In the mood for a good thriller? Subscribe to Prime Video? Tony Stamp has searched through its archives and picked the top thrillers currently available on the streaming platform.
See also:
* All new movies & series on Prime Video
* All new streaming movies & series
The Assistant (2020)
Watch on Prime VideoPerpetually hushed, and all the more unnerving for it, Kitty Green’s debut saw Julia Garner playing against type (compared to her role in Ozark), as a meek assistant to a Hollywood executive. The film expertly catalogues the ways her character Jane is powerless to stop her boss’s various abuses of power, including an incredible turn from Matthew Macfadyen as the openly hostile head of Human Resources.
Atomic Blonde (2017)
Watch on Prime VideoAn action-thriller helmed by John Wick co-director David Leitch, Atomic Blonde sees Charlize Theron play a spy on the hunt for a list of double agents. Set just prior to the collapse of the Berlin Wall, she proceeds to kick ass up and down the German capital, dealing with KGB officers as well as agents from MI6 and France, played by James McAvoy and Sofia Boutella.
The Beta Test (2021)
Watch on Prime VideoJim Cummings has written, directed and starred in several comedic films that hinge on his skill at playing people on the edge of a breakdown. Thunder Road was dramatic, The Wolf of Snow Hollow dabbled in horror, and The Beta Test, which he co-helmed with PJ McCabe, plays in the thriller genepool, as his character is offered an anonymous sexual encounter, which leads to a conspiracy dramatically unravelling.
Bodies Bodies Bodies (2022)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEOAs murder mysteries (or even horror films) go, this is slight. But that matters less when you have a script laden with Gen X satire and delivered by the likes of Rachel Sennott, who gives every line reading a whip-smart frisson. Increasingly acidic up until its lacerating denouement, this is the kind of movie that’ll have you hating everyone—but that’s the point.
Coming Home in the Dark (2021)
Watch on Prime VideoA lean, very upsetting slice of NZ gothic depicting the worst family holiday ever, which sees parents Erik Thomson and Miriama McDowell tormented by an excellent Daniel Gillies, for reasons that are revealed over the course of the film. First-time director James Ashcroft expertly deploys a series of hair raising moments, but the film’s real strength is the way it will provoke thought and self-reflection once the credits roll.
Fall (2022)
Watch on Prime VideoAs someone with a mild fear of heights I found many parts of this genuinely hard to watch, even though I knew I was looking at a special effect. Two women find themselves stranded 2000 ft in the air on a decrepit TV tower, after a chain of events that will have you yelling at your screen for them to stop. They don’t, and the movie manages to stretch out the premise to feature length while staying surprising.
Gone Girl (2014)
Watch on Prime VideoDavid Fincher’s meticulous approach to filmmaking results in his movies being endlessly rewatchable, with this Gillian Flynn adaptation no exception. The usual immaculate surfaces, shocking outbursts of violence, and Reznor/Ross score are all present, with Ben Affleck in the crosshairs as the lead, a standout turn from Rosamund Pike, and surprisingly enthralling support from Tyler Perry.
I’m Your Woman (2020)
Watch on Prime VideoRachel Brosnahan will soon be seen as Lois Lane in James Gunn’s Superman; here she plays Jean, a 1970s wife to a professional thief, who one day comes home with a baby for her to raise, then promptly disappears. From there things get increasingly tangled, as Jean is drawn into the criminal underworld, and forced to make some tough choices.
Knock at the Cabin (2023)
WATCH ON PRIME VIDEOIf, like me, you’re a fan of M Night Shyamalan’s pivot toward immaculately filmed schlock, then you’ll love this apocalyptic parable, more violent that his usual outings and definitely more nihilistic. As usual there’s totally committed performances—none better than Dave Bautista, playing a soft-spoken creep.
Missing (2023)
Watch on Prime VideoA standalone sequel to Searching, the screenlife movie starring John Cho, this takes a similar premise (hunting for clues about a disappearance, presented on computer and phone screens), and ramps it up to absurdly enjoyable levels. This time it’s Storm Reid trying to track down her missing mom, a device-bound journey through multiple countries and government agencies, with a denouement I’ll wager you won’t predict.
Layer Cake (2004)
Watch on Prime VideoIn hindsight this was ground zero for a few things: Matthew Vaughn’s career as a director (after producing for Guy Ritchie), and Daniel Craig’s as a leading man. He plays a coke dealer, morally pretty far from Bond but equally suave, with Vaughn testing his bag of Ritchie-esque tricks, ones he’d eventually deploy in a string of less-successful spy movies.
Master (2022)
Watch on Prime VideoIf nothing else, it’s nice to see Regina Hall in a dramatic leading role, all these years after her turn in the Scary Movie franchise. She plays the first Black master (or principal) at an elite New England University, whose students begin to suffer attacks that may be racially-motivated. Hall’s character begins to investigate, unearthing some of the institution’s secrets in the process.
