15 Most Underrated 21st-Century Thriller Movies

15 Most Underrated 21st-Century Thriller Movies

Thriller movies keep us on the edge of our seats with suspense, mystery, and unexpected twists. While blockbusters get all the attention, some of the best thrillers slip under the radar despite being incredibly well-made.

These hidden gems deserve way more recognition than they received, offering unforgettable stories that will stay with you long after the credits roll. Get ready to discover fifteen thrilling films you might have missed but absolutely need to watch.

1. Oldboy (2003)

Park Chan-wook’s masterpiece shocked audiences with its brutal revenge story and mind-bending plot twist.

A man gets imprisoned in a room for fifteen years without knowing why, then suddenly gets released to find answers.

The hallway fight scene alone makes this film legendary among action lovers.

Every punch feels real, and the choreography flows like a violent dance.

You’ll find yourself holding your breath during the entire sequence.

What makes Oldboy truly special is how it explores themes of vengeance and forgiveness.

The ending will leave you speechless, questioning everything you just watched.

Fair warning: this movie isn’t for the faint of heart.

2. Zodiac (2007)

In this gripping film, David Fincher adapts the true tale of California’s Zodiac Killer into a tense, slow-burning thriller.

Unlike typical serial killer movies, the story highlights the fixation of those chasing the case, from detectives to journalists.

The narrative stretches over years, showing how deeply the mystery affected them.

Jake Gyllenhaal delivers an understated performance as cartoonist Robert Graysmith, who becomes fixated on finding the killer.

Robert Downey Jr. and Mark Ruffalo round out the cast brilliantly.

The basement scene will make your skin crawl without showing anything graphic.

Zodiac proves that patience pays off in storytelling, building tension through research and investigation rather than jump scares.

3. Enemy (2013)

Jake Gyllenhaal plays dual roles in this weird, wonderful psychological puzzle from Denis Villeneuve.

A college professor discovers his exact lookalike working as an actor, leading to an increasingly disturbing investigation.

The film’s yellow-tinted cinematography creates an uneasy atmosphere from the first frame.

Giant spiders appear throughout the movie as symbolic imagery that you’ll debate for hours afterward.

Nothing gets explained clearly, which makes Enemy endlessly rewatchable.

Each viewing reveals new clues about what’s really happening.

The final shot ranks among cinema’s most shocking moments, leaving audiences stunned and confused in the best possible way.

4. Wind River (2017)

In his cinematic debut, Taylor Sheridan transforms a murder investigation into a meditation on violence against Native American women.

Jeremy Renner’s rugged tracker and Elizabeth Olsen’s tenacious FBI agent traverse a Wyoming reservation where every shadow and snowdrift hides a story.

The frozen wilderness is not just backdrop—it’s a living, breathing force, haunting, beautiful, and unforgiving.

This film doesn’t pull punches when depicting violence and injustice.

The climactic shootout scene unfolds with shocking realism and brutal consequences.

You’ll feel the cold seeping through the screen during every outdoor scene.

Wind River shines a light on forgotten communities while delivering a gripping thriller that respects its subject matter.

5. You Were Never Really Here (2017)

Joaquin Phoenix disappears into the role of a traumatized veteran who rescues trafficked girls using extreme violence.

Director Lynne Ramsay tells this rescue story through fragmented memories and hallucinations.

The film moves like a fever dream, jumping between past trauma and present-day missions.

Instead of glorifying violence, the movie shows its psychological toll on everyone involved.

Phoenix communicates volumes through facial expressions and body language rather than dialogue.

Jonny Greenwood’s haunting score elevates every scene to another level.

At just ninety minutes, this compact thriller packs more emotional punch than movies twice its length, proving less can definitely be more.

6. Widows (2018)

With Widows, Steve McQueen transforms the heist genre by focusing on four women tasked with completing their late husbands’ criminal plan.

Viola Davis headlines a phenomenal cast alongside Michelle Rodriguez, Elizabeth Debicki, and Cynthia Erivo.

The narrative merges crime, corruption, and racial dynamics with effortless tension.

A single-take car conversation scene demonstrates McQueen’s directorial brilliance, contrasting Chicago neighborhoods through one continuous shot.

The characters feel fully developed, each carrying believable motivations and backstories.

You’ll root for these widows despite their criminal activities.

Widows combines social commentary with edge-of-your-seat thrills, proving blockbusters can have brains and heart alongside explosive action.

7. I’m Thinking of Ending Things (2020)

Charlie Kaufman adapted Iain Reid’s novel into something even stranger than his usual mind-bending work.

A young woman accompanies her boyfriend to meet his parents, but nothing about the visit makes sense.

Time seems fluid, identities shift, and reality becomes increasingly questionable.

Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons deliver performances that require them to embody multiple versions of their characters.

The farmhouse scenes grow more uncomfortable as conversations loop and contradict themselves.

Toni Collette and David Thewlis play the parents in unsettling, transformative roles.

This film demands your complete attention and rewards multiple viewings with deeper understanding of its melancholic themes about memory and regret.

8. Andhadhun (2018)

This Indian thriller keeps audiences guessing with constant plot twists and dark comedy.

