10 Most Intense Movies of the 2010s, Ranked

The 2010s have a lot of incredible movies that never stop to give you room to breathe because they are so intense. Some blockbusters offer audiences thrill rides, but these movies are another breed entirely. They use anxiety as a storytelling tool, and silence turns threatening. Once these movies grab hold, they squeeze tighter with every scene, daring you to keep up.

Here, we take a look at the most intense films from the 2010s, starring the biggest Hollywood stars and directed by heavyweight auteurs, so their qualities are undeniable. They put the audience right in the characters' psyches and bring them along until the end. From a man freezing to death in the wilderness after being mauled to death to a gambler talking himself into ruin, these movies are more than just edge-of-your-seat experiences.

10 'Gravity' (2013)

In Gravity, astronauts Dr. Ryan Stone (Sandra Bullock) and Matt Kowalski (George Clooney) are hit by a cloud of space debris during a routine spacewalk that destroys their shuttle, leaving them drifting in space. With their oxygen running out and no communication with Earth, they must find a way to navigate to a nearby space station using only what they have to survive.

Alfonso Cuarón created a relentless ride that shows the disaster unfolding in almost real-time. Using its technical brilliance that puts the audience right in the characters' positions, Gravity immediately gives a sense of danger and anxiety. The opening shot is a 17-minute-long take that establishes the terrifying scale of space before the chaos hits. The sound design is also fantastic, as audiences only hear what's inside the astronauts' suits, from their frantic breathing to the oxygen sensor alarms. All these elements blend to create one of the most intense sci-fi films ever made.

9 'Prisoners' (2013)

In Prisoners, two young girls go missing on Thanksgiving Day in a quiet Pennsylvania suburb. The father of one of the girls, Keller Dover (Hugh Jackman), takes matters into his own hands after the police investigation led by Detective Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal) is not fast and satisfactory enough for him. Keller kidnaps the lead suspect, Alex Jones (Paul Dano), and begins a brutal interrogation while Loki goes deeper into the mystery.

Denis Villeneuve made a masterful thriller with Prisoners. The whole film has an atmospheric dread throughout, aided by Roger Deakins' muted and greyish cinematography and the constant thematic darkness. For audiences, the thriller aspect is already intense, but multiplied by the moral dilemma of Jackman's character. Hugh Jackman’s performance is explosive and terrifyingly raw, contrasting with Gyllenhaal’s restrained and methodical detective. Prisoners never lets go of the suspense until the very last frame, undoubtedly another great entry in Villeneuve's decorated filmography.

8 'Black Swan' (2010)

Black Swan follows Nina Sayers (Natalie Portman), a dedicated but repressed ballerina in a prestigious ballet company. When the artistic director (Vincent Cassel) decides to replace the main ballerina for their production of Swan Lake, Nina is the frontrunner. However, she struggles to embody the dark "Black Swan" role as well as she does the innocent "White Swan." As the pressure of perfection mounts, a new rival, Lily (Mila Kunis), emerges and Nina’s grip on reality crumbles.

Having made Requiem for a Dream, Darren Aronofsky is no stranger to intense, unsettling films. Black Swan is an intense movie that explores the price of perfection, using body horror and psychological surrealism to make the pursuit of artistic perfection feel like a horror movie. The camera stays uncomfortably close to Nina’s face, capturing every wince and bead of sweat. The sound design is particularly effective, emphasizing the sickening cracks of bones and the rustle of feathers beneath the skin. Natalie Portman’s performance is a tour de force, earning her an Oscar for Best Actress.

7 'The Killing of a Sacred Deer' (2017)

The Killing of a Sacred Deer follows Steven Murphy (Colin Farrell), a cardiothoracic surgeon, whose family is cursed by Martin (Barry Keoghan), a teenage boy whose father died on Steven’s operating table. Steven’s children become paralyzed and will eventually die unless Steven makes the impossible choice of which member of his family he will kill to save the others.

The film's intense energy comes from its bizarre, deadpan tone and the looming sense of inevitable doom. Yorgos Lanthimos directs his actors to deliver lines in a flat, monotone fashion, which makes the horrifying subject matter feel uncannily detached and robotic. Barry Keoghan, in one of his first major roles, is chilling as Martin, while the rest of the cast, notably Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman, are exceptional. The Lobster, Lanthimos' previous film, is very tame in comparison. The Killing of a Sacred Deer is a nightmare scenario for the characters, as well as the audience who have no prior context watching this.

6 'Nocturnal Animals' (2016)

Susan Morrow (Amy Adams), a wealthy but unhappily married art gallery owner, receives a manuscript from her estranged ex-husband, Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal), titled Nocturnal Animals. As she reads the novel, the film follows the story of the book, where Tony Hastings (Gyllenhaal), a man whose family road trip turns into a nightmare when they are run off the road and terrorized by a gang of criminals led by the sadistic Ray Marcus (Aaron Taylor-Johnson).

