Both Sides of the Blade (2022)

From the director of Beau Travail comes Both Sides of the Blade, a French romantic drama and erotic thriller about a woman named Sara whose life takes a turn after she reconnects with a former lover, who also happens to be her partner of ten years’ best friend. A love triangle gone wrong, the film offers beautiful cinematic composition and masterful direction, courtesy of Claire Denis. Also notable for being shot during the pandemic, Both Sides of the Blade is one of the few film projects that chose to make Covid 19 a reality in the characters’ world, without making it a central focus of the story. Well-received by both critics and audiences — though deeply overshadowed by Everything Everywhere All at Once, which was released around the same time in France — Both Sides of the Blade is a middle-aged love story and another opportunity to watch Juliette Binoche shine on screen. —Ilana Gordon

Where to watch Both Sides of the Blade: Hulu

Director: Claire Denis 

Cast: Juliette Binoche, Vincent Lindon, Grégoire Colin, Bulle Ogier, Issa Perica, Alice Houri, Mati Diop, Bruno Podalydès, Lola Créton, Richard Courcet 

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Fresh (2022)

Given that the title sequence doesn’t begin until 30 minutes into the film, Fresh may start out like a rom-com, right down to the meet-cute in a grocery store. But by the time you’re actually invested in the apparently burgeoning romance between the equally excellent Daisy Edgar-Jones and Sebastian Stan as Noa and Steve, things take a turn for the markedly sinister as Noa’s dream guy transforms into something quite different. Hot off the press at Sundance, EW’s critic deems Fresh “a clever, gory metaphor for the seemingly endless horrors of modern romance rooted in a plot twist just outrageous enough to plausibly be true.” To say anything else would spoil the fun, so we’ll just say that the film’s title is more than apt. —Gwen Inhat

Where to watch Fresh: Hulu

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Mimi Cave

Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastian Stan, Jonica T. Gibbs, Charlotte Le Bon, Andrea Bang

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A Haunting in Venice (2023)

Kenneth Branagh‘s third Agatha Christie murder mystery adaptation is his best thus far. While Murder on the Orient Express (2017) and Death on the Nile (2022) had their old-school diverting charms, A Haunting in Venice finds the director/star playing with visuals and horror tropes while telling a more streamlined story. The film takes place primarily at a Venetian palazzo, where guests (including Branagh’s mustachioed detective, Hercule Poirot) have gathered for a Halloween party. After a spooky séance reveals that the party host’s deceased daughter was, in fact, murdered, another guest ends up dead later that night, prompting Poirot to investigate. EW’s critic calls A Haunting in Venice “just a heck of a lot of fun, from its eerie Venetian mask costumes to the intriguing ways in which its central mysteries unfold.” —Kevin Jacobsen

Where to watch A Haunting in Venice: Hulu

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Kenneth Branagh 

Cast: Kenneth Branagh, Tina Fey, Jamie Dornan, Kelly Reilly, Michelle Yeoh, Jude Hill, Camille Cottin, Kyle Allen, Ali Khan, Emma Laird, Riccardo Scamarcio

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How to Blow Up a Pipeline (2022)

Based on Andreas Malm’s controversial book of the same name, How to Blow Up a Pipeline follows a group of young climate activists who plan to destroy an oil pipeline in West Texas to prompt more immediate action in addressing the climate crisis. One wrong step could risk being caught by authorities, or even putting themselves in harm’s way. Unfolding with the tension of a heist movie, the film doesn’t just entertain as an action thriller but also gives valid reasons as to what led each activist to take such drastic measures in the hope of saving the planet. The film also raises questions about whether such actions are effective in prompting change, while presenting its characters as complex humans. —K.J.

Where to watch How to Blow Up a Pipeline: Hulu

Director: Daniel Goldhaber 

Cast: Ariela Barer, Kristine Froseth, Lukas Gage, Forrest Goodluck, Sasha Lane, Jayme Lawson, Marcus Scribner, Jake Weary

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L.A. Confidential (1997)

Like the best crime novels, L.A. Confidential unfurls like a yarn as it depicts a crime-riddled Los Angeles in the 1950s. This neo-noir favorite tells the intricate story of detectives whose investigation into a robbery and homicide at a coffee shop leads to revelation after revelation of the corruption that interconnects the self-proclaimed City of Angels. Featuring an all-star cast including Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe in breakout roles and Kim Basinger, who won an Oscar for her performance as a sex worker/Veronica Lake lookalike, L.A. Confidential crackles with style and well-earned plot twists. “Like Chinatown, the 1974 classic of Los Angeles depravity,” writes EW’s critic, “this is the rare night-world thriller that understands what bad impulses can do to good men. Even the heroes have to get down in the muck to take on the devil.” —K.J.

