These films get the blood pumping.

The 20 best thriller movies on HBO Max (including a nail-biting Oscar contender)

These films get the blood pumping.

By Jordan Hoffman

Jordan Hoffman

Jordan Hoffman is a writer at **, mostly covering nostalgia. He has been writing about entertainment since 2007.

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March 11, 2026 6:00 p.m. ET

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Hugh Grant goes religious, Teyana Taylor goes revolutionary, Bob Hoskins goes legit. Credit:

Kimberley French/A2-/Courtesy Everett Collection; Warner Bros.; Embassy Pictures/courtesy Everett Collection

Thrills! We yearn for them. Yet in real life, they can be dangerous (or at least add embarrassing charges to your Visa card). Perhaps it’s best to experience thrills vicariously, through cinema, from the comfort of your own home.

Luckily, a platform exists that is positively awash in thrills, and that’s Home Box Office Maximum.

Yes, HBO Max has one of the best archives of motion pictures available on any streaming platform across all genres, and that includes the elusive “thriller” category. While it’s sometimes difficult to determine “what is a thriller?” — as it can lean on elements of suspense, mystery, and action — you likely don't mind how closely a movie hews to a defined style, so long as it’s good.

So, what are the best thriller movies on HBO Max? You’ve logged in, you’re looking for something to watch tonight, and you’ve turned to * *to answer that question. Grab your remote, ‘cause we've got you.

Blood Simple (1984)

M. Emmet Walsh puts his hand in the wrong window sill in 'Blood Simple'.

Circle Films/ Everett

Joel and Ethan Coen came out of the gate firing with their debut picture, *Blood Simple*. This Texas-based thriller about private eyes, crooked bar owners, and over-their-head adulterers is loaded with double-crosses and fake-outs, leading to one of the most explosive and cathartic shootouts (and stab-outs) in neo-noir history.

M. Emmet Walsh is first among equals with an indelible performance as the sleaziest and least-trustworthy private detectives ever to don a ten-gallon hat. The film was also our collective introduction to Frances McDormand, as well as the Coens’ oddball sense of humor and camerawork.

Where to watch *Blood Simple*: HBO Max

A Different Man (2024)

Sebastian Stan gets the face he thought he wanted in 'A Different Man'.

Matt Infante/A24

A mind-bending surreal comedy with thriller elements, Aaron Schimberg’s *A Different Man *proves it’s what’s *inside *a person that counts… and sometimes what’s inside is kinda rotten. Sebastian Stan stars as a sympathetic struggling actor with a facial disfigurement who gets “cured” by an experimental medical procedure. Suddenly conventionally handsome, he assumes a new identity, but his personality grows sour.

It gets worse when he meets Adam Pearson, who has the same condition as Stan but is effortlessly confident in his own skin, a true “life of the party” type. A strangely sinister dance commences between the two as their identities intertwine.

Where to watch *A Different Man*: HBO Max

Enemy (2013)

Jake Gyllenhaal (we don't know which one, don't ask) in 'Enemy'. Caitlin Cronenberg/A24

*Enemy *stars Jake Gyllenhaal in a dual role as a mild-mannered professor who discovers there’s someone in his city, an obscure actor, who looks exactly like him. He seeks his double out, affording director Denis Villeneuve to shoot contemporary Toronto in eerie ways as the pair's similarities and differences get increasingly weird.

This tension leads to paranoia, madness, and, for some reason, an enormous spider the size of the CN Tower. Many mine the film for deep meaning, but like so much great creative work, it hangs together more on instinct than delineated plot. In other words, however you interpret this movie is correct!

Where to watch *Enemy*: HBO Max

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Fargo (1996)

Frances McDormand is about to barf (but not because of the corpse) in 'Fargo'.

Gramercy Pictures/Getty

The movie that launched a thousand exaggerated Midwestern accents, *Fargo *is a darkly funny thriller in which a cash-poor dope (William H. Macy) sets off a criminal scheme that quickly spirals out of control. Frances McDormand won her first Oscar for the role of Marge Gunderson, a very pregnant police detective with a keen mind and sweet demeanor.

