Thriller movies are known for their high levels of tension, but some are so extreme that watching them is almost unbearable. Shocking and disturbing moviegoers with their hair-raising stories, the most noteworthy thrillers from across the years include Se7en, Zodiac, Parasite, and The Menu. These titles all deal with grim topics such as serial killers and class inequality, relying on extreme violence and substantial tension to make an impact on audiences.
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The thriller genre has also consistently delivered incisive social commentary alongside its exhilarating sequences, compelling film lovers to seek them out for a thought-provoking and engaging experience. A select few thrillers are exceptionally challenging to watch, and viewers should prepare themselves for their unnerving content. The following seven thrillers are among the most tense films the genre has to offer.
7) Black Swan
Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan progressively becomes more suspenseful and mind-bending, solidifying it as an outstanding thriller. Ballerina Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman) enters a tense psychological battle with herself while competing for the dual role of the White and Black Swan in a production of Swan Lake. The pressure to achieve perfection takes an enormous toll on Nina’s mental state as she begins to experience frightening hallucinations over the course of the movie.
Black Swan is so unnerving because its main character loses her sense of self in such an excruciating manner. Nina’s obsession with both her role and her rival is harrowing to witness, and her undoing in the pursuit of stardom is disheartening. Although not as disturbing as Aronofsky’s acclaimed drama Requiem for a Dream, Black Swan contains enough tension to leave audiences shaken for a long time.
6) Shutter Island
Shutter Island is a wild ride of a movie, and its many jaw-dropping twists are hard to ever forget. A thick air of dread saturates Martin Scorsese’s film from the very start as United States Marshal Teddy Daniels (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his partner arrive at a criminal psychiatric hospital to investigate the disappearance of a patient. Nothing in Shutter Island is ever what it seems.
A ton of secrets involving Teddy’s history and identity are slowly unearthed, paving the way for riveting reveals and a truly stunning ending. A gloomy atmosphere, edge-of-your-seat suspense, and creepy jump scares make Shutter Island a scary and heart-racing viewing experience. Scorsese’s tensest movie succeeds as a brilliant mystery that never fails to thrill viewers.
5) Joker
Surprisingly, the superhero genre is home to one of the most tense thrillers in recent memory. Joker chronicles Arthur Fleck’s (Joaquin Phoenix) road to becoming the iconic DC villain. The main character’s traumatic backstory includes some disturbing and violent scenes. Joker dials up the tension near the end of the movie as Arthur’s downward spiral reaches its culmination.
From Arthur’s maniacal laugh and villainous transformation to the movie’s shocking deaths and brutality, Joker can be hard to endure for the faint of heart. Phoenix’s intense lead performance only adds to Joker‘s disquieting realism, and the story doesn’t shy away from challenging topics such as child abuse and mental illness. Joker‘s handling of its heavy subject material has been subjected to much criticism, though there’s no doubting that the film contains a remarkable amount of tension.
4) 10 Cloverfield Lane
Bordering on horror, 10 Cloverfield Lane is an excellent thriller that constantly keeps viewers guessing. Initially, not much is known about the plot, except that a woman unexpectedly awakes in an underground bunker with two strangers who claim that the Earth’s surface is uninhabitable. The already harrowing situation grows even more terrifying as details about the bunker’s mysterious proprietor are revealed.
It’s difficult to tell if 10 Cloverfield Lane‘s plot resembles a hostage situation or an apocalypse survival story, making the experience all the more gripping as the narrative unfolds. A tense atmosphere permeates every interaction between characters, slowly building up to 10 Cloverfield Lane‘s astonishing third act. It’s best to go into the movie with as little knowledge as possible, as the thrill of watching 10 Cloverfield Lane for the first time elicits lots of unease.
3) The Nightingale
The Nightingale is exceptionally hard to watch due to its dark themes and disturbing content. Set in 1825 in Colonial Tasmania, the story centers on an Irish convict who embarks on a quest for revenge after members of the occupying forces rape her and murder her husband and infant daughter. As one might expect, numerous scenes in The Nightingale are incredibly distressing. The film’s somber atmosphere generates a great deal of tension in the lead-up to its brutal sequences.
A vastly underrated thriller, The Nightingale, fascinatingly addresses the horrors of colonialism through the eyes of its protagonist and the Aboriginal tracker who accompanies her on her journey. In the end, The Nightingale prevails as a satisfying tale of vengeance, though many viewers will struggle to watch its graphic depictions of sexual violence.
2) The Long Walk
It’s nearly impossible to make it through The Long Walk without feeling seriously sick to your stomach. In the adaptation of Stephen King’s novel of the same name, 50 teenage boys participate in a walking competition for a large cash prize. Those who cannot maintain the required pace are killed on site, and the last participant standing wins. Set in a bleak dystopian version of the U.S., The Long Walk is thoroughly tense and devastating.
Watching one gruesome execution after another is profoundly gut-wrenching, especially when a major character meets their demise. The film deftly develops each of the main characters’ personalities and backstories as they walk, simultaneously endearing the boys to viewers and conveying the cruelty of their society. Shockingly brutal yet deeply contemplative, The Long Walk is an unforgettable thriller.
1) Prisoners
Every moment of Prisoners is rife with tension as a father carries out a ruthless search for his daughter’s kidnapper. The Denis Villeneuve masterpiece takes on an immense degree of tension, detailing Keller Dover’s (Hugh Jackman) morally ambiguous methods of finding the perpetrator while Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) conducts his own investigation. Any story that places children in harm’s way tends to provoke a ton of anxiety, and Prisoners is a grisly representation of a man’s pursuit of vengeance amid unimaginable circumstances. Unpredictable story threads produce a constant sense of dread in Prisoners, and the movie’s violent scenes render the story even more unsettling. With an astounding twist that brings the crime saga to a wild conclusion, Prisoners is an engrossing thriller that will shake viewers to their core.
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