The most exciting and interesting thrillers: list, plot and reviews

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The creators of thrillers, covering many directions, tirelessly experiment with style, but the fundamental genre values remain unshakable. The most interesting thrillers are thrilling and hard-hitting films, whose main attraction is created by analyzing the psychology of the main characters. This publication contains a list of the best examples of the genre, recommended for viewing by connoisseurs of cinema.

On the brink of horror

As already mentioned, interesting thriller films often do not have an unambiguous genre policy, a striking example of this trend is Stanley Kubrick's project The Shining (IMDb: 8.40), which harmoniously merged thriller and horror. According to many critics, the main character of the picture is the ominous Overlook Hotel, in which only three guests live - writer Jack Torrance, who is experiencing a creative crisis, his wife and son. The characters are in complete isolation from the outside world.peace. The antagonist of the King's and Kubrick's masterpiece has prepared for the family a lot of trials in the form of ghosts of sinister twin girls, a dead lady in the bathroom, a chatty bartender, moving vegetation, and more. Every self-respecting cinephile should certainly get acquainted with the cult film, appreciate how skillfully Kubrick pumps up tension, gradually revealing the most terrible corners of the building to the viewer, turning the Overlook into a bloodthirsty living creature - absolute evil in its purest form.

Hard candy go to battle

Unfortunately, Soviet cinema cannot boast of a mass of interesting thriller films, just like the Russian film industry. Nevertheless, there is still a remarkable domestic film worthy of being included in this list. This is the work of Renat Davletyarov "Steel Butterfly" (IMDb: 7.20). The story is based on the hunt for a maniac who kills underage girls. Law enforcement agencies cannot find and detain the murderer with the help of meager evidence, so the decision is made to catch the killer "on live bait". As bait, they decide to use a homeless girl with the eloquent nickname Plague. But the character played by Daria Melnikova turns out to be even more unpredictable than a raging maniac. Thus, a police operation turns into a complex psychological knot, and "Steel Butterfly" - into an interesting thriller.

The heroine of David Slade's Lollipop is an underage girl. However, the development of events in the foreign project has a slightly different turn. This intimate but exceptionally entertaining thriller tells the story of photographer Jeff Cowler (Patrick Wilson) who gets his 14-year-old model (Ellen Page) slipped sleeping pills into his drink. Upon regaining consciousness, the hero finds himself tied to a chair, and the girl accuses him of being addicted to pedophilia, as well as rape and murder. Jeff tries to prove his innocence. But which of the characters is sincere, can be understood only in the finale. Lollipop is a thriller with an interesting ending.

In pursuit of a maniac

Despite the fact that the Argentine film industry is not very famous, it is able to give the world wonderful productions, such as the work of Juan José Campanella's "The Secret in His Eyes" (IMDb: 8.20). This interesting thriller was awarded an Oscar, although the Hollywood Film Academy rarely awards genre films with this award. At the heart of the picture is a story about a police hunt for a maniac-killer at a time when the Argentine secret services resorted to the help of criminals in reprisals against persons objectionable to the government. The film has a decent Hollywood remake with the similar title "Secret in Their Eyes" but fails to outshine the excellent original.

David Fincher went much further in researching the process of hunting a criminal for a criminal, and this is how the movie masterpiece "Seven" was born (IMDb: 8.60). In the darkest but interesting thriller, Fincher examines the features of a detective investigation of the atrocities of a maniac who punishes his victims for biblical sins. Two detectives are working on the case: "veteran" William Somerset (MorganFreeman) and his young partner Mills (Brad Pitt). The detectives think they are hunters, but soon they become victims of a psychopath who knows how to manipulate the police.

By the way, after the not-so-successful "Alien 3", the interesting thriller "Seven" convinced critics and the audience that Fincher is a promising director whose career is worth watching, especially since the legendary "Fight Club" belongs to his authorship, the most frank "Zodiac" and the intriguing "Game".

Canonical examples

Almost every second crime thriller encourages law enforcement officers to think like a criminal. Jonathan Demme did this most convincingly in The Silence of the Lambs (IMDb: 8.60). Demmi's work reveals the relationship between FBI intern Clarissa Starling (Jodie Foster) and cannibalistic psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). The interesting thriller The Silence of the Lambs was not the first film about Hannibal, but it was this impeccably stylish and stunning film that made him one of the most terrifying and charming antagonists of world cinema. The project deservedly received five Oscars.

The most interesting thrillers include Alfred Hitchcock's ageless brainchild Vertigo (IMDb: 8.40). The marvelous film shows the perpetrators' intricate psychological play with a private detective tormented by guilt, fear of heights and dizzy spells. To some contemporary viewers, the narration of the 1958 tape may seem slow. But this is smalltribute for the chance to participate in the most famous, significant and influential project in the history of the global film industry. It is also recommended to get acquainted with the no less interesting thriller film by the author “Rear Window”.

Strongest debut

Reservoir Dogs (IMDb: 8.30) by Quentin Tarantino is one of the strongest debuts in big cinema. The picture is impressive in that it is the work of an amazingly gifted person who did not study at film school and comprehended the wisdom of the profession already occupying the director's chair. Moreover, Tarantino not only put the tape, but also came up with a general idea about professional robbers who, after an unsuccessful robbery attempt, are trying to figure out who framed them and gave them up to the police. The next work of the director "Pulp Fiction" is much more famous, but the cult status of "Reservoir Dogs" is fully deserved. Starring H. Keitel, T. Roth and M. Madsen.

The most erotic thriller

Interesting thriller films with an exciting plot often use erotica as an auxiliary effect. The most erotic project in this list is Paul Verhoeven's painting "Basic Instinct". The achievement of the tape is that the narration does not lose its psychologism among the episodes of a rather frank "nudity". The protagonist of the work of the Dutch director is police detective Nick Karren (Michael Douglas), who is investigating a sophisticated sexual murder. Among the suspects ismistress of the murdered, not really hiding that she could have committed a crime. But the more evidence the investigation uncovers, the harder it becomes to believe that such a smart woman could have been so stupidly framed.

On the verge of losing my mind

Darren Aronofsky, following his wild imagination, was not afraid to make a psychological thriller about the Black Swan ballet. In 2010, it was the most unexpected genre project that became a rolling hit. The picture tells about a ballerina tormented by complexes, who will play a double role in the production of Swan Lake. The choreographer is sure that the heroine will succeed perfectly in playing the White Swan, but the frank, passionate party of the Black remains in question. Trying to get used to two radically opposite images, the heroine Natalie Portman is on the verge of a nervous breakdown and loss of reason.

Best of the best

Judging by the reviews, thrillers with an interesting plot also include films:

• "Remember" Christopher Nolan;
• Fargo by the Coen brothers;
• Leon by Luc Besson;
• A Beautiful Mind by Ron Howard;
• American Psycho by Mary Harron;
• The Sixth Sense by M. Night Shyamalan;
• Shutter Island by Martin Scorsese.

Of course, there are all new films of this genre that are interesting to watch.