Movie Auditor › Rankings › Thriller
Best Thriller Movies of All Time, Ranked by IMDb, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic and TMDB
1711 thriller films are in our catalog; the 100 best are ranked below. Top of the list is The Dark Knight ('2008), at 9.1 on IMDb. The average IMDb score across this list is 8.1. Biggest split between audiences and critics: Predator, 7.8 on IMDb against 47 on Metacritic.
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| # | Movie | Genre | IMDb | Tomato | Meta | TMDB | Director |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Dark Knight '2008 | Action / Thriller / Crime | 9.1 | 94% | 85 | 8.5 | Christopher Nolan |
| 2 | Pulp Fiction '1994 | Thriller / Crime / Comedy | 8.8 | 92% | 95 | 8.5 | Quentin Tarantino |
| 3 | Fight Club '1999 | Drama / Thriller | 8.8 | 81% | 67 | 8.4 | David Fincher |
| 4 | The Silence of the Lambs '1991 | Crime / Thriller / Drama | 8.6 | 95% | 86 | 8.3 | Jonathan Demme |
| 5 | Se7en '1995 | Crime / Mystery / Thriller | 8.6 | 84% | 65 | 8.4 | David Fincher |
| 6 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day '1991 | Action / Thriller / Sci-Fi | 8.6 | 90% | 75 | 8.2 | James Cameron |
| 7 | Psycho '1960 | Horror / Thriller / Mystery | 8.5 | 97% | 97 | 8.4 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 8 | The Usual Suspects '1995 | Drama / Crime / Thriller | 8.5 | 87% | 76 | 8.2 | Bryan Singer |
| 9 | Rear Window '1954 | Thriller / Mystery / Drama | 8.4 | 99% | 100 | 8.3 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 10 | The Shining '1980 | Horror / Thriller | 8.4 | 84% | 68 | 8.2 | Stanley Kubrick |
| 11 | Aliens '1986 | Action / Thriller / Sci-Fi | 8.4 | 93% | 84 | 8.0 | James Cameron |
| 12 | The Departed '2006 | Drama / Thriller / Crime | 8.5 | 91% | 85 | 8.2 | Martin Scorsese |
| 13 | M '1931 | Drama / Thriller / Crime | 8.3 | 100% | - | 8.1 | Fritz Lang |
| 14 | Double Indemnity '1944 | Crime / Thriller | 8.3 | 97% | 95 | 8.1 | Billy Wilder |
| 15 | High and Low '1963 | Drama / Crime / Thriller / Mystery | 8.4 | 97% | 90 | 8.4 | Akira Kurosawa |
| 16 | Inglourious Basterds '2009 | Drama / Thriller / War | 8.4 | 89% | 69 | 8.2 | Quentin Tarantino |
| 17 | Parasite '2019 | Comedy / Thriller / Drama | 8.5 | 99% | 97 | 8.5 | Bong Joon Ho |
| 18 | Whiplash '2014 | Drama / Musical / Thriller | 8.5 | 94% | 89 | 8.4 | Damien Chazelle |
| 19 | Memento '2000 | Mystery / Thriller | 8.4 | 94% | 83 | 8.2 | Christopher Nolan |
| 20 | The Dark Knight Rises '2012 | Action / Crime / Thriller | 8.4 | 87% | 78 | 7.8 | Christopher Nolan |
| 21 | Vertigo '1958 | Mystery / Romance / Thriller | 8.2 | 94% | 100 | 8.1 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 22 | North by Northwest '1959 | Thriller | 8.2 | 97% | 98 | 8.0 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 23 | Die Hard '1988 | Action / Thriller | 8.2 | 94% | 72 | 7.8 | John McTiernan |
| 24 | Le Trou '1960 | Drama / Thriller / Crime | 8.5 | - | - | 8.2 | Jacques Becker |
| 25 | Yojimbo '1961 | Drama / Thriller | 8.2 | 96% | 93 | 8.1 | Akira Kurosawa |
| 26 | Joker '2019 | Crime / Thriller / Drama | 8.3 | 68% | 59 | 8.1 | Todd Phillips |
| 27 | Reservoir Dogs '1992 | Crime / Thriller | 8.2 | 90% | 81 | 8.1 | Quentin Tarantino |
| 28 | Jaws '1975 | Horror / Thriller | 8.1 | 97% | 87 | 7.7 | Steven Spielberg |
| 29 | Woman in the Dunes '1964 | Drama / Thriller | 8.4 | 100% | - | 8.2 | Hiroshi Teshigahara |
| 30 | The Third Man '1949 | Thriller / Mystery | 8.1 | 99% | 97 | 7.9 | Carol Reed |
| 31 | The Sixth Sense '1999 | Mystery / Thriller / Drama | 8.2 | 86% | 64 | 8.0 | M. Night Shyamalan |
