A Glean movie guide
Edge-of-Your-Seat Thrillers
Prepare for the long haul.
A curated selection of gripping films defined by relentless tension and masterful pacing.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
The Silence of the Lambs
A masterclass in psychological suspense that pits an FBI trainee against a brilliant, incarcerated killer.
Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.
- 02
Prisoners
This slow-burn investigative thriller maintains suffocating tension as a father takes desperate measures.
After his six-year-old daughter is abducted, a desperate father takes justice into his own hands when he loses faith in the detective leading the investigation, setting both men on a collision course as the search descends into obsession and moral compromise.
- 03
Rear Window
Alfred Hitchcock defines the genre by trapping the audience in a single room alongside a voyeuristic witness.
A wheelchair-bound photographer spies on his neighbors from his apartment window and becomes convinced one of them has committed murder.
- 04
Gone Girl
A sharp, twisting psychological game that keeps you guessing about the truth until the very end.
With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.
- 05
No Country for Old Men
A minimalist, high-stakes pursuit film that feels as inevitable as it is terrifying.
Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the violent pursuit of money and justice collide.
- 06
Memento
Its unique non-linear structure forces you to experience the protagonist's confusion and desperate search.
Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife's killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.
- 07
Sicario
An intense, visceral look at the drug war that delivers some of the most nerve-wracking sequences in modern film.
An idealistic FBI agent is enlisted by a government task force to aid in the escalating war against drugs at the border area between the U.S. and Mexico.
- 08
The Game
A high-concept thriller that constantly blurs the line between reality and an elaborate, dangerous game.
In honor of his birthday, San Francisco banker Nicholas Van Orton, a financial genius and a cold-hearted loner, receives an unusual present from his younger brother, Conrad: a gift certificate to play a unique kind of game. In nary a nanosecond, Nicholas finds himself consumed by a dangerous set of ever-changing rules, unable to distinguish where the charade ends and reality begins.
- 09
Nightcrawler
A chilling, gritty exploration of ambition that turns the camera on the dark side of local news.
When Lou Bloom, desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. Aiding him in his effort is Nina, a TV-news veteran.
- 10
Se7en
A dark, atmospheric procedural that remains one of the most influential thrillers of the 90s.
Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. Somerset researches each sin in an effort to get inside the killer's mind, while his novice partner, Mills, scoffs at his efforts to unravel the case.