Thrillers are designed to hold your interest and elicit feelings of suspense and anticipation. You’ll often hear the term ‘nail-biting’ and ‘edge of your seat’ attributed to a thriller.
Movies categorized as thrillers can produce anxiety towards characters within the narrative. The protagonist will more than likely be in danger from the very beginning of the film.
Thrillers generally don’t include a lot of graphic violence unless specifically included with another genre.
Escape (2023) follows a holiday abduction into a locked-room thriller, but Howard J. Ford’s direction keeps undercutting tension with cheap CGI and deadpan goon banter. Read the Mother of Movies review.
The Last House review: Greta Lee and Wagner Moura lead a slow-burn weather horror aboutan apocalyptic rain, a sealed home, and the hunger that follows. Here’s what hits, what tests patience, and why the lore is a little murky.
La Place review: Director Louis Godbout turns a parking dispute into a sharp, escalating thriller full of dread, petty revenge.
A Safe Distance uses non-linear storytelling and chemistry to explore what happens when the fantasy of living lawlessly becomes reality. A sharp, quiet thriller from Fantasia Film Festival 2026
Attack on Paradise had its world premiere at Fantasia International Film Festival 2026. Bob Colaers’ Belgian action film is a vertical siege thriller with a soft heart. Ferocious choreography, and one of the year’s best low-key endings. Don’t miss it.
Looking for a wild party gone wrong? Our New Years Absolution review dives into Nick Leisure’s 2026 thriller. Expect bathtub surgeries, terrible decisions, and one incredibly well-dressed rescue dog.
