Looking for some excitement? Whether it’s a big-budget creature feature, a gritty thriller, or a sweeping sci-fi spectacle, the films on this list offer plenty of suspense and action to keep your adrenaline pumping.
Juror #2
Clint Eastwood, 94, has been working steadily in showbiz for over seven decades, both in front and behind the camera. His latest film as director, the legal thriller Juror #2, stars Nicholas Hoult as Justin Kemp, a journalist and recovering alcoholic. Justin and his wife, school teacher Ally Crewson (Zoey Deutch), have been trying for a child for a while, and now, the latter is finally expecting.
Justin serves on the jury during the high-profile trial of James Sythe (Gabriel Basso), a man accused of killing his girlfriend Kendall Carter (Francesca Eastwood) after an altercation at a bar. Realising that he was at the bar that night and that he might have inadvertently been involved, Justin is conflicted about how to proceed, as the other jurors are convinced of James’ guilt. Meanwhile, prosecutor Faith Killebrew (Toni Collette) has tied the case to her election as District Attorney. Justin faces a life-changing moral dilemma.
Juror #2 is a solidly directed legal thriller featuring a compelling central performance from Hoult, who plays a flawed but sympathetic character with great sensitivity. Reminiscent of the classic legal drama 12 Angry Men, it delves into moral grey areas and challenges audiences looking for an easy answer to questions of ethics.
Considering the speculation that this could be Eastwood’s final film, Juror #2 would be a good note for the Hollywood legend to out on.
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Juror #2 follows family man Justin Kemp, who, while serving as a juror in a high-profile murder trial, finds himself struggling with a serious moral dilemma…one he could use to sway the verdict.
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Conclave
Step into the hallowed halls of the Vatican in this political thriller, set during the secretive election of a new pope — a process known as the papal conclave.
When the pope dies of a heart attack, it falls to British Cardinal-Dean Thomas Lawrence (Ralph Fiennes) to organise and oversee the conclave. Thomas is second-in-command after the pope and gathers the 113 members of the College of Cardinals to be sequestered in Casa Santa Marta for 72 hours.
American Aldo Bellini (Stanley Tucci), who is Thomas’ close friend, is one of the favourites to become the new pope. The other papabili (candidates for pope) include Nigerian Joshua Adeyemi (Lucian Msamati), Canadian Joseph Tremblay (John Lithgow), and Italian Goffredo Tedesco (Sergio Castellitto).
The various factions clash over their differing alignments: Aldo is more liberal, like the recently deceased pope was, while Goffredo is a hardline traditionalist. The arrival of Mexican Vincent Benitez (Carlos Diehz), a little-known archbishop based in Afghanistan, shakes things up. Thomas uncovers shocking revelations as the stakes of the conclave grow ever higher, and the future of the Church hangs in the balance.
Directed by Edward Berger, who helmed the Oscar-winning remake of All Quiet on the Western Front, Conclave is an absorbing thriller filled with plenty of twists and bolstered by engaging performances. Excellent costume and production design transport viewers to the inner sanctum of the Vatican, and Fiennes leads a prestigious cast in a riveting tale about power, duty, and faith.
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Conclave follows one of the world’s most ancient events—selecting the new Pope. Cardinal Lawrence is tasked with running this covert process after the unexpected death of the beloved Pope.
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Alien: Romulus
It’s time to stare down the fearsome Xenomorphs again. Taking place in between Alien and Aliens, Alien: Romulus follows Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny), who lives on the mining colony Jackson’s Star with the synthetic Andy (David Jonsson), whom Rain treats as her brother. Rain and Andy join a crew of other young people to scavenge the Renaissance, an abandoned Weyland-Yutani space station, for parts. With those parts, they can escape Jackson’s Star for greener pastures.
When they arrive on board, Rain and company discover the space station’s terrifying secret: it is where experiments were performed on the Xenomorph recovered by the company after the events of Alien, and they are not alone.
Director Fede Álvarez sets the franchise back in ‘haunted house in space’ mode, faithfully echoing the now-retro-futuristic aesthetics of 1979’s Alien and 1986’s Aliens. Packed with chills and thrills, the movie’s greatest asset is its reliance on practical effects, including miniature models of spacecraft and satisfyingly gooey creature effects. It is sometimes a little heavy-handed with references to earlier entries in the franchise, but even in its reverence of Alien and Aliens, it still has a nasty surprise or two up its sleeve.
