The 10 Most Perfect Thriller Movies, Ranked

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Anja Djuricic was born in Belgrade, Serbia, in 1992. Her first interest in film started very early, as she learned to speak English by watching Disney animated movies (and many, many reruns). Anja soon became inspired to learn more foreign languages to understand more movies, so she entered the Japanese language and literature Bachelor Studies at the University of Belgrade.

Anja is also one of the founders of the DJ duo Vazda Garant, specializing in underground electronic music influenced by various electronic genres.

Anja loves to do puzzles in her spare time, pet cats wherever she meets them, and play The Sims. Anja's Letterboxd four includes Memories of Murder, Parasite, Nope, and The Road to El Dorado.

What makes a thriller perfect? Is it the well-crafted cinematography, an attention-grabbing script, or the performances of the leading actors? A perfect thriller is, for the most part, a combination of these things, which is why it can be hard to find a film that truly embodies perfection in its truest sense.

Still, there are movies that have made history over the years for being universally considered thriller masterpieces. Whether they've been heavily awarded or just gained a cult following over time, these are the ten most perfect thriller movies, ranked by, well, just how iconic and perfect they truly are.

10 'The Departed' (2006)

Matt Damon with a bloody nose stands next to Leonardo DiCaprio in an elevator

Martin Scorsese's Oscar-winning movie, The Departed, is one of his most popular and prominent feature films. It's essentially a remake of the Hong Kong thriller Infernal Affairs starring Tony Leung Chiu-wai and Andy Lau, but it was also based on the real-life criminal activities of the Boston-based Winter Hill gang. It's a convoluted film full of memorable twists and turns, brilliant performances, and iconic imagery. The Departed is a gangster thriller like no other, and it'll leave you breathless from the very first moments.

The Departed follows two men infiltrating each other's worlds: Colin Sullivan (Matt Damon), who works for Boston's most notorious criminal, Frank Costello (Jack Nicholson), and infiltrates the police, and Billy Costigan (Leonardo DiCaprio), a police officer who goes undercover in Costello's ranks. With Costigan and Sullivan struggling to keep their secret identities afloat, they fight to realize who they truly are, turning things into a cat-and-mouse chase that can only seemingly end in violence. Identity is the movie's most prominent theme, which was something Scorsese seemingly wished to emphasize in the story, showing Costigan and Sullivan trying to find a space to exist without expectations.

9 'The Prestige' (2006)

Christian Bale as Alfred Borden, holding up a pair of linking rings in 'The Prestige'

Christopher Nolan has made some great movies in his career, but The Prestige might be one of his greatest feats. This period thriller about a friendship that turns into a rivalry is full of magical visual effects, excellent performances, and brilliant editing that deceives the viewers and delivers a majestic grand reveal before an explosive finale. The Prestige, though, compared to the other of Nolan's films, feels more grounded, mostly because of its time and location setting, but also because it's ultimately a thriller about human abilities and motivations.

The Prestige follows Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale), two magicians and friends whose differing ideas about a grand illusion turn them into sworn rivals. They devise a teleportation trick together, but after separating, both work on making it flawless, motivated by vanity, ego, and perfection. David Bowie portrays Nikola Tesla, while Michael Caine, Nolan's most frequent collaborator, also plays a crucial part. This movie is quintessentially Nolan and a majorly rewatchable thriller, even after learning about the plot twist.

8 'Prisoners' (2013)

Hugh Jackman looking angry in Prisoners.

Denis Villeneuve is known for his Dune movies nowadays, but if you haven't seen his earlier work, you're missing out on a lot. Prisoners marks an incredible moment in Villeneuve's directing career, where every frame feels like a work of art, and the violence is emphasized through the sorrow and guilt of those perpetrating it. Paul Dano, Hugh Jackman, and Jake Gyllenhaal star in roles that are essential to understanding their talents, with Dano in particular stunning with his ambiguous, vulnerable, and duplicitous role. Prisoners is a movie that will keep you glued to the screen, even during the end credits; be warned, though, it has an ambiguous ending, which not everyone is really a fan of.

