The 20 best thriller movies on Amazon Prime Video in August 2024
Looking for some cinematic excitement? Add these heart-pounding action films and psychological slow-burns to your watchlist.
Richard Foreman/Miramax; Amazon Studios / Magnolia Pictures; Courtesy of Amazon MGM Studios
In a genre saturated with formulaic, predictable plots, sifting through thrillers to find gems takes time. So, we took the guesswork out of your next movie night. Featuring directorial debuts and staples from seasoned pros, this list highlights the best thrillers on Amazon Prime to satisfy lovers of action, mystery, horror, and foreign flicks. Each one brings a breath of fresh air to the genre while offering just enough suspense to kick your heart rate up a notch.
Here are the 20 best thriller movies streaming on Amazon Prime right now.
Blow Out (1981)
Mary Evans/CINEMA 77/FILMWAYS PICTURES/VISCOUNT ASSOCIATES/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection
Inspired by Michaelangelo Antonioni’s 1966 film Blowup, this neo-noir thriller from Brian De Palma has significantly grown in estimation since its 1981 release. John Travolta stars as Jack Terry, a sound effects technician working on a low-budget film who inadvertently records a deadly car crash involving a governor/presidential prospect. Sally (Nancy Allen), the governor’s escort, survives the crash and befriends Jack, who begins to suspect the incident was no accident. EW’s critic praises the film as “a fresh, fizzy cocktail of paranoid cover-ups and conspiracies.” —Kevin Jacobsen
Where to watch Blow Out: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Brian De Palma
Cast: John Travolta, Nancy Allen, John Lithgow, Dennis Franz
Related content: The movies of Brian De Palma
Coherence (2013)
A comet in the sky plunges a dinner party into chaos, and eight friends fall deep into paranoia when they discover identical versions of themselves across the street. This sci-fi mind-bender from James Ward Byrkit follows the crew as they grapple with what’s real, who’s real, and good ol’ Schrödinger's cat.
Byrkit’s style is understated, making the viewer feel like a fly on the wall as the setting oscillates between the kitchen and dining room for the bulk of the film. But this singular approach delivers striking intensity, with a palpable pressure pulsing throughout the home and frenetic dialogue dialing up the tension. —Hayley Arnold
Where to watch Coherence: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: James Ward Byrkit
Cast: Emily Foxler, Maury Sterling, Nicholas Brendon, Lorene Scafaria
Related content: Things get spooky in clip from sci-fi film Coherence
Fatal Attraction (1987)
Paramount Pictures/Everett Collection
Alex Forrest (Glenn Close) won’t be ignored, and neither will this influential erotic thriller. Sparks fly when family man Dan Gallagher (Michael Douglas) meets Alex at a work function, leading to a tumultuous affair that he sees as a hookup, but she sees as the start of a new relationship. As Alex frequently pops up in his life unannounced, Dan realizes the dangerous lengths to which she’ll go to make him leave his wife for her.
Close’s unforgettable turn as Alex cemented her as an all-time cinematic antagonist, while the film itself is a fascinating time capsule of ‘80s gender dynamics. —K.J.
Where to watch Fatal Attraction: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Adrian Lyne
Cast: Michael Douglas, Glenn Close, Anne Archer
Related content: Fatal Attraction at 30: Glenn Close on why the bunny-boiling Alex has endured
The Firm (1993)
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A promising Harvard Law School graduate is lured by the promise of a cushy position at a reputable firm in this classic legal thriller. But Mitch McDeere (Tom Cruise) soon realizes the full extent of what’s expected of him, including keeping mum about the shady business dealings the firm helps cover up — and what happens to associates who wish to exit their positions.
“The fun of The Firm, a big, cumbersome, rousing adaptation of John Grisham’s 1991 page turner,” writes EW’s critic, “is that it successfully retools the nuts and bolts of the conspiracy genre for an era of warmed-over yuppie solipsism.” —K.J.
Where to watch The Firm: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Sydney Pollack
Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeanne Tripplehorn, Ed Harris, Holly Hunter, Hal Holbrook, David Strathairn
Related content: Rewriting The Firm
The Guilty (2018)
This Danish thriller — which director Antoine Fuqua remade with Jake Gyllenhaal in 2021 — makes clever use of its setting. Taking place entirely at an emergency call center, the film follows Asger Holm (Jakob Cedergren), a police officer awaiting a court hearing for a shooting incident who has been tasked with fielding calls for a shift. After a distressed woman calls and provides cryptic information, Asger becomes fixated on locating her, fearing she’s been kidnapped.