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This truly terrifying sci-fi horror-thriller takes the legendary “Alien” franchise back to its iconic roots…
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Blink Twice
Actress Zoë Kravitz makes her feature directorial debut with this bracing psychological thriller that she co-wrote with E. T. Feigenbaum.
Dashing tech billionaire Slater King (Channing Tatum) meets cocktail waitress Frida (Naomi Ackie) at his fundraising gala and immediately falls for her. He invites her to join him and his friends, including photographer Vic (Christian Slater), DJ Tom (Haley Joel Osment), chef Cody (Simon Rex), and Vic’s young protégé Lucas (Levon Hawke), to his private island. The idyllic surroundings are the perfect backdrop for non-stop partying, and everyone is enjoying themselves on Slater’s dime. However, Frida and the other female guests, including reality show star Sarah (Adria Arjona) and aspiring app developer Camilla (Liz Caribel), realise something is amiss. Frida uncovers a terrifying secret and realises she might not escape the island alive.
Blink Twice has been compared to Get Out and similarly combines social commentary with horror and thriller elements. The movie makes observations about power dynamics and how women can feel on guard in male-dominated spaces, including the tech sphere. With its shocking revelations, Blink Twice is a dark roller coaster ride that makes Kravitz an up-and-coming director to look out for.
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Slater King invites Frida to join him on a vacation to his private island. As the guests on the island begin to feel like something might be off, Frida becomes determined to uncover the truth.
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Boston Strangler
Learn the gripping true story of how the Boston Strangler case was broken in this historical drama.
In 1962, three women are assaulted and strangled to death in the Boston area. Loretta McLaughlin (Keira Knightley), a reporter at Boston Record American, investigates the murders, believing them to be perpetrated by the same killer. The Boston police and the higher-ups at the newspaper do not want Loretta to pursue the story for fear of damaging the city’s reputation. When a fourth victim emerges, she teams up with fellow reporter Jean Cole (Carrie Coon) to conduct further investigations on their own. Loretta coins the moniker ‘the Boston Strangler’ as she and Jean break the story. However, they face severe sexism and harassment, including threatening phone calls made to Loretta’s home. The police take suspect Albert DeSalvo (David Dastmalchian) into custody, but the case is far from over.
Written and directed by Matt Ruskin, Boston Strangler is an investigative thriller in the vein of Zodiac, featuring arresting lead performances from Knightley and Coon.
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Award-winning writer-director Matt Ruskin’s “Boston Strangler” is a true-crime thriller about the trailblazing reporters who broke the story of the notorious Boston Strangler murders...
View DetailsFuriosa: A Mad Max Saga
Mad Max: Fury Road is widely considered one of the best action movies ever made. Director George Miller follows it up with this prequel exploring the backstory of breakout character Furiosa, originally played by Charlize Theron.
In post-apocalyptic Australia, Young Furiosa (Alyla Browne and Anya Taylor-Joy at different ages) lives in the Green Place of Many Mothers, an oasis in the middle of the scorched earth. She is kidnapped by the Biker Horde, followers of the tyrannical warlord Dementus (Chris Hemsworth). Furiosa’s mother, Mary Jabassa (Charlee Fraser), attempts to rescue her.
Furiosa eventually becomes caught up in a negotiation between Dementus and rival warlord Immortan Joe (Lachy Hulme), who presides over the Citadel. Furiosa teams up with war rig driver Praetorian Jack (Tom Burke), learning to drive the rig herself and earning the title of Imperator. She plots to take revenge on Dementus and find her way back to the Green Place.
Miller has directed every Mad Max movie since the first one in 1979 and continues to expand his cinematic universe, with Furiosa featuring the most intricate world-building yet. The movie’s standout action set piece is a breathtaking 15-minute-long war rig chase involving powered paragliders swooping down onto the rig and Furiosa clambering underneath the chassis.
As the world fell, young Furiosa was snatched from the Green Place of Many Mothers and fell into the hands of a great Biker Horde led by the Warlord Dementus.
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Civil War
Acclaimed writer-director Alex Garland gives audiences a glimpse into a frighteningly plausible future with this cautionary tale. In the indeterminate future, the President of the United States (Nick Offerman) has violated the 22nd Amendment of the Constitution, granting himself a third term. He has disbanded the FBI and authorised airstrikes within the country. The Western Forces, led by Texas and California, have seceded from the United States, igniting a civil war. Renowned combat photojournalist Lee (Kirsten Dunst) is travelling from New York to the frontlines in Washington, DC. She is accompanied by journalists Joel (Wagner Moura) and Sammy (Stephen McKinley Henderson), who mentored both Lee and Joel. Jessie (Cailee Spaeny), a young aspiring photojournalist who looks up to Lee, joins the group. They encounter various threats along the way as they draw closer to the heart of the conflict.
