The Most Exciting Thrillers to Pair with a Bottle of Wine

We’ve got your Saturday night plans.

When Thrillist talked withSteven Soderbergh to discuss his HBO Max movieKimi , he and screenwriter David Koepp report it as a " Saturday night bottleful of wine-coloured thriller . " Those guys should cognize something about this form of movie , the type of twisty experience you need on a cozy night with a glass of Pinot — Noir or Grigio , to each their own .

Both Soderbergh and Koepp have made films that conform to the verbal description beyondKimi , among them the likes ofPanic RoomandSide Effects . So cheer by this name , we at Thrillist have decided to make a tilt ofourfavorite " Saturday dark bottleful of wine-colored " movies . We took some cue from the originators of the full term , including their favorites likeRepulsionandSorry , Wrong Number , and bring some of our own . Operating from a informal definition , we chose selections that are paranoid , creepy , and piquant , always keeping you on the edge of your couch even after you ’ve push down a duo .

Blow Out(1981)

A frenzied commentary on post - Watergate paranoia and a careful examination of how story get construct , this Brian De Palma thriller will change the way of life you mind to sound . John Travolta asterisk as a gifted movie sound effects artist who accidentally records a slaying regard a presidential candidate — or does he ? To solve the mystery he keeps decease back to the tape , repulse himself to the brink of rabidity in the search for the verity . You ’ll return to this film with the same intensity .

Body Double(1984)

Brian De Palma ’s Hitchcockian court did n’t have the warm reception when it was released , but it ’s since break down down as a cult favorite . And how could it not ? It ’s a pulpy titillating thriller determine in a seedy yet sexy LA , where the porn diligence is thriving and voyeurism is the norm , andit features Melanie Griffith in a spitfire of a role . secret and fixation unfolds when a struggling player ( Craig Wasson ) takes up an offer from a new admirer ( Gregg Henry ) to remain at his household while he ’s away . Being that he lives at the fantast , window - delineate Chemosphere in the Valley , he ’s got the consummate view to cringe on the hot neighbor down below in the hill … andwitness her murder . While it may be an ode to Hitchcock films likeRear Window , it ’s arresting De Palma at his finest .

The Conversation(1974)

If you think domestic surveillance is skittish , imagine how it feel for the guy on the other end of the mike . Starring Gene Hackman in his peak , Francis Ford Coppola ’s quiet thriller build paranoia out of an overheard conversation and the duration to which one private investigator go to uncover its import . Hackman ’s Harry Caul can only get so unaired to his issue , and Coppola plays by similar ruler , making sound as of the essence to the catch experience as exposure . Wildly influential , this one will have you looking over your shoulder for sidereal day .

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Dial M for Murder(1954)

No blonde is safe if she ’s in an Alfred Hitchcock movie , andDial M for Murderis no different , star the theater director ’s muse Grace Kelly as the dupe of a murder plot gone wrong . When withdraw lawn tennis player Tony ( Ray Milland ) happen out that his wife Margot ( Kelly ) is get an affaire with a mystery novel author , he blackmail a former friend - turned - small time criminal Charlie ( Anthony Dawson ) into plotting Margot ’s murder . When the plot of ground goes amiss , it ’s up to a particularly savvy lawman to figure out what really happened , before an ingenuous char is frame up for a crime she never commit . The moving-picture show drips with Hitchcock ’s patented sardonic humor and charge with its atmospheric plot and daring escapes .

Eyes of Laura Mars(1978)

Do you need a thriller that’salsoa fashion movie?Eyes of Laura Marsis the Kate Moss of a film in that very niche genre . The ' 70s New York neo noir star the glamourous Faye Dunaway as a style lensman whose elan explores motif of violence against charwoman . When she ’s on the leaflet of unfreeze a new exposure book and must navigate disceptation surrounding her work , she starts to experience visions . Now , it ’s not just her camera that entrance brutality — it ’s as if she can see through the eyes of a sequent killer whale in real sentence . An American attempt at a giallo photographic film , it ’s often completely nonsensical , but it undeniably has its own style and everybody is primp to belt down .