The Guilty is all the more tense because of its single location, putting us directly in the mind of Asger as he can only imagine the terror on the other end of the line. —K.J.
Where to watch The Guilty: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: A– (read the review)
Director: Gustav Möller
Cast: Jakob Cedergren, Jessica Dinnage, Johan Olsen, Omar Shargawi, Katinka Evers-Jahnsen
Related content: A director in a van, costars on Zoom: Jake Gyllenhaal explains how he made it through Netflix's The Guilty
The Handmaiden (2016)
It’s no surprise that this film from Park Chan-wook — about a handmaiden who is hired to interfere with the marriage of a wealthy heiress for a hefty payout — is visually dazzling, and the costuming and cinematography alone are enough to bewitch. Then, Chan-wook tosses in a twist, and then another, and the film’s handsome veneer is removed to unveil the wickedly sinister tones lurking beneath.
Ravishing and exhilarating, The Handmaiden is about both intimate love and crude obscenity, which Chan-wook expertly balances to complement each other well. —H.A.
Where to watch The Handmaiden: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: A– (read the review)
Director: Park Chan-wook
Cast: Kim Min-hee, Kim Tae-ri, Ha Jung-woo, Cho Jin-woong
Related content: The Handmaiden: How a Victorian-set novel became the Korea-set film
The Hitch-Hiker (1953)
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Ida Lupino made history as the first female director to helm a Hollywood film noir with this gripping thriller, which takes inspiration from real-life spree killer Billy Cook. Roy (Edmond O'Brien) and Gilbert (Frank Lovejoy) are driving through California where they unwittingly pick up a murderous hitchhiker, Emmett Myers (William Talman), who is wanted by police. Myers holds the two men at gunpoint and instructs them to transport him to a specific location to evade capture.
Lupino makes the most of a low budget, crafting a genuinely suspenseful thriller with potent emotional resonance. —K.J.
Where to watch The Hitch-Hiker: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Ida Lupino
Cast: Edmond O'Brien, Frank Lovejoy, William Talman
Related content: Karina Longworth recommends 10 films to pair with her book Seduction
Memento (2001)
Danny Rothenberg/Newmarket
Christopher Nolan emerged as one of the most inventive mainstream directors of his generation with this cerebral crime thriller. Guy Pearce stars as Leonard, a man with amnesia struggling to put the pieces together of who killed his wife. Unable to store new memories, Leonard develops an elaborate system of documentation involving photographs and tattoos to provide connective tissue to his future self.
“Memento has a spooky repetitive urgency that takes on the clarity of a dream,” writes EW’s critic. “It’s like an Oliver Sacks case study played as malevolent film noir.” —K.J.
Where to watch Memento: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Christopher Nolan
Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano
Related content: EW's guide to Memento’s biggest head-scratchers
Mother (2010)
CJ Entertainment
Mother crafts a tale much more provoking than the standard “mother’s love” cliché. Powerhouse actress Kim Hye-ja plays a widow on a quest to clear her son’s name after he’s accused of a schoolgirl’s murder, and she’s bent on finding the real killer by any means necessary.
While Snowpiercer (2013) and Best Picture winner Parasite (2019) are often the top-of-mind thrillers by Korean director Bong Joon Ho, Mother remains his haunting lesser-known masterpiece. In typical Joon Ho style, the film is laced with a level of detail that warrants, or rather demands, multiple rewatches. It makes brilliant use of unreliable narration, and the result is an unsettling, unexpected, and sickly comedic look at the horrors of motherhood. —H.A.
Where to watch Mother: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Bong Joon Ho
Cast: Kim Hye-ja, Won Bin
Related content: Top South Korean directors on hitting Hollywood
The Night of the Hunter (1955)
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This disturbing thriller was well ahead of its time upon its 1955 release, following a serial killer masquerading as a trustworthy man of God. A preacher, Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum), finds out about a lonely widow and her two children who are housing a fortune — and goes to extreme lengths to attain it.
The film’s stark black-and-white imagery and dread-like atmosphere is like a descent into Hell, directed with such confidence by Oscar-winning actor Charles Laughton that it’s hard to believe it’s his only credited directorial effort. —K.J.
