Tense movies and TV shows

The list contains the best, new and most relevant tense movies ordered by relevance. The recommendation service has sorted out tense, suspense, serious, suspenseful, realistic and psychological thriller films and TV shows about / with murder, violence, death, twists and turns, blood, revenge, shot to death, rivalry, chase and blood splatter plots mostly in Thriller, Drama and Crime genres shot in USA, UK, Germany and other countries.
tense
 16020
tense movies
TOP 10 movies tagged as tense: Enemy of the State (1998), Quarantine (2008), Unknown (2011), No Country for Old Men (2007), Primal Fear (1996), I Saw the Devil (2010), Man on Fire (2004), Gone Girl (2014), Straw Dogs (2011), 22 Bullets (2010).

List of tense movies

Type:
Year:
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Enemy of the State (1998)
Genre: Action, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 132 min.
Story: Hotshot Washington lawyer, Robert Dean becomes a victim of high-tech identity theft when a hacker slips an incriminating video into his pocket. Soon, a rogue National Security agent sets out to recover the tape – and destroy Dean.
Style: clever, tense, suspense, political thriller, suspenseful ...
Audience: boys' night, manly, date night, kids
Plot: conspiracy, surveillance, espionage, cia, political conspiracy, uncover truth, on the run, investigation, politics, twists and turns, manhunt, intelligence ...
Time: year 1998, 20th century, 90s
Place: baltimore, washington d.c., maryland, afghanistan, iraq ...
Is relevant ?
 5.9
 77K
Quarantine (2008)
Genre: Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA, Spain
Duration: 89 min.
Story: A television reporter and her cameraman are trapped inside a building quarantined by the CDC after the outbreak of a mysterious virus which turns humans into bloodthirsty killers.
Style: tense, suspenseful, scary, intense, suspense ...
Audience: teens
Plot: virus, zombie, quarantine, found footage, infection, gory, plague, trapped, graphic violence, supernatural, rabies, pandemic ...
Time: year 2008, 21st century
Place: usa, los angeles
Is relevant ?
 6.8
 269K
Unknown (2011)
Genre: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, Germany, France, USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story: An American biologist attending a conference in Berlin awakens from a coma after a car accident, only to discover that someone has taken his identity and that no one, not even his wife, believes him. With the help of an illegal immigrant and a ...
Style: surprise ending, suspense, twist ending, tense, suspenseful ...
Audience: manly, teens, boys' night
Plot: twists and turns, memory loss, investigation, amnesia, uncover truth, assassin, conspiracy, secret service, chase, disorder, danger, mysterious character ...
Time: year 2011, 2010s, 21st century
Place: berlin germany, germany
Is relevant ?
No Country for Old Men (2007)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: Llewelyn Moss stumbles upon dead bodies, $2 million and a hoard of heroin in a Texas desert, but methodical killer Anton Chigurh comes looking for it, with local sheriff Ed Tom Bell hot on his trail. The roles of prey and predator blur as the ...
Style: neo noir, suspense, serious, tense, atmospheric ...
Audience: date night, adult
Plot: hitman, psychopath, shooting, desert, serial killer, peril, greed, brutality, human nature, sheriff, death, murder ...
Time: year 2007, 2000s, 20th century, year 1980, 80s
Place: texas, el paso texas, mexico, austin texas, america ...
Is relevant ?
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 7.7
 245K
Primal Fear (1996)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min.
Story: An arrogant, high-powered attorney takes on the case of a poor altar boy found running away from the scene of the grisly murder of the bishop who has taken him in. The case gets a lot more complex when the accused reveals that there may or may not ...
Style: psychological, surprise ending, twist ending, tense, suspense ...
Audience: adult
Plot: mental illness, twists and turns, plot twist, trial, courtroom drama, psychology, lawyer, murder, courtroom, psychopath, corruption, manipulation ...
Time: 90s, future, year 1996, 20th century
Place: chicago, usa
Is relevant ?
 7.8
 145K
I Saw the Devil (2010)
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Duration: 144 min.
Story: Kyung-chul is a dangerous psychopath who kills for pleasure. He has committed infernal serial murders in diabolic ways that one cannot even imagine and his victims range from young women to even children. The police have chased him for a long time, ...
Style: bleak, psychological, disturbing, dark, tense ...
Audience: date night, manly, adult
Plot: serial killer, revenge, vengeance, murder, psychopath, violence, macabre, extreme violence, gory, mercilessness, brutality, torture ...
Time: 2010s, year 2010, year 2000, 2000s, 21st century
Place: south korea, korea, asia, east asia
Is relevant ?
 7.7
 387K
Man on Fire (2004)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Switzerland, UK, USA, Mexico
Duration: 146 min.