The Fugitive(1993)

" You ’ll never find him — he ’s too smart . " That ’s the minded description Dr. Richard Kimble ( Harrison Ford ) arrest in director Andrew Davis ' ' 90s masterpiece . Kimble ’s on the run from the sureness because he ’s been wrongfully accused of killing his married woman , and through a serial of unlikely escapes , the doc - wrick - fugitive tries to hunt down down his mysterious bane and examine his innocence . Fortunately , he really is something like the progeny of Carmen Sandiego and MacGyver . Ford is slant - perfect as the jack - of - all - barter hero , playing opposite a unpitying Tommy Lee Jones . Together , they waver a satisfying reconciliation human action of high-pitched - octane activeness ( admit a caravan , a bus , and a whirlybird ) , heart ( Kimble somehow finds time to bring through other people ’s lives ) , and machination ( drug company , I tell ya ) , making for a legit nail - biter .

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Greta(2019)

" Isabelle Huppert goes goblin mode " is maybe the honest way to describe Neil Jordan ’s recent risky thriller about kooky piano teacher Greta ( Huppert ) , who leave nice handbags on the New York City underground to entice passing do - gooders into her sociopathic maw . The just - graduated Frances ( Chloë Grace Moretz ) is the latest scheme victim , returning the purse and befriend Greta before promptly ending it upon discovering a treasure trove of the very same purse in Greta ’s house . But , because of the enigma of her past , Greta ca n’t accept this and begins stalking Frances , eventually kidnap and imitating her to her admirer via text . It ’s not likeGretais a masterpiece , but Huppert and Moretz put in noteworthy execution as unbalanced and terrified , and the final twist is a perfect bit of insanity to scream at the TV about a bottle of wine-colored deep on a Saturday nighttime .

In the Cut(2003)

Director Jane Campion ( The Piano ) turns the psychological thriller on its head with this thoughtful and bracingfilmstarring Meg Ryan as a woman who gets caught up in a murder investigating in Manhattan . In a role originally developed for Nicole Kidman , who has a producing credit , Ryan cut into deep into her graphic symbol ’s rarity and fear as she unwraps the secret . In the Cutis often disturbing , has a shocking ending , and ultimately functions as a portrait of a fair sex managing her own desire and struggling with the demands of the tumultuous man who circle around her .

Klute(1971)

In the ' 70s Alan J. Pakula was the king of the paranoid thriller andKluteis peradventure his crowning achievement . This jumpy noir star Jane Fonda as Bree Daniels , a prostitute who is tenuously connected to the disappearance of a chemic company executive . She ’s investigated by John Klute , played with deceptive stillness by Donald Sutherland . As he make closer to figuring out the case , they get closer as a distich , even as they both continue deeply guard . It ’s a sort - of love story obscure in a deeply unsettling mystery , the kind of movie that keeps you lean in toward the screen .

Mother(2009)

Motheris a critically acclaimed hit fromBong Joon Hothat has its titular female parent on an obsessive quest to prove that her mentally handicapped son is innocent of a murder he ’s criminate of having commit . Its irregular twists and turns hurtle Kim Hye - ja , seen as the maternal original in Korea for her other persona in more family - centric title , as a revengeful protectorate . There are n’t any supernatural scares here ; just the grotesque horrors that humans can competently play on one another .

One Hour Photo(2002)

Despite his silly - than - lifetime reputation , Robin Williams was no unknown to dramas . Still , 2002 ’s one - two slug ofInsomniaandOne time of day Photostamped out his likable mania entirely , cast Williams as a diminished - townsfolk murderer and a mild - mannered stalker , severally . Take your pick , butPhotois the more vino - favorable moving-picture show . Director Mark Romanek — bonk at the time for Madonna , Nine Inch Nails , and Fiona Apple video — was heady to choose Williams after Jack Nicholson turned down what would have been an all - too - obvious role . Playing a lonely exposure technician who read an uncomfortable liking to one particular family , Williams ’ soft demeanor ratchet up the movie ’s eery threat , contrive everything off proportionality until its wickedness becomes blindingly apparent .

