62 articles
A Fall from Grace
A Fall from Grace is Tyler Perry's 2020 Netflix thriller, his first film for the streamer, starring Crystal Fox, Phylicia Rashad, Bresha Webb, and Cicely Tyson; shot in five days in Atlanta, seen by 39 million households in its first month.
A Family (2021 film)
A Family (ヤクザと家族 The Family) is a 2021 Japanese yakuza crime drama directed and written by Michihito Fujii, starring Go Ayano and Hiroshi Tachi, spanning 1999, 2005, and 2019; released January 29, 2021, later on Netflix.
Alone (2020 thriller film)
Alone (2020) is John Hyams' American survival thriller, a remake of the 2011 Swedish film Gone (Försvunnen), starring Jules Willcox as widowed Jessica hunted by killer Marc Menchaca in the Pacific Northwest; distinct from two other 2020 films of the same name.
Arkansas (film)
Arkansas (2020) is Clark Duke's directorial debut, a Lionsgate crime film adapted from John Brandon's 2008 novel, starring Liam Hemsworth, Vince Vaughn, and John Malkovich; released on VOD May 5, 2020.
Beasts Clawing at Straws (지푸라기라도 잡고 싶은 짐승들)
Beasts Clawing at Straws (지푸라기라도 잡고 싶은 짐승들) is a 2020 South Korean crime thriller, Kim Yonghoon's debut feature adapted from Keisuke Sone's novel, which won the Rotterdam Tiger Competition Special Jury Award and drew 626,815 admissions in Korea.
Blindfire
Blindfire (2020 film), Michael Nell's debut crime drama produced by Howard Barish's Kandoo Films, stars Brian Geraghty as a cop who kills an innocent Black man during a swatting prank call; released November 13, 2020.
Cherry (2021 film)
Cherry (2021) is a Russo brothers crime drama on Apple TV+, starring Tom Holland as an Iraq War medic veteran with PTSD who becomes an opioid addict and bank robber, adapted from Nico Walker's semi-autobiographical novel; critically panned at 37% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Cliff Walkers (悬崖之上)
Cliff Walkers (悬崖之上), also released as Impasse, is a 2021 Chinese spy thriller directed by Zhang Yimou, following four Soviet-trained agents betrayed during a secret mission in 1930s Manchukuo.
Crisis (2021 film)
Crisis (2021), also released as Dreamland, is a drama-thriller written and directed by Nicholas Jarecki, starring Gary Oldman, Armie Hammer, and Evangeline Lilly in three interwoven opioid-epidemic stories; it grossed $1,099,426 worldwide.
Cruella (film)
Cruella (film), also known as Disney's Cruella, is a 2021 American crime comedy. It stars Emma Stone and Emma Thompson, and is set in 1970s London.
Cut Throat City
Cut Throat City (2020) is a crime drama directed by RZA, written by P.G. Cuschieri, about four friends in post-Katrina New Orleans' Lower Ninth Ward who turn to heist after FEMA fails them; Well Go USA release, $864,928 worldwide gross.
Dangerous Lies (2020 film)
Dangerous Lies is a 2020 Netflix thriller, originally titled Windfall, directed by Michael M. Scott, starring Camila Mendes as a caregiver who inherits her patient's estate; 96 minutes, 24% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Equal Standard
Equal Standard is a 2020 American crime drama, also called Equal Standard (film), written and produced by Taheim Bryan, directed by Brendan Kyle Cochrane, starring Ice-T, about an NYPD detective's racially charged shooting, released 2020-2021.
Every Breath You Take (film)
Every Breath You Take (originally You Belong to Me) is a 2021 psychological thriller directed by Vaughn Stein, starring Casey Affleck, Michelle Monaghan, and Sam Claflin, released April 2, 2021 by Vertical Entertainment to poor reviews.
Fatal Affair
Fatal Affair is a 2020 Netflix thriller, titled Obsession in development, directed by Peter Sullivan, starring Nia Long, Omar Epps, and Stephen Bishop; released July 16, 2020, 89 minutes, poorly reviewed (19% on Rotten Tomatoes) but a top US streaming hit.
