psycho-crime thriller No Mercy (Yongseoneun eupda), incisively written and directed by Kim Hyeong-joon.
Kang Min-ho (Sul Kyung-gu) is a venerated forensic pathologist, on the brink of retirement (the ole “just one more case!” situation). When the body of a young lady turns up (cut into horrific pieces), Kang is assigned to the case. A suspect, Lee Sung-ho (Ryu Seung-beom), is brought into custody and confesses…but he’s got a little tidbit of info to share with Kang. Lee has already kidnapped Kang’s daughter and will have her dealt a similar fate to the deceased victim if Kang doesn’t tweak the forensic evidence in a way that exonerates Lee. What’s a guy to do? Obviously, comply with the sicko’s demands…but this story is not nearly that simple. Packed with a multitude of twists and turns, this tension-packed crime thriller definitely deserves a watch.
9
‘The Infernal Machine’ (2022)
It seems nearly impossible that, after the international success of Memento, that its lead, Guy Pearce, could be in another sensational thriller…that nobody has seen. This is especially confounding since this film, The Infernal Machine, boasts an extremely clever pot with a highly compelling protagonist. Andrew Hunt co-wrote and directed this clever little movie, and certainly should be given his flowers for this darkly engaging tale.
Many moons prior, we’re talking a quarter-century, now tortured author Bruce Cogburn (Pearce) penned a best-selling novel (with the same title as the film). This thriller was quite well-received…that is, until some lunatic went on a murder rampage and named the book as the cause. So, Bruce packed up his life and decided to wait out his days in the middle of Nowheresville, USA. Until a new, obsessed fan begins sending him handwritten letters (clearly the mark of a loon — who writes letters anymore?), implicating Bruce in the murders by suggesting that he encoded a secret message in the book. As Bruce’s (sad) life unravels even more, the tension rises to unprecedented levels. The gritty, visceral feel of this film really gets under one’s skin, and Pearce does a phenomenal job of conveying his guilt, regret, and longing to simply forget the past…which, ultimately, just isn’t possible.
8
‘Cold Eyes’ (2013)
Ah, the ever-so-fun “cat and mouse game” thriller. Writer-directors Kim Byung-seo and Jo Ui-seok employ this classic thriller trope with giddy delight in the hardly-seen Korean diamond in the rough Cold Eyes (Gamsijadeul). Indeed, they take the age-old cops and robbers motif and modernize it with technological advancements in the world of crime-fighting that coalesce to create an action-crammed crime thriller that should’ve garnered way more praise.
Three is not necessarily a crowd when it comes to central characters in a film. Cold Eyes does a great job of engaging the audience with three distinct leads, all with their own agendas. Chief Detective Hwang Sang-jun (Sul Kyung-gu) is a gruff yet caring vet of the police department, Ha Yoon-ju (Han Hyo-joo) is a rookie with a sharp intellect and powers of perception, and James (Jung Woo-sung) is the madman genius crook who leads a cache of highly successful bank robbers. With both the good guys and the bad guys wielding tech in their diametrically opposed pursuits, this slick, sleek metro movie is brimming with high-wire action and flagrantly fun set pieces. The bustling streets of Seoul are the perfect backdrop for this high-octane, visually boisterous film, as the talented filmmakers utilize every nook and cranny with ingenuity.
7
‘The Lost Patient’ (2022)
Memory loss is one of the most frustrating things ever. Add to that the fact that basically your whole family has been murdered, and it’s even more of a bummer. That’s what happened to the main character in Christophe Charrier’s chilling French thriller The Lost Patient (Le patient). It’s a fantastically structured, albeit frustrating story that’s delivered with a critical eye and a razor-sharp lens.
Thomas (Txomin Vergez) is naturally a bit groggy…when he wakes from a coma that he was in for three years. His mind is a fractured mess, and when he learns that his family has been slaughtered in a brutal attack (which also left him comatose), his world is shattered. However, his sister, Laura (Rebecca Williams) is still missing (it seems), so it’s imperative that Thomas try to piece together the tragic details of the incident. With the apparent aid of his hypnosis-loving therapist, Anna Kieffer (Clotilde Hesme), Thomas struggles to not only relive the fateful night, but also delve deeper into his family’s past, to unearth the truth about why all this happened. With tons of misdirects and false memories popping up, this film causes the viewer to be just as disoriented and anxious as Thomas, but it’s all worth it in the end when the brutal (astounding — ooh la la) truth is revealed.