Joel and Ethan Coen’s sharp script and visual wit make this one of their most celebrated films (which is saying something!). *Fargo *also later spawned a successful (though not directly connected) television series of the same name.

Where to watch *Fargo*: HBO Max

Get Out (2017)

Daniel Kaluuya meets Allison Williams' totally normal family in 'Get Out'.

Universal Pictures

I would watch this movie a third time if I could!

Jordan Peele’s first feature, a runaway smash that won him an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, functions as both a *Twilight Zone*-like B-picture and a bracing satire about race, class, and delusion. The concept of “the Sunken Place,” serves a fantastical function for the movie’s plot, but also cunningly visualizes social theories that were previously found limited to books and academic journals. Not yet a decade old, the horror-thriller has secured a position as one of the most enduring films made this century.

Where to watch *Get Out*: HBO Max

Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai (1999)

Forest Whitaker lives by the sword in 'Ghost Dog'.

Artisan Entertainment/Everett Collection

One of independent cinema’s foundational directors, Jim Jarmusch, brings his typical deadpan sensibility to this uncanny crime film, mixing in conventions from hip-hop culture and samurai movies. Forest Whitaker stars as a mafia hitman who lives by a samurai code. He’s loyal to his mafioso master, to whom he owes his life, but when he realizes that forces in the organization plan to eliminate him, he’s gotta devise a solution.

The movie underscores the absurdity of attempting to hew to outdated philosophies in a selfish, modern culture. It also has moments of unexpected humor — and a score composed by RZA, to boot.

Where to watch *Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai*: HBO Max

Heretic (2024)

Hugh Grant sizes up some missionaries in 'Heretic'.

What if your religious customs involved ringing the doorbells of strange men? Such is often the case for college-aged members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East play two such missionaries, who encounter a charmingly dingy middle-aged man (Hugh Grant) and believe they’ve found someone genuinely interested in learning about their faith.

Turns out, he is not just a philosophically verbose atheist, but a madman whose house is not as it seems. After a great deal of tense verbal sparring, the suspense explodes into violence and terror.

Where to watch *Heretic*: HBO Max

High and Low (1963)

Toshiro Mifune has a decision to make (that's his decision-making scowl) in 'High and Low'.

Toho/Kobal/Shutterstock

Recently remade by Spike Lee, this is one Akira Kurosawa’s most memorable films made in then-contemporary Japan. It concerns a wealthy businessman (Toshiro Mifune) who has just liquidated all of his assets in an attempt to gain control of his company. Then comes a terrifying phone call claiming his son has been kidnapped.

Just before he goes to pay the ransom, he discovers the kidnappers have made a mistake — they actually grabbed his chauffeur’s kid instead. Should he do the right thing and part with his money? Easy for you to say!

Where to watch *High and Low*: HBO Max

Inception (2010)

Leonardo DiCaprio and Elliot Page go down the wrong dream elevator in 'Inception'.

Warner Bros/Courtesy Everett Collection

“Don’t be afraid to dream a little bigger, darling.” Christopher Nolan’s mind-scrambling film moves at such a propulsive clip that there’s hardly any time to question whether anything actually makes sense. But there are so many thrilling chases, surreal images, and wacko cross-cutting sequences between realities that it's best not to worry about the logic.

The *bwonnnngs* on the soundtrack are an aural cliché now, but the whole delirious package still makes for one of the most thrilling movies of the 2010s.

Where to watch *Inception*: HBO Max

Key Largo (1948)

Lauren Bacall and Humphrey Bogart in 'Key Largo.' They'd make a cute couple, wouldn't they.

John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty Images

John Huston’s tropical crime thriller, starring Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Edward G. Robinson, is one of the all-time classics, packed with legendary lines and terrifically tense moments. Bogart plays a returning army vet paying a call to his war buddy’s widow and father, who run an island hotel.