Story: Jaded ex-CIA operative John Creasy reluctantly accepts a job as the bodyguard for a 10-year-old girl in Mexico City. They clash at first, but eventually bond, and when she's kidnapped he's consumed by fury and will stop at nothing to save ...
Style: suspense, tense, brutal, exciting, emotional ...
Audience: manly, chick flick, boys' night, adult
Plot: revenge, kidnapping, vengeance, vigilante, cia, vigilantism, friendship, mercenary, lone hero, redemption, justice, child in peril ...
Time: year 2004, 20th century, 2000s, 21st century
Place: mexico, mexico city, latin america
Is relevant ?
 8.1
 1.1M
Gone Girl (2014)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 149 min.
Story: With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.
Style: psychological, suspense, surprise ending, clever, twist ending ...
Audience: chick flick, date night, teens, girls' night, boys' night ...
Plot: twists and turns, murder mystery, missing person, psychology, infidelity, manipulation, investigation, femme fatale, adultery, marriage, missing wife, psychopath ...
Time: year 2014, 2010s, 2000s, year 2012, 21st century
Place: peru, america, usa, new york, manhattan new york city ...
Is relevant ?
 5.8
 36K
Straw Dogs (2011)
Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 110 min.
Story: L.A. screenwriter David Sumner relocates with his wife, Amy, to her hometown in the deep South. There, while tensions build between them, a brewing conflict with locals becomes a threat to them both.
Style: disturbing, psychological, tense, rough, suspenseful ...
Audience: adult
Plot: rape, home invasion, self defense, gang rape, small town, revenge, sex scene, rape and revenge, vengeance, sexual humiliation, teasing, kidnapped ...
Time: 21st century
Place: mississippi, usa, southern usa
Is relevant ?
 6.6
 36K
22 Bullets (2010)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Duration: 117 min.
Story: Charly Matteï has turned his back on his life as an outlaw. For the last three years, he's led a peaceful life devoting himself to his wife and two children. Then, one winter morning, he's left for dead in the parking garage in ...
Style: tense, serious, suspense, exciting, unusual plot structure ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: vengeance, mafia, criminal's revenge, mobster, violence, police investigation, revenge, murder, revenge plot, shooting, organized crime, betrayal ...
Time: year 2010, 21st century
Place: france, marseille, provence, europe
Is relevant ?
 5.8
 59K
Firewall (2006)
Genre: Action, Crime, Thriller
Country: USA, Australia, Canada
Duration: 105 min.
Story: State-of-the-art security system creator, Jack Stanfield has cemented his reputation as a man who's thought of everything. But when a criminal finds a way into Jack's personal life, everything Jack holds dear is suddenly at stake.
Style: suspenseful, tense, suspense, exciting, serious ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: kidnapping, hostage, robbery, rescue, family in danger, computer hacker, bank, hacking, blackmail, home invasion, kidnapped, computer ...
Time: year 2006, 21st century
Place: washington state, usa, seattle
Is relevant ?
 7.7
 470K
Training Day (2001)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 122 min.
Story: On his first day on the job as a narcotics officer, a rookie cop works with a rogue detective who isn't what he appears.
Style: neo noir, realistic, tense, harsh, suspense ...
Audience: manly, boys' night, adult
Plot: police corruption, gang, corrupt cop, ghetto, gunfight, drug dealer, police, african american, rookie, mentor, dirty cop, drug ...
Time: year 2001, 2000s, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, usa
Is relevant ?
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 7.5
 12K
The Collector (1965)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 119 min.
Story: Freddie is an inept bank clerk with no future. His only hobby is collecting butterflies, which gives him a feeling of power and control that is otherwise totally missing from his life. He comes into a large sum of money, and buys himself a country ...
Style: tense, disturbing, serious, suspense, dark ...
Plot: kidnapping, psychopath, obsession, dangerous attraction, collector, confined, loneliness, woman in danger, danger, missing person, mentally unstable, serial killer ...
Time: year 1965, 60s, 20th century
Place: london
Is relevant ?
 7.3
 60K
Wayward Pines (2015)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story: Imagine the perfect American town... beautiful homes, manicured lawns, children playing safely in the streets. Now imagine never being able to leave. You have no communication with the outside world. You think you're going insane. You must be ...
Style: tense, mind bending, serious, captivating, surprise ending ...
Plot: apocalypse, society, small town, investigation, small town life, beast, danger, missing person, murder, cryogenics, confined, suspended animation ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa, idaho
Is relevant ?
Law Abiding Citizen (2009)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 109 min.
Story: A frustrated man decides to take justice into his own hands after a plea bargain sets one of his family's killers free. He targets not only the killer but also the district attorney and others involved in the deal.
