Thriller films come in all shapes and sizes. From cigarette-laden murder-mystery noirs to tantalizing close-quarters siege flicks, the genre knows no bounds — and neither does Amazon Prime Video’s excellent collection of tasteful thriller movies. Featuring powerful blast-from-the-past entries and current favorites, the Prime Video library is always changing, so we thought we’d put together this roundup to highlight all of the best thrillers on Amazon Prime Video this month.
Amazon Prime may have a robust catalog, but it doesn’t have everything. Luckily, we’ve also curated roundups of the best thrillers on Netflix and the best thrillers on Hulu.
Added to Amazon Prime Video in November
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Lansky2021 -
Mr. Brooks2007
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A Perfect Enemy2021
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Fight Club1999
Lansky (2021) new
Meyer Lansky (Harvey Keitel), a notorious crime lord, is on his last leg, a fact that the authorities are all too aware of. Hoping to track down Lansky’s hidden fortune, the Feds do everything in their power to make Lansky talk — and talk he does. In the vein of The Usual Suspects, the patriarchal puppet master begins weaving an intricate tale of his past, with specifics on how he rose to power. Keitel is perfectly cast as Lansky, delivering a tour-de-force performance that carries much of this true-crime thriller.
Mr. Brooks (2007) new
Oh, Kevin Costner. You had such a trustworthy disposition. In Mr. Brooks, Hollywood stalwart Costner stars as well-to-do businessman Earl Brooks, a family man with a hidden life as a serial killer. When carrying out murders, Brooks disconnects from reality and takes on the guise of a man named Marshall (William Hurt). Deciding to kill just one more time, Brooks/Marshall is seen by Mr. Smith, a mysterious voyeur who blackmails the duo into continuing their spree of carnage. There are many dual-identity thrillers out there, and Mr. Brooks doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, but where the film succeeds is in the proliferation of its center-stage, dynamic onscreen duo — Costner and Hurt.
A Perfect Enemy (2021) new
Jeremiasz Angust (Tomasz Kot), a decorated architect, intends to catch a flight out of Paris, but his departure is interrupted by the chattiness of one Texel Textor (Athena Strates), a fellow passenger. At first, Texel’s never-ending stories seem innocent, but as she and Jeremiasz sink deeper into her whirlwind of conversation, her once-benevolent facade starts to crumble away to the sinister ulterior motives that lie just under the surface. A psychological thriller that unravels slowly, with small burns along the way, A Perfect Enemy is one you won’t forget, even long after the credits have rolled.
Fight Club (1999) new
Based on the Chuck Palahniuk novel of the same name, Fight Club stars Ed Norton as down-and-out Jack. When an airborne chance encounter introduces Jack to the enigmatic Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt), their paths appear to be more than destined to cross. After a fire tears through Jack’s apartment, he moves into Tyler’s ramshackle manor, wherein the two men devise an underground fighting ring known as “Fight Club.” Beginning as a way to blow off the steam of life, the movement soon grows into a vigilante army with the aim of breaking down corporate America. David Fincher’s adaptation of Palahniuk’s whirlwind novel brings the director’s iconic gritty vision to an already-disturbed world of blood, sweat, and hate.
Casino Royale (2006)
Daniel Craig’s foray into the role of James Bond begins with Casino Royale, an edge-of-your-seat action thriller based on Iam Fleming’s first entry in the Bond book series. After securing his license to kill from MI6, Bond is sent to Madagascar where he uncovers a crucial lead to Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelsen), a terrorist financier. It’s up to Bond to bet against the criminal mastermind in a risky poker game, one where the villain aims to use the major-winnings for the ultimate plot. Injecting the franchise with a fresh face, pure adrenaline, and grand set-pieces, Casino Royale is a fantastic reworking of the classic, much-loved franchise.