Where to watch The Night of the Hunter: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Charles Laughton
Cast: Robert Mitchum, Shelley Winters, Lillian Gish
Related content: The 54 all-time greatest acting performances…that the Oscars ignored
No Country for Old Men (2007)
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This riveting crime thriller proved that the Coen brothers and writer Cormac McCarthy were a match made in (an admittedly bleak) heaven. Adapted from McCarthy's 2005 best-seller of the same name, No Country for Old Men follows the aftermath of a botched drug deal that leads to Vietnam vet Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) discovering a briefcase stuffed with $2 million. Meanwhile, menacing hitman Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) tries to track down Llewelyn, while Sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) investigates.
The nihilistic film was an Oscar success because of the sheer quality of filmmaking on display, winning the Academy Award for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Supporting Actor for Bardem's unforgettable performance. —K.J.
Where to watch No Country for Old Men: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: A (read the review)
Directors: Joel and Ethan Coen
Cast: Tommy Lee Jones, Javier Bardem, Josh Brolin
Related content: Why Anton Chigurh is still an iconic movie villain, 10 years later
Reservoir Dogs (1992)
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Quentin Tarantino exploded onto the film scene with the cult classic Reservoir Dogs, his feature directorial debut. Following a diamond heist that takes more than a few wrong turns, a colorful group of gangsters squabble over whether one of them might be an undercover police officer. Paranoia leads to tense standoffs (and a healthy amount of gunfire) at a warehouse gathering point.
Reservoir Dogs proved to be a strong introduction to Tarantino's idiosyncratic style, with numerous elements that would become trademarks in his filmography, including sharp dialogue, dark humor, and a whole lot of bloody violence. Plus, with an ensemble that includes Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, and more, it established Tarantino's strong eye for casting. —K.J.
Where to watch Reservoir Dogs: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Cast: Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, Chris Penn, Steve Buscemi, Lawrence Tierney, Michael Madsen
Related content: Reservoir Dogs theory uncovers Quentin Tarantino's secret meaning
Rosemary's Baby (1968)
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Haunting and influential in equal measure, this psychological horror thriller is eerily resonant more than 50 years later. Mia Farrow — in her breakout role — stars as Rosemary Woodhouse, a young newlywed who moves into a New York City apartment with her husband and quickly becomes unsettled by odd occurrences and nosy neighbors. After a harrowing night of trying to conceive her first child with her husband, Rosemary becomes pregnant and begins to fear that their neighbors have sinister plans for her baby.
Director Roman Polanski masterfully infuses the film with an aura of dread, but it’s Farrow’s emotionally wrenching performance that stays with you as a woman being gaslit by everyone around her, not knowing if she can trust anyone besides her own intuition. —K.J.
Where to watch Rosemary’s Baby: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: A– (read the review)
Director: Roman Polanski
Cast: Mia Farrow, John Cassavetes, Ruth Gordon, Sidney Blackmer, Maurice Evans, Ralph Bellamy
Related content: The 37 scariest movies of all time
Saltburn (2023)
Combine the obsession featured in The Talented Mr. Ripley with Brideshead Revisited’s commentary on privilege and you get Saltburn, directed by Oscar-winning writer Emerald Fennell.
Barry Keoghan stars as Oliver, an outcast Oxford student who befriends uber-rich classmate Felix (Jacob Elordi). After Felix invites him to his family’s palatial country house over summer break, Oliver weasels his way into their good graces and turns their world upside down. Nasty yet perversely funny, Saltburn is, as EW’s critic describes it, “a gothic thriller dusted with poisonous candy-pop glitter,” —K.J.
Where to watch Saltburn: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Emerald Fennell
Cast: Barry Keoghan, Jacob Elordi, Rosamund Pike, Richard E. Grant, Alison Oliver, Archie Madekwe
Related content: Breaking down Saltburn's most shocking moments from tub slurping to vampiric lovemaking
Sicario (2015)
Richard Foreman Jr./Lionsgate/courtesy Everett
Recalling the complicated interconnected quality of 2000’s war-on-drugs film Traffic, this pulse-pounding thriller is a bleakly violent yet compelling examination of just how futile the war really is. Emily Blunt stars as Kate Macer, an FBI Special Agent assigned to bring down the lieutenant of a powerful drug cartel. As part of a joint task force, the team travels to the Mexican border to extradite the lieutenant’s brother, and Kate soon discovers the true extent of the CIA’s plans.
“Sicario is a brilliant action thriller with the smarts of a message movie,” writes EW’s critic. “And the message is this: Are we willing to bend the rules and sell our souls to fight a war that will probably never be won?” —K.J.