Where to watch L.A. Confidential: Hulu

EW grade: A (read the review)

Director: Curtis Hanson

Cast: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, David Strathairn, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito

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The Nightingale (2019)

A brutal and affecting revenge thriller set in 1825 in the Tasmanian outback, The Nightingale is a difficult watch, but not a gratuitous one. While the film does feature a hefty amount of sexual and run-of-the-mill violence, the moments of tenderness between the film’s leads — an Irish convict named Clare who is seeking revenge on a British officer for wrongs committed against her family and an Aboriginal tracker named Mangana who is traumatized by the way the British have treated his people — are well-earned and beautifully acted. Chilling and horrifying, the plot is propelled by moments of sadism, many of them committed by a Lieutenant named Hawkins (Sam Claflin) whose psychopathic behavior will quickly erase any memories you have of him in The Hunger Games or Daisy Jones & the Six. A film as raw as the terrain Clare and Mangana must navigate on their journey, The Nightingale isn’t for everyone, but if you make it until the end, it will stick with you forever. —I.G.        

Where to watch The Nightingale: Hulu 

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Jennifer Kent

Cast: Aisling Franciosi, Sam Claflin, Baykali Ganambarr, Damon Herriman, Harry Greenwood, Ewen Leslie, Charlie Shotwell, Michael Sheasby

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Nightmare Alley (2021)

In a pivot away from the fantasy/horror films we know and love him for, director Guillermo del Toro captures the inverse in Nightmare Alley, weaving a neo-noir about the dangers of feigning mystique. Bradley Cooper stars as Stan Carlisle, a con man who learns how to fake (and monetize) psychic powers through his time in a 1940s carnival. Though his wife and assistant Molly (Rooney Mara) warns him against performing “spook shows” for vulnerable people desperate for hope, Stan coerces her into helping with one final séance. But as his morality unravels, so too does his twisted plan. A highly stylized remake of the 1947 film by the same name, EW’s critic muses that “Nightmare Alley is both a beautiful-looking film and an oddly forgettable one, maybe because borrowed material is no match for the ingenious creations of del Toro’s own mind.” —I.G. 

Where to watch Nightmare Alley: Hulu 

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Cast: Bradley Cooper, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, David Strathairn, Richard Jenkins, Rooney Mara, Ron Perlman, Mary Steenburgen

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Official Secrets (2019)

More than two decades have passed since the United States invaded Iraq under false pretenses. That’s just enough time for the public to have forgotten the true story of Katharine Gun — if they even heard about it at all. A British linguist turned whistleblower who leaked an email to the press requesting help gathering intelligence on specific diplomats in an effort to pressure them into supporting the Iraq invasion, Gun tried to do what she thought was right and was charged with violating Britain’s Official Secrets Act. A ripped from the headlines thriller that tracks Gun’s (Keira Knightley) experiences with the British government in the wake of her decision, EW’s critic writes, “it’s hard not to be moved by the singular passion of a woman who effectively dismantled her own life — not just to salve her conscience but to save, as she saw it, the soul of a nation.” —I.G.  

Where to watch Official Secrets: Hulu 

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Gavin Hood

Cast: Keira Knightley, Matt Smith, Matthew Goode, Rhys Ifans, Adam Bakri, Ralph Fiennes 

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Personal Shopper (2017)

Twins have a unique connection on Earth, but does that bond extend into the afterlife? Director Olivier Assayas explores this idea in his supernatural, psychological thriller Personal Shopper. Kristen Stewart stars as Maureen, an American living in Paris and working for a supermodel named Kyra. Maureen is also mourning the death of her twin brother Lewis, a self-professed medium who died from a genetic condition and promised to contact her from the other side. As she waits for his supernatural signal, Maureen finds herself experiencing other apparitions, all of which are heightened after she is involved in a homicidal investigation. EW’s critic writes that “Stewart, who appears in nearly every scene, is intensely watchable, a coiled spring.” A ghost story about the heartbreaks that haunt us and the moments when we wonder if we’re ever truly alone on this astral plane, Personal Shopper is fashionably spooky, suspenseful, and beautifully acted.  —I.G. 

Where to watch Personal Shopper: Hulu

EW grade: B (read the review)

Director: Olivier Assayas 

Cast: Kristen Stewart, Lars Eidinger, Sigrid Bouaziz, Anders Danielsen Lie, Ty Olwin, Hammou Graia, Nora von Waldstatten, Benjamin Biolay, Audrey Bonnet, Pascal Rambert

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Pig (2021)

By his own admission, Nicolas Cage has taken a lot of roles in recent years just to cover the bills. But every once in a while, he still shows why he’s an Oscar winner, like in 2021’s Pig, where he delivers one of his most impressive performances in years. Cage is mesmerizing as a hermit ex-chef who actually has a heartwarming symbiotic relationship with his prize truffle-hunting pig. When that pig gets stolen, you’d expect him to go on a revenge spree not unlike that in Mandy (another stellar project of Cage’s). Instead, his emotional submersion into the character (and his unabashed affection for his pig) takes the standard revenge story and turns it into a parable about life, loss, and the importance of fighting for what we love most. Also, the title character is the greatest porcine actor since Babe. —G.I.

