A Glean movie guide
High-Tension Thrillers
Don't forget to breathe.
Relentless pacing and psychological pressure to keep you on the edge of your seat.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Uncut Gems
A frantic, anxiety-inducing descent into high-stakes gambling and escalating debt.
A charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime. Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.
- 02
Whiplash
A ruthless exploration of ambition that plays out like a high-speed psychological thriller.
Under the direction of a ruthless instructor, a talented young drummer begins to pursue perfection at any cost, even his humanity.
- 03
Mad Max: Fury Road
A near-continuous, high-octane chase through a wasteland that never lets up.
An apocalyptic story set in the furthest reaches of our planet, in a stark desert landscape where humanity is broken, and most everyone is crazed fighting for the necessities of life. Within this world exist two rebels on the run who just might be able to restore order.
- 04
Gravity
A lean, 90-minute survival story that immerses you in the terrifying isolation of space.
Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer, is on her first Shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalski in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The Shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalski completely alone-tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness of space. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.
- 05
A Quiet Place
A masterclass in sensory suspense where the slightest sound can mean instant death.
A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.
- 06
Dunkirk
A ticking-clock war drama that uses a rising musical score to maintain perpetual tension.
The story of the miraculous evacuation of Allied soldiers from Belgium, Britain, Canada and France, who were cut off and surrounded by the German army from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk between May 26th and June 4th 1940 during World War II.
- 07
Prisoners
A dark, desperate search for missing children that keeps the pressure mounting until the end.
Keller Dover is facing every parent’s worst nightmare. His six-year-old daughter, Anna, is missing, together with her young friend, Joy, and as minutes turn to hours, panic sets in. The only lead is a dilapidated RV that had earlier been parked on their street.
- 08
Sicario
A cold, tactical thriller defined by a constant sense of dread and sudden bursts of action.
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.
- 09
Don't Breathe
A claustrophobic game of cat-and-mouse that turns a simple robbery into a silent nightmare.
A group of teens break into a blind man's home thinking they'll get away with the perfect crime. They're wrong.
- 10
Good Time
A kinetic, neon-soaked odyssey through the underworld driven by a series of frantic bad decisions.
After a botched bank robbery lands his younger brother in prison, Connie Nikas embarks on a twisted odyssey through New York City's underworld to get his brother Nick out of jail.
- 11
No Country for Old Men
A relentless cat-and-mouse pursuit driven by a silent, unstoppable antagonist.
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.
- 12
Parasite
An unpredictable genre-bender that masterfully shifts from dark comedy into high-stakes tension.
All unemployed, Ki-taek's family takes peculiar interest in the wealthy and glamorous Parks for their livelihood until they get entangled in an unexpected incident.