Crime thrillers have the power to captivate and enthrall viewers with tense tales of murder and suspense. Featuring releases from some of the best directors of all time, this is a genre that has remained popular across the history of cinema, as viewers have always been drawn to complex stories of crime and deceit.

From gritty explorations of fictional serial killers to stylish neo-noirs highlighting state corruption, crime thrillers offer actors the opportunity to deliver terrific performances playing morally dubious characters. While there are countless great crime thrillers out there for viewers to enjoy, these are the films that stand as absolutely essential viewing.

Memories Of Murder (2003)

Although many Western viewers first heard the name Bong Joon Ho when his South Korean satire Parasite won Best Picture at the Academy Awards, the director has been making great movies for decades. The neo-noir crime movie Memories of Murder stands out as one of the best crime movies of all time.

With an outstanding lead performance from Song Kang-ho, Memories of Murder depicts detectives investigating a string of murders and Sєxual ᴀssaults as they hunt a serial killer in a small town in South Korea. As a nail-biting descent into madness, Bong explored the obsessive nature of law enforcement and what it takes to bring maniacs to justice.

Zodiac (2007)

As perhaps director David Fincher’s most underrated movie, it’s incredible how well Zodiac holds up nearly two decades later. As an exploration of the manhunt for the Zodiac Killer in San Francisco during the late ‘60s and early ‘70s, the way the killer taunted and toyed with police through letters and bloodstained evidence highlighted the high stakes of this case.

As a genuine criminal case that’s still shrouded in mystery, the fact that the Zodiac Killer was never definitely identified allowed Fincher a level of poetic license that really benefited the film. As a clever, thought-provoking thriller that perfectly recaptured the mood and style of its era, this was truly Fincher at his best.

Nightcrawler (2014)

Jake Gyllenhaal delivered a truly outstanding performance that really should have been nominated for an Oscar in Nightcrawler. This dark neo-noir story featured Gyllenhaal as a morally dubious man who works as a stringer, seeking increasingly violent ways to film footage of crime scenes to sell to local news stations.

As a sharp social commentary on the dark side of media sensationalism, while Gyllenhaal’s actions were clearly wrong, the true critique of the film was the public’s appeтιтe for such violent imagery. With tense pacing and constant suspense, Nightcrawler didn’t quite get the attention it deserved at the time, but it remains a must-watch crime thriller.

Gone Girl (2014)

Gone Girl adapted Gillian Flynn’s best-selling crime thriller into an edge-of-your-seat film that kept audiences guessing throughout with its consistent twists and turns. With an impressive ensemble cast, it was Rosamund Pike’s performance as the missing wife, Amy Elliott Dunne, that stood out as she slowly revealed the twisted nature of her true intentions.

As a thrilling critique of marriage and gender roles, Gone Girl slowly draws you in with its dark edge and forces you to question everything through unreliable narration and the blurring of the lines between victim and villain. Ben Affleck also deserves praise for his impressive mix of arrogance and charm in his role as Amy’s husband, Nick.

Heat (1995)

Al Pacino and Robert De Niro finally shared the screen in Michael Mann’s Heat. Though both appeared in The Godfather Part II, they never shared a scene until this gripping crime thriller, where De Niro played a master thief, Neil McCauley, and Pacino the relentless LAPD detective, Lieutenant Vincent Hanna, determined to catch him.

By tapping into the symbiotic relationship between police and criminals, Heat showcased these two characters as two sides of the same coin whose reluctant respect for one another made their clash all the more powerful. Heat was a gripping crime drama that remains a firm favorite among movie fans, with a sequel currently in development.

Se7en (1995)

The bleak and unflinching atmosphere of David Fincher’s Se7en makes it stand out as one of the defining crime thrillers of the 1990s. With the innovative premise of a serial killer using the seven ᴅᴇᴀᴅly sins as the basis for their heinous crimes, Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman played the detectives drawn into this disturbing hunt.

With Pitt as the impulsive young cop and Freeman playing the weary veteran officer, there was an incredible dynamic to Se7en that added to its unrelenting tension. However, the standout performance was Kevin Spacey as John Doe, a truly evil killer whose late arrival into the narrative added shocking intensity.

The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)

As just one of the three films to win the “Big Five” at the Academy Awards, The Silence of the Lambs took home Oscars for Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Adapted Screenplay. These accolades were well-deserved, as this adaptation of Thomas Harris’s crime story was hugely influential and helped to entrench the serial killer Hannibal Lecter into mainstream popular culture.

With Anthony Hopkins giving a chilling performance as the imprisoned killer Lecter, his intense chemistry with Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling added a unique energy to their interactions. As a dark story that walked the fine line between psychological character study and all-out horror movie, The Silence of the Lambs remains as powerful as ever.

Fargo (1996)

The Coen brothers proved themselves as masters of dry humor, quirky dialogue, and unexpected darkness with Fargo. This black comedy crime thriller explores how ordinary people can become embroiled in truly horrible crimes as the car salesman’s plan to orchestrate the kidnapping of his wife to extort money from his father-in-law quickly unravels out of control.

With characters speaking in a heightened Minnesotan accent, the contrast between the characters’ small-town niceties and the horrible crimes occurring around them made Fargo truly unique. Frances McDormand earned the Best Actress Oscar for her role as the police chief Marge Gunderson, which stands as one of the best performances of the 1990s.

Chinatown (1974)

There’s a reason that Robert Towne’s script for Chinatown is still taught at screenwriting classes all around the world more than 50 years after it premiered, as this thrilling neo-noir mystery weaves a complex web of corruption. Under the direction of Roman Polanski and with an incredible performance from Jack Nicholson, it remains a masterclass in suspense and storytelling.

As Nicholson’s private investigator Jack Gittes takes on a job to trail a young woman’s husband, things take a dark turn as he starts to unravel a conspiracy that exposes greed, murder, and deceit just below the surface of 1930s Los Angeles. Chinatown represents the best cinema has to offer and remains essential viewing.