Style: twist ending, suspense, psychological, surprise ending, clever ...
Audience: manly, adult
Plot: vengeance, prison, vigilantism, justice, investigation, master criminal, twists and turns, lawyer, fighting the system, rape and revenge, murder, revenge ...
Time: year 2009, 21st century
Place: philadelphia, usa
Is relevant ?
 7.6
 395K
Inside Man (2006)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 129 min.
Story: Bank robber Dalton Russell enters a Manhattan bank, locks the doors and takes hostages, working methodically and without haste. Detective Frazier is assigned to negotiate, but his mind is occupied with the corruption charges he is facing. With an ...
Style: clever, detective, tense, suspense, surprise ending ...
Audience: adult
Plot: heist, hostage, bank, bank robbery, robbery, twists and turns, perfect crime, manipulation, police detective, police, criminal, master criminal ...
Time: year 2006, 2000s, 21st century
Place: new york, manhattan new york city, usa
Is relevant ?
 8.8
 2.3M
Fight Club (1999)
Genre: Drama
Country: Germany, USA
Duration: 139 min.
Story: A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the ...
Style: surprise ending, psychological, twist ending, cerebral, philosophical ...
Audience: manly, boys' night, chick flick, girls' night, adult
Plot: twists and turns, psychology, fight, plot twist, schizophrenia, self destructing, insanity, fighting the system, split personality, losing-it hero, against the rules, nihilism ...
Time: 20th century, 90s, year 1999, year 2013
Place: delaware, america, los angeles, iran, seattle ...
Is relevant ?
 7.1
 298K
Don't Breathe (2016)
Genre: Crime, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA, Hungary
Duration: 88 min.
Story: A group of teens break into a blind man's home thinking they'll get away with the perfect crime. They're wrong.
Style: suspense, scary, suspenseful, brutal, exciting ...
Audience: adult
Plot: home invasion, kidnapping, trapped, blind man, murder, psychopath, thief, twists and turns, breaking and entering, survival, trap, violence ...
Time: year 2016, 2010s, 21st century
Place: michigan, california, detroit
Is relevant ?
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 8.5
 1.4M
The Departed (2006)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Hong Kong
Duration: 151 min.
Story: To take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a career criminal rises ...
Style: twist ending, suspense, surprise ending, clever, tense ...
Audience: boys' night, adult
Plot: mafia, police, organized crime, mole, mobster, undercover cop, twists and turns, undercover, gunfight, corruption, working undercover, gangster ...
Time: 2000s, year 2006, 21st century
Place: boston, america, persia, massachusetts, usa ...
Is relevant ?
 8.4
 1.3M
Memento (2000)
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 113 min.
Story: Suffering short-term memory loss after a head injury, Leonard Shelby embarks on a grim quest to find the lowlife who murdered his wife in this gritty, complex thriller that packs more knots than a hangman's noose. To carry out his plan, Shelby ...
Style: psychological, surprise ending, twist ending, suspense, neo noir ...
Audience: teens, adult
Plot: memory loss, amnesia, vengeance, plot twist, memory, murder, twists and turns, revenge, paranoia, whodunit, psychology, haunted by the past ...
Time: year 2000, future, year 2001, 90s, 20th century ...
Place: los angeles, california, iran, america, usa
Is relevant ?
The Bone Collector (1999)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 118 min.
Story: Rookie cop, Amelia Donaghy reluctantly teams with Lincoln Rhyme – formerly the department's top homicide detective but now paralyzed as a result of a spinal injury – to catch a grisly serial killer dubbed 'The Bone Collector'. The ...
Style: suspense, psychological thriller, tense, detective, suspenseful ...
Audience: adult
Plot: serial killer, psychopath, investigation, police investigation, policewoman, mind game, murder, twists and turns, master criminal, crime scene, forensics, race against time ...
Time: 90s, year 1999, 20th century
Place: new york, usa, persia, manhattan new york city, grand central station manhattan new york city
Is relevant ?
The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 118 min.
Story: FBI trainee, Clarice Starling ventures into a maximum-security asylum to pick the diseased brain of Hannibal Lecter, a psychiatrist turned homicidal cannibal. Starling needs clues to help her capture a serial killer. But her Faustian relationship ...
Style: suspenseful, psychological, suspense, scary, psychological thriller ...
Audience: chick flick, date night, adult
Plot: serial killer, psychopath, investigation, murder, psychology, cannibalism, kidnapping, maniac, twists and turns, murder investigation, cannibal, mind game ...
Time: year 1991, 20th century, 90s
Place: pittsburgh, baltimore, madagascar, persia, maryland ...
Is relevant ?