Ayushmann Khurrana plays a pianist pretending to be blind who witnesses a murder he can’t acknowledge seeing.

What starts as a simple deception spirals into a web of blackmail, crime, and survival.

Director Sriram Raghavan crafts each scene with precision, planting clues and misdirection throughout.

Tabu delivers a chilling performance as a calculating killer with her own agenda.

The film balances humor and suspense perfectly, never letting you settle into one mood.

Andhadhun proves Bollywood can compete with Hollywood thrillers while maintaining its own distinctive storytelling style and cultural flavor.

9. Premium Rush (2012)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as a New York bike messenger racing against time to deliver a mysterious envelope.

A corrupt cop, played menacingly by Michael Shannon, pursues him through Manhattan traffic for reasons that slowly unfold.

The film uses split-screen effects to show different route choices and their consequences.

Director David Koepp turns bicycle riding into legitimate action sequences that rival car chases.

You’ll feel every near-miss with taxis, pedestrians, and opening car doors.

The practical stunts give the film an authentic, visceral quality that CGI couldn’t match.

Premium Rush delivers pure adrenaline entertainment, proving you don’t need explosions or gunfights to create thrilling cinema.

10. Frailty (2001)

This disturbing tale, directed by and starring Bill Paxton, follows a father who believes he must destroy demons hiding in human form.

The family’s dynamic shifts dramatically as his two sons react in very different ways to his divine mission.

Through a series of flashbacks, one son recounts the dark family history to an FBI agent.

Paxton’s performance walks the line between faithful believer and dangerous fanatic brilliantly.

Young actors Matt O’Leary and Jeremy Sumpter convey childhood confusion and fear authentically.

The film questions whether we’re watching religious delusion or actual supernatural events.

Frailty’s twist ending recontextualizes everything you’ve watched, making it essential viewing for thriller fans who appreciate ambiguous morality.

11. The Invisible Guest (Contratiempo) (2016)

Spanish director Oriol Paulo crafted an ingeniously plotted mystery that keeps revealing new layers.

A successful businessman wakes up in a hotel room with his dead lover and no memory of what happened.

He hires a prestigious lawyer to prepare his defense, reconstructing the night through conflicting testimonies.

The film plays fair with clues while still managing to surprise viewers with its revelations.

Every conversation contains hidden meanings that become clear during rewatches.

The confined setting builds claustrophobic tension as time runs out before the police arrive.

The Invisible Guest stands among the best locked-room mysteries ever filmed, proving Spanish cinema produces world-class thrillers that deserve international attention.

12. Run (2020)

In this tense thriller, Sarah Paulson portrays a controlling mother, while her daughter, played by Kiera Allen, begins to suspect dark truths.

Aneesh Chaganty directs a gripping cat-and-mouse story confined to one house.

Allen’s real-life experience as a wheelchair user adds a layer of authentic representation to her character’s investigation.

The film builds paranoia gradually as small details don’t add up.

Prescription bottles, locked doors, and whispered phone calls create mounting dread.

Paulson transforms from caring parent to something far more frightening through subtle performance shifts.

Run delivers old-fashioned suspense reminiscent of Hitchcock while addressing contemporary themes about disability and parental control with surprising depth and sensitivity.

13. Take Shelter (2011)

Michael Shannon delivers a powerhouse performance as a construction worker experiencing apocalyptic visions.

Curtis LaForche sees storms that may signal mental illness inherited from his schizophrenic mother or genuine premonitions of disaster.

His obsession with building an elaborate storm shelter strains his marriage and finances.

Director Jeff Nichols creates ambiguity about whether Curtis is prophet or patient.

Jessica Chastain plays his wife with patience wearing thin as their lives unravel.

The film explores mental health, family loyalty, and economic anxiety in working-class America.

Take Shelter’s haunting final scene will spark debates about its meaning, cementing this as essential viewing for fans of psychological thrillers with substance.

14. The Dirties (2013)

This low-budget Canadian film starts as a quirky comedy about bullied teens making a revenge film, then takes a dark turn.

Matt Johnson directs and stars as a film student whose fictional project becomes disturbingly real.

The found-footage style creates uncomfortable intimacy as we watch obsession grow.

The Dirties tackles school violence from an uncomfortably close perspective without glorifying it.

You’ll recognize the warning signs of radicalization that everyone around Matt misses or ignores.

The improvised dialogue feels authentic to how actual teenagers talk and joke.

This micro-budget thriller proves you don’t need Hollywood money to create something genuinely unsettling that stays relevant to contemporary issues facing students today.

15. Triangle (2009)

Melissa George stars in this brain-twisting time loop thriller set mostly aboard a seemingly deserted ship.

A group of friends encounter strange occurrences after their yacht capsizes and they board a mysterious ocean liner.

Director Christopher Smith layers paradoxes and repeated scenes that gradually reveal a tragic pattern.

The film requires careful attention as events repeat with slight variations each cycle.

You’ll want to rewatch immediately after finishing to catch all the carefully planted details.

George carries the emotional weight as her character realizes the horrifying nature of her situation.

Triangle delivers genuine scares alongside its puzzle-box narrative structure, creating something that works as both horror movie and philosophical thought experiment about guilt.