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The ability for the thriller genre to keep an audience on the edge of their seat through a story of heightened tension and nail-biting stakes has made it one of the most pervasive and widely celebrated genres in cinema history. It cuts to the heart of exactly what makes filmmaking such a compelling medium, elevating the emotional weight of the story and making the audience emotionally invested in its various twists and adrenaline-pumping tension.
However, even the greatest of thrillers can have a difficult time keeping the audience fully invested for the entire runtime, sometimes taking a bit to get the ball rolling or simply not being able to land with a pitch-perfect ending. Thus, the thrillers that do maintain perfection from beginning to end are all the more impressive in their craft and stature, as some of the very best and most celebrated films across cinematic history.
‘Prisoners’ (2013)
An exceptionally bleak crime thriller from legendary director Denis Villeneuve, Prisoners doesn’t hold anything back in terms of its depiction of a painful loss of humanity in pursuit of vengeance and answers to a painful situation. The film follows a town’s populace and their various ways of dealing with the mysterious disappearance of two young girls. One of the fathers, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman), goes on his own ruthless approach to torture to find answers, while meticulous Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is tasked with what could be the first case he doesn’t solve.
Even during the lead-up to the inevitable kidnapping, Prisoners employs a sense of uneasy dread that immediately sets the tone and gets the audience on edge. This alluring mixture of uncomfortability with raw performances at its center is what makes it so endlessly compelling throughout its runtime. By the time its secrets are revealed, and its iconic ending is upon the audience, the film’s undeniable strengths cement its stature as one of the thriller masterpieces of the 2010s.
‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ (1991)
Especially considering how the original film was an already beloved horror thriller, the prospect of Terminator 2: Judgment Day largely abandoning its horror roots to go all in on being an action thriller seems like it would be a recipe for disaster. However, the exceptional craft and directing of James Cameron prove to make Judgment Day not just the absolute height of the Terminator franchise, but one of the absolute greatest action thrillers of all time and a blockbuster icon of the ’90s.
The film has an explosive start and keeps the tension and energy high throughout the entire runtime, delivering upon everything one would want out of an action blockbuster without taking away the impact and weight of its thrills and tension. At its very core, the film feels like it’s pushing the very prospect of action thrillers forward in its execution, with groundbreaking visual effects and bombastic practical action scenes still making the film iconic to this day.
‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)
A brilliantly crafted horror thriller that is often considered to be the height of crime procedural thrillers, The Silence of the Lambs took the world by storm in a way very few horror thrillers have ever been able to do. The way that the film was able to make the conniving cannibal Hannibal Lecter into a household name speaks volumes to its effectiveness as a thriller, keeping the audience on the edge of their seats through its entire runtime.
It’s about as universally acclaimed as horror movies get, praised as one of the all-time greatest achievements of the horror thriller genre that is just as impactful today as it was when it released 35 years ago. Through masterful performances from the likes of Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins and pitch-perfect pacing that makes its moments of heightened tension hit that much harder, the film became an unstoppable cultural phenomenon that defined ’90s culture in its mastery.
‘Jaws’ (1975)
Few filmmakers are as widely celebrated and acclaimed across all genres of filmmaking as Steven Spielberg, although his breakout directorial work in Jaws continues to stand the test of time as one of his greatest and most groundbreaking works of art. The shark thriller starts with one of the most iconic and perfect openings in film history, continuing off of the momentum of this scene with great scares, effective characters, and rising action that still gets audiences shaking in their seats.
It created a style of bombastic, never-before-seen thrills in cinema that felt explosive and adrenaline-pumping in its execution, laying the groundwork for the modern blockbuster while still being a well-crafted thriller in its own right. Now, over 50 years since the film’s release, Jaws has cemented its legacy as one of the prolific titans of the thriller genre, as a beacon of perfection that has influenced thousands of films in the wake of its success.
‘Children of Men’ (2006)
Worldbuilding can make all the difference when it comes to setting the stage and establishing the stakes of a story. Children of Men‘s shocking and bleak look at a dystopian future immediately hooks audiences into its depraved, dour world. However, a well-made opening is only half the battle, as Children of Men further delivers as a thriller masterpiece thanks to some brilliant story beats, shocking twists, and some of the most impressive one-shots in film history.
