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".
The Constant Gardener (2005)
7.4/10
Director: Fernando Meirelles
Starring: Pete Postlethwaite, Rachel Weisz, Ralph Fiennes, Bill Nighy, Danny Huston
Fernando Meirelles ('City of God') makes his English language debut with this enthralling, complex John Le Carre thriller. Deceptively sedate at firs... Read more
The Contract (2006)
5.7/10
Director: Bruce Beresford
Starring: Morgan Freeman, John Cusack, Alice Krige, Jamie Anderson
This forest-bound thriller stars John Cusack as a man trying to forget a recent family trauma by getting away from it all with his son. Unfortunately... 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 Conversation (Blu-ray) (1974)
7.8/10
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 Correspondent (2024)
Director: Kriv Stenders
Starring: Richard Roxburgh
While covering the news desk in Cairo for a colleague over the Christmas holidays, Australian journalist Peter Greste (Richard Roxburgh) is arrested a... Read more
The Corrupted (2019)
5.6/10
Starring: Sam Claflin, Timothy Spall, Hugh Bonneville, Shaun Dooley, Charlie Murphy, Noel...
Released from prison, a talented boxer wants nothing more than to reconnect with his young son and live a quiet life. But when his brother gets on the... Read more
The Corruptor (1999)
6/10
Director: James Foley
Starring: Ric Young, Mark Wahlberg, Chow Yun-Fat, Brian Cox
Chow Yun-Fat is a New York Chinatown cop who is having a tough time keeping the peace after a turf war breaks out. Mark Wahlberg is sent in to help ou... Read more
The Counselor (2013)
7.6/10
Director: Ridley Scott
Starring: Brad Pitt, Cameron Diaz, Javier Bardem, Penelope Cruz, Michael Fassbender
A savvy lawyer (Michael Fassbender) known for doing the right thing for the wrong people decides to put his connections to the test by diving into a t... Read more
The Courier (2020)
7.1/10
Director: Dominic Cooke
Starring: Benedict Cumberbatch, Merab Ninidze, Anton Lesser, Rachel Brosnahan
In the shadow of the Cold War a letter from Oleg Penkovsky (Merab Ninidze) an agency of the Soviet Union received by MI6 stating the concern of Penkov... Read more
The Courier (2019)
4.4/10
Director: Zackary Adler
Starring: Olga Kurylenko, Gary Oldman, Amit Shah
A federal task force operation is protecting a witness, Nick Murch, who is due to testify against a powerful crime lord Ezekiel Mannings. At the safe... Read more