Nightcrawler - 4/5

This movie is a tense, slow burn thriller about a sort of decent into madness, though not nearly as precipitously as many of its peers. Its drama is nuanced and visceral, as is its social commentary which avoids sweeping clichés in favor of astute observations about the human condition. But because the story surrounds such an extreme personality the film avoids being preachy or overbearing in its messaging, settling into a niche that’s simultaneously ‘fascination of other’ and ‘familiar relatability’.

Closest comparison: It’s like Network by way of Joker (2019).

Setting: Corporate Drama
Plot: Descent into Madness
Tone: Suspense Thriller

The Gift (2000) - 1/5

This movie is overwrought and derivative. It uses small town depravity for cheap shock value and draws out its personal drama into melodrama. Despite its appearance, there’s no mystery for the audience to solve, as all relevant information is revealed at the end. No justice is served for any of the crimes in the film, except assumedly for the central case which takes up surprisingly little of the runtime.

Content warning: female nudity, domestic abuse, child sexual abuse

Closest comparison: It’s like Blue Steel by way of Dolores Claiborne.

Setting: Small Town Horror
Plot: Psychic Mystery
Tone: Tragedy

Double Indemnity - 4/5

This movie is a classic noir for good reason. It’s a straightforward plot with the real draw being the outstanding acting and dialogue.

Closest comparison: It’s like The Postman Always Rings Twice by way of Sunset Blvd.

Setting: Noir
Plot: Noir
Tone: Noir

Primal Fear - 1/5

This movie is a solid courtroom drama wrapped around a sordid child sex case. The ending doesn’t do justice to the subject matter, and the court proceedings aren’t gripping enough to overlook it. And knowing where the narrative is headed takes the tension out of the preceding scenes.

Content warning: language, female nudity

Closest comparison: It’s like American Beauty by way of A Few Good Men.

Setting: Courtroom Drama
Plot: Detective
Tone: Sordid Drama

Dragged Across Concrete - 4/5

This movie is not quite as brutal as S. Craig Zahler’s other films, but only because it’s an extremely high bar. There is more of a sense in this one of an unpredictable plot that takes many riveting twists and turns before reaching its surprising conclusion. It’s a taut thriller with palpable characters that pull on the audience’s heart strings and make for a tense, melancholy climax.

Content warning: female nudity, gore

Closest comparison: It’s like The Town by way of Brawl in Cell Block 99

Setting: Buddy Cop
Plot: Buddy Cop
Tone: Crime Thriller

Marathon Man - 3/5

This movie is a capable thriller, but some of the tense scenes have cheap, underwhelming reversals. The setup is great and much of the runtime is devoted to dwelling in the uncertainty of the protagonist’s position. There’s a torture scene that seemed mostly pointless to dwell on in retrospect, and the ending is downright out of character. But for a tense, paranoid conspiracy thriller you could do a lot worse.

Closest comparison: It’s like Enemy of the State by way of Three Days of the Condor.

Setting: Espionage
Plot: Espionage
Tone: Thriller

Blood Simple - 3/5

This movie is a decent modern crime thriller, with a surprisingly effective antagonist and some great suspenseful scenes. Unfortunately, some other scenes are drawn out so long they fall flat and there are one or two comebacks characters make that are so unbelievable that it undercuts the stakes of the film. Nevertheless, it’s a bold entry into the noir genre and definitely worth a watch for those who don’t mind subject matter that gets a bit gritty.

Closest comparison: It’s like No Country for Old Men by way of Fargo.

Setting: Noir
Plot: Crime
Tone: Thriller

Bad Times at the El Royale - 3/5

This movie is wonderfully acted conglomeration of characters, each of whom has a sordid past that is slowly revealed over the course of the film. But the draw is the vivid characters chewing the scenery more than anything, and while it starts off very strong the third act is one of the more boring climaxes the screenwriters could have chosen. Still, it’s fun watching the fireworks.

Content warning: brief background nudity

Closest comparison: It’s like if The Hateful Eight were directed by the Coen Brothers.

Setting: Mystery
Plot: Crime
Tone: Thriller

Dead Again (1991) - 3/5

This movie is a time-bending psychological thriller that plays out more like modern Shakespeare than any of its contemporaries. It blends mystery, romance, and thriller in a nice overall package, but is too strange to have the staying power it could have. The film goes in more for character drama than rational explanation by the end, which is fun but nothing more.

Closest comparison: It’s like Wuthering Heights by way of Wolf (1994).

Setting: Drama
Plot: Sci-Fi
Tone: Mystery

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934) - 3/5

This movie is a solid Hitchcock thriller, without going above and beyond. It feels very similar to Hitchcock’s other early work, specifically The 39 Steps and Secret Agent, but done a bit better here. Peter Lorre steals the show as always but there’s a good, thrilling narrative to hold up this film as well.

Closest comparison: It’s like The Lady Vanishes by way of The 39 Steps.

Setting: Espionage
Plot: Detective
Tone: Noir

Key Largo - 3/5

This movie is a stock Noir genre title, not great and not terrible. The tension, story, and even delivery are all uninspired. Even bankable stars like Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Becall, and Edward G. Robinson are phoning it in.

Closest comparison: It’s like a much tamer Funny Games by way of To Have and Have Not.

