1) Zodiac (2007):
Runtime: 2 Hours 37 Minutes
Scraping up against the limits of knowability, David Fincher’s mind-blowing crime thriller targets the truth itself as a serial killer’s final victim. Zodiac is the definitive movie of its troubled decade, showing us good men thwarted by the elusive spirit of a murderous ghost. The real-life exploits of California’s Zodiac Killer haunted Fincher as a child; his film is an expression of obsession, onscreen and off.
Director: David Fincher
Starring: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards
2) One False Move (1992):
Runtime: 1 Hour 47 Minutes
If there’s one film here that deserves wider exposure, it’s this. In his most honest and heartfelt performance, the late Bill Paxton plays Dale Dixon, a small-town sheriff who dreams of escaping to the city. When word comes that a gang of notorious killers are headed his way, Dale tools up for battle, High Noon-style. But playing the hero isn’t the same as actually being one. Balancing clear-eyed observations on race and class with nerve-shredding tension and a bottomless sense of empathy, ‘One False Move’ is a small, sharp masterpiece.
Director: Carl Franklin
Starring: Bill Paxton, Cynda Williams, Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Beach, Jim Metzler
Source: 100 Best Thriller Movies Of All Time To Watch Now, Ranked
3) The Devil All The Time (2020):
Runtime: 2 Hours 18 Minutes
Starring Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson, this thriller sees menacing characters come across a young man committed to protecting his loved ones in a small town post World War II. Corruption and turbulence are at the core of this film, taking its viewers on one hell of a bumpy ride.
Director: Antonio Campos
Starring: Tom Holland, Robert Patinson, Sebastian Stan, Bill Skarsgard, Harry Melling
4) Shutter Island (2010):
Runtime: 2 Hours 18 Minutes
Film duo Martin Scorsese and Leonardo DiCaprio come together in his dramatic thriller. It sees DiCaprio’s character, federal marshall Teddy Daniels and his partner Chuck (Mark Ruffalo) head to Shutter Island – the location of a mental hospital for the criminally insane. Through their investigations of a patient named Rachel Solando (Emily Mortimer), Teddy begins to struggle with the memory of his wife’s murder at the hands of an arsonist who is on the island and is forced to question his own mental state.
Directror: Martin Scorsese
Starring: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Max Von Sydow, Michelle Williams
5) Nightcrawler (2014):
Runtime: 1 Hour 57 Minutes
Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, this film is set in Los Angeles, primarily at night. Lou Bloom (Gyllenhaal) becomes fascinated with crime journalism and develops an interest in nightcrawling – filming scenes of crimes and selling to news outlets for a profit. However, little does Bloom realise that his love of the cut-throat nightcrawling world would lead him to becoming a victim of a crime, too.
Director: Dan Gilroy
Starring: Gake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Bill Paxton, Riz Ahmed, Ann Cusack