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Thrillers & Suspense

Thriller and Suspense Films promote intense excitement, suspense, a high level of anticipation, ultra-heightened expectation, uncertainty, anxiety, and nerve-wracking tension. A genuine thriller is a film that relentlessly pursues a single-minded goal, to provide thrills and keep the audience cliff-hanging on the 'edge of their seats' as the plot builds towards a climax. Plots of thrillers often involve characters which come into conflict with each other or with outside forces - the menace is sometimes abstract or shadowy. Below is a grand line-up of the best in contemporary Thrillers & Suspense made since 1965. Following a similar theme, with generally a darker look is the "Film Noir" feature, well worth checking out. The exploits of "James Bond 007" may also be accessed stage left. Right: Frances McDormand makes an arrest in the Coen Bros "Fargo".

Leon: The Professional (1994)

8.6/10
Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Jean Reno, Gary Oldman, Natalie Portman, Danny Aiello

Jean Reno is Leon, a deadly and elusive killer. He lives a routine life, alone in New York with just his pot-plant for company - until the day his twe... Read more

Incendies (2011)

8.2/10
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Remy Girard, Melissa Desormeaux-Poulan, Lubna Azabal, Maxim Gaudette

In the highly-acclaimed suspense thriller 'Incendies', a mothers dying wish creates a painful puzzle her children are forced to solve. At the reading... Read more

The Third Man (1949)

8.2/10
Director: Carol Reed
Starring: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard

Joseph Cotten is pulp fiction writer Holly Matins, who arrives in Vienna to work for his friend Harry Lime (Orson Welles), only to be told that Lime h... Read more

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

7.1/10
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Starring: Alicia Silverstone, Nicole Kidman, Colin Farrell, Raffey Cassidy, Barry Keoghan

Cincinnati cardiologist Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell) lived an ordinary existence with his wife (Nicole Kidman) and kids...but on the quiet, he mainta... Read more

The Conversation (1974)

7.9/10
Director: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Teri Garr, John Cazale, Harrison Ford, Gene Hackman, Frederic Forrest, Cindy Wil...

Gene Hackman is brilliant as Harry Caul, the surveillance man who becomes the object of surveillance himself. Coppola's great achievement is evoking a... Read more

The Dancer Upstairs (2002)

7/10
Director: John Malkovich
Starring: Javier Bardem, Laura Morante, Juan Diego Botto

This taut political thriller set in Latin America marks John Malkovich's explosive directorial debut. Javier Bardem ("Before Night Falls") stars as le... Read more

Brick (2005)

7.4/10
Director: Rian Johnson
Starring: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Nora Zehetner, Lukas Haas, Noah Fleiss, Matt O'Leary, Emil...

A fresh take on the hard-boiled noir, this festival hit stars Joseph Gordon-Levitt as an outsider teen-turned-stoic gumshoe after his ex-girl (Emilie... Read more

Don't Look Now (1973)

7.3/10
Director: Nicolas Roeg
Starring: Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie, Hilary Mason

Excellent psychic thriller about a married couple who, just after the accidental drowning of their young daughter, start having strange occurences in... Read more

Children of Men (2006)

7.9/10
Director: Alfonso Cuaron
Starring: Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Charlie Hunnam, Danny Huston, Pete...

In the year 2027, the human race has lost its ability to procreate and society is rapidly descending into chaos. Alfonso Cuaron's adaptation of PD Jam... Read more

Fargo (1996)

8.1/10
Director: Joel Coen
Starring: Peter Stormare, William H Macy, Steve Buscemi, Harve Presnell, Frances McDormand

A lovingly mocking tale of a kidnapping scheme that goes horribly wrong in the snow-clad Mid-West. A pregnant Sheriff (Oscar-winning Frances McDormand... Read more