Prisoners is set in a small Pennsylvanian town within a small suburban community, and depicts the families Dover and Birch celebrating Thanksgiving together. The two youngest members of the families, Anna and Joy, go outside to play after dinner but go missing after playing on a parked RV. This sparks a police investigation led by detective Loki (Gyllenhaal), while Keller Dover (Jackman) and Franklin Birch (Terrence Howard) start an investigation of their own. Prisoners is a slow burn with an exciting crescendo, and it's intense throughout; a true psychological thriller to give you the chills.

7 'Memories of Murder' (2003)

Memories of Murder may not be heard of internationally, but it's one of the greatest movies of the 21st century. It's among the earlier works of Bong Joon-ho, who became globally famous for his Oscar-winning movie Parasite. If you're willing to give Bong a chance, Memories of Murder should be high on your list. It was inspired by the real-life serial killings that took place in the late 1980s in Hwaseong, a rural part of South Korea; the movie sparked a renewed interest in the case, which was finally solved in 2019.

Memories of Murder is set in 1986 in a small town, and opens with the local detective Park Doo-man (Song Kang-ho) and his partner getting gradually overwhelmed by the mysterious murders of young women. Doo-man tries to frame the likeliest suspects, leading to a rising frustration; a detective from Seoul, Seo Tae-yoon (Kim Sang-kyung), arrives to help the investigation, but it eats away at him just the same over time. Memories of Murder is an incredible piece of cinema, with ensemble compositions that feel like timeless art canvases, a tightly written screenplay, and stunning performances. It's highly rewatchable with some intense and scary scenes, but ultimately focusing on the emotional states of the detectives.

6 'Zodiac' (2007)

The master of thrills is undoubtedly David Fincher and his storytelling methods can be considered flawless. Everything from cinematography and editing to soundtracks and directing is always a ten out of ten, and Zodiac is a true example of this. Zodiac was based on the true crimes of the elusive serial killer of the same name. His crimes were documented by several journalists, but political cartoonist Robert Graysmith had direct experience and wrote two novels about his pursuit. Even Fincher and his fellow producers conducted their own research into the Zodiac Killer, which makes the movie all the more fun and interesting.

Zodiac follows the murders and the pursuit of the Zodiac Killer, conducted by crime journalist Paul Avery (Robert Downey Jr.), cartoonist and Avery's colleague Robert Graysmith (Jake Gyllenhaal), and inspector Dave Toschi (Mark Ruffalo). The movie shows how Zodiac taunted the police and the press with cyphered letters and encrypted messages, and how each of the three men ended up after their tireless pursuit kept hitting dead ends. Zodiac is very much a David Fincher movie, in the greatest way possible, and his greatest feature so far.

5 'Parasite' (2019)

Speaking of Bong Joon-ho, obviously Parasite has to be on the list as one of the most perfect movies ever made. This feature isn't just a record-breaking Oscar winner, but a movie so complete in every sense of the word that the only frustration you might feel from it is by its ending or some of the characters' actions throughout. With director Bong, things are easy—if it's a criticism of social and class structures and capitalism, he'll find a way to turn it into a relatable and amusing story. There's plenty of inspiration in the world around us, and Parasite shows how things could go wrong in a very realistic setting.

Parasite follows the family Kim—mother, father, and young adult kids, son Ki-woo (Choi Woo-sik) and daughter Ki-jung (Park So-dam)—who live in a poor neighborhood in Seoul and try to make money through different means. After Ki-woo's friend comes to visit them, he recommends Ki-woo as an English tutor to the family he works with, the wealthy Parks. As Ki-woo enters the Parks' world, he helps Ki-jung and his parents get jobs, too; soon, they realize that the Parks' modern family home hides secrets they weren't ready for. This shift makes the movie change genres halfway, and gives it a refreshing new life that can only be achieved by the ingenuity of Bong Joon-ho.

4 'No Country for Old Men' (2007)

Javier Bardem standing firmly in No Country for Old Men

The basically perfect psychological thriller, No Country for Old Men, is also a neo-Western that represents the genre perfectly. The Coen Brothers' masterpiece is often hailed as one of the best movies of all time, and it really is perfect from start to finish, leaving you without any notes or remarks at the end. Javier Bardem takes a turn as the intense and highly memorable serial killer Anton Chigurh, who uses an unconventional weapon—a bolt pistol. This makes him all the more terrifying and unpredictable, giving No Country for Old Men a certified thriller label, and the entire plot a more existential and philosophical tone.