The distinct directing style and brilliance of Alfonso Cuarón is what truly elevates Children of Men from a simple great thriller into one of the best thrillers of the 21st century. The film maintains a stature of brilliance and thematic weight throughout its runtime without ever taking away from the impact of its thrills or emotion. It comes to a head with one of the most well-crafted and emotionally striking final acts in film history, with an ending that forever lives in the hearts and minds of those who have seen it.
‘Rear Window’ (1954)
Alfred Hitchcock continues to be celebrated as one of the most brilliant filmmakers in terms of his timeless approach to thrills and tension throughout his films, with no singular thriller exemplifying his mastery of the genre quite like Rear Window. The film is as perfectly paced and intelligently crafted as a great mystery thriller should be, immediately hooking the audience with its mystery before having them question their own judgment before its legendary finale reveal.
Even among the many masterpieces that Hitchcock created throughout his tenure, Rear Window stands out as such a striking, well-crafted piece of cinematic mastery that continues to hold up brilliantly as if it were released yesterday. The film has often been heralded as one of the greatest films of the 1950s for good reason, as its masterful brilliance from beginning to end speaks for itself.
‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
The definitive blockbuster thriller in the eyes of many audiences and a film that has completely reshaped the appeal and approach towards blockbuster filmmaking in the 21st century, The Dark Knight is a film whose overwhelming reputation precedes itself. The middle film in Christopher Nolan‘s Batman trilogy continues to be the absolute best exploration of the iconic character in film so far, with top-notch action melding perfectly with themes of hope, retribution, and self-sacrifice in the name of betterment for society as a whole.
It helps that both the intro and finale of the film are exceptionally iconic, and they often find themselves in the conversation of the very best intros and endings in blockbuster film history. The Dark Knight keeps the momentum high and exciting throughout these legendary moments, leaving the audience always enamored and intrigued as to what will happen next and just how high the stakes will be raised.
‘Oldboy’ (2003)
One of many masterful thrillers from legendary director Park Chan-wook, Oldboy has stood as an icon of South Korean cinema ever since its release, with its powerful and bleak story giving a guttural punch of shock to the audience. It also helps that it features one of the most immediately intriguing and effective openings in thriller history, throwing audiences into a state of intrigue, looking for answers to the ruthless act of violence they are witnessing from the very first frame.
However, while this opening almost feels like it comes straight out of a wild action thriller movie, the true meat and weight of Oldboy comes from the exploration of its characters and the destructive, unfulfilling nature of revenge on the human psyche. Even with its top-notch, groundbreaking action sequences that come down the line, the true greatness that keeps audiences invested comes from the symbolic brilliance of its broken characters.
‘Whiplash’ (2014)
Damien Chazelle‘s masterful exploration of toxic work ethic and abuse set in the cutthroat world of collegiate music, Whiplash is ruthless with its high amounts of adrenaline and anxiety that keep audiences glued to the screen, even when made severely uncomfortable. It makes for an exceptionally intense thriller that pushes both its characters and the audience to their absolute limits, showing that the mindset of wanting to be “the very best” comes with an overwhelming amount of mental baggage and self-destruction.
Further amplifying the electrifying nature of the story and its themes are the brilliant duo of performances from Miles Teller and J.K. Simmons, who both add leagues of depth and impact that make each scene more iconic than the last. From explosive outbursts to emotionally charged moments of pain, Whiplash stays engaging for every second and acts as a definitive example of the perfect 21st-century thriller.
‘High and Low’ (1963)
Few singular filmmakers have such a sustained and masterful legacy in their craft of filmmaking as Akira Kurosawa, the legendary Japanese filmmaker whose influence is still massively felt throughout the entire industry. While the director only rarely ever delved into the world of thriller filmmaking, his masterful police procedural High and Low is still often considered one of the most perfectly crafted crime thrillers ever made. It’s as much a story of self-reflection and impossible moral choices as it is about the shocking crime and mysterious criminal at its center.
Even with the central crime not taking place until partway through the film, High and Low immediately gets the audience invested in the livelihood and stature of its main character, making it all the more emotionally shocking and impactful when his life begins crumbling around him as a result of this ransom. Even after the primary ransom plot is finished, the film stays intriguing through the intricate steps to catch the killer, ending in a powerful final confrontation between criminal and victim that is still incomparable in its perfection.
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Robert Lee III
Almontather Rassoul