Panic Room(2002)

Panic Roomis a canny and propulsiveDavid Fincherthriller starring Jodie Foster as a divorced Manhattanite endure a home invasion . The hand , written by David Koepp , is packed with in force twists , knifelike dialogue , and authentic - seeming details that help complicate the stripped - down premiss about a trio of thieves look for the out of sight money of the house ’s former possessor . Foster and a young Kristen Stewart , play the precocious diabetic daughter , are both gripping in tough , demand roles , while Forest Whitaker brings a weariness and fondness to his villain role . It ’s as gripping as it is scarily claustrophobic .

A Place in the Sun(1951)

Before the gripping drama of George Stevens 1951 classicA Place in the Suneven gets started you ’ll be mesmerized by the aesthetics , and by that I imply , the casting of Elizabeth Taylor and Montgomery Clift as part of the sexual love triangle at the film ’s meat . base on a Theodore Dreiser novel , Clift plays George Eastman , a man who begins works in his rich uncle ’s manufactory . From there he becomes entangle with a woman ( Shelley Winters ) who works alongside him , but as his clout grows due to his surname he ’s thrust into a new social spectrum where he falls for Angela ( Taylor ) , a plenteous high society female child . But when Alice tells George she ’s pregnant , George has to reckon out what to do next . With an incredibly chilling performance from Clift at its center , A Place in the Sunmight hit too close to menage about what someone might be capable of when seek to attain the “ American Dream . ”

Red Eye(2005)

Director Wes Craven is well known for hisNightmare on Elm Streetfranchise , but in 2005 he directed a pulpy , terrifying thriller at 36,000 feet . Before boarding a red eye flight from Dallas to Miami , frumpy hotel handler Lisa ( Rachel McAdams ) engages in some igniter flirting with a alien ( Cillian Murphy ) at the airport measure . When the same alien end up seated next to her , things seem off , and when the stranger reveals that he ’s actually a terrorist bent on assassinate a phallus of the government stay at Lisa ’s hotel , she knows she ’s in trouble . McAdams playact the perfect not - so - distressed damsel , and Murphy ’s acquisition at playing scary - red-hot are on full presentation .

Repulsion(1965)

What ’s hiding behind the walls ? For the follow - up to his debut featureKnife in the Water , another tale of close - quarters suspense , director Roman Polanski mould Catherine Deneuve as a vernal manicurist living in a cramped London apartment with her old sis . As the Deneuve fiber grows progressively distressed by her sister ’s family relationship with a man , she begins to unravel and the interior of the apartment , already on the claustrophobic side , use up on a sinister calibre . alfileria tick , food rots , cracks appear , and soon enough you ’re engulf into a surreal parable of psychological and architectural terror , one that decline to provide tidy answers to the unsettling interrogative it harry .

Shutter Island(2010)

In his haunted adjustment of Dennis Lehane ’s pulpy gothic novel , film director Martin Scorsese uses visceral horror imagery to impart despair . Leonardo DiCaprio ’s terrified mug is the film ’s spookiest especial effect . With every face , chase brow , and tortured shortness of breath , he brings you into the tortured psyche of Edward Daniels , a man who can not escape his past no matter how firmly he try . It ’s a carefully modulate operation that aid sell the film ’s occasionally wonky twists . WhileShutter Islandis more of a psychological thriller than a horrible spook , DiCaprio will have you feel as if you ’re make mighty into Daniels ' mind — which is just as scary . More than anything , it makes you care DiCaprio would return to the horror writing style in the future .

Side Effects(2013)

Steven Soderbergh was an old script at psychological thriller before he directedSide Effects , which star Rooney Mara as Emily , a socialite whose doctor ( Jude Law ) order her antidepressants after she attempts self-destruction when her husband ( Channing Tatum ) is released from prison . The drugs she ’s on are data-based , though , and her result somnambulate episodes shortly change by reversal trigger-happy , but all is not as it seems ( this is a Soderbergh movie , after all ) . What follows is a electrifying blend of psychological horror and crime noir , a completely alone combining of anxiety both old and new . Shame there is n’t a pill for that .

