10 best thrillers of the 2010s

action movie Movies arouse distrust, and thrillers of the 2010s were some of the best ever at twisting and distorting audience expectations. The theme of suspicion is a source of experimentation for directors who make mind-bending thrillers. Sometimes the source of distrust is simply a lack of certainty about a character’s survival, but often it goes deeper than that, especially with the unreliable narrator who introduces a mistrust into the film itself. A thriller was successful when your audience doesn’t know what to expect next and which perspective to trust as they try to figure out what’s going on.

Every decade of cinema is full of unique thrillers. In retrospect, the 1980s had many forgotten thrillers, like all eras. Thrillers made in a certain period can often reflect the collective anxieties of the people of that time. But whatever themes they explore, the common characteristic of the best thriller films is that they put viewers in a state of anticipation, where they eagerly await a resolution that resolves the suspense and eases their nerves. Still, the 2010s were a unique time for the genre.

10

The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

Directed by Yorgos Lanthimos

One of the best supernatural crime thrillers of all time, The death of a sacred deer It’s a revenge story. Metaphorically alluding in the title to the Greek tragedy of Iphigenia, whose life had to be sacrificed to Artemis because her father Agamemnon killed one of her sacred deer, the story re-contextualizes the myth. A neurosurgeon’s carelessness costs a patient his life and, within days, his family falls ill. The dead patient’s son explains that the doctor must kill one of the three members of his family or they will all die from the incurable disease.

The impossibility of making such a choice creates the perfect disturbing premise for a thriller. Despite the son making it very clear that there is no way out of the situation, the doctor and the spectators with him continue to rack their brains for ways to get around the circumstances. However, the feeling of destruction only increases over time, and the indifference of the world around the family in the face of such a tragedy only makes the film more uncomfortable. It can be a little slow at times, with some scenes dragging on for too long, but the psychological thrill makes up for it.

9

Andhadhun (2018)

Directed by Sriram Raghavan

AndhadhunThe twist is absolutely unpredictable. Although the film lives up to people’s expectations by reserving the revolutionary perspective for the climax, the main twist is revealed midway. Even after the film ends, the viewer becomes suspicious because the protagonist whose point of view is used throughout the first act has hidden something fundamental to his role in his narrative.

Ayushmann Khurrana’s performance sells the lie without a shadow of a doubt. And yet, upon further observation, it becomes clear that he is aware of the deception, as there are clear clues that foreshadow the revelation. He’s not just pretending, he’s playing someone who knows the truth and is trying to sell the lie while living the truth. The plot twists themselves are also compelling, but perhaps Andhadhun could have been tighter in the middle because, after the big reveal at the end of the first act, it takes a long time to pick up the pace.

8

Uncut Gems (2019)

Directed by Benny and Josh Safdie

Featuring one of the wildest opening title sequences of all time, Rough gems It is a stress resistance test. Never slows down. Comic in a dry way, unlike most of Adam Sandler’s work which is slapstick, the film takes a depressing look at a day in the life of a jewelry salesman whose various businesses begin to fail, one by one, on the same day.

Rough gems is a dark exploration of the commodification, not just of objects, but of people and their time. Everyone is always on the move and in a hurry, and even a handheld camera that follows the action closely can’t keep up with it all. The rush raises expectations about the uncertainties in the protagonist’s life, as multiple sources of threat begin to corner him on his way to the climax. Rough gemsThe ending itself is adored by many, but it can also feel anticlimactic. Thematically, it’s the perfect conclusion.

7

Burning (2018)

Directed by Lee Chang-dong

A loose adaptation of a short story by Haruki Murakami, Burning It is, pun intended, a slow burn. The source of emotion doesn’t even appear in the picture until the second half of the film, and even then, Burning meanders, embellishing the narrative with more detail to make the world feel as lived-in as possible. The seemingly random details thrown into the mix are all subtly used to resolve the tension in the final scene because the film employs visual storytelling rather than explaining each revelation. Also, Burning features one of Steven Yeun’s best roles.

Reflecting poetically on the self-destructive nature of a one-sided fascination, Burning is a symbolic tour of the charred remains of a greenhouse full of incomplete hints about an inexplicable situation that only leads to another fire. The final fifteen minutes bring together the meaning of some seemingly disparate moments in the protagonist’s normal life. The slow burn pays off because every loose end gets tied upbut most importantly, a hint of uncertainty is never resolved, and in a traditional thriller structure this would make it feel anticlimactic. It’s a character study in the form of a dramatic thriller.

6

Gone Girl (2014)

Directed by David Fincher

Celebrated as a feminist cult classic for the famous “Cool Girl” monologue, missing girl It’s the quintessential crime thriller. Faithfully adapted from Gillian Flynn’s novel of the same name, the film is a masterpiece in patient cinema. It takes a long time to get to the plot twistseach of which fleshes out the female protagonist more. The composed pacing, where time is spent with the characters to study their reactions and understand their motivations, builds suspense as the sense of impending doom is never dispelled.