| 32 | Dial M for Murder '1954 | Thriller / Crime / Drama | 8.1 | 90% | 75 | 8.0 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 33 | Chinatown '1974 | Crime / Mystery / Thriller | 8.1 | 98% | 92 | 7.9 | Roman Polanski |
| 34 | Blade Runner '1982 | Sci-Fi / Drama / Thriller | 8.1 | 89% | 84 | 7.9 | Ridley Scott |
| 35 | The Terminator '1984 | Action / Thriller / Sci-Fi | 8.1 | 90% | 84 | 7.7 | James Cameron |
| 36 | Diabolique '1955 | Thriller / Mystery | 8.1 | 95% | - | 7.9 | Henri-Georges Clouzot |
| 37 | White Heat '1949 | Crime / Drama / Thriller | 8.1 | 94% | 89 | 7.7 | Raoul Walsh |
| 38 | L.A. Confidential '1997 | Crime / Mystery / Thriller | 8.2 | 99% | 91 | 7.8 | Curtis Hanson |
| 39 | The Wages of Fear '1953 | Drama / Thriller | 8.1 | 100% | 85 | 8.0 | Henri-Georges Clouzot |
| 40 | Shutter Island '2010 | Drama / Thriller / Mystery | 8.2 | 69% | 63 | 8.2 | Martin Scorsese |
| 41 | Oldboy '2003 | Thriller / Mystery | 8.3 | 82% | 78 | 8.2 | Park Chan-wook |
| 42 | No Country for Old Men '2007 | Crime / Thriller / Western | 8.2 | 93% | 92 | 8.0 | Joel Coen |
| 43 | The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari '1920 | Drama / Horror / Thriller / Crime | 8.0 | 96% | - | 7.9 | Robert Wiene |
| 44 | Rebecca '1940 | Mystery / Romance / Thriller | 8.0 | 98% | 86 | 7.9 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 45 | Safety Last! '1923 | Comedy / Romance / Thriller | 8.1 | 97% | - | 7.7 | Fred C. Newmeyer |
| 46 | Rosemary's Baby '1968 | Drama / Horror / Thriller | 8.0 | 97% | 96 | 7.8 | Roman Polanski |
| 47 | Dog Day Afternoon '1975 | Crime / Drama / Thriller | 8.0 | 94% | 86 | 7.9 | Sidney Lumet |
| 48 | Fargo '1996 | Crime / Drama / Thriller | 8.1 | 95% | 88 | 7.8 | Joel Coen |
| 49 | Rififi '1955 | Crime / Thriller / Drama | 8.1 | 92% | 97 | 7.8 | Jules Dassin |
| 50 | A Man Escaped '1956 | Drama / Thriller | 8.1 | 100% | - | 8.0 | Robert Bresson |
| 51 | What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? '1962 | Horror / Thriller | 8.0 | 91% | 75 | 7.9 | Robert Aldrich |
| 52 | Z '1969 | Thriller / Crime / Drama | 8.1 | 94% | 86 | 7.8 | Costa-Gavras |
| 53 | V for Vendetta '2006 | Action / Thriller / Sci-Fi | 8.1 | 73% | 62 | 7.9 | James McTeigue |
| 54 | Prisoners '2013 | Drama / Thriller / Crime | 8.2 | 81% | 70 | 8.1 | Denis Villeneuve |
| 55 | Gone Girl '2014 | Mystery / Thriller / Drama | 8.1 | 88% | 79 | 7.9 | David Fincher |
| 56 | Army of Shadows '1969 | Drama / Thriller | 8.1 | 97% | 99 | 7.9 | Jean-Pierre Melville |
| 57 | Rope '1948 | Thriller / Crime / Drama | 7.9 | 93% | 73 | 7.9 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 58 | Le Samouraï '1967 | Crime / Thriller / Drama | 8.0 | 92% | 90 | 7.8 | Jean-Pierre Melville |
| 59 | The Maltese Falcon '1941 | Mystery / Crime / Thriller | 7.9 | 99% | 97 | 7.7 | John Huston |
| 60 | The Lives of Others '2006 | Drama / Thriller | 8.4 | 92% | 89 | 8.0 | Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck |
| 61 | Notorious '1946 | Drama / Romance / Thriller | 7.9 | 96% | 100 | 7.7 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 62 | Strangers on a Train '1951 | Crime / Thriller / Drama | 7.9 | 98% | 88 | 7.7 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 63 | The Big Sleep '1946 | Mystery / Crime / Thriller | 7.9 | 96% | 86 | 7.6 | Howard Hawks |
| 64 | A Streetcar Named Desire '1951 | Drama / Thriller | 7.9 | 97% | 97 | 7.6 | Elia Kazan |
| 65 | Twelve Monkeys '1995 | Sci-Fi / Thriller / Mystery | 8.0 | 88% | 75 | 7.6 | Terry Gilliam |
| 66 | The Killing '1956 | Crime / Thriller / Drama | 7.9 | 96% | 91 | 7.6 | Stanley Kubrick |
