The 2000s mark something of a perfect marriage of technical filmmaking ability and narrative-driven films, an era where the vision and creativity of filmmakers was supported by the advancement of special effects rather than dominated by it. This is particularly apparent in thriller cinema, with the decade boasting many of the greatest thriller movies to have ever graced the screen.
Ranging from gritty international crime flicks to some of the most audacious and awe-inspiring releases in Hollywood history, these thriller masterpieces from the 2000s deliver sensational spectacles that really get the blood pumping. Such is the quality of the decade that iconic pictures like Collateral, Minority Report, and Bong Joon-ho‘s Mother haven’t quite made the cut. The movies that do feature are certifiable classics of modern film that have already begun to stamp themselves as enduring hits as well.
10
‘The Bourne Ultimatum’ (2007)
The Bourne Identity made an immediate impact with its gritty approach to spy thrills and an intriguing tale of amnesiac mystery. Still, the passage of time has shown that it is the franchise’s third installment, The Bourne Ultimatum, that stands as its true masterpiece. Operating with a rapid-fire edit and a lean and mean approach to narrative, it follows Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) as he finally gets close to finding answers about his shady past, inviting the unrestrained ire of the CIA in the process.
Intelligent and efficient with its plot progression while flaunting a sense of abrupt urgency in its action sequences, Paul Greengrass conjures an entrancing non-stop thrillfest. Although defined by a sense of hypnotizing mania, it is still deft enough to build suspense with craft and patience when needed. Operating with such a frantic, frenzied aura while still delivering a rewarding conclusion to Bourne’s arc, The Bourne Ultimatum is a true masterpiece of modern action suspense that is probably deserving of more praise than it gets.
9
‘Caché’ (2005)
Not only a deeply unsettling psychological thriller, but an underrated entry in the annals of international cinema as well, Caché pries into notions of family, security, and privacy as it weaves a profoundly creepy narrative courtesy of the ever-provocative Michael Haneke. Affluent married couple Anne (Juliette Binoche) and Georges Laurent (Daniel Auteuil) find their serene lifestyle devastated when they start receiving mysterious surveillance tapes of the exterior of their house, accompanied by disturbing drawings. With the police powerless to help, Anne begins to worry about the safety of her son as she grows suspicious of her husband’s past.
While some criticize the film for posing questions that it doesn’t provide the answers for, Caché thrives at using the form of the genre to probe at commonly-held ideas of identity and inherited guilt in a manner that stirs deep thought and contemplation from the viewer. It soars with its complexity, crafting an atmosphere of sublime nuance and depth that hides compelling declarations about the inherent societal tension in multiculturalism in every startling revelation.
8
‘Zodiac’ (2007)
In the 1990s, particularly, it was impossible to consider thriller cinema without immediately thinking of the films of David Fincher. A technical maestro who revels in creating atmospheric and suspenseful viewing experiences that captivate audiences, ensnaring them in a medley of moral depravity and precision filmmaking, Fincher is truly a master of his craft. Zodiac—a biographical mystery thriller following cartoonist Robert Graysmith’s (Jake Gyllenhaal) obsessive investigation of the Zodiac killer—stands as one of his defining triumphs.
“Chilling” would be the word best suited to describing the film’s sense of suspense. The 157-minute-long epic runs with an understated ferocity, using sequences of gut-wrenching tension to conjure a viewing experience of icy dread and palpable anxiety. Engulfing viewers in Graysmith’s deadly obsession while petrifying them with every blood-curdling turn—one need only mention the basement scene to illustrate the film’s talent for sheer terror—Zodiac is a picture of emphatic intensity, an unnerving movie that lingers on the mind long after the credits roll.
7
‘Oldboy’ (2003)
A gripping action-thriller that implements no small amount of mystery into the fold as well, Oldboy is a stylistic and notoriously disturbing gem of high-octane cinema that stands as one of the most revered international pictures of all time. The South Korean movie follows Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), a man who is inexplicably released after being held hostage for 15 years, who sets out to hunt down his captor. Receiving help from a young sushi chef, Dae-su plunges into a web of conspiracy tied to his own past as he is given five days to find his kidnapper before the truth disappears forever.
It is a pulsating tale of revenge that flaunts a hidden depth that director Park Chan-wook brings to life with both razor-sharp storytelling beats and a grand sense of vicious, visceral violence. Made truly unforgettable by its incredible one-take hallway fight scene and its harrowing twist ending, Oldboy is a thriller of uncommon excellence that thrives as both a psychologically winding story and an action-packed extravaganza.
6
‘Memento’ (2000)
Serving as Sir Christopher Nolan’s second feature film and his introduction to the international stage, Memento is a picture that marries the concise tension of low-budget thrillers with the time-bending ideas that the filmmaker has become renowned for. It follows Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce), a former insurance investigator striving to track down the man who raped and murdered his wife. Plagued by an inability to form new memories, however, Leonard must rely on tattoos and noted polaroids to carry out his vendetta, all while being led astray by self-minded people pretending to help him.
