7 Stellar Thriller Movies That No One Ever Talks About

It's time to brush the dust off these movies and give them the treatment they deserve. Whether you like an action-packed futuristic sci-fi, a thriller with horror elements to keep you on the edge of your seat, or a classic noir-inspired whodunit, these are the seven stellar thriller movies that no one ever talks about (or at least, so it seems).

1 'Upgrade' (2018)

One thing about me: I'd recommend Upgrade to anyone, from my 3-year-old niece to my 90-year-old grandfather. It feels like people rarely talk about this film, even though it's one of the most impressive sci-fi thrillers to come out in the last decade; it's a low-budget action flick starring Logan Marshall-Green, who is brilliant in it. He portrays a character whose physical actions do not match his emotional intentions, and he nails all the nuances, moving robotically while embodying the humanity that drives his empathy. The film is directed by Leigh Whannell, who also wrote Saw and Insidious and directed the intense thriller The Invisible Man (another brilliant, semi-hidden gem).

Upgrade is set in a near-future world where technology controls everything. Grey Trace (Marshall-Green) is a technophobic mechanic who restores classic cars. He is happily married to his wife Asha (Melanie Vallejo), who works for the tech company of reclusive billionaire Eron Keen (Harrison Gilbertson). After a brutal attack paralyzes Grey and kills Asha, Eron offers Grey an experimental cure: a computer chip called STEM, which is implanted into his spine and restores his mobility, among other benefits. STEM begins to communicate with Grey, eventually taking control of his body when given permission. They embark on a bloody quest for vengeance, but Grey quickly realizes that STEM has its own plans. Marshall‑Green performed all of his own stunts with the fight choreography created by Inkster, a former performer of Cirque du Soleil.

2 'Hush' (2016)

Mike Flanagan is best known as a horror director who has created excellent miniseries for Netflix and fantastic adaptations of Stephen King's novels over the years. Flanagan may be the most brilliant horror director working today, but his career dates back much further than many people realize. Ten years ago, Flanagan and his wife Kate Siegel co-wrote the film Hush, which was marketed as a slasher but is more like an intense, nail-biting home invasion thriller; Siegel stars as the protagonist, and the film has almost no dialogue because Siegel's character is deaf-mute and the story is told from her perspective. The lack of sound or dialogue heightens the film's atmosphere, forcing viewers to focus on even the smallest details. Hush isn't one of those Netflix movies you can watch while looking at your phone; it's a masterclass in maintaining viewers' attention and rewarding them for it.

Hush follows Maddie Young (Siegel), a deaf-mute horror author who lives in a secluded house in the woods after losing her hearing to meningitis as a teenager. One night, a masked killer appears outside her window, but he isn't just any intruder; he knows Maddie is deaf and plays with her. Being unable to hear his footsteps, breathing, or the phone ringing, the film employs silence as a weapon, transforming Maddie's disability into both a liability and, eventually, an unexpected asset. A fun fact is that Maddie is famous for and lives off the earnings from her highly successful horror novel Midnight Mass, which is also the name of one of Flanagan's best miniseries.

3 'The Invitation' (2016)

Karyn Kusama's The Invitation is a little-discussed thriller in the vein of Coherence, The Endless, and even The Blackcoat's Daughter. It's a slow-burning psychological thriller that requires patience, lacks jump scares and intense car chases, and relies solely on subtext and growing dread. This is another film starring Logan Marshall-Green on the list, but this time it's not a suspenseful action film but rather a slow and deliberate thriller with an incredible payoff. The Invitation is more of a word-of-mouth cult classic than a common "best thriller" entry, but it's incredibly worth the time.

In The Invitation, Will (Marshall-Green) accepts an invitation to dinner at his ex-wife Eden's (Tammy Blanchard) home. Will hasn't been to the house where Eden lives since a tragic accident tore their family apart and led to their eventual divorce. Eden is now remarried and appears strangely serene. Will and his girlfriend Kira (Emayatzy Corinealdi) arrive and discover that they are joined by several of Eden's and her new husband David's (Michiel Huisman) friends, including a mysterious woman named Sadie (Lindsay Burdge). Will notices odd behaviors throughout the evening, but as his paranoia grows, the others brush it off as unresolved grief. Leaving the viewers to figure out whether to believe Will or the others makes The Invitation an incredibly alluring thriller full of interesting moments and dark twists.

4 'Blue Ruin' (2013)

Blue Ruin is a small independent film written and directed by Jeremy Saulnier, who has since written and directed some of the best thrillers available, such as the horror/thriller Green Room and the action thriller Rebel Ridge. Blue Ruin was funded through a Kickstarter campaign and received the FIPRESCI Prize after screening at the Cannes Film Festival. This is an incredible piece of filmmaking made all the better by Saulnier's documentary style (which could have just been due to a limited budget). The thrill is quiet and brooding, evolving from a small festering grudge to an outright, elaborate revenge.

