Although many people might be gearing up for Christmas by tuning into the classic movies or racing through the string of new cheesy releases, others might be keen for something decidedly less festive.
With the countdown to some time off on the cards for many, it’s time to start planning what to tune into once you’ve been stuffed to the brim with roasts and puddings – and simply want to veg out on the couch.
Although Home Alone, It’s A Wonderful Life and Love Actually are non-negotiables, we’ve got some ideas for some alternative movies to enjoy in the coming weeks.
Don’t worry – we will steer well clear of suggesting you watch Die Hard and decide whether it is in fact a Christmas movie.
Instead, our picks for the best crime thrillers range from the big screen adaptation of a British classic, franchises with enough films to fill out your day, and many that will keep your heart racing even while not moving a muscle.
Happy viewing!…
Luther: The Fallen Sun (Netflix)
In 2010 we were introduced to detective DCI John Luther – played by Idris Elba.
Running for five seasons, it was beloved by both critics and audiences – being labelled as ‘gritty’ and ‘captivating’.
Although it wrapped up in 2019, Idris returned to the role in the big screen adaptation. Hitting screens in 2022, Luther: The Fallen son followed the detective as he rushes to stop a wealthy serial killer and his complex schemes.
Also starring Cynthia Erivo and Andy Serkis, one critic said it left them ‘on the edge of their seat’. A film sequel is also currently in the works.
Zodiac (Amazon Prime)
If you loved seeing Jake Gyllenhaal as a morally bankrupt photographer in Nightcrawler, this film from a few years earlier presents him in another light – but chasing an ‘unhinged sociopath’.
Based on the real-life manhunt for the Zodiac Killer, who operated in the San Francisco Bay Area during the late 1960s and early 1970s, Zodiac details one of the United States’ most infamous unsolved crimes.
Running at nearly three hours long, the film was directed by David Fincher (Fight Club, Gone Girl, House of Cards) and labelled a ‘masterpiece’ by fans. In it Gyllenhaal plays Robert Graysmith – the true crime author and cartoonist best known for covering the infamous case.
For those considering tuning in, be warned. Empire’s review read: ‘You’ll need patience with the film’s approach, which follows its main characters by poring over details, and be prepared to put up with a couple of rote family arguments and weary cop conversations, but this gripping character study becomes more agonisingly suspenseful as it gets closer to an answer that can’t be confirmed.’
The Knives Out franchise (Netflix)
If you haven’t already rushed to watch the latest Knives Out movie (Wake Up Dead Man dropped on Netflix two days ago), don’t miss the chance to go back and watch them all in order (or just re-watch all again!).
The franchise – written and directed by Rian Johnson – first hit screens in 2019 and starred Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, a famed private detective who is summoned to investigate the death of a bestselling author (Christopher Plummer).
However, after police declare his death a suicide, Blanc suspects foul play and turns his attention to uncovering the truth. The star-studded cast also included Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Jamie Lee Curtis and Toni Collette, with the film being nominated for three Golden Globes, a Bafta and an Oscar.
It’s since been followed by Glass Onion and Wake Up Dead Man.
Taken (ITV)
‘I will look for you; I will find you, and I will kill you,’ is still a phrase that will likely send a shiver down the spines of people who tuned into the 2008 action-thriller Taken.
After his teenage daughter Kim and her best friend Amanada are kidnapped by human traffickers while on vacation in France, ex-CIA officer Bryan Mills (Liam Neeson) kicks into action to track them all down.
Although the film received mixed reviews from critics, it was a massive success at the box office – grossing $226million (£168million) against a $25million (£18million) budget – and was also credited with marking a turning point in Neeson’s career and redefining him as an action star.
It was then followed by the aptly named Taken 2 in 2012 and Taken 2 in 2015. It was also turned into a TV series starring Clive Standen, which ran for two seasons and served as Bryan’s origin story.
Highest 2 Lowest (Apple TV Plus)
There’s every chance even the biggest fans of crime thrillers completely missed this film, which was released earlier this year.
Directed by Spike Lee, Highest 2 Lowest was an English-language remake of Akira Kurosawa’s 1963 Japanese film High and Low, which itself was based on Ed McBain’s 1959 novel King’s Ransom.
Starring Denzel Washington, the synopsis teases: ‘When a powerful music mogul is targeted by a ransom plot, he is forced to fight for his family and legacy while jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma.’
Marking the fifth collaboration between Lee and Washington, the ‘energetic and brilliant’ film also featured Jeffrey Wright, Ilfenesh Hadera, ASAP Rocky, and Ice Spice.
Memento (Channel 4)
Just last week, one of the ‘best thrillers of all time’ dropped on the Channel 4’s free streaming service. Released in 2000, Memento was director Christopher Nolan’s second film and gained him significant international attention.
Based on the short story Memento Mori by his brother Jonathan Nolan, it starred Guy Pearce as Leonard Shelby, a man who suffers from anterograde amnesia that results in short-term memory loss and the inability to form new memories.
So, in an effort to find out who killed his wife and caused him to develop this debilitating condition, he used a series of photographs, handwritten notes, and tattoos to gather clues.
Made on a budget of $9million (£6.7million), Memento earnt $40million (£29.9million) and was nominated for two Oscars. It’s also since been added to the United States Library of Congress after being deemed ‘culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant’.