After the beautiful and heartbreaking debut with A Single Man, Tom Ford flipped the script and delivered one of the most intense movie experiences ever. There are two storylines in motion, each with its own set of visceral dread. The roadside confrontation is the film's most talked-about sequence, as it is an absolute masterclass in escalating tension, relying on a lack of music and terrifyingly unpredictable performances to make the audience feel as helpless as the protagonist. The other storyline, set in the lonely real world, complements the narrative to create an unforgettable, neo-noir thriller film.

5 'Good Time' (2017)

After a botched bank robbery leads to his younger brother Nick (Benny Safdie) being sent to jail, Connie Nikas (Robert Pattinson) embarks on a desperate, one-night odyssey through New York’s underworld to bail him out in Good Time. As the night progresses, Connie’s attempts to secure the money become increasingly reckless and illegal.

Good Time is an incredibly intense film thanks to its relentless, forward-moving momentum. The Safdie Brothers use extreme close-ups and handheld cameras to create a sense of frantic chaos, and Robert Pattinson is committed to Connie, a character whose "survival at any cost" mentality makes him an unpredictable and dangerous force. It's one of his performances that immediately sheds the glossy skin of Edward Cullen that made him famous. Despite critical acclaim, this exceptional crime thriller is still underseen by most audiences today.

4 'Hereditary' (2018)

Following the death of a reclusive grandmother, a family begins to experience a series of increasingly disturbing events in Hereditary. The mother, Annie (Toni Collette), struggles to keep her family together, while her son Peter (Alex Wolff) descends into a state of catatonic shock and her daughter Charlie (Milly Shapiro) displays increasingly odd behavior.

Hereditary redefined modern horror by grounding its supernatural scares in the weight of grief and family trauma. Toni Collette’s performance is perhaps the most intense portrayal of a mother in crisis ever put to film, ranging from quiet despair to blood-curdling screams. Ari Aster uses silence, wide framing and subtle visual cues to create constant unease throughout the movie. Hereditary is an unpredictable horror film that keeps audiences in a constant state of paranoia, just like the characters. It stands as one of the best horror films released in the 2010s.

3 'The Revenant' (2015)

Inspired by true events, The Revenant follows Hugh Glass (Leonardo DiCaprio), a frontiersman on a fur-trapping expedition. After being brutally mauled by a bear and left for dead by his hunting team, Glass must drag his broken body across hundreds of miles of frozen wilderness. Driven by a primal need for survival and a burning desire to bring revenge on John Fitzgerald (Tom Hardy), he endures everything from chilling temperatures to Native tribe attacks.

The Revenant is a triumph in its filmmaking and technical brilliance. Working with cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki, director Alejandro G. Iñárritu shot almost entirely in natural light and long, unbroken takes, which force the viewer to experience every agonizing inch of Glass’s journey in real-time. DiCaprio’s performance is legendary for its physicality and commitment, and he was rewarded with a long-overdue Best Actor Oscar for his efforts. The Revenant is one of the best survival dramas, driven by its visceral intensity and relentless pace.

2 'Nightcrawler' (2014)

Nightcrawler centers on Lou Bloom (Jake Gyllenhaal), an ambitious yet desperate loner who discovers the lucrative world of freelance crime journalism in Los Angeles. With his camcorder and a police scanner, Lou begins filming horrific accidents and violent crimes to sell to local news stations. As his ambition grows, the line between observer and participant blurs, and Lou begins to manipulate crime scenes to get the money shot.

Directed by Dan Gilroy in his directorial debut, Nightcrawler is an effective and disturbing thriller, anchored by a magnificent performance by Gyllenhaal, who lost significant weight for the role, giving Lou a gaunt, nocturnal look that fits his character. Lou's every decision brings him closer to moral decay, and as the audience, it feels both intense and heartbreaking to see a man who's just trying to land a job end up as a full-blown sociopath, manipulating events for his own gain. It resonates even closer today with how social media is being used to create sensation and viral stories.

1 'Uncut Gems' (2019)

Uncut Gems follows Howard Ratner (Adam Sandler), a charismatic jeweler in New York City who is addicted to high-stakes gambling. When he acquires a rare black opal from Ethiopia, he thinks he’s finally found his big score. However, Howard also makes a lot of increasingly risky bets and is still being chased by debt collectors, leading him into a downward spiral where every decision he makes only seems to put him deeper into debt and danger.

Uncut Gems is widely regarded as one of the most stressful viewing experiences in modern cinema. The Safdie Brothers thrive in this chaos, where characters constantly scream over each other, and the situation gets increasingly worse with every scene. It's made even more intense with Daniel Lopatin’s pulsing, electronic score that stays at a high frequency. Sandler gives a career-best performance, playing a man who is simultaneously infuriating and convincing. Uncut Gems is exhausting by design, and if you feel like you're losing your breath at the end of this film, you're watching it the right way.