Dubbing a film a “thriller” threads a needle. When fighting and chases are emphasized, “action” becomes the more apt description; when scares and shock are the priority, you encroach into “horror” territory; and when there are only a minimal number of sequences intended to raise your pulse, “drama” becomes the proper categorization. It’s one of the more complicated genres to identify, but you also know it when you see it, and the 2024 movie release calendar featured a number of excellent ones.
I’ve taken recent weeks to reflect on some of the best films I’ve seen in the last 12 months and seek out titles I missed with significant buzz, and while my CinemaBlend colleague Philip Sledge has examined the genre in both movies and television, I have narrowed down my list exclusively of the year’s greatest big screen thrillers. There were many features that wowed me in 2024, including Alex Garland’s Civil War and Anna Kendrick’s Woman Of The Hour, but at the end of my shuffling, my number one pick ultimately never moved.
10. Love Lies Bleeding
If you’re into pulpy scuzz, few movies in 2024 offered it up better than Rose Glass’ Love Lies Bleeding. Lust, sweat, jealousy, drugs and violence are all on the docket and effectively delivered in the story of a shy gym manager (Kristen Stewart) falling for an aspiring body builder (Katy O’Brian). The latter sees her steroid-fueled rage lead to an accidental murder with special consequences because of the protagonist’s criminal kingpin father (Ed Harris), and tensions escalate up to and through the film’s wild and fantastical finale.
You feel like you need a shower after the experience watching it, but in that way, Love Lies Bleeding stands out one of 2024’s more memorable features.
9. Blink Twice
Just what the hell is happening on Slater King’s private island? Zoë Kravitz’s excellent directorial debut Blink Twice keeps you gripped to the screen asking that question – and when the movie finally does let you in on its big secret, you’re only further pulled in wondering how Naomi Ackie’s Frida and the other women Slater (Channing Tatum) has ensnared will survive and escape the nightmare in which they’ve found themselves.
Blink Twice’s script, written by Zoë Kravitz and E.T. Feigenbaum, is a nimble and well-crafted work that’s paired with some gorgeous/intense cinematography and impressive, smart editing. If you haven’t seen it, definitely don’t let anyone spoil it for you.
8. Rebel Ridge
One would be challenged to identify a better star-making turn in 2024 than Aaron Pierre’s performance as Terry Richmond in Jeremy Saulnier’s Rebel Ridge. The statuesque actor has commanding screen presence from his very first scene – a bike ride becoming a terrifying encounter with some small town law enforcement – but by the end, you’re fully convinced that the guy is an A-lister in waiting.
Trained within the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program, Terry is not just an expertly trained fighter, but he has diamond nerves and is always the coolest guy in the room, even amid wild chaos. It’s a constant thrill to see him do what he does, and nothing is hurt by the fact that Saulnier’s script puts him in a terrific topical conflict that exposes the extreme potential for corruption in civil forfeiture laws.
7. The Order
Some of the greatest thrillers of all time center on the cat-and-mouse games played between cops and criminals, and Justin Kurzel’s The Order is 2024’s best contribution to that cinematic tradition. Jude Law is exceptional as the perhaps-too-passionate FBI Agent Terry Husk – who finds himself moving to Idaho to investigate a series of crimes that are tied to the operations of a white supremacist group with aspirations of taking down the government. And matching the effect of Law’s performance is Nicholas Hoult’s chilling turn as domestic terrorist Bob Matthews.
It’s an affecting movie even without the knowledge that it’s based on a true story – but recognizing how the ideologies of the radical antagonists have advanced in today’s society inspires its own goosebumps.
6. The Seed Of The Sacred Fig
It’s particularly the dark journey of Missagh Zareh’s Iman that solidifies Mohammad Rasoulof’s The Seed Of The Sacred Fig with a place on the list of the year’s best cinematic thrillers. When we first meet him, he is a moral man who is enthusiastic to better support his family after being appointed as an investigating judge in Tehran’s Revolutionary Court… but his righteousness is chipped away as he is forced to rubber stamp executions for political protestors and his daughters’ embrace of progressive ideology. When his gun goes missing and he suspects it has been stolen, it ignites a powder keg, and the film never lets you get off the edge of your seat.
The Seed Of The Sacred Fig is a powerful movie that is eye-opening in its regional specificity (Mohammad Rasoulof makes use of real cell phone video and images from protests in Iran to shocking effect), but its themes and dynamics are also universal.