Setting: Adventure
Plot: Thriller
Tone: Thriller

The Terminal List (Amazon Prime) - 4/5

This show is excellent over all, but the wrap-up was only decently executed and went by too quickly. Antoine Fuqua brings his strengths to the plot, keeping the audience guessing about the true nature of everything and who the true reliable narrator of events is. It paints a vivid picture of the complicated nature of geopolitical conflicts while keeping the story relatively small and grounded. This has many of the hallmarks of a ‘90s action thriller, but the uncertain nature of the narrative and some questionable revenge behavior from the protagonist make it a much more modern story. Being mostly known for his manchild comedy antics, this is a drastic change of pace for him and a standout performance in his career.

Content warning: language, one scene of gore

Closest comparison: It’s like a Tom Clancy book by way of Training Day.

Setting: Military
Plot: Revenge
Tone: Espionage

No Sudden Move - 4/5

This movie is a great back-and-forth thriller, full of backstabs and turnarounds to keep the audience guessing. It has excellent production value, as is at this point expected of Steven Soderbergh, and the acting and script do not disappoint.

Closest comparison: It’s like Jackie Brown mixed with Mad Men and Uncut Gems.

Setting: Gangster
Plot: Crime
Tone: Thriller

The Red Shoes (1948) - 4/5

This movie is equal parts showbiz romaticism and compelling cautionary tale. While films about showbusiness always have a level of metacommentary, here the play being performed also matches the characters performing it. The story is gripping enough to satisfy most audiences, while the allegory playing out in the metanarrative is consistent enough to satisfy pedantic critics. Even though the story is about ballet you don’t have to care about ballet to enjoy it, although if you hate ballet you’re out of luck here.

Closest comparison: It’s like Birdman by way of Virtigo, with a dash of The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari.

Setting: Showbiz
Plot: Showbiz
Tone: Drama

The Firm (1993) - 3/5

This movie is a pretty standard white collar Orwellian thriller. For the most part the paranoia and unease works well, but one of the sources of tension actually serves to undercut the stakes significantly which does this film no favors. The chase and entrapment scenes are equally exciting, and the ending wraps up most of what it needs to, although the final resolution leaves something to be desired.

Closest comparison: It’s like Enemy of the State by way of A Few Good Men.

Setting: RomCom
Plot: Thriller
Tone: Thriller

Wrath of Man - 3/5

This movie is a solid revenge movie, with some caveats. Almost all of it is standard heist, crime, revenge movie fare, but one scene shows the aftermath of the raid of a child rape dungeon. Nothing sensitive is shown, but the implications of the furnishings combined with some extremely disturbing offscreen audio makes this movie a no-go for many who otherwise would enjoy the film. The rest of the movie is great, the kind of movie that would have cast Mel Gibson if it had been made in the ‘90s.

Content warning: child rape

Closest comparison: It’s like Heat by way of Ransom.

Setting: Heist
Plot: Revenge
Tone: Crime

Terror on the Prairie - 3/5

This movie is sufficiently terrifying, despite a few isolated moments of bad acting. The story does not make use of Gina Carano’s fighting ability, but that’s part of the point of the film and it allows her acting to shine. This is her best acting in a role to date, but the real showstealer is Nick Searcy who is riveting as the main villain. However, the pacing is rough and the stakes keep getting shifted in ways that make it a bit difficult to keep up with. And if it bothers you in a film when characters can’t hit a target that’s right in front of them then don’t even try to watch this one, as that constitutes the bulk of the runtime.

Content warning: scalping, attempted rape

Closest comparison: It’s like Once Upon A Time In The West crossed with Meek’s Cutoff.

Setting: Western
Plot: Home Invasion
Tone: Thriller

Notorious (1946) - 3/5

This movie is a typical Hitchcockian thriller mixed with an era romantic comedy. Unfortunately, the romantic parts of the plot are fundamentally at odds with the thriller parts, and the tone ends up trying to be endearing where the plot necessitates tension. The central ‘cellar key’ scene is fantastic and if the entire film was like that it would easily be at least a 4/5 film, but it ultimately can’t overcome its own contradictions.

Closest comparison: It’s like Roman Holiday (1953) by way of Secret Agent (1936).

Setting: Espionage
Plot: Thriller
Tone: RomCom

Wolf (1994) - 3/5

This is a good modern take on the werewolf formula, exchanging manors on the moor for business suits in the city. The special effects are mostly confined to the end and the sexuality is strong by ‘90s standards by tame for today. It’s more of a character piece about a man becoming assertive in a business environment than it is about classic monster tropes, which keeps it unique and interesting. And with a very reasonable two hour runtime it doesn’t overstay its welcome.

Closest comparison: It’s like Wolfman (2010) by way of Wall Street (1987).

Setting: Drama
Plot: Horror
Tone: Corporate Thriller

Blackhat (2015) - 3/5

This movie is a down-to-earth hacker action movie. With Michael Mann’s attention to detail it gets right what most other hacker movies get wrong about the hacking, but it also makes for a drier film overall. The action is good, but not the driving force of the movie which instead opts for the taught feel of a political thriller. Its plot is more cookie-cutter than Mann’s usual detailed stories, and makes for more of a fun popcorn movie than his other thrillers.

Closest comparison: It’s like Mission: Impossible by way of Heat.

Setting: Espionage
Plot: Adventure
Tone: Thriller