A Glean movie guide
High-Tension Thrillers
Don't forget to breathe.
Movies that demand your full attention and won't let you catch your breath.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
Uncut Gems
A relentless, anxiety-inducing descent into a jeweler's high-stakes world where the pressure never lets up.
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
An aggressive and psychologically bruising battle of wills between a drummer and his ruthless instructor.
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 rarely pauses for exposition or breath.
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
Green Room
A visceral and claustrophobic siege thriller where survival depends on brutal, split-second decisions.
A punk rock band is forced to fight for survival after witnessing an act of violence at a skinhead bar.
- 05
Sicario
A masterclass in tactical suspense that uses sound and atmosphere to create a sense of unbearable dread.
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.
- 06
Good Time
A frantic, neon-soaked odyssey through the underworld that maintains a feverish sense of urgency throughout.
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.
- 07
A Quiet Place
A high-stakes survival story where the slightest sound can lead to immediate and lethal consequences.
A family is forced to live in silence while hiding from creatures that hunt by sound.
- 08
Don't Breathe
A tense game of cat-and-mouse that turns a simple robbery into a silent, claustrophobic nightmare.
A group of teens break into a blind man's home thinking they'll get away with the perfect crime. They're wrong.
- 09
The Raid: Redemption
A non-stop barrage of expertly choreographed combat within a high-rise death trap.
Deep in the heart of Jakarta's slums lies an impenetrable safe house for the world's most dangerous killers and gangsters. Until now, the run-down apartment block has been considered untouchable to even the bravest of police. Cloaked under the cover of pre-dawn darkness and silence, an elite swat team is tasked with raiding the safe house in order to take down the notorious drug lord that runs it. But when a chance encounter with a spotter blows their cover and news of their assault reaches the drug lord, the building's lights are cut and all the exits blocked. Stranded on the sixth floor with no way out, the unit must fight their way through the city's worst to survive their mission. Starring Indonesian martial arts sensation Iko Uwais.
- 10
Gravity
A lean, terrifying survival struggle that captures the isolation and relentless peril of being stranded in 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.
- 11
Run Lola Run
A literal race against time that uses a high-tempo soundtrack and fast editing to sustain its momentum.
Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manni. He lost 100,000 DM in a subway train that belongs to a very bad guy. She has 20 minutes to raise this amount and meet Manni. Otherwise, he will rob a store to get the money. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event along Lola's run.
- 12
Train to Busan
A high-speed zombie outbreak that uses its confined train setting to maximize tension and emotional stakes.
When a zombie virus pushes Korea into a state of emergency, those trapped on an express train to Busan must fight for their own survival.