Single White Female(1992)

Today , the term “ Single White Female ” might be more ubiquitous than the 1992 film itself . Starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Lee , Single White Femaleis a campy fun thriller that gets to the tenderness of the staying power of that idiom . Fonda play Allie , a software designer , who , after breaking off her engagement , needs a roomie . In amount Hedy ( Jason Lee ) , and the two become close quickly , but Hedy becomes overly protective of Allie and when she starts dress like her — all bets are off . I hate to callSingle White Femalea “ blowout , ” but in its ' 90s thriller mode ( terminated with unfortunate auburn bowl haircut ) , it ’s a total blast .

Sorry, Wrong Number(1948)

Sorry , Wrong Numberhas an all - clock time - great premise : a brattish Manhattan heiress ( Barbara Stanwyck in an Oscar - nominate role ) is home alone when she picks up the telephone set and , due to a mismatched connection , catch two men plot to commit a murder that nighttime . The police prove unresponsive to her report , lead in a feverish quest to locate her husband ( Burt Lancaster ) that reveals a succession of more and more sordid details . A alert , noirish thriller base on a democratic radio receiver play from 1943,Wrong Numberis an example of what Hollywood once called “ women ’s films , ” a surprisingly racy quasi - music genre in which Stanwyck was a key player . It has animate a numeral of subsequent adaptation , include the 1982 Steve Martin comedyDead Men Do n’t Wear Plaid .

The Stepfather(1987)

It ’s incredible how Terry O’Quinn ( y’know , John Locke fromLost ) can move around on a dime in Joseph Ruben ’s Regan - geological era thriller . ( you’re able to hop the 2009 remaking . ) One one bridge player , O’Quinn ’s family gentleman Jerry Blake just wants a wife and Kyd to reconcile down with in middle - class Seattle suburb ; on the other , he ’s a psychopath who go by many public figure and dig his first family to end and plans to do it again by methodically phlebotomise onto the widow Susan ( Shelley Hack ) and her suspicious teenage daughter Stephanie ( Jill Schoelen).The Stepfatherthrives in building tension , with Jerry always on the verge of being sniffed out , and keeps the gore of its atrocity to a lower limit throughout most of the plastic film , permit the curtain raising imagery linger as the spectre behind O’Quinn ’s toothy backyard BBQ grin . brush aside the subtext , it ’s a quaint thriller with a nail biting climax , but dig a little deep and it becomes clever commentary on the toxic myth of the nuclear family and the former administration ’s predilection for claim moral authorization while place flagitious acts .

Three Days of the Condor(1975)

One of the queer view ofThree Days of the Condoris that dashing Robert Redford is throw up as a studious , unnoticeable CIA analyst when he obviously looks like ' seventy Robert Redford . Luckily , as the plot springs into natural action and the paranoia kick in , post Redford ’s Joseph Turner on a disturbed dash through New York with Faye Dunaway ’s Kathy , the actor gets more than a few chance to fall into ace - spy hero mode . Sydney Pollack ’s direction is silklike than some of the other Watergate - geological era thrillers likeThe ConversationorThe Parallax View , but the movie skillfully evokes the unease and terror of being caught up in a confederacy you ca n’t quite full grasp or understand .

To Die For(1995)

Nicole Kidman ’s everlasting performances as a perkily , devilishly ambitious weatherwoman is the centrepiece of Gus Van Sant ’s deceivingly delightful and hilarious thriller establish on Joyce Maynard ’s book . Kidman is Suzanne , a perfectly coiffed host who wants fame above anything else , and will do anything to reach it , especially when her husband ( Matt Dillon ) starts nonplus in the mode . She befriend three outcast teens — among them Joaquin Phoenix and Casey Affleck — when working on a infotainment about youthfulness event , and convinces them to drink down her ( not really all that ) meddling spouse . Naturally , this plan lead awry to deviate degrees , and as Suzanne falters to her demise , Van Sant create a pastel colored portrayal of the American desire for stardom .