With the place emptied out due to an approaching hurricane, they soon find themselves held captive by gangsters (one of whom is named Toots!) who need a base before they can complete a big score. Suspense builds inside the relative safety of the hotel, with the ferocity of the natural world just outside the door.

Where to watch *Key Largo*: HBO Max

Knife in the Water (1962)

Jolanta Umecka and Leon Niemczyk before their little boat trip goes to hell in 'Knife in the Water'.

Everett Collection

The first feature film from Roman Polanski, this tense Polish-language thriller is a reminder to never pick up hitchhikers, especially if you’re a married couple with a great deal of unspoken resentment. What begins as a pleasant boating excursion — and a fascinating look at Cold War-era lifestyles to Western audiences in the early 1960s — soon devolves into misunderstanding, sexual tension, violence, and, uh, more violence.

Though Polanski made a slew of classic films in Poland, Hollywood, and later in French exile, an argument can be made that he never topped this one.

Where to watch *Knife in the Water*: HBO Max

The Long Good Friday (1980)

Someone just rudely roughed up Bob Hoskins in 'The Long Good Friday'.

courtesy Everett Collection

An essential ‘80s British gangster picture, *The Long Good Friday *stars Bob Hoskins as a London mafioso trying to “go legit” by making investments in a dockyard in connection with American businessmen. Meanwhile, he’s in hot water with the Irish Republican Army as well as corrupt politicians.

His aspirations were symbolic of Britain’s post-’70s modernization schemes, and could easily be read as a political allegory. Helen Mirren costars as Hoskins’ equally striving girlfriend, and the movie is rich with backstabbing, colorful characters.

Where to watch *The Long Good Friday*: HBO Max

The Man Who Knew Too Much (1934)

Leslie Banks and Nova Pilbam in the OG 'The Man Who Knew Too Much'.

John Springer Collection/CORBIS/Corbis via Getty

This is the only movie that Alfred Hitchcock made twice. (Sorry Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day — HBO Max has the original black-and-white version.) A British family is on vacation in Switzerland where they befriend a charming Frenchman. He is, however, shot, and before he dies mumbles something about a stashed note. When they retrieve it, they learn of a major crime in the works; what’s worse, the criminals learn about *them*.

This film gives us the classic Hitchcock theme of ordinary people plunged into a sudden nightmare, as well as a fun early turn from Peter Lorre as a criminal mastermind and a thrilling set piece set at the Royal Albert Hall.

Where to watch *The Man Who Knew Too Much*: HBO Max

Mr. Arkadin (1955)

Robert Arden, Orson Welles, and Orson Welles' beard in 'Mr. Arkadin'.

Sevilla/Mercury Prods/Kobal/Shutterstock

Though its director, writer, and star Orson Welles dismissed the movie because it was recut by the studio (indeed, several versions are floating around out there), this is still a gripping post-war crime thriller with great performances and a slick visual style. Welles plays the wealthy Gregory Arkadin, a man suffering from amnesia who can’t remember how he made all his money. Thus, he hires Guy Van Stratten (Robert Arden) to investigate his past.

Problem is, everyone Van Stratten speaks to ends up mysteriously dead. Welles is clearly trying to rework some of the *Citizen Kane *template, but while lightning doesn’t exactly strike twice here, the movie is far better than its reputation.

Where to watch *Mr. Arkadin*: HBO Max

One Battle After Another (2025)

Leonardo DiCaprio, having chosen a car with terrible horsepower, in 'One Battle After Another'.

*One Battle After Another *is based very loosely on the basic outline, and some of the less-surreal elements, of Thomas Pynchon’s wacko novel *Vineland*. Paul Thomas Anderson updates the story of revolutionaries in post-1960s burnout to today — and possibly tomorrow. One-time bomb specialist Bob (Leonardo DiCaprio) is laying low with his now-teenage daughter, years after his cell got disrupted. Destiny, however, eventually comes calling.

