10 Most Thrilling Movies of 2024, Ranked

A movie doesn’t have to be a thriller to be thrilling, but it does help. Thrillers do what you’d expect them to do, based on such a name, but depending on the filmmaker and what they’re going for with a specific movie, it can be possible for comedies, dramas, horror movies, action films, Westerns, and war movies to all be thrilling, which the following set of titles might hopefully demonstrate.

What follows are some of the movies from 2024 that feel most thrilling, regardless of whether they’re actually thrillers. Some are, and some aren’t, but all are likely to get one’s heart rate racing and palms potentially sweaty. Those after relaxing and/or comfortable movies might not find them here, but if you’re after cinema that excites or drives feelings of anxiety, then you’ve come to the right place.

10 ‘Civil War’

Directed by Alex Garland

Starting at one point and ending at another, much like any good road movie, Civil War shows a second American Civil War through the eyes of several war journalists hoping to document the conflict’s fiery end. It’s a slow-burn sort of movie, not really ramping up action-wise until its final act, but what it does end up delivering quite effectively throughout is unease and tension.

No part of the journey in Civil War lacks danger, and certain sequences – including the final act and the infamous Jesse Plemons scene – come close to feeling stomach-churning. The film, as a whole, is not perfect by any means, but it does offer a dizzying and effectively unnerving viewing experience for anyone potentially curious about what a modern-day way fought entirely in the U.S. could look like.

9 ‘Juror #2’

Directed by Clint Eastwood

Like many late-era Clint Eastwood movies, there is a sort of sleepiness that can be felt during some parts of Juror #2, but it nonetheless functions quite well as a thriller when it needs to, you know, thrill. The premise here follows a juror who realizes he might well have played a part in the death of a woman whose accused murderer, her partner, is on trial. Moral dilemmas ensue.

As a courtroom drama (and an overall pretty good one), Juror #2 isn’t really about action or bombast, but the rock-solid premise does stand as one from which plenty of suspense can be mined. It’s not a movie that reinvents any sort of wheel, by any means, but it’s consistently engaging and willing to be unpredictable; two qualities that tend to help this kind of film immensely.

8 ‘Conclave’

Directed by Edward Berger

Conclave drives tension from the fact that it’s so self-contained and willing to pursue a simple premise, all the while featuring some decently executed twists and turns for good measure. It begins with covering the process of electing a new pope, after the former one’s death, but then becomes something a good deal more complicated when certain revelations and discoveries come to light.

It is a bit slow, yes, and undeniably dialogue-driven throughout, but those who like their thrillers heavier on drama than something like action will find a good deal to get engrossed by here. Also assisting Conclave is the quality – and intensity – of its lead performances, with reliable acting heavyweights like Ralph Fiennes, Stanley Tucci, John Lithgow, and Isabella Rossellini all turning in strong work here.

7 ‘Longlegs’

Directed by Osgood Perkins

Anyone unable to see how Nicolas Cage can be scary (even while hamming it up) ought to watch Longlegs, which is an overall strong showcase for the actor’s range, even if he’s also exhibiting some classic Cage-isms throughout. He’s the central antagonist here and well-utilized throughout, all the while serving as a genuinely menacing presence even when he’s not exactly being shown on screen.

Otherwise, this is kind of what you’d expect from a highly intense crime movie about finding a serial killer, albeit one that leans more into horror of a perhaps unexpected sort as things progress. The ride to that somewhat unusual final act is thrilling for sure, and Longlegs overall can also count itself among the best horror movies released during the 2020s so far.

6 ‘Nosferatu’

Directed by Robert Eggers

In just over 100 years, there have been three distinctive takes on Nosferatu, with Robert Eggers – no stranger to the horror genre – being the latest to put a spin on the not-quite-Dracula story. It isn’t an all-out thriller, instead being most focused on delivering vampire-centric horror, but there is enough here that’s genuinely frightening to make Nosferatu something that does inevitably prove thrilling, too.

