Are thrillers a dying breed? There certainly aren’t as many of the atypical genre thrillers filling up theaters as there have been in past decades, with many getting unceremoniously dumped onto streaming services with little fanfare. Still, there have been plenty of films featuring full-blooded thriller elements released in the past year that more than make up for the lack of more straightforward thrill rides, along with a couple of killer throwbacks as well.
The most thrilling movies of 2025 cover all corners of the genre map, with horror, action, sci-fi and even spy movies all well represented. Some are continuations of beloved franchises, while others are terrific standalone originals. No matter what gets your pulse racing, whether it’s zombies, vampires, aliens or death itself, these ten movies are sure to deliver the thrills you seek.
10
‘Dangerous Animals’
Shark attacks meet serial thrills in this genre mash-up that sees victims fall prey to Jai Courtney‘s bloodthirsty fishing boat captain, who’s basically the illegitimate love child of Quint from Jaws and Mick Taylor from Wolf Creek. Director Sean Byrne showed a proclivity for delivering gnarly, nasty thrills in his two previous horror films, The Loved Ones and The Devil’s Candy, and this film continues that streak with more unpretentious gore.
Shot in Queensland with a small cast combined with real shark footage, the movie is a nice change of pace over the typical sharksploitation, instead giving the villainous space over to Courtney’s dancing, cackling killer. If nothing else, Dangerous Animals succeeds at giving the Aussie actor a better showcase for his talents than any of the lackluster attempts by Hollywood to turn him into a bland leading man.
9
‘Final Destination: Bloodlines’
One of the more beloved horror franchises of the 21st century, Final Destination came back with a vengeance in 2025 with its first sequel in over ten years. Adding new wrinkles to the series’ standard format, where death targets those who have survived a mass casualty event by way of psychic intervention, Final Destination: Bloodlines is a new high watermark for the franchise and a big, bloody blast to watch.
Kicking off with the collapse of a Space Needle-inspired building, the movie follows as death stalks not only the survivors of that disaster but their children as well and gets maximum mileage out of its murderous set pieces. Even better, Final Destination: Bloodlined serves as a surprisingly touching send-off to horror icon and de facto face of the franchise, Tony Todd, who died from stomach cancer after having already filmed his single scene, much of which he improvised. It’s a perfect end to a career that brought incredible thrills to generations of horror fans.
8
‘Predator: Killer of Killers’
Final Destination is far from the only franchise to get a fresh reboot in the 2020s. The Predator franchise started the decade with the solid prequel Prey, and in 2025 got two new entries from returning director Dan Trachtenberg, who has become a steward for the franchise. Predator: Badlands hit theaters and made a considerable wave, while the animated anthology film Killer of Killers premiered on streaming.
The animated film takes the trophy over Badlands thanks to delivering on the wishes of fans, who have for years been pining for Predator movies set in a variety of past periods. Killer of Killers delivers three separate stories set in distinct eras, with sequences in the Viking Age, the Edo Period and the North African campaign of World War II. Each sequence is as thrilling as the last, with a sharp animation style that was accomplished using the Unreal Engine. Even more thrilling is the way the movie opens up all kinds of possibilities for the franchise to explore in future installments.
7
‘Highest 2 Lowest’
This modern remake of Akira Kurosawa‘s High and Low may not reach the same level as that procedural masterpiece, but it does have all the style and New York City swagger that you’d expect from a Spike Lee joint. The acclaimed director reteams with his longtime collaborator Denzel Washington, here playing a hip-hop mogul whose empire is thrown into disarray when a kidnapper mistakenly abducts the son of his driver and demands a large ransom.
Lee has been on a bit of a comeback hot streak as of late, between BlacKKKlansman, Da 5 Bloods and now Highest 2 Lowest. It’s more thrilling than ever to see the director return to his home turf and with Washington as well for the first time since their heist thriller Inside Man. Few directors capture the character of New York City quite like Lee, and his dive into the music world here is even more electric. It’s a livewire love letter to the city and its hip-hop energy.
6
‘Sovereign’
There were several solidly made thrillers that flew a little under the radar in 2025, such as Warfare, 40 Acres, and She Rides Shotgun. In decades past, these movies might have had a shot at making more of an impact at the box office and with audiences, but with the saturation of streaming and myriad other distractions, they all came and went without much fanfare, and that’s a crying shame. Anyone seeking some old-school thrills should also start with Sovereign.
Based on the events that led to the West Memphis police shootings in 2010, the film stars Nick Offerman and Jacob Tremblay, who give two terrific performances as father and son sovereign citizens whose anti-government sentiments lead them into violent conflict with police. Despite its connection to events occurring more than a decade ago, Sovereign is terrifyingly timely in its themes, and its ratcheting tension toward inevitable violence will leave a pit in your stomach.