Where to watch Pig: Hulu

EW grade: N/A

Director: Michael Sarnoski

Cast: Nicolas Cage, Alex Wolff, Adam Arkin, Cassandra Violet

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Prey (2022)

The Predator monster has terrified audiences for more than 35 years, but in the story’s prequel and fifth installment, the tables turn and the monster becomes the prey. The film follows Naru (Amber Midthunder), a Comanche warrior with the heart of a hunter, who seeks to prove her skills and protect her tribe by catching a predator. Professional basketball player-turned-horror star Dane DiLiegro plays the film’s eponymous villain and says the story is strong enough to win viewers over, even without its affiliation to the beloved horror franchise. In an interview, he tells EW, “There just happens to be a Predator involved. Honestly, you could have shot this movie with a different monster and it still probably would have worked.” If you’re in the market for a solid thriller that still makes time to flesh out its main characters, sink your teeth into Prey. —I.G.

Where to watch Prey: Hulu

EW grade: N/A

Director: Dan Trachtenberg

Cast: Amber Midthunder, Dane DiLiegro, Dakota Beavers, Michelle Thrush, Harlan Blayne Kytwayhat

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Run (2020)

One of the more recent psychological horror thriller films on this list, Run follows the relationship between a parent and her 17-year-old daughter. On the surface, Diane (Sarah Paulson) seems like the perfect mother: Her daughter Chloe (Kiera Allen) was born with health issues, and Diane has devoted her life to homeschooling and taking care of her. But now that Chloe is applying to colleges and on the brink of setting off into the real world, she begins to notice that Diane’s love may be masking secrets that Chloe could never dream of. And the more Chloe learns about herself and her mother, the more danger she finds herself in. A suspenseful thriller that deals in themes of parental love, control, and what happens when the umbilical cord is cut too late, Run owes its success to the commitment of its stars. Newcomer Allen is a joy to watch, but it’s Paulson who, as EW’s critic writes, puts a “sweeter face” on depravity. —I.G.

Where to watch Run: Hulu

Director: Aneesh Chaganty

Cast: Sarah Paulson, Kiera Allen

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Salt (2010)

Angelina Jolie‘s enigmatic charisma is perfectly utilized in this ambiguous spy thriller. The film, which was originally set to star Tom Cruise and subsequently rewritten, stars Jolie as Evelyn Salt, a CIA operative who is accused of being a Russian spy and must go on the run. Along the way, the viewer ponders who Evelyn Salt really is — and where her allegiances lie. Salt finds Jolie performing most of the stunts herself, with director Phillip Noyce telling EW in 2010, “She doesn’t have to do it, but she has absolutely no fear. Usually when an actor becomes more and more successful, they play it safe. But that’s not Angelina Jolie.” —K.J.

Where to watch Salt: Hulu

Director: Phillip Noyce

Cast: Angelina Jolie, Liev Schreiber, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Daniel Olbrychski, Andre Braugher

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Sanctuary (2023)

Margaret Qualley and Christopher Abbott are the only stars of this taut psychological thriller. Qualley plays Rebecca, a woman interviewing Abbott’s Hal at a hotel for a CEO position; as the film soon reveals, however, Rebecca is actually Hal’s dominatrix, and this was all part of a carefully planned script. Hal breaks the news to Rebecca that because he’s about to inherit his father’s company, they have to end their arrangement. This enrages Rebecca, who demands half his new salary and the pair engage in a battle for control. Unfolding with simmering suspense, Sanctuary is a scintillating thriller about sex and power, evoking Steven Soderbergh‘s Sex, Lies, and Videotape (1989), ironically starring Qualley’s mother, Andie MacDowell. —K.J.

Where to watch Sanctuary: Hulu

Director: Zachary Wigon

Cast: Margaret Qualley, Christopher Abbott

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Thoroughbreds (2018)

This entrancing indie thriller follows a pair of teenage girls who conspire to get away with murder. Academic-minded Lily (Anya Taylor-Joy) is living in suburban Connecticut with her mother and a stepfather she despises. She hopes to murder her stepfather and enlists her coldly unemotional friend Amanda (Olivia Cooke) to help her. They intend to get a drug dealer they know to kill him, but it doesn’t work out and Lily must get more creative to execute her plan without a hitch. Darkly comedic in tone, Thoroughbreds is “a fun, sharp shock of a movie,” EW’s critic writes, “a poison dart with its own black little heart.” —K.J.

Where to watch Thoroughbreds: Hulu

EW grade: B+ (read the review)

Director: Cory Finley

Cast: Anya Taylor-Joy, Olivia Cooke, Anton Yelchin, Paul Sparks, Francie Swift

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