Filth (2013)
Drug-addled Bruce Robertson (James McAvoy), a disenfranchised detective, is seeking a promotion on the Edinburgh police force. Tasked with solving the murder of a Japanese exchange student to secure his new title, Bruce’s grip on reality slips more and more into a series of nightmarish visions. Plagued by these hallucinations, the detective will do everything in his power to find the killer(s) before his downward spiral totally consumes him. Based on the 1998 Irvine Welsh novel of the same name, Filth is a bleak trip into the mind of an extremely disturbed individual, where the line between reality and hallucinations is drawn thin.
Frailty (2001)
When the father (Bill Paxton) of Fenton (Matt O’ Leary) and Adam Meeks (Jeremy Sumpter) claims to have been visited by an archangel, a guardian that tasked the patriarch with eradicating earthbound demons, the children are initially wary of their father’s holy duty. But when their old man begins actively kidnapping and eradicating human beings, a so-called delusion becomes terrifyingly real. Often sliding under the thriller radar, Frailty is a solid gem of a film that finds the late Paxton in both the director’s chair and as a powerful on-screen talent. The movie also stars Matthew McConaughey as an adult Adam, a man with pivotal information regarding a present-day serial killer.
Unhinged (2020)
We’ve all had episodes of road rage that we’re not proud of, but typically these exchanges between drivers amount to nothing more than a few finger gestures and muffled profanities behind closed car doors. For Rachel (Caren Pistorious), a highway-bound single mother, a nightmare becomes a reality when, after beeping at a fellow driver (Russell Crowe), the man in question begins following her, leaving us, the viewers, to watch Rachel’s descent into the unnamed driver’s hellish revenge.
The Courier (2021)
Based on a true story, The Courier stars Benedict Cumberbatch Greville Wynne, your run-of-the-mill British businessman who’s handed the seemingly impossible task of negotiating with a Soviet spy (Merab Ninidze) to defuse international tensions, a massive effort by the U.K.’s MI-6 to put an end to the Cuban Missile Crisis. A tactful and rewarding espionage thriller, The Courier finds Benedict Cumberbatch at the top of his powers, delivering yet another engrossing leading-man performance.
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When a Stranger Calls (1979)
Featuring one of the most terrifying openings of any horror/thriller to date, When a Stranger Calls stars Carol Kane as Jill Johnson, a babysitter who receives the shock of her life when a disturbed merchant seaman preys upon her and the children she’s sitting for. After she escapes his clutches, the perpetrator returns seven years later after breaking out of a psychiatric institution to continue stalking Jill and her new family. A well-rounded film with earnest performances and an edge-of-your-seat story, When a Stranger Calls may attempt a little too much storyline at times, but its greatest successes are had when the film focuses on the torment of Jill Johnson and her fight for survival.
Midsommar (2019)
Midsommar takes creepiness to a whole new level. With their relationship foundering, a young American couple joins their friends on a trip to a fabled midsummer festival in an extremely remote Swedish community. The pastoral paradise appears to be a dream — the absolute pinnacle of human cooperation and cohabitation. But as the Americans soon learn the true reason they were invited to join these reclusive people, their trip soon turns sinister and horrifying.
An Inspector Calls (2015)
Thriller fans may have missed An Inspector Calls because it was a TV movie in the United Kingdom. However, Prime Video is giving this terrific film another chance to find an audience. In 1912, the Birling family’s engagement celebration for Sheila (Chloe Pirrie) and her fiancé, Gerald Croft (Kyle Soller), is interrupted by Inspector Goole (David Thewlis) as he informs the family about the suicide of a young woman named Eva Smith (Sophie Rundle). Goole is such a force of nature that his interrogations bring to light the secrets of the guilty. But who is truly responsible for Eva’s death?