The film mixes absurdist comedy and action, including a preposterous rooftop escape and a thrillingly disorienting car chase on desert roads. This is impossible to fit into one genre, but we're happy to include it here.

Where to watch *One Battle After Another*: HBO Max

The Player (1992)

Tim Robbins in enviable suspenders in 'The Player'.

Lorey Sebastian

Robert Altman’s sneaky skewering of Hollywood predated *Entourage *and *The Studio *by years, but prepped audiences for an unvarnished, insider’s look at tinsel town. In addition to being an industry satire, the film functions as a terrific noir-ish thriller.

Tim Robbins is a movie executive receiving threats from a writer whose stories he’s rejected. When he goes to confront him, he accidentally kills him. Whoopsie! Then he learns the writer wasn’t even the right guy. Double whoopsie! Can he somehow produce his way into a nice Hollywood ending?

Where to watch *The Player*: HBO Max

Revanche (2008)

Johannes Krisch and Ursula Strauss in happier times (trust us) in 'Revanche'.

Prisma Film/Spielmannfilm/Kobal/Shutterstock

This philosophical Austrian crime thriller, nominated for Best Foreign-Language film at the Oscars, concerns an ex-con and his sex worker girlfriend trying to get out of their rotten situation by robbing a bank. During their caper, however, they’re stopped by a police officer who accidentally kills one of them (no spoilers on who). The survivor decides to take revenge, but things take a psychological turn when we learn more about the police officer.

This is may be more of a drama than a typical thriller, but the specifics of it are so crystalline that each scene holds you in tremendous suspense.

Where to watch *Revanche*: HBO Max

Sisters (1972)

Margot Kidder gets herself in trouble in 'Sisters'.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty

This is a bonkers early film from the master of sleazy thrillers, Brian De Palma, and one of the few great movies proudly set on Staten Island. Grace Collier (Jennifer Salt) is witness to a murder (Margot Kidder, is that you?) in a nearby apartment, but by the time the cops get there everything is cleaned up. She becomes obsessed, and soon realizes she’s uncovered a bizarre tale involving medical experiments and psychosis.

You’d never believe the ending if we spoiled it; you just have to see it for yourself. The movie deploys De Palma’s signature split-screen technique, arguably the best use of this gimmick in his whole filmography.

Where to watch *Sisters*: HBO Max

Uncut Gems (2019)

Adam Sandler shows off his prized bejeweled Furby in 'Uncut Gems'. A24

Famously one of the most anxiety-inducing movies in recent years, *Uncut Gems *stars a marvelously cast Adam Sandler as Howard Ratner, a scumbag jewelry dealer, adulterer, and degenerate gambler addicted to the thrill of making bad decisions.

With a perfect supporting cast — Eric Bogosian, Julia Fox, LaKeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, Keith William Richards, and Kevin Garnett — Josh and Benny Safdie’s film flexes its tightening grip as Howard gets himself into deeper trouble, betting his entire life on a single moment. You can watch this movie over and over and still get surprised by its ending.

Where to watch *Uncut Gems*: HBO Max

The Wages of Fear (1953)

Charles Vanel and Yves Montand in 'The Wages of Fear'.

Filmsonor/Cicc/Vera-Fono Roma/Kobal/Shutterstock

One thing’s for certain, you’ll never want to drive a truck full of explosives through the Latin American jungle after watching this classic French-Italian thriller. Led by Yves Montand, a group of desperate ne’er-do-wells accept the risky job when an oil refinery needs nitroglycerin to put out a raging fire.

This is a character study under the intense scrutiny of high stakes that’s nearly impossible to watch without freaking out. (It’s also sadistically long at two-and-a-half hours.) If the plot sounds familiar, William Friedkin remade it as *Sorcerer*,* *starring Roy Scheider, in 1977. Film buffs have been arguing about which version is better ever since.

Where to watch *The Wages of Fear*: HBO Max

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