Where to watch Sicario: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Cast: Emily Blunt, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, Jon Bernthal, Daniel Kaluuya
Related content: Sicario: Denis Villeneuve relishes the film's 'deeply stressful' mood
Skyfall (2012)
Francois Duhamel/Columbia Pictures/courtesy Everett
The 23rd film in the long-running James Bond franchise is also one of the most impactful. After MI6 becomes the target of data leaks, a retired Bond (Daniel Craig) is compelled to lead an investigation into the source of the hacking, as approved by MI6 head M (Judi Dench) despite Bond failing the tests to allow him back into the field. What he finds while globe-trotting is surprisingly personal, eventually leading him back to his childhood home.
Packed with dazzling action set pieces and a melancholic atmosphere, Skyfall is “an elegy and a mission statement,” writes EW’s critic. “It’s also a great, long-lasting jolt of pleasure.” —K.J.
Where to watch Skyfall: Amazon Prime Video
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Sam Mendes
Cast: Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Bérénice Marlohe, Albert Finney, Judi Dench
Related content: How Skyfall cinematographer Roger Deakins made the best-looking Bond movie ever
The Third Man (1950)
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Nothing is quite as it seems in this dark, stunning thriller. Joseph Cotten stars as Holly Martins, an American author who travels to Vienna to meet a friend who’s offering him a job — only to find out that friend has died. Martins investigates how the death happened, teaming up (and falling in love) with his friend’s girlfriend as they realize there may be more to the story than they once thought.
With clever twists and turns that would make Agatha Christie proud, and stark Oscar-winning cinematography, The Third Man is a must-watch for fans of classic film noir. —K.J.
Where to watch The Third Man: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Carol Reed
Cast: Joseph Cotten, Alida Valli, Orson Welles, Trevor Howard
Related content: Orson Welles turns 100: How to become an expert in seven easy steps
The Vast of Night (2020)
For under $1 million, director Andrew Patterson gifted Amazon Prime with one of the best sci-fi movies of 2020. The Vast of Night follows Everett (Jake Horowitz) and Fay (Sierra McCormick), who discover a mysterious sound frequency while the entire town is attending a high school basketball game. Though the movie calls back to The Twilight Zone, the supernatural subject matter is explored through an entirely fresh lens. "
We wanted to immediately make it clear [in the film] that the things you're about to see in this story are very much the same things you've seen before in this story, but we're going to do this in a new way,” Patterson said in an interview with EW. It’s an honest and subdued approach to sci-fi, and the minimalism yields time for Patterson’s craft to shine. —H.A.
Where to watch The Vast of Night: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Andrew Patterson
Cast: Sierra McCormick, Jake Horowitz
Related content: How The Vast of Night pulled off its stunning tracking shot
We Need to Talk About Kevin (2011)
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A mother fears her child may be a psychopath in this unnerving thriller drama. Eva (Tilda Swinton) struggles to fully connect with her son, Kevin (Ezra Miller), who torments her without apparent reason or remorse. Making matters worse is the affection Kevin shows to his father, which only increases the distance between them. It all leads up to a horrifying incident that irrevocably changes Eva and Kevin’s lives forever.
We Need to Talk About Kevin is one of those films you may never want to watch again, but its impending sense of doom is bracingly effective, as are the performances by Swinton and Miller. —K.J.
Where to watch We Need to Talk About Kevin: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Cast: Tilda Swinton, John C. Reilly, Ezra Miller
Related content: Tilda Swinton's wildest transformations, ranked
You Were Never Really Here (2018)
Lynne Ramsay crafts a lone wolf story in a gritty arthouse fashion, with Joaquin Phoenix as Joe, a war vet with PTSD who saves runaway girls from the sex trade. Though his personal life is already splitting apart at the seams, Joe plunges into further danger when a routine rescue goes awry.
Ramsay speeds through many of the action shots to instead focus on Joe’s psyche. Images from his past are spliced together abruptly and rather awkwardly, an apt representation of the way his trauma continues to torment him. The result serves as a visual representation of Joe’s disjointed mind, resulting in a film as emotionally arresting as it is dark and thrilling. —H.A.
Where to watch You Were Never Really Here: Amazon Prime Video
Director: Lynne Ramsay
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Judith Roberts, Ekaterina Samsonov, John Doman, Alex Manette, Dante Pereira-Olson, Alessandro Nivola
Related content: Lynne Ramsay, Joaquin Phoenix thriller raved as 'art house' version of Taken
Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.