The Woman in the Window (Netflix)
Although it didn’t quite live up to the acclaim of Gone Girl and The Woman on the Train that came before it, psychological thriller The Woman in the Window is still the perfect post-Christmas feast watch when you want something on the telly, but admittedly don’t have to pay a tonne of attention.
Based on the 2018 novel of the same name by A.J. Finn, the film stars Amy Adams as Anna Fox, an agoraphobic child psychologist who begins to spy on her new neighbours after being confined to her house.
But after witnessing a crime take place in their apartment and not being believed, she then sets out to prove what she saw.
Although critics largely panned the release (it has a rating of just 25% on Rotten Tomatoes and was said to have a ‘extremely silly climax’), it was one of Netflix’s best-performing films of 2021.
Blink Twice (Amazon Prime)
Before it even went into production, Blink Twice generated plenty of buzz as the directorial debut of Zoë Kravitz – who initially titled her project Pu**y Island.
However, after facing pushback from the Motion Picture Association and concerns the title would ‘offend’ viewers it was renamed.
Starring her then-fiancée Channing Tatum as billionaire tech mogul Slater King, the plot centred around him inviting young women to his mysterious private island to party, but in fact had far more sinister intentions.
In its wrap-up of the film, Rotten Tomatoes writes: ‘A bold and memorable debut that thrusts Zoë Kravitz into the turf of directors to watch, Blink Twice is a live wire of a film.’
Ballad of a Small Player (Netflix)
If you’re keen to use the Christmas holidays as a chance to catch up on the releases that you might have missed this year – make sure to add Ballad of a Small Player to the list.
The black comedy psychological thriller film directed by Edward Berger stars Colin Farrell as a disgraced Irish financier living in Macau and posing as the aristocratic ‘Lord Doyle’ after fleeing the United Kingdom over financial crimes.
As his actions (and addictions) catch up with him, the cat-and-mouse game that emerges has been called ‘engrossing’ and ‘decadent’.
In its review of the film, Metro praised Farrell’s performance – calling it a ‘knockout’.
Black Bag (Now)
Despite having an enviable near-perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes and a stellar cast, Black Bag largely seemed to go under the radar upon its release earlier this year.
The spy thriller directed by Steven Soderbergh stars Cate Blanchett, Michael Fassbender, Marisa Abela, Tom Burke, Naomie Harris, Regé-Jean Page, and Pierce Brosnan.
It centres on British intelligence officer George Woodhouse (Fassbender), who is assigned to investigate a list of suspected traitors, one of whom is his wife, Kathryn (Blanchett).
Speaking to Variety about his ‘fast and sleek’ project (which comes in at 93 minutes) Soderbergh explained why he wanted the release to be known as a ‘movie’ rather than a ‘film’.
‘It’s a feeling, you know? It speaks to how you want the movie to be received by a viewer. And so for me to say it’s a movie, as opposed to being a film, implies a certain level of fun and a tone that isn’t heavy. There’s a version of this movie where you go a very different way. Where you don’t glam it up and you make it grittier and harder and kind of less fun. And that just wasn’t what I had in mind. We felt this was a real Hollywood movie and you should get movie stars, and you should make them look great. That was the movie I wanted to make,’ he said.
The Royal Hotel (Netflix)
Credited with ‘subverting whatever expectations you might have about a thriller’, The Royal Hotel was based on a documentary about the insidious sexism two backpackers faced when working in a pub in a remote Australian town.
Inspired by the 2016 documentary Hotel Coolgardie and released in 2016, it starred Ozark’s Julia Garner and Game of Thrones’ Jessica Henwick as American backpackers Hannah and Liv, who ‘find themselves trapped in an unnerving situation that grows rapidly out of their control’.
Much like director Kitty Green’s previous movie, The Assistant, this film also explored sexism in the workplace and how it can develop into exploitation or even violence.
In its review Variety explained that: ‘That tension makes the film excruciating but exciting; like the characters, the viewer has to try to suss out what is a danger and what is just a good time.’
Shutter Island (Amazon Prime)
Throughout his career, Leonardo DiCaprio has starred in a string of thrillers – from Catch Me If You Can and The Departed, to Inception and the recent One Battle After Another.
But pherhaps his most notable was 2010’s Shutter Island, which has regularly been singled out as one of the best films of the 21st century.
Directed by Martin Scorsese, the neo-noir psychological thriller was based on the 2003 novel of the same name and starred DiCaprio as Edward ‘Teddy’ Daniels, a former U.S. Marshal who investigates the Shutter Island insane asylum after one of its patients goes missing.
Many viewers said it ‘kept them guessing until the very end’, with a massive twist in store for those yet to have watched.
Conclave (Amazon Prime)
A movie about the selection of the pope might not strike many as a gripping watch, but this political thriller was a huge hit – and received renewed interest when the real-life conclave played out last year (Pope Leo XIV also later revealed he’d watched the film).
Also based on a novel, Conclave stars Ralph Fiennes as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, who is put in charge of organising a conclave to elect the next pope – but then finds himself having to investigate ‘secrets and scandals about the major candidate’.
Stanley Tucci and John Lithgow also appeared as candidates for the top job in the Catholic Church. while legendary Italian actress Isabella Rossellini as a nun.
Made on a budget of $20million (£14million) and grossing $127million (£95million), Conclave won four Baftas, a Golden Globe and a Screen Actors Guild Award. At the 97th Academy Awards, it received eight nominations, including Best Picture, and won Best Adapted Screenplay.
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