 8.5
 1.4M
The Prestige (2006)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 130 min.
Story: A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.
Style: surprise ending, twist ending, clever, atmospheric, psychological ...
Audience: family friendly, teens, chick flick
Plot: twists and turns, obsession, plot twist, magic, magician, secret, rivalry, uninhibited rivalry, magic trick, illusionist, illusion, deception ...
Time: victorian era, 19th century, year 2006, edwardian era, future ...
Place: london, colorado, britain, peru, los angeles ...
Is relevant ?
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 6.7
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The Guest (2014)
Genre: Action, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 100 min.
Story: A soldier introduces himself to the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their son who died in action. After the young man is welcomed into their home, a series of accidental deaths seem to be connected to his presence.
Style: tense, atmospheric, suspenseful, scary, exciting ...
Audience: adult
Plot: halloween, murder, twists and turns, danger, psychopath, grief, bullying, killing spree, soldier, family relations, mysterious character, family problems ...
Time: 2010s, year 2014, 21st century
Place: new mexico, usa
Is relevant ?
Gangs of New York (2002)
Genre: Crime, Drama
Country: USA, Italy
Duration: 167 min.
Story: It's 1863. America was born in the streets. Amsterdam Vallon returns to the Five Points of America to seek vengeance against the psychotic gangland kingpin, Bill the Butcher, who murdered his father years earlier. With an eager pickpocket by ...
Style: epic, rough, tense, atmospheric, captivating ...
Audience: boys' night, adult
Plot: revenge, gang, gangster, vengeance, organized crime, street gang, racism, crime boss, betrayal, violent, courage, gang war ...
Time: 19th century, victorian era, 1800s, edwardian era, 50s ...
Place: new york, usa, manhattan new york city
Is relevant ?
 8.6
 1.8M
Se7en (1995)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 127 min.
Story: Two homicide detectives are on a desperate hunt for a serial killer whose crimes are based on the "seven deadly sins" in this dark and haunting film that takes viewers from the tortured remains of one victim to the next. The seasoned Det. ...
Style: detective, surprise ending, suspenseful, disturbing, neo noir ...
Audience: chick flick, adult
Plot: serial killer, investigation, twists and turns, psychopath, police, psychology, mind game, murder, insanity, police investigation, macabre, maniac ...
Time: 90s, year 1995, 20th century
Place: los angeles, america, iran, persia, usa ...
Is relevant ?
 7.8
 699K
Drive (2011)
Genre: Action, Drama
Country: USA
Duration: 100 min.
Story: A Hollywood stunt performer who moonlights as a wheelman for criminals discovers that a contract has been put on him after a heist gone wrong.
Style: neo noir, atmospheric, tense, serious, intense ...
Audience: boys' night, date night, adult
Plot: car chase, heist, mechanic, danger, tough heroes, lone wolves, organized crime, loner, revenge, chases and races, robbery, character study ...
Time: year 2011, 2010s, 21st century
Place: los angeles, california, iran, usa
Is relevant ?
 5.8
 133K
Skyscraper (2018)
Genre: Action, Adventure, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 102 min.
Story: Framed and on the run, a former FBI agent must save his family from a blazing fire in the world's tallest building.
Style: tense, suspense, psychotronic, anamorphic, suspenseful ...
Audience: chick flick, family outing, teens, kids
Plot: skyscraper, disaster, penthouse, heroism, terrorism, protective parent, fire, panic, courage, betrayal, hostage, lone hero ...
Time: 2010s
Place: hong kong, china, asia, minnesota
Is relevant ?
 8.3
 575K
Prison Break (2005)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 44 min.
TV show
Story: Due to a political conspiracy, an innocent man is sent to death row and his only hope is his brother, who makes it his mission to deliberately get himself sent to the same prison in order to break the both of them out, from the inside out.
Style: exciting, tense, suspenseful, serious, realistic ...
Audience: boys' night, teens
Plot: prison, fugitives, escape, prison life, conspiracy, determination, confined, fbi, scheme, brother, self sacrifice, siblings relations ...
Time: 2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place: chicago, california, texas, usa
Is relevant ?
 5.8
 33K
Thinner (1996)
Genre: Fantasy, Horror
Country: USA
Duration: 93 min.
Story: A fat Lawyer finds himself growing "Thinner" when an old gypsy man places a hex on him. Now the lawyer must call upon his friends in organized crime to help him persuade the gypsy to lift the curse. Time is running out for the desperate ...
Style: suspense, scary, suspenseful, tense, psychological ...
Plot: stephen king, macabre, curse, death, supernatural, guilt, corruption, legal action, body horror, paranoia, revenge, redemption ...
Time: 90s
Is relevant ?
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