And you’d kind of hope that would be the case, when you’re dealing with a vampire as unsettling, dangerous, and tragic as Count Orlok. Thanks to its bold imagery and slow-burn tale surrounding desire, desperate love, obsession, and bloodshed, Nosferatu can count itself among the best releases of 2024, and its ability to terrify, thrill, and potentially traumatize – alongside provoking various other emotions – is a testament to it feeling like more than “just” another strong horror movie.

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5 ‘Terrifier 3’

Directed by Damien Leone

Speaking of horror movies that are also thrilling, few can claim to be quite as much of an emotional rollercoaster as Terrifier 3. Indeed, just as some high-speed rides might make certain passengers throw up, so too could Terrifier 3 provoke feelings of genuine sickness… well, at least if you believe some of the hype surrounding the film and its controversial elements. It sure is a bloodbath, and is frequently nauseating, at the very least.

Terrifier 3 also twists the knife by making its characters arguably more sympathetic and good-natured than characters found in the other Terrifier films, which adds to the trauma of seeing terrible (and terribly graphic) things happen to them. There is something about the nastiness of this film that leaves a mark, but its willingness to push boundaries is also admirable, because movies that might well challenge people who think they’ve seen it all are rare.

4 ‘Challengers’

Directed by Luca Guadagnino

And now for something completely different: here’s a sports/romance/drama movie that also isn’t entirely lacking in comedy, all the while succeeding in feeling increasingly suspenseful. That movie is Challengers and, for a good few months during the first half of 2024, it was arguably the best that the year had to offer… well, it was Challengers or another film starring Zendaya: Dune: Part Two.

In Challengers, she’s the central figure of a love triangle, with the trio all being defined by their (initial) youth and love of tennis. Narratively, things bounce across numerous years in the lives of this trio, with their professional and romantic ups and downs explored in novel and unexpected ways. You don’t expect Challengers to be suspenseful, going in, but the final act is one of the most intense in recent memory. It is, in every sense, a movie where it feels like anything could happen, and it makes the tension almost unbearable.

3 ‘Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’

Directed by George Miller

Though it’s not quite as perfect a rush of adrenaline as the masterful Mad Max: Fury Road, Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga comes closer to hitting that movie’s highs than some give it credit for. At the very least, it’s a prequel that’s actually worth a damn, and one that builds a continually interesting world in exciting ways, not to mention also fleshing out the titular Furiosa in various compelling ways.

The action isn’t as non-stop as it was in Fury Road, but Furiosa still delivers a great deal of spectacle, and its best action set pieces prove to be white-knuckle in the ways you’d hope. There’s an emotional intensity here to match the ambition of the action, too, and it all results in a high-stakes, operatic, and overall underrated movie, not to mention another essential piece of the ongoing Mad Max series.

2 ‘Anora’

Directed by Sean Baker

Likely by design, Anora is a little difficult to pin down genre-wise. It feels pretty romantic, at least at first, albeit in a way that’s unafraid of being sexually explicit and uncomfortably funny at times. Things take a turn into thriller territory at around the halfway point, and there’s a certain degree of tension felt for a good while that would potentially even make the Safdie Brothers squirm in their seats.

The traditional thrills might not last the whole movie, but then the final act of Anora proves emotionally intense, functioning more like a drama than either of the first two acts had. When you get to the end of it all, it feels like you’ve been thrown around, turned on, beaten up, hugged, and then, after all that, Anora pulled your heart out of your chest and stomped it into the ground. But, you know, in a good way (somehow).

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1 ‘The Substance’

Directed by Coralie Fargeat

The funny thing about The Substance is that so many small parts of it feel reminiscent of various other movies, but it takes from so many different inspirations and blends them all into something that ultimately feels unique. In essence, The Substance is about one middle-aged woman’s intense desire to be young again, and the consequences that come from her undertaking a risky drug that will purportedly restore youth.

It’s a film with a lot to say, and it has a lot of fun saying it, with the message coming across loud and clear, even with all the bloody horror, dark comedy, and mortifying narrative turns. The Substance is perhaps the boldest film of 2024, and one of the best, too, with it proving continually thrilling and wonderfully unpredictable across a runtime of 141 minutes, which is an honestly kind of epic length, as far as the horror genre is concerned.

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