6
‘The Dirties’ (2013)
Every once in a while, a film attempts to subvert its own apparent genre, well into its runtime. This can have a confusing effect on viewers at times, but when it’s done successfully: *chef’s kiss. This is what director/co-writer/star Matt Johnson set out to accomplish with the found-footage masterwork The Dirties, and he certainly pulled it off, with a flourish.
The story is centered on two high school goofballs, Matt (Johnson) and Owen (Owen Williams), who are relentlessly bullied by a gang of grimy thugs at their school, deemed by themselves “The Dirties.” Gross. The two protagonists (who, incidentally, seem to be playing themselves, which always adds some neat reality/fiction blurring) decide to make a “documentary” about how they are going to get retribution against these little scoundrels. So, it starts off quite comically, but then, as Matt becomes further entrenched in the “project” (and obsessed with it), things get darker and darker. It becomes unclear if the violence they are filming is staged…or something far worse. This film is simply found-footage done right (which puts it in a very elite category in the oversaturated, often atrocious sub-genre).
5
‘What Josiah Saw’ (2021)
Trauma. It’s not only a buzzword of the moment, it’s the foundation for many a great psychological thriller — and deep-rooted familial trauma is often the most profound. In director Vincent Grashaw’s inexplicably overlooked Southern gothic stunner What Josiah Saw, themes of the aforementioned trauma are explored with bone-chilling results.
The folky tale is centered on a fractured family, where the children, after having fled decades prior, are summoned back to the ole homestead after a big bad oil company wants to take over the property. There are three siblings (and each gets their own chapter here to shine). There’s Mary (Kelli Garner), who ostensibly has her life together, Eli (Nick Stahl), a grimy ex-convict with a nasty gambling habit, and Thomas (Scott Haze), the lil’est of the pack, who is mentally not, well, right. Thomas still lives at home with his intensely religious and terrifying pop, Josiah (Robert Patrick, in his most frightening role since he was the T-1000). The kids all harbor a dark secret that is related to their mother’s suicide, oh so long ago. As they try to reconcile the past while dealing with their current “equity” conundrum, eerie things bubble up and the concept of “faith” is really put to the test. This movie is creepy as anything (the way the good Lord intended), and thrilling to the core.
4
‘Chained’ (2012)
The concept of being held captive is a truly terrifying one. If a person becomes a hostage and must endure years of imprisonment and mental torture, what does that do to a person’s psyche? This is the question posed by director Jennifer Lynch (yes, David is her dad, and she’s clearly inherited some of his bizarrely brilliant cinematic sensibilities) in her outstandingly brash film Chained.
The story kicks off with a mother, Sarah Fittler (Julia Ormond), accompanied by her young son (Evan Bird), hailing a cab. However, their driver is not your typical snarky, New York-accented cabbie. He’s a vicious serial killer (just imagine what his Lyft rating would be). Bob (Vincent D’Onofrio, in yet another scary-as-all-hell role), takes his fare to his home where he murders mom and enslaves the little guy. Here, the boy is held, literally chained, and forced to act as Bob’s de facto housekeeper (somebody’s gotta clean up the blood from Bob’s victims…), and unwilling, potential protégé to this deranged murderer. Bob renames the kid “Rabbit” (caged test-subject symbolism aside), and tries his best to groom the traumatized tyke. The years go by, and Rabbit is now a teen (now played by Eamon Farren). It seems that Bob was not aware of just how hormonal and unpredictable teens can be. Rabbit is confronted with an opportunity to finally escape, but it’s going to take a lot of chutzpah. This movie delves deep into the most depraved aspects of humanity, but ultimately, Lynch gives the viewer a glimmer of hope in this epically awful dungeon of despair.
