A Glean movie guide
Tense & Gritty Crime Thrillers
Suspense that keeps you on edge.
A curated selection of high-stakes investigations, heists, and psychological cat-and-mouse games.
Handpicked for this guide
The movie list
- 01
No Country for Old Men
A simple drug deal gone wrong triggers a relentless, high-tension pursuit across the Texas landscape.
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.
- 02
Heat
This definitive heist film features an iconic cat-and-mouse dynamic between a professional thief and a detective.
Obsessive master thief Neil McCauley leads a top-notch crew on various daring heists throughout Los Angeles while determined detective Vincent Hanna pursues him without rest. Each man recognizes and respects the ability and the dedication of the other even though they are aware their cat-and-mouse game may end in violence.
- 03
The Departed
An undercover cop and a criminal mole race to expose each other's identities in this high-stakes Boston crime saga.
To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.
- 04
Zodiac
A meticulous and atmospheric procedural that captures the obsession of tracking a real-life serial killer.
Over the course of a decade, editors of the San Francisco Chronicle entice themselves in the murders of the Zodiac Killer. However, as time runs its course, interest in the case dwindles in the eyes of the professionals. The Killer stops interacting with the public. However, believing he has the answers, an amateur cartoonist from the initial sightings races against time to prevent what he believes is another murder.
- 05
Prisoners
A desperate father takes the law into his own hands in this dark, morally complex psychological thriller.
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.
- 06
Nightcrawler
A chilling look at the intersection of L.A. crime and sensationalist journalism through a deeply driven protagonist.
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.
- 07
Sicario
An idealistic FBI agent is pulled into the brutal, morally gray world of the border drug war.
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
Collateral
A cab driver is held hostage by a contract killer in this tight, real-time thriller set on the streets of L.A.
Cab driver Max picks up a man who offers him $600 to drive him around. But the promise of easy money sours when Max realizes his fare is an assassin.
- 09
L.A. Confidential
Three detectives navigate a web of corruption and murder in this stylish, classic noir-inspired thriller.
Three detectives in the corrupt and brutal L.A. police force of the 1950s use differing methods to uncover a conspiracy behind the shotgun slayings of the patrons at an all-night diner.
- 10
Memories of Murder
Two detectives struggle to solve a series of brutal murders in this acclaimed, tension-filled international procedural.
A sadistic serial rapist and murderer of young women terrorizes a small province in 1980s South Korea. To prevent further crimes, three increasingly desperate detectives with conflicting methods race against time to unravel the violent mind of the killer in a futile effort to solve the case.