Structurally, missing girl breaks as many storytelling conventions as it follows. It starts slowly and gradually picks up speed until the third act, which culminates in an uncomfortable resolution. It also features dramatic revelations at regular intervals that keep viewers guessing as to who is right. But his source of anxiety is not in anticipation of a confrontation. The anxiety is in following a chaotic protagonist who is both calculated and random. Additionally, it uses nonlinearity, so the timeline in missing girl divides it into a crime thriller and a dramatic tragedy.

5

Shutter Island (2010)

Directed by Martin Scorsese

Shutter Island features one of Leonardo DiCaprio’s best performances as a war veteran who investigates a disappearance in a psychiatric hospital. He is certain that one of the patients is responsible for the missing patient’s murder and refuses to give up on following his hunch, sometimes risking his life in search of clues. The film’s color palette reflects the darkness in the protagonist’s mind, who absorbs the surrounding depravity as he descends into hysteria in search of answers. Spectators watch the descent because they have no idea what Shutter Island It’s really until the end.

The mental hospital is on an island, and Scorsese’s exploration of the setting seems to mimic walking through a maze, as if viewers are inside the protagonist’s mind and navigating dark caves and corridors, each of which appears to hide the truth. The visual narrative adds seriousness to the emotion, as the lack of certainty about the protagonist’s final fate is complemented by the growing inaccessibility of spaces he tries to go inside looking for clues. The best part? The final revelation changes everything, and upon rewatching we can only detect a foreshadowing of the narrator’s unreliability.

4

Wild Tales (2014)

Directed by Damián Szifron

The most compelling thrillers often take no time to reach a conclusion. They move quickly from premise to explosive showdown, dragging viewers along on a rage-filled adventure that doesn’t care about convention or suspense. An anthology of six shorts, Wild Tales is a compilation of these thrillers. Some of them are not as attractive as others, mainly because they pay a lot of attention to the smallest details to, over time, compensate for the anxiety they induce. However, the best are so good that no one will complain about the weakest links.

From road rage and frustration with the government to revealed infidelity at a wedding, each short has a compelling premise, and the best ones waste no time letting things get worse. The quick cuts in most sequences, especially those involving cars, accentuate the anxiety-inducing nature of the chaos surrounding the central premise. It’s different enough not to be a remake, but Wild Tales has striking similarities with Amores Perros sometimes, especially the balance between comedy and angst. However, not connecting them perhaps serves even more chaos in the individual stories in Wild Tales.

3

Prisoners (2013)

Dictated by Denis Villeneuve

Prisoners It’s a slow, fast-paced burn where the revelations are comfortably spaced out, but the protagonist’s descent into madness occurs at breakneck speed. In fact, this makes the experience of observing prisoners even more stressful. The main character is freaking out about what’s happening, and all viewers can do is sit back and watch him make pitiful movements as the next plotline approaches at a painstakingly slow pace. What’s worse, Prisoners it has a very good open ending, so the discomfort remains even after the film is over.

Villeneuve masterfully uses rain and sirens to create a gloomy atmosphere where the mind will be tempted to assume the worst. He spends almost all of his time on characterization rather than plot points, and this adds a dramatic layer to the suspense surrounding the mystery angle. Solving the puzzle is what keeps the story going, but the real theme is how the depravity in human beings is barely suppressed by a thin layer of skin and ego this is easy to break if an abrasive pressure point can be found.

2

Parasite (2019)

Directed by Bong Joon-ho

Parasite critically analyzes class difference in Korean society by painting a dark portrait, following Parasitethe talented cast of characters, how the disadvantaged are driven to attack the social elite due to the lack of opportunities offered to them. Despite such a political premise, the film never delves into the specific policies of governance and, instead, chooses to spend its time pondering the consequences of billionaire culture. The film lives up to its name because criticism of society eats away at the mind like a parasite long after the credits have finished.

The journey to the end is carefully composed to provide details that subtly hint at the film’s theme. Contrast in color palettes and sound design is used to explore the social disparity at the heart of the premise. Parasite presents moments of great anxiety, as hidden identities are constantly at risk of being exposed and the viewer is never able to relax, not even after the film ends. It’s overrated, because Parasite is celebrated as one of the best films of all time, and that may not be true. It may not be Bong Joon-ho’s best filmdepending on who classifies them.

1

The Handmaid (2016)

Directed by Park Chan Wook

Queer, complicated and exaggerated, The servant is a wild journey through a wicked world of seduction, unforeseen circumstances and sensory deprivation. Park Chan-wook presents the viewer with such extravagant displays of vibrant opulence that, at a certain point, the senses stop processing information. It is exactly in that area where the eyes and ears were crushed into a vulnerable limbo that The servant tells its story and begins its confusing climb to a triumphant conclusion that reeks of liberation from social norms.

The servant is often considered the ideal demonstration of how different elements of filmmaking can create the perfect film. It presents a uniquely engaging confrontation between soundtrack, setting, theme and acting, as each of these individually brilliant aspects fights for the viewer’s attention. This creates a cacophony of suspenseful vibes that makes viewers hold their breath in anticipation. This always seems to be heading towards a confrontationjust to embellish the narrative even more. By the time the climax arrives, viewers will have given up the guessing game, and the action movie it won.