3
‘The Lesson’ (2023)
A good psychological thriller is often predicated on the story being crammed with conflict — and the specific brand of conflict needs to come from inner turmoil, self-doubt, and fear of the unpredictability of our fellow humans. Director Alice Troughton’s The Lesson is a masterclass in strained relationships and hidden motivations, and it’s an absolute head-scratcher that so few people have never even heard of this movie. It’s also got a dynamite cast, which further lends to the mystery of its anonymity…
Liam Sommers (Daryl McCormack) is looking for his big break. He’s an aspiring big-time writer, and when he gets the opportunity to work as a tutor to an over-privileged teen, Bertie (Stephen McMillan), on the estate of his favorite actual big shot author, he leaps at it. The famed scribe in question is J.M. Sinclair (the extraordinarily versatile Richard E. Grant), the patriarch of the esteemed family, who resides there with his artist wife, Hélène (the incomparable Julie Delpy). In proper British fashion, there are some taboo topics in the Sinclair household, namely that of the eldest son’s unfortunate drowning. Liam naturally wants to get close to J.M., to sponge what talent and knowledge he can from him, but J.M. is a wily old chap, who can charm and terrify in equal measure. As secrets inevitably ooze into the light, roles are reversed, and a forbidden romance blossoms between the magnetic Liam and the lovely yet troubled French matriarch. As the tale spirals into the murky depths of the human condition, bonds are tested and wills are pushed to their breaking points. It’s a finely crafted film, and definitely should make the watch-list of any thriller-head.
2
‘Coming Home in the Dark’ (2021)
New Zealand director James Ashcroft’s take on the “family road trip gone wrong” is one not to be missed…although most audiences somehow did. Coming Home in the Dark explores some very heavy themes of familial commitment, the brutality of human nature, and how we deal with the sins of our pasts.
Vacationing in a remote area can be beautiful…yet simultaneously dangerous. When Alan “Hoaggie” Hoaganraad (Erik Thomson) and his wife Jill (Miriama McDowell) took their kids to the scenic coast for some R&R, they weren’t expecting to encounter two psychotic dudes that essentially would go on to hold them captive in their own car. The oddly beguiling Mandrake (Daniel Gillies) and his lackey Tubs (Matthias Luafutu) force Hoaggie to drive through the night, down a desolate stretch of nowhere…and it’s eventually revealed that this is no random act of Kiwi kidnapping. Hoaggie must come to terms with his own past deeds that have inspired this, at the risk of losing his family, and his soul in the process. This movie is the epitome of a nail-biter, as Ashcroft is a magician at building tension and an atmosphere of unfettered anxiety.
1
‘Black Bear’ (2020)
Despite a cast riddled with marquee name actors, all giving gritty, top-notch performances, this little-seen gem never received the full recognition that it surely deserves. It’s the kind of indie that should have a massive cult following, but somehow Black Bear flew under the radar of the niche, quirky psychological thriller/dark comedy lovers. Regardless, auteur writer-director Lawrence Michael Levine outdid himself with this twisted, narrative-fluctuating, sophisticatedly structured, and deeply disruptive film. It’s a metaphor-rich work of high (-ly entertaining) art.
Allison (Aubrey Plaza, showcasing her comedic and dramatic skills in spades) is a (somewhat failed) actress that has turned to directing in order to preserve her career. She acts in her own films, which she wryly admits is “humiliating.” In the first portion of the story, she takes a sojourn to a cabin in the Adirondack mountains to mentally decompress and jolt her inspiration. There she encounters the hosts, Gabe (Christopher Abbott, never better), a somewhat pretentious and sneaky director, and Blair (Sarah Gadon, equally luminescent), his whip-smart yet palpably anxious, pregnant wife. As expected, they become “entangled,” tempers fly, and there is an accident…involving, ya guessed it, a lumbering black bear. In the second chunk of the film, roles are shifted, as Allison is now the star of a (meta-meta-meta) film that Gabe and Blair are directing. It’s a trifle confusing, but when everything is boiled down, and the metaphor of the hibernating black bear (repressed human trauma) is unleashed, it’s a wickedly wild ride of a pyscho-thriller that is almost too much to…bear.
Black Bear
- Release Date
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December 4, 2020
- Runtime
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104 Minutes
- Director
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Lawrence Michael Levine
- Writers
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Lawrence Michael Levine
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https://collider.com/best-thrillers-last-20-years-youve-never-heard-of/
Joe Leone
Almontather Rassoul