Blue Ruin follows Dwight (Macon Blair), a homeless drifter who lives in his beat-up car and survives on scraps. When Dwight learns that the man who murdered his parents decades ago is being released from prison, he decides to exact revenge. But he is not an assassin or a professional; he's a bumbling, awkward, terrified amateur who unexpectedly devises a vengeful plan. However, the plan goes horribly wrong, triggering a chain of violence that includes Dwight's sister, estranged family, and a violent, wealthy redneck clan. Blue Ruin is a brutal, introspective reflection on the cycle of violence and the cost of vengeance. If you enjoy revenge thrillers, this film is going to become your hidden gem to recommend to everyone.

5 'The Guilty' (2018)

In 2021, an American remake of the film The Guilty, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, was released on Netflix and received significant attention from the platform. Most critics (and audiences) believe that the Danish original of the same name is far superior, but it is still relatively unknown. It's a one-location, one-actor tour de force that requires patience and rewards it with heart-stopping tension. Director Gustav Möller appears to have been inspired by a clip of a woman calling 9-1-1 for help, which left him fascinated by how much emotion, danger, and intensity can be conveyed through a single phone call; he also does another brilliant thing in The Guilty, which is slowly revealing things — he himself stated that he was fascinated by "how to organically add information" so that every reveal builds upon the story.

The Guilty follows Asger Holm (Jakob Cedergren), a police officer under investigation who is assigned to desk duty as a dispatcher until his case is resolved. Sometime after starting his shift, Asger receives an emergency call from a kidnapped woman who can only communicate in whispers; she is in a moving vehicle, and her kidnapper is driving. With Asger confined to his desk and unable to leave the dispatch center, he relies on his voice, a computer, and his wits to locate the vehicle, identify the kidnapper, and save the woman before it's too late. The entire film takes place in one room, with the drama conveyed entirely through phone calls. While Cedergren did an excellent job carrying the film solely on his reactions to sounds, Möller directs The Guilty as an intense thriller with unexpected twists, successfully evading the fate of it looking like a one-sided recording of an emergency call.

6 'Small Engine Repair' (2021)

Some of the most forgotten and overlooked films are those released during the COVID pandemic. These films had almost no marketing, and so is the case with Small Engine Repair, a thriller based on a stage play in which much of the action takes place in conversation rather than, as the title suggests, intense car chases. In fact, Small Engine Repair was written as a dramatic play by John Pollono, who co-starred in it with Jon Bernthal; Pollono and Bernthal reprise their roles in the film adaptation, and Bernthal serves as a producer. The film is more of a thriller drama, with tension and a revenge plot that may appeal to many people (particularly parents).

Frank (Pollono) runs a small engine repair shop in a working-class neighborhood of Manchester, New Hampshire. He's a gruff, devoted father figure to his teenage daughter Crystal, whose mother Karen (Jordana Spiro) is absent. After months of silence, Frank invites his two lifelong friends, Swaino (Bernthal) and Packie (Shea Whigham), to help him carry out a revenge plan. However, the night ultimately turns into a tense, bloody confrontation that forces them to question their loyalties, morals, and what they are willing to do for their family. Small Engine Repair is a dialogue-driven, single-location thriller that builds slowly before exploding, and while it does not have all the typical thriller beats, it is an interesting film adjacent to the genre.

7 'Brick' (2005)

Brick was an indie darling at Sundance (winning the Special Jury Prize), but its theatrical release was limited, and it never reached the mainstream audience it deserved. This film has an incredible appeal as both Rian Johnson's directorial debut and a film packed with stylized dialogue in which teenagers speak like 1940s noir detectives. Despite being overshadowed by Johnson's subsequent, larger films like Looper and Knives Out, Brick has a cult status that remains strong, with some fans only recently beginning to discover its appeal. The film stars Joseph Gordon‑Levitt in one of his most charming and fascinating leading roles, and he's joined by Lukas Haas, Emilie de Ravin, and Richard Roundtree.

Brick follows Brendan Frye (Gordon-Levitt), a high school student who is often on the margins of his school's social hierarchy. After his troubled ex-girlfriend Emily (de Ravin) calls him in a panic and dies a few days later, Brendan develops an obsession with discovering the truth and finding those responsible for her death. To accomplish this, he must enter the dark underworld of his suburban California high school, which is controlled by a drug lord named The Pin (Haas) and his erratic enforcer Tug (Noah Fleiss). Brick is reminiscent of Dashiell Hammett's classic novels, with hard-boiled slang, double-crosses, and a complex plot that provides both thrills and entertainment.