While it runs with two parallel stories, the bulk of the movie transpires in reverse, placing audiences in the uncertain headspace of Leonard. The way in which each scene alters the fabric of the story is incredible, as is the general progression of the story in how it maintains a cohesive beginning, middle, and end while running in reverse. Suspense abounds in every harrowing revelation and revealing character decision, making Memento not only a psychological thriller of profound excellence, but quite possibly Nolan’s most impressive and innovative screenplay as well.
5
‘The Departed’ (2006)
Famously based on the Hong Kong film Internal Affairs as well as the operations of real-life Boston mobsters of the Winter Hill Gang, The Departed displays Martin Scorsese at his most transfixing and intense. Following the cat-and-mouse game between an undercover cop and a mole in the Boston Police Department, the film is an enrapturing story of criminal intrigue and confronting violence that is imbued with an added might thanks to the strength of its ensemble cast.
Featuring Scorsese’s trademark gangster grittiness and ambiguous morality, The Departed immerses viewers in the complexity of its characters as well as in the winding twists and ruthless turns of its story. Such depth endows the film with a commanding sense of life-and-death tension and mounting dread that doesn’t relent, even on multiple rewatches. Furthermore, it is the picture that finally netted Scorsese the Academy Award for Best Director after decades of service, making it an essential legacy piece in the context of one of Hollywood’s greatest ever filmmakers as well as a riveting crime thriller in its own right.
4
‘No Country for Old Men’ (2007)
A significant departure from the Coen Brothers’ usual style of offbeat comedy laced with outbursts of crime suspense and the duo’s defining masterpiece, No Country for Old Men is a pulsating neo-Western that stands as a rare instant classic. Based on Cormac McCarthy’s novel of the same name, it follows hunter Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin) as he finds himself being hunted by psychotic cartel hitman Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) after he steals a case of money from the scene of a shootout.
Buoyed by a fiercely intelligent screenplay and a collection of unforgettable performances, No Country for Old Men engulfs viewers in the cat-and-mouse game between Moss and Chigurh while throwing out several other enrapturing tangents and progressing with a keen eye for razor-sharp subversion. Gripping from its opening moments through to its final scene, the film is an absorbing, heart-stopping thriller, a bleak exploration of fate, violence, and moral decay in America, and a true triumph of 21st-century cinema.
3
‘The Dark Knight’ (2008)
While it is lauded as a pioneering masterpiece of superhero cinema, The Dark Knight has more in common with crime thrillers than it does with superhuman action. Marrying the superhero genre’s arresting sense of scope with the propulsive intensity of thriller cinema to stand as Nolan’s defining triumph, the iconic Batman movie follows the Caped Crusader as he is embroiled in a frightful and grueling battle to safeguard the hope he has instilled in Gotham as an anarchistic terrorist hopes the plunge the city into chaos.
Flaunting elaborate action set pieces, a compelling thematic sharpness, and a litany of outstanding performances—spearheaded by Heath Ledger’s Oscar-winning turn as the Joker—The Dark Knight is not only a visceral action thriller, but a defining title of 2000s cinema as well. The intensity and ferocity it brings to the superhero genre is yet to be surpassed, with its atmospheric suspense and sense of grounded realism making for a profoundly startling superhero movie as well as one of the most momentous heart-stoppers of all time.
2
‘Children of Men’ (2006)
Perhaps the single most underrated movie of the 2000s, Children of Men is an engrossing dystopian sci-fi thriller from Alfonso Cuarón that soars on the back of its richly immersive atmosphere and story of hope and humanity. Set in a ruinous world where humanity has lost the ability to procreate, it follows a despondent former activist as he is enlisted to escort the first pregnant woman in 18 years to a safe harbor at sea. To do so, he must navigate the damnation of what remains of England while evading opportunistic foes who would use the pregnancy to further their political ideologies.
While the story is a compelling playground for philosophical pondering and criticisms of moral corruption in political activism, Cuaron’s presentation is defined by its awe-inspiring long takes and its harrowing detail that makes the sense of helpless and looming extinction bitterly palpable. Able to be emotionally overwhelming while also running with a gritty, documentary-like presentation, Children of Men is an intelligent thriller that stands as one of the best films of its decade and one of the greatest, most underrated sci-fi movies of all time.
1
‘Memories of Murder’ (2003)
One of the most richly atmospheric and tonally daring movies ever made, Memories of Murder sees South Korean master Bong Joon-ho showcase his unique genre-meshing brilliance while exploring themes of justice, morality, and systemic failures through the lens of a true story basis. Set in a rural province of South Korea, it follows two local cops and an esteemed detective from Seoul as they investigate a series of rapes and murders in the area. It is a dramatization of the country’s first confirmed serial killer case.
Blending piercing black comedy, character-driven drama, and a captivating sense of mystery and suspense, Memories of Murder is an absorbing study of desperation meeting limitations, and what that means in the context of the police force. Featuring several sequences that make the viewer’s blood run cold and plenty more that keep them holding their breath, the film is a masterpiece of thriller cinema that loads its tension (and laughs) with nuanced and developed ideas while leaving audiences with a haunting message of the elusive nature of evil.
