Casey Chong with seven thrillers from the 2010s that may have flown under your radar…
The 2010s has a wealth of acclaimed thrillers from Denis Villeneuve’s Prisoners to David Fincher’s Gone Girl and Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island, to name but a few. But just like any genre, some thrillers are either overlooked or unfairly maligned upon their initial release, resulting in them failing to attract the audience they deserve. That said, here is our selected list of seven great thriller movie gems of the 2010s that are worth checking out if you haven’t done so already…
Stoker (2013)
Park Chan-Wook, who rose to fame with his Vengeance trilogy (Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Oldboy and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance), made his English-language debut with the Wentworth Miller-written Stoker. Yes, the same Wentworth Miller, who plays Michael Schofield in TV’s Prison Break. The story delves into the twisted family angle, dark secret and sexual awakening, which fits just right in Park’s wheelhouse. The movie takes things slowly yet deliberately paced from focusing on the aftermath of India’s (a perfectly icy and socially detached Mia Wasikowska) father’s (Dermot Mulroney) death to the mysterious arrival of an uncle (Matthew Goode’s Charlie) she never knew existed.
Stoker is the kind of slow-burn thriller that creeps up on you as the story gradually unfolds. While it may lack Park’s bravura edge seen in some of his best South Korean works, he doesn’t play safe either in his first Hollywood movie. The movie has a distinctly gothic feel with a Hitchcockian touch in its sneaky storytelling before Park finally ratchets up the tension during the violent third act.
Killer Joe (2011)
Based on Tracy Letts’ 1993 play of the same name, William Friedkin may have been 76 years old when he directed Killer Joe, but he certainly hadn’t mellowed in his twilight years. His signature matter-of-fact direction remains intact as he explores the bowels of human nature revolving around money, greed and murder. None of the characters here are likable, from Matthew McConaughey’s morally reprehensive titular police detective-turned-contract killer to the trailer trash Smith family (Emile Hirsch, Juno Temple, Thomas Haden Church and Gina Gershon).
The movie is as nihilistic as it goes and Friedkin doesn’t shy away from showcasing how depraved a person can be. At one point, there’s an uncomfortably fellatio scene that you may never look at a piece of fried chicken the same way again. Killer Joe emerged as a return to form for William Friedkin in his late-career direction, even though the pitch-black subject matter proved to be too much for the audiences, resulting in a box-office flop.
99 Homes (2014)
This criminally little-seen 99 Homes sees Man Push Cart director Ramin Bahrani, who also wrote the screenplay, delve into all things pragmatic during the 2008 housing crisis that shook the US real estate market at the time. Essentially an eviction drama but executed like a tense thriller, it’s disheartening right from the onset to see Michael Shannon’s Rick Carver, a real estate operator who doesn’t hesitate to evict any tenants whose residence suffers from foreclosure. One such tenant is Dennis Nash (Andrew Garfield), who lost his job as a construction worker and to make things worse, he along with his son (Noah Lomax) and hairdresser mom (Laura Dern) are forced to vacate their home after failed to pay off the housing loan.
Bahrani successfully captures the anxiety of a frustrating homeowner like Dennis and it also helps that Andrew Garfield brings enough grit to his character. But it is Michael Shannon, who steals most of the show as the uncompromising real estate operator who only cares about doing his job and making money out of evicting homeowners. The movie doesn’t shy away from dealing with the dehumanizing look at the law and capitalism against the helpless individuals who losing their homes. It may have been a deeply depressing subject matter but props to Bahrani for not sucking the life out of it by making his movie consistently intriguing to watch.
Under the Silver Lake (2018)
It Follows put David Robert Mitchell on the map as one of the most promising horror filmmakers, but instead of another horror, his follow-up sees the writer-director choose to pivot into an unlikely neo-noir thriller territory. Except there’s nothing conventional within his mystery-laden narrative as he prefers to play fast and loose in Under the Silver Lake. The movie is admittedly overlong and it could have used some serious trimming but it’s hard to deny the sheer ambition that Mitchell injected into his movie.
The story follows Sam (Andrew Garfield, in one of his best performances to date), an out-of-work slacker who prefers to spend his time spying on his sexy neighbor Sarah (Riley Keough). He becomes so obsessed with her that Sarah’s mysterious disappearance triggers him to find her at all costs. As the movie progresses, it slowly turns into a complicated maze of conspiracy theories and bizarre going-on. The movie is clearly not for everyone, especially given its distinctly offbeat tone that proves to be too divisive for most viewers.
Killing Them Softly (2012)
After The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Andrew Dominik reunites with Brad Pitt in a gritty thriller, Killing Them Softly. Pitt plays Jackie Cogan, a mob hitman who is tasked by a high-level criminal Driver (Richard Jenkins) to rectify a problem. That problem in question revolves around two small-time crooks (Scoot McNairy and Ben Mendelsohn) and their boss (Vincent Curatola), who have robbed the mob-protected card game. Dominik could have gone the conventional route of a mob-related thriller populated by the likes of Martin Scorsese.
But he has a different idea of subverting the audiences’ expectations as Killing Them Softly constantly mirrors the aftermath of the heist-gone-wrong scenario with the biting social commentary on the 2008 presidential election and financial crisis. The movie is undeniably talky, which may not sit well with viewers hoping for a more fast-paced approach. However, it movie scores for its acerbic wit, pitch-black humor and the story’s overall cynical perspective of the criminal underworld. Not to forget, Dominik’s sure-handed direction in staging the mob heist and at one point, a Peckinpah-esque slow-motion ballet of gun violence. The acting is top-notch, notably Pitt’s charismatic tough-guy role as the hitman with a peculiar way of killing his target.
Enemy (2013)
Denis Villeneuve explores duality and identity crisis in Enemy, which features Jake Gyllenhaal in one of his most restrained yet gripping performances to date. He even plays a dual role – a college history professor named Adam Bell and an actor, Anthony Claire. They share unusually identical appearances, which in turn, piques both curiosities to learn more about each other. Right from the get-go, Villeneuve establishes a surrealistic tone while evoking a constant feeling of dread bathed in a seedy yellow filter, which reflects his characters’ mental states.
The movie also has the feel and look of an enigmatic puzzle piece straight out of a David Lynch film, complete with haunting imagery and a fever-dream narrative approach. The recurring motif of spiders, specifically tarantulas, are predominantly used as an eerie symbolism that represents everything from personal fears and anxieties to a deep sense of entanglement, evidently in Adam’s feeling of being stuck in a rut.
Cam (2018)
Netflix has its fair share of ups and downs when it comes to its wide library of mainstream and indie titles. And once in a while, you might discover a hidden gem such as this one called Cam. Produced under the Blumhouse Productions banner, it’s easy to expect this is going to be a strictly exploitative fare about a cam girl (Madeline Brewer’s Alice) desperately trying to achieve a top ranking on the FreeGirlsLive website.
But Daniel Goldhaber, making his feature-length directorial debut, digs deeper into the murky world of online sex and identity theft along with the danger of deep-fake technology, notably the eerie introduction of Alice’s doppelgänger. The timely subject matter certainly hits close to home, thanks to Goldhaber’s riveting direction working from former cam girl Isa Mazzei’s astute screenplay.
Casey Chong