Fatale (film)
Fatale is a 2020 American psychological thriller directed by Deon Taylor, in which Hilary Swank plays a detective who entangles married sports agent Michael Ealy after a one-night stand.
Furioza
Furioza (2021) is a Polish action crime drama directed by Cyprian T. Olencki, 139 minutes, about a policewoman forcing her ex-boyfriend Dawid to infiltrate a Gdynia hooligan gang. Netflix hit from 6 April 2022; sidequel Druga Furioza followed in 2025.
Honest Thief
Honest Thief is a 2020 American action thriller directed by Mark Williams, starring Liam Neeson as the "In-and-Out Bandit" bank robber Tom Carter, who is double-crossed by corrupt FBI agents; it grossed about $31-33 million worldwide and holds 41% on Rotten Tomatoes.
I Care a Lot
I Care a Lot (2020) is a J Blakeson dark comedy thriller on Netflix starring Rosamund Pike as predatory guardian Marla Grayson, with Peter Dinklage and Dianne Wiest; Pike won a 2021 Golden Globe.
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
I'm Thinking of Ending Things is Charlie Kaufman's 2020 Netflix psychological drama, adapted from Iain Reid's 2016 novel, starring Jessie Buckley and Jesse Plemons on a snowbound road trip that dissolves into the janitor Jake's mind.
Inheritance (2020 film)
Inheritance (2020 film), Vaughn Stein thriller starring Lily Collins and Simon Pegg; a district attorney inherits a bunker holding a chained man. Tribeca premiere, Vertical Entertainment VOD release May 22, 2020; distinct from the 2025 spy film of the same name.
Intrusion (film)
Intrusion (2021) is a Netflix psychological thriller directed by Adam Salky, written by Chris Sparling, starring Freida Pinto and Logan Marshall-Green; a home invasion in New Mexico hides dark secrets. Not to be confused with An Intrusion (2021).
Kajillionaire
Kajillionaire is a 2020 American comedy-drama, Miranda July's third feature, starring Evan Rachel Wood, Gina Rodriguez, Debra Winger, and Richard Jenkins as a Los Angeles family of con artists whose daughter's life changes when a stranger joins their heists; premiered at Sundance 2020, released by Focus Features.
Karen (film)
Karen (2021) is an American thriller written and directed by Coke Daniels, starring Taryn Manning as a racist woman harassing new Black neighbors; released by Quiver Distribution, it holds 17% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Lansky (2021 film)
Lansky (2021) is an American biographical crime drama directed by Eytan Rockaway, starring Harvey Keitel as mob financier Meyer Lansky, with Sam Worthington and John Magaro. Released June 25, 2021; 119 minutes; R-rated; $5 million budget, $136,579 gross.
Let Him Go
Let Him Go is a 2020 American neo-Western drama thriller written and directed by Thomas Bezucha, adapted from Larry Watson's 2013 novel and starring Kevin Costner and Diane Lane.
Locked Down (film)
Locked Down (2021) is a Doug Liman romantic heist comedy, written by Steven Knight, starring Anne Hathaway and Chiwetel Ejiofor as a separating London couple plotting a £3m Harrods diamond theft during COVID lockdown; shot in 18 days, released on HBO Max January 14, 2021.
Lost Girls (film)
Lost Girls (2020) is a Netflix crime drama, Liz Garbus's narrative debut, based on Robert Kolker's book about Mari Gilbert's search for her missing daughter Shannan and the Long Island serial killer case, starring Amy Ryan.
Memoria
Memoria (2021) is Apichatpong Weerasethakul's first feature made outside Thailand, a Spanish- and English-language drama starring Tilda Swinton as Jessica Holland, a Scot in Colombia haunted by a mysterious bang; it shared Cannes 2021's Jury Prize and released theatrically only.
Midnight (미드나이트) (2021 film)
Midnight (미드나이트) is a 2021 South Korean chase thriller, Kwon Oh-seung's debut, starring Jin Ki-joo and Wi Ha-jun; a deaf call-center worker is hunted by a serial killer. TVING original, 103 minutes, released June 30, 2021.