No Country for Old Men follows Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), a Texas man who comes across a wounded man and a briefcase full of money. He takes the briefcase, but soon regrets it and tries to return the money, only to realize upon coming back that the man he saw is now dead. He's pursued by Chigurh, who is tasked with retrieving the money, while sheriff Ed Tom Bell (Tommy Lee Jones) tries to solve the mystery. The movie was based on Cormac McCarthy's book of the same name, and it's a meticulously crafted piece of cinema that is often considered the Coens' magnum opus.

3 'Alien' (1979)

Jonesy the cat sees the horror in Alien (1979).

Alien is a horror, a thriller, a sci-fi wonder, and an action movie—a true all-in-one. Although, we must admit that the sequel, Aliens, is more of an action epic, leaving the title of a true horror thriller to the first movie. Alien was perfectly directed by Ridley Scott, perfectly acted by everyone in the cast, most notably Sigourney Weaver, and perfectly designed to evoke fear, danger, and terror, even with just a glance of the creature, the notorious "alien." H.R. Giger created the famous Xenomorphs and his work remains iconic and irreplaceable, still evoking fear and being the central point of the ever-growing Alien franchise.

Alien follows the sleeping crew of the commercial spaceship Nostromo, who are awakened by the ship's computer named Mother after it receives a signal from a nearby planet. The crew leaves to investigate the signal, discovering a scary alien species that begin hunting them one by one. A lot of the time, the presence of the instinctively bloodthirsty alien is implied rather than shown, which makes the movie all the more thrilling and horror-like; it's a perfect film in every way.

2 'The Silence of the Lambs' (1991)

Hannibal Lecter is shown in reflection of his glass cell as Clarice Starling looks on in Silence of the Lambs

Another essentially perfect thriller-horror is The Silence of the Lambs, a movie that crawls under your skin with each passing moment. Whether it's the pursuit of the eerie serial killer Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), or the conversations between the unsettling Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) and the naive Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), this movie will make you realize the true meaning of the psychological thriller and its unusual appeal. Jonathan Demme achieved perfection with The Silence of the Lambs in a way that newer films still try to replicate, rarely succeeding.

The Silence of the Lambs follows FBI rookie Clarice Starling, assigned to conduct a psychological survey on psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter, who is imprisoned in the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane. Clarice's purpose is to actually get information about the methods and movements of a serial killer on the loose named Buffalo Bill, who kills and mutilates women. As Lecter and Starling talk, he finds a way to get inside her head, developing an obsession with Clarice; on the other hand, she realizes Lecter's true power and remains a force of good, despite feeling under his influence. It's a mental game and a pursuit at the same time—a beautiful combination for an even more beautiful film.

1 'Rear Window' (1954)

Lisa and Jeffries looking to the right through the window in Rear Window

It's hard to consider many of Alfred Hitchcock's films as anything less than perfect, but if there's a movie that will be imitated, studied, and admired forever for being a flawless thriller, it's Rear Window. Hitchcock loved thrills, but also rhythm and order, which is why his feature films feel universal; an appreciation for all the elements of creating a movie truly results in a great piece of cinema, which Hitchcock knew and elevated to levels that always felt ahead of their time and also timeless. Rear Window stars Jimmy Stewart in his, perhaps, most iconic role, and he's joined by the ethereal Grace Kelly and the menacing-looking Raymond Burr.

Rear Window follows photojournalist L.B. Jefferies (Stewart), who, after sustaining injuries on an assignment, is wheelchair-ridden with a cast covering his entire leg. The rear window of his apartment looks over his building's courtyard, and L.B. uses his photography equipment to observe the neighbors living across from him now that he has a lot of spare time. One day, L.B. believes he's witnessed a murder, and his actions concern those around him while he remains convinced. Rear Window is an intense thriller with a beautiful visual identity and perfectly designed beats that evoke suspense throughout—a masterpiece indeed.