The Wall (2017)
The Wall is a very stripped-down thriller with only three major roles. In Iraq, military sniper Shane Matthews (John Cena) and his spotter, Sergeant Allen “Ize” Isaac (Aaron Taylor-Johnson), are assigned to make sure that a pipeline construction site is clear from enemy forces. Unfortunately, a feared sniper known as Juba (Laith Nakli) successfully draws them into a trap, and wounds both men. As the soldiers hide behind a crumbling wall, Juba uses the radio to learn more about them and to advance his larger plans. That’s because Juba has done this before, and his words are also weapons in his arsenal.
Blow the Man Down (2019)
From writer-director duo Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy, Blow the Man Down is a bleak seaside thriller with black comedy undertones. Siblings Priscilla (Sophie Lowe) and Mary Beth Connolly (Morgan Saylor) aren’t on the greatest of terms after their mother’s funeral. Further complicating their sisterly struggle is a murder they must commit (in self-defense). Disposing of the body, the sisters are far from out of the woods when local law enforcement begins a search for the very man the duo pitched in the ocean. Add to that another body washing up on the shore, and Blow the Man Down sheds a layer to reveal a deeper underbelly of feminist power-playing and malicious intent. A film that builds an immersive tone and atmosphere from the get-go, Blow the Man Down is a whodunit that keeps you drawn in for its 90-minute runtime.
The Report (2019)
A star-studded cast, including Adam Driver, Annette Bening, and Jon Hamm, tackled this film’s deep-dive into the investigation of and controversy around torture used by the CIA following the terrorist attacks on September 11. Examining the full 6,700-page report by Daniel Jones of the Senate Intelligence Committee, the story is based, in part, on Katherine Eban’s Vanity Fair article “Rorschach and Awe.” Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival in early 2019, the Amazon Studios movie had a brief theatrical release then went straight to the streaming service.
To Catch a Thief (1955)
Go way back in time for this Alfred Hitchcock classic, based on the novel of the same name by David Dodge. Cary Grant is a retired cat burglar who, in an attempt to save his reputation, catches an imposter targeting wealthy tourists in the French Riviera. It marked the last film project for Grace Kelly, who starred as Grant’s love interest before she retired from acting to become Princess of Monaco.
The Handmaiden (2016)
Genre
Thriller, Drama, Romance
Stars
Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo
Directed by
Park Chan-wook
145m
Dubbed an erotic psychological thriller, this South Korean film, also known as Ah-ga-ssi, is inspired by the novel Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, with a change in setting from the Victorian era to Korea during Japanese colonial rule. At the heart of the story is a con man with a sinister plot to seduce a Japanese heiress so he can have her committed and steal her money.
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
Lionel Shriver’s psychological thriller, We Need to Talk About Kevin, was adapted for the screen by director Lynne Ramsay with Ezra Miller in the title role. Regardless, this movie belongs to Tilda Swinton, who plays Kevin’s mother, Eva. John C. Reilly also has a rare dramatic turn as Eva’s husband and Kevin’s father, Franklin. The story begins in the present, as Eva struggles to deal with the enormity of Kevin’s crime against society and herself. But as Eva examines her past, she begins to wonder what part she had to play in raising a monster under her own roof. Swinton’s performance is electric, and it carries the film all the way to its conclusion. However, Miller’s Kevin is the rare screen monster who is all too human with the evil he inflicts upon the world.
You Were Never Really Here (2017)
Joaquin Phoenix is on point in Lynne Ramsay’s You Were Never Really Here. The Oscar-winning actor plays Joe, a brutalizer-for-hire, with a specialty in rescuing trafficked girls. Suffering from suicidal thoughts and years of trauma from his childhood through his military career, Joe agrees to a new mission. It’s standard fare: Rescue a senator’s daughter and take down anyone that gets in the way. The only trouble is that those involved are part of a much deeper political conspiracy, and Joe lands right in the middle of the villains and their victims. You Were Never Really Here has teeth, and it bites — a lot. Those uneasy with gore may want to choose something else on this list. For those that can stomach Joe’s reign of hammer-blows, you’ll be rewarded with a brilliantly directed character study and a mesmerizing lead performance from our latest cinematic Joker.
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