5. Woman Of The Hour
I was a touch conflicted about featuring Anna Kendrick’s Woman Of The Hour on this list. There is a very real terror that is inflicted on audiences by Daniel Zovatto’s Rodney Alcala when he is at his worst moments – including an opening sequence that sees him strangle a woman to death, revive her, and then kill her again – and that makes it a viable candidate for consideration among 2024’s best horror movies. The true focus of the film, however, is the ever-rising tension of Kendrick’s Sheryl Bradshaw being charmed by him as a contestant on The Dating Game, and that effective slow boil keeps it in the thriller conversation as well.
Kendrick and Zovatto have terrific dueling energies that weirdly allow their characters to click as Sheryl asks Rodney questions live on 1970s network television, but loving her iconoclastic spunkiness also means increased concern of her getting closer to a man with nightmarish proclivities.
4. Civil War
As originally advertised, Alex Garland’s Civil War seemed a bit silly and outrageous, with the joined forces of Texas and California getting a lot of attention and people wanting to dissect the work’s politics based on the trailer… but once you actually see the film, all of that is reduced to just background noise. The movie is executed as a glimpse into a terrifying potential near-future, and while making you experience the fear of traveling through an active war zone on U.S. soil, it’s also an awesome tribute to journalists and their vital role in society.
The minimalism of Civil War’s title is reflected in its high concept plot – a group of reporters trek to Washington D.C. to interview the President before rebels take the city – but that simplicity belies the complex experience of being embedded with journalists who take seriously their responsibility to chronicle what’s happening in the world. There’s a tremendous ensemble of lead characters you passionately want to see survive and succeed, but if I’m being perfectly honest, it’s particularly Jesse Plemons’ uncredited turn as an unnamed, xenophobic soldier that solidifies the movie’s high placement on this list.
3. A Different Man
Aaron Schimberg’s A Different Man is a special entry on this list in that it is far and away the funniest of all the titles mentioned, but part of what makes the film extraordinary is that the dark comedy is paired with an unpredictable descent into madness. The dynamic between Sebastian Stan’s Edward Lemuel/Guy Moratz and Adam Pearson’s Oswald is played for laughs, as the latter is essentially everything the former couldn’t be before participating in an experimental procedure that leads to metamorphosis and it conjures outrageous jealousy, but the movie doesn’t undercut the drama of the protagonist’s turmoil.
Envy becomes seething, seething becomes rage, and rage becomes violence, and it’s that brilliant escalation with Edward/Guy that solidifies A Different Man’s place as one of 2024’s best thrillers.
2. September 5
Like Civil War, Tim Fehlbaum’s September 5 is another film that puts the practice of dynamic journalism under a microscope , but it’s a story that both celebrates journalists rising to the challenge in a time of crisis and also becoming victims of their own ambitions. You feel like cheering as the ABC broadcast team at the 1972 Summer Olympics pivots their focus from sports to news amid a hostage crisis, accepting the realities of a sink-or-swim moment. At a scary time, their ingenuity is impressive and exciting, the characters cleverly put out the various fires along the way (like disguising a member of the team as an athlete to covertly transport equipment to a colleague).
It’s also an Icarus-style tale, however, that very much reflects the prominent issues that plague the media today, specifically the disturbingly blurred line between news and entertainment. September 5 is passionate, gripping, and devastating.
1. Conclave
Who knew that the selection of a new pope could be this thrilling? Director Edward Berger’s Conclave is not just one of the most gorgeous films of the year, with shot after incredible shot reminiscent of the masters of the Renaissance, but it manages to constantly pull you in further and further as tides turn and shocking revelations are made.
Politics are politics even in the holy vestments of the Catholic Church, and it’s spellbinding to watch Ralph Fiennes’ Cardinal Lawrence navigate the back biting and secret maneuverings that transpire amid the rounds of ballot casting – further escalating his personal crisis of faith in the religious institution. The phenomenal supporting cast, including Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, Isabella Rossellini, Lucian Msamati, Sergio Castellitto, and Carlos Diehz are all exceptional and at the top of their game, and after two hours of not knowing where the power is going to shift, it concludes with the best twist ending of any film in 2024.
Be on the lookout here on CinemaBlend for more of our features and rankings that reflect on the year in cinema from 2024, and for an early preview of some of the most exciting titles set to be released in the months ahead, check out our 2025 Movie Release Calendar.
