The 2010s were a great decade for thrillers, with several outstanding movies that shook up the genre and became instant classics. Directors like David Fincher and Martin Scorsese returned to the genre to make some of their best movies yet, but there were also plenty of brilliant movies by emerging talents.

This new crop of filmmakers helped shape the thriller genre’s miniature boom in the 2010s. Movies like Black Swan and Nightcrawler brought new ideas to the psychological thriller genre and tried out new structures and techniques. The current state of thrillers wouldn’t be the same without these groundbreaking movies.

10

Black Swan (2010)

Natalie Portman’s Performance Grounds A Stunning Thriller

Black Swan follows a ballerina as she gets the role of her lifetime, but the mental strain of preparation starts to play tricks on her mind. Darren Aronofsky enhances this effect with a few tricks of his own, placing the audience inside Nina’s increasingly frantic mind until it’s unclear what’s supposed to be real and what’s merely imagined.

Natalie Portman delivers a powerhouse performance in Black Swan. She keeps the emotional aspect of the drama in focus as the mind games get more complex and more sinister. Black Swan‘s ending ensures that it leaves a lasting impression, but it takes a while to catch one’s breath after the dramatic final flourish.

9

Uncut Gems (2019)

Adam Sandler’s Performance Is Just One Surprise In Uncut Gems

Adam Sandler’s performance in Uncut Gems was widely praised when the film came out, with people remarking on the comedian’s dramatic prowess. In truth, his performance is just as funny as most of his other movies, but in a much darker, more mature way. Howie is a tragic figure, but the line between tragedy and comedy is awfully thin in Uncut Gems.

Aside from Sandler’s performance, Uncut Gems sets itself apart from the compeтιтion with its breakneck pace and suffocating atmosphere. It’s a movie that often feels claustrophobic, as Howie’s gambling debts cause his world to fold in on itself, and he steadfastly refuses to change. The ending of Uncut Gems provides some closure, but not much catharsis.

8

Parasite (2019)

The Oscar-Winner Moves Between Comedy And Intense Drama

There’s a scene in Parasite in which the working-class Kim family enjoy the Park’s family’s luxurious home as if they own it. They cheer and laugh as the mother relives her athletic glory days by winding up and executing a hammer toss out of the frame and into parts unknown. This highlights the dark humor of Bong Joon-ho’s Oscar-winner, but it also hints at the danger lurking beneath the surface.

Parasite once again demonstrates Bong’s mastery of genre, flicking from an intoxicating social satire to a volatile crime thriller in an instant. Still, it doesn’t lose its pace or its vitality for a moment. One reason this works so well is that the context of the comedy enhances the more dramatic moments, and vice versa. This leaves audiences to chew over the meaning of Parasite for a long time after the credits roll.

7

Get Out (2017)

Jordan Peele’s Debut Shook Up The Horror Genre

Before Get Out, Jordan Peele was primarily known as a sketch comedian, so the fact that he created an outstanding horror movie came as a shock. Peele himself has spoken openly about the similarities between comedy and horror, suggesting that both genres are predicated on surprising the audience, and there are undoubtedly some funny moments in Get Out.

For all its dark humor, Get Out becomes claustrophobic and unnerving at the right time. After a stunning twist and some ambitious visuals that one might not expect from a first-time director, Get Out draws toward a terrifying finale that wipes the smiles from its audience’s faces.

6

Gone Girl (2014)

David Fincher Knows His Way Around A Thriller

Many of David Fincher’s best movies are thrillers or other crime movies, and Gone Girl is no different. It’s a domestic thriller about a wife who plots her disappearance as part of an elaborate scheme to frame her husband for murder, with Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike both giving great performances.

There are shades of Alfred Hitchcock to Gone Girl, not just with the aesthetic similarities, like the blonde bombshell and the everyman protagonist. It’s a movie full of unpredictable twists, and a story that revolves around moral choices which manifest in bursts of shocking action. The strange ending is intentionally anticlimactic, as life goes on for both the criminal and the victim.

5

Prisoners (2013)

The Detective Movie Asks Some Tough Questions

Denis Villeneuve has made a few brilliant thrillers in his career. Prisoners is just one example, showcasing Villeneuve’s willingness to subvert genre conventions to arrive at something unique and surprising. The set-up is simple enough, as two fathers take matters into their own hands when a police investigation into their missing children fails to bear fruit. From this starting point, Prisoners takes several unpredictable turns.

Through some viscerally upsetting scenes of intimidation and torture, Prisoners poses some uncomfortable questions to its audience. It asks where the line should be drawn on detectives trying to extract information from a subject to save a child’s life, and it probes at the facets of true justice that law enforcement is unequipped to handle. Prisoners doesn’t dictate the answers to any of these questions, leaving them open to interpretation.

4

The Town (2010)

Ben Affleck’s Heist Thriller Is An Exciting Ride

Ben Affleck’s heist thriller The Town adheres to many of the tried and true conventions of the genre, but it also has a lot to distinguish itself from the compeтιтion. Of course, the main hook is the relationship between the gang’s mastermind and the only witness who can put him behind bars, but there’s as much tension within the gang as there is from outside sources.

Jeremy Renner turns in one of his most compelling performances as the gang’s most volatile member, constantly rubbing against his ᴀssociates thanks to his warped ideas of loyalty. There’s a message about inequality and underserved communities in The Town, but its intelligent commentary never overshadows the film’s kinetic action scenes.

3

Drive (2011)

Ryan Gosling Shines In A Tense, Stylish Thriller

Ryan Gosling plays a more subdued, thoughtful character than usual in Drive, and he serves as a steady center to Nicolas Winding Refn’s anxiety-inducing crime thriller. He plays a Hollywood stunt driver who makes some extra money on the side as a getaway driver for the city’s most ambitious bank robbers.

Drive is stunningly beautiful, thanks to Refn’s unorthodox sH๏τ compositions, which often frame his subjects in opposite corners to emphasize the emotional distance between the two sides of the driver’s life. The driving scenes are even more breathtaking, using ambient noise and moments of disturbing silence to ratchet up the tension.

2

Nightcrawler (2013)

Jake Gyllenhaal Hits His Peak In A Chilling Criminal Tale

Nightcrawler is a dark journey into the world of freelance film journalism, with Jake Gyllenhaal starring as an unhinged grifter who discovers a lucrative income filming the aftermath of accidents and crimes in Los Angeles. Gyllenhaal is often at his best when his characters are eccentric and hard to relate to, but he still brings plenty of nuance and grit to his performance.

Nightcrawler‘s villain protagonist keeps the narrative unpredictable, and it also brings the audience uncomfortably close to the mind of a sociopath. Lou is shown trying to turn the charm on when he interacts with people who might help him, but nothing hides his true malice. The dark streets of Los Angeles prove to be the perfect setting for an unsettling story of greed and individualism.

1

Shutter Island (2010)

The Period Thriller Keeps Audiences Guessing

Shutter Island is a slightly unusual offering from Martin Scorsese, but it once again proves his range and his penchant for surprising his audience. It’s a psychological thriller about a detective who visits an isolated mental health facility to solve the case of a missing patient, and to describe it in much more detail would be to spoil the film’s twisty narrative.

Scorsese does enough in the early stages of Shutter Island to sow the seeds of mystery, and the air of uncertainty lingers throughout. With a captivating performance from Leonardo DiCaprio, Shutter Island deepens its intrigue with every step. Shutter Island‘s ending is the kind that can leave audiences floored, and it set up a fascinating rewatch.