| 67 | The Night of the Hunter '1955 | Crime / Drama / Thriller | 7.9 | 93% | 97 | 7.9 | Charles Laughton |
| 68 | Touch of Evil '1958 | Crime / Thriller / Drama | 7.9 | 96% | 99 | 7.7 | Orson Welles |
| 69 | Out of the Past '1947 | Crime / Thriller | 7.9 | 87% | 85 | 7.7 | Jacques Tourneur |
| 70 | The Manchurian Candidate '1962 | Thriller / Drama | 7.9 | 96% | 94 | 7.5 | John Frankenheimer |
| 71 | In a Lonely Place '1950 | Thriller / Drama / Romance / Mystery | 7.9 | 96% | - | 7.6 | Nicholas Ray |
| 72 | The Wind '1928 | Drama / Western / Romance / Thriller | 8.0 | 100% | - | 7.3 | Victor Sjöström |
| 73 | In the Heat of the Night '1967 | Crime / Drama / Mystery / Thriller | 7.9 | 96% | 76 | 7.7 | Norman Jewison |
| 74 | All the President's Men '1976 | Drama / Mystery / Thriller | 7.9 | 95% | 84 | 7.7 | Alan J. Pakula |
| 75 | The Testament of Dr. Mabuse '1933 | Crime / Mystery / Thriller | 7.9 | 86% | - | 7.6 | Fritz Lang |
| 76 | Fail Safe '1964 | Thriller / Drama / War | 8.0 | 93% | 75 | 7.8 | Sidney Lumet |
| 77 | The Big Heat '1953 | Crime / Thriller | 7.9 | 95% | - | 7.7 | Fritz Lang |
| 78 | Shadow of a Doubt '1943 | Thriller / Mystery / Crime | 7.8 | 100% | 94 | 7.5 | Alfred Hitchcock |
| 79 | Sleuth '1972 | Thriller / Mystery / Crime | 7.9 | 90% | - | 7.7 | Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
| 80 | The Roaring Twenties '1939 | Crime / Drama / Thriller | 7.9 | 100% | 80 | 7.5 | Raoul Walsh |
| 81 | Elevator to the Gallows '1958 | Crime / Drama / Thriller | 7.9 | 93% | 94 | 7.6 | Louis Malle |
| 82 | The Imitation Game '2014 | Drama / Thriller / War | 8.0 | 90% | 71 | 8.0 | Morten Tyldum |
| 83 | Kill Bill: Vol. 2 '2004 | Action / Crime / Thriller | 8.0 | 84% | 83 | 7.9 | Quentin Tarantino |
| 84 | Sin City '2005 | Crime / Thriller | 8.0 | 76% | 74 | 7.5 | Robert Rodriguez |
| 85 | Casino Royale '2006 | Action / Thriller | 8.0 | 94% | 80 | 7.6 | Martin Campbell |
| 86 | Gaslight '1944 | Thriller / Drama / Mystery / Crime | 7.8 | 94% | 78 | 7.5 | George Cukor |
| 87 | Predator '1987 | Sci-Fi / Action / Thriller | 7.8 | 65% | 47 | 7.6 | John McTiernan |
| 88 | Black Swan '2010 | Drama / Thriller / Horror | 8.0 | 85% | 79 | 7.7 | Darren Aronofsky |
| 89 | The Bourne Ultimatum '2007 | Action / Drama / Mystery / Thriller | 8.0 | 92% | 85 | 7.4 | Paul Greengrass |
| 90 | The Bad Sleep Well '1960 | Crime / Drama / Thriller | 8.0 | 100% | - | 7.7 | Akira Kurosawa |
| 91 | Stray Dog '1949 | Crime / Drama / Thriller / Mystery | 7.8 | 100% | - | 7.6 | Akira Kurosawa |
| 92 | The Untouchables '1987 | Crime / Thriller | 7.8 | 83% | 79 | 7.8 | Brian De Palma |
| 93 | Blood Diamond '2006 | Drama / Thriller / Action | 8.0 | 64% | 64 | 7.6 | Edward Zwick |
| 94 | The Batman '2022 | Crime / Mystery / Thriller | 7.8 | 85% | 72 | 7.7 | Matt Reeves |
| 95 | Carlito's Way '1993 | Crime / Drama / Thriller | 7.9 | 84% | 66 | 7.8 | Brian De Palma |
| 96 | Goldfinger '1964 | Action / Thriller | 7.7 | 99% | 87 | 7.4 | Guy Hamilton |
| 97 | Le Cercle Rouge '1970 | Crime / Drama / Thriller | 7.9 | 96% | 92 | 7.6 | Jean-Pierre Melville |
| 98 | JFK '1991 | Drama / Thriller | 8.0 | 85% | 72 | 7.6 | Oliver Stone |
| 99 | Fury '1936 | Crime / Drama / Thriller | 7.8 | 95% | - | 7.5 | Fritz Lang |
| 100 | The Lady Vanishes '1938 | Mystery / Thriller | 7.7 | 98% | 98 | 7.4 | Alfred Hitchcock |
Our catalog covers roughly the 8,800 most-rated films on TMDB, so lesser-known titles may be missing. Order uses a confidence-weighted IMDb score so a perfect score from a handful of votes does not beat a well-established classic; the scores shown are the raw ones.
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