5
’28 Years Later’
Returning to the hypercharged horror franchise they helped create, director Danny Boyle and writer Alex Garland find exciting new avenues to explore in their post-apocalyptic adventure 28 Years Later, which evolves the technically-not-zombies franchise toward an exciting new future. Set in the British Isles, which have remained under permanent quarantine since the outbreak of the rage virus 28 years prior, the movie introduces a new cast of survivors who have been able to form a self-sustained community thanks to a protective tide.
Focusing on 12-year-old Spike, who has finally come of age to hunt and scavenge on the nearby islands, the movie zigs and zags in different narrative directions, combining elements of coming-of-age drama, gory thrills, gritty action, political allegory and even a dash of kitchen sink realism for good measure. Boyle’s visual flair is as prominent as it ever has been, trading out the grainy DV aesthetic of the original for crisper, urgent iPhone cinematography. It all culminates with a bonkers ending that should have fans foaming at the mouth for the fast-approaching sequel.
4
‘Weapons’
In this follow-up to his surprise horror hit Barbarian, writer-director Zach Cregger takes a wide-ranging ensemble approach to horror with the mysterious and thrilling Weapons. When an entire class of elementary school students goes missing on the same night in a small town, questions and tensions rise as parents look for answers and turn their ire towards the unfortunate teacher caught in the crosshairs. Inspired by Paul Thomas Anderson‘s Magnolia, Cregger tells his story from varying viewpoints, revealing bits and pieces of the mystery before unleashing hell in the wild third act.
Weapons solidified Cregger as an exciting new voice in horror. The director’s background in comedy serves him well in balancing the tone and tension of the film as it bobs and weaves between perspectives. The true standout, though, is Amy Madigan as the film’s villain. Easily the most iconic horror character of 2025, and sure to be a perennial Halloween costume, Madigan is fully committed to her performance and fully understands the assignment as a modern-day witch who treats small-town America like her personal cattle stock.
3
‘Black Bag’
Steven Soderbergh has been almost singlehandedly keeping the adult thriller genre alive for over a decade now. From his prescient outbreak thriller Contagion, to the pharmaceutical mystery Side Effects and the ’50s crime caper No Sudden Move, the prolific director has been cranking out solid thrills on a semi-regular basis. In 2025, Soderbergh had a fine showing with two well-crafted thrillers: the POV ghost story Presence and the even better old-school spy thriller Black Bag.
Starring Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett as betrothed intelligence officers, whose vows are put to the test when Fassbender is ordered to investigate his wife as a potential traitor, the film crackles with suspense and sleek thrills. The serpentine script, from the steady pen of David Koepp, is a more cerebral brand of espionage as opposed to the more bombastic thrills of James Bond, but the impeccable cast is all fireworks. Depressingly, the film was a failure at the box office, since audiences simply don’t turn up to theaters for this kind of mid-level film in the droves they used to. It seems all the more likely that these kinds of movies will slowly disappear, but in the meantime, we should be grateful we still get movies like Black Bag.
2
‘Sinners’
Freed from the confines of Marvel, where he pushed out two very solid Black Panther movies, Ryan Coogler was given the budget and creative freedom to take a big, bold swing, and he knocked it out of the park. Sinners is a blood-soaked horror action thriller that is also a deeply felt film about culture and identity with a heavy dose of the Blues. With an all-star cast led by Michael B. Jordan in a killer dual role, Sinners is proof positive that there’s still blood pumping in Hollywood’s genre veins.
Set in the Mississippi Delta in the 1930s, the film follows criminal twin brothers Smoke and Stack as they return to their hometown to open a juke joint where their people can have fun and be free. The opening night takes a dark turn, however, when an Irish vampire comes knocking at their door. The IMAX action sequences are a bloody sight to behold, but there may be no scene more thrilling than the mid-movie musical interlude where a young Blues player summons the spirits of the past and future with the power of his song. It’s about as damned perfect as the movies get.
1
‘One Battle After Another’
Paul Thomas Anderson is back with his wildest film yet in the action-packed black comedy thriller One Battle After Another. Shot in widescreen VistaVision across California, it’s a sunbaked adventure featuring some of Anderson’s most bombastic sequences yet. Moreover, it features a cavalcade of colorful performances with Leonardo DiCaprio in full gonzo mode as a burnt-out revolutionary whose fuse is lit once more when a military madman, played by Sean Penn, comes gunning for him and his daughter.
An incendiary firebomb thrown amidst a time of great political upheaval in America, One Battle After Another may speak to the crazy times we live in now, but it is also just a wildly entertaining ride. Perhaps the most exciting thing about it was the fact that it turned out to be Anderson’s highest-grossing film ever made, and while its box office haul is mere peanuts compared to the more mainstream hits, it’s absolutely thrilling to see audiences turn up for this kind of kinetic filmmaking.
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