Dangerous Tension: Top 5 Thrillers to Tickle Every Nerve in Your Body

Thrillers are supposed to evoke strong reactions from the audience. Some movies succeed, some don't. These five are sure to evoke different reactions in you.

Taking Lives (2004, 6.2 on IMDb)

Available on: Apple TV+, Amazon Prime

Starring Angelina Jolie and Ethan Hawke, this psychological thriller follows Illeana Scott, an FBI profiler hired to help the Montreal police catch a serial killer who has been living the lives of his many victims over the past two decades. The prime suspect is a man named Martin Asher, who was presumed dead by his own mother for many years until she saw him on a ferry to Quebec one day. Hopefully, the police have a witness to the latest murder who can help solve the case. But can he?

The Little Things (2021, 6.3 on IMDb)

Available on: Max, Netflix, Amazon Prime

Set in the 1990s, this neo-noir crime thriller stars Denzel Washington and Rami Malek as Deke Deacon and Jimmy Baxter, detectives in Kern County and Los Angeles County. Deke was forced to leave the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department after an unsuccessful investigation into a series of murders, but must return half a decade later when Jimmy begins investigating a new series of murders that eerily echo Deke's unsolved cases.

Along Came a Spider (2001, 6.4 on IMDb)

Available on: Paramount+, Hulu, Amazon Prime

The second installment in the Alex Cross film series follows the character, recently retired from law enforcement after the tragic death of his partner that he believes was caused by his mistake, on a new investigation when a senator's daughter is kidnapped from her elite school by one of the teachers. Special Agent Jezzie Flannigan, charged with maintaining the school's security, teams up with Dr. Cross to clear her own name.

The Skin I Live in (2011, 7.6 on IMDb)

Available on: Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime

Pedro Almodóvar's thriller stars Antonio Banderas as Dr. Robert Ledgard, a famous plastic surgeon who has developed artificial skin. Dr. Ledgard claims to have succeeded without resorting to experiments on mice, which earns him the praise of his colleagues. But he has a dark secret: a young woman on whom he performs all his experiments is being held captive in his country house. No one knows about her until one day an uninvited visitor breaks into the house.

Prisoners (2013, 8.2 on IMDb)

Available on: Apple TV+, Amazon Prime

Starring Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Viola Davis and many others, the movie tells the story of the abduction of Anna Dover and Joy Birch on Thanksgiving Day. The two girls were blissfully playing outside their homes on the street of the small Pennsylvania town of Conyers when they disappeared. The only clue is a shabby mobile RV parked nearby. But when the police have no evidence to arrest the RV's driver, one of the girls' fathers takes matters into his own hands.