Memento (2000)
Watch on Prime VideoChris Nolan’s opening salvo set us up for what to expect over his career: an obsession with time, presenting events out of order, and blonde-haired protagonists wearing suits. Guy Pearce can’t store recent memories, living his life in ten minute increments as he searches for his wife’s killer. It’s an ingenious premise for a movie, rounded out by a fantastically shifty supporting cast.
Old Henry (2021)
Watch on Prime VideoTim Blake Nelson in a leading role gets a massive thumbs up, and as a bonus his character in Old Henry is hiding a secret I wouldn’t dare spoil. That aside, the movie is a tense, engrossing Western, as Nelson is caught up in a fight he didn’t ask for, but is surprisingly equipped to deal with.
Old Man (2022)
Directed by Lucky McKee (responsible for the cult hit May), Old Man stars veteran tough guy Stephen Lang in the lead role, as he encounters a young hitcher, and questions arise about their respective motivations and backgrounds. The story expands out in unexpected ways as it bores into its subject’s subconscious.
Panic Room (2002)
Watch on Prime VideoThe modern master of thrillers, David Fincher used Panic Room to test out some new tricks, as his virtual camera roams around Jodie Foster’s plush New York apartment; up stairs, through coffee pot handles and under beds. It was a flex, showing what new digital technology could achieve, but it also clearly showed the geography of the space, and how much peril Foster and her daughter (a young Kristen Stewart) were in.
Pearl (2022)
Watch on Prime VideoTi West’s follow up to his (relatively) straight ahead slasher X, Pearl heads into more psychological thriller territory as it charts the early days of the prior film’s antagonist. Mia Goth delivers one in a run of unhinged performances, the movie humming with tension because you know what her character’s capable of, and may unleash on the surrounding players.
The Report (2019)
Watch on Prime VideoAdam Driver leads this real life story of the Senate Intelligence Committee’s investigation into the Central Intelligence Agency’s use of torture in the wake of the September 11th terrorist attacks. Following information that leads all the way up to president George W Bush, the film stays engrossing despite having a somewhat foregone conclusion, as potential crimes are buried in layers of bureaucracy.
Running Scared (2006)
Watch on Prime VideoA few years into his run as Brian as part of the Fast & Furious franchise, Paul Walker played Joey Gazelle in this grungy, occasionally gonzo crime flick. Playing a low level mafioso charged with disposing of a murder weapon, Walker finds himself racing to retrieve it, encountering a roster of shady characters along the way.
A Simple Favour (2018)
Watch on Prime VideoHelmed by Paul Feig, better known for joke-delivery vehicles like Bridesmaids, Spy, and the 2016 Ghostbusters reboot, this Anna Kendrick and Blake Lively vehicle surprised with how seriously it took its twist-laden plot, courtesy of Jessica Sharzer’s taut screenplay. Double and triple crosses abound, and it’s all a bit comedic, sure, but also much more thrilling than you might expect.
Split (2017)
Watch on Prime VideoM. Night Shyamalan’s career was resurrected with his found footage romp The Visit, and his dedication to pulp thrills continued in this James McAvoy-starring hair-raiser. The Scottish actor plays a guy with dissociative identity disorder, who imprisons Anya Taylor-Joy and several other women as part of a diabolical plot involving one or more of his 23 personalities, leading to events much more fun that the film’s set up implies.
The Standoff at Sparrow Creek (2018)
Watch on Prime VideoThe dependably stoic James Badge Dale heads up this single-location thriller, following an American militia who learn that one of their members has opened fire at a police funeral. A hunt for the perpetrator ensues, as the police draw ever closer, Dale making his way through a list of great character actor suspects. The mystery runs till the final moments, panning out in delightfully unexpected ways.
The Survivalist (2015)
Watch on Prime VideoA lone man lives in a house out in the woods, fending for himself following a disaster in our near-future. The arrival of a pair of women (one of them played by Mia Goth in an early role), tests the man’s trust and preparedness. As stripped-back and taut as its characters, it’s a film that asks its audience what they might do in a similarly desperate situation.
The Vast of Night (2019)
Watch on Prime VideoIt’s not often you see something that feels this outside the box, as director Andrew Patterson uses innovative cinematography and a reliance on sound design to spin a yarn about unidentified phenomena in 1950s New Mexico. Gripping throughout with a heck of a payoff, Patterson locks in on his two protagonists, letting their fascinations and foibles drive the story.
Whiplash (2014)
Watch on Prime VideoDrum lessons wouldn’t seem to be the stuff of thrillers, but in the hands of Damien Chazelle they most certainly are. Miles Teller’s enrolment at a prestigious jazz academy turns out to involve psychological and physical abuse at the hands of his tutor J.K. Simmons, a dynamic which takes over both their lives, becoming a game of cat and mouse between two seriously intense individuals.