Civil War balances a tightrope: it delivers on the character front, painting an intimate portrait of a dogged journalist (brought to life by Dunst’s riveting and haunting performance) while also serving up muscle-clenching suspense via intense and harrowing sequences.
A Quiet Place: Day One
The Quiet Place series, set in a post-apocalyptic future in which Earth is overrun by alien monsters that hunt by sound, captured the imagination of audiences when it was released. This prequel is set, as its name suggests, on the first day of the alien invasion.
Our heroine is Samira (Lupita Nyong’o), a poet with terminal cancer who lives in a hospice. While on a trip in New York City with nurse Reuben (Alex Wolff) and other patients, she gets caught up in the initial attack of the creatures from outer space, who are later dubbed ‘Death Angels’. Samira is accompanied by her service cat Frodo and later meets Eric (Joseph Quinn), a law student from the UK. They must stick together to survive as they figure out how to escape from New York. Meanwhile, Samira has her heart set on one thing: getting a last slice of pizza.
Written and directed by Michael Sarnoski (Pig), A Quiet Place: Day One combines small-scale character drama with big disaster-movie spectacle. Look out for Frodo, portrayed by feline actors Schnitzel and Nico, which has fast become a fan favourite.
The Roundup: Punishment
Ma Dong-seok, aka Don Lee, is one of South Korea’s biggest movie stars, and he headlines what is arguably the country’s most successful action movie franchise in recent memory. In the fourth instalment of the Roundup series, Ma returns as police detective Ma Seok-do, dubbed the ‘monster cop’.
Seok-do faces off against Baek Chang-ki (Kim Mu-yeol), a former Korean Special Forces operative who is now an online gambling kingpin based in the Philippines. When Chang-ki murders his employee Jo Sung-jae (Baek Seung-hwan), Seok-do promises Sung-jae’s mother that he will avenge her son’s death. He joins the Korean National Police Agency’s Cyber Terror Response Centre to track Chang-ki down. Meanwhile, Chang-ki’s casino admin, the IT prodigy and cryptocurrency developer Chang Dong-cheol (Lee Dong-hwi), turns against him, planning to set up an even bigger rival operation.
Detective Ma Suk-Do tackles a drug dealer case involving a delivery app, discovering the death of a wanted app developer in the Philippines linked to a major online illegal gambling operation.
View DetailsGodzilla x Kong: The New Empire
The fifth instalment in the Monsterverse sees its titular Titans team up after facing off in Godzilla vs. Kong. Now, Kong lives a relatively peaceful life in the Hollow Earth, which humans first explored in the previous film, while Godzilla fights various other Titans on the Earth’s surface. A mysterious signal originating from the Hollow Earth catches Godzilla’s attention.
‘Kong whisperer’ Dr Ilene Andrews (Rebecca Hall), her adopted daughter Jia (Kaylee Hottle), eccentric veterinarian Trapper (Dan Stevens), and conspiracy theorist Bernie (Brian Tyree Henry) travel to the Hollow Earth to investigate. There, they discover hidden civilisations, including a secret colony of giant apes led by Skar King, a formidable primate Titan. He feels threatened by Kong, who forms an unexpected bond with Suko, a juvenile Titan ape from the Skar King’s clan. This gloriously silly spectacle is packed with monster fights around the world, with set pieces taking place in Rome, Cairo, and Rio de Janeiro.
Godzilla vs. Kong with an all-new adventure that pits the almighty Kong and the fearsome Godzilla against a colossal threat hidden within our world, challenging their very existence.
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Dune: Part Two
Frank Herbert’s 1965 novel Dune continues to be an influential work of science fiction. In 2021, director Denis Villeneuve’s movie adaptation of the same name covered the first half of the original novel. This sequel rounds that out.
Following the destruction of House Atreides depicted in the previous film, young Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) further assimilates into the desert-dwelling Fremen tribe. As he falls in love with Chani (Zendaya), the Fremen are split on whether Paul is or isn’t the prophesied messiah, whom they dub ‘Lisan al Gaib’. Paul’s mother, Lady Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), a Bene Gesserit acolyte pregnant with a daughter, gains power with the Fremen and engineers Paul’s ascent in status. Paul must face various obstacles, including the sadistic Feyd-Rautha (Austin Butler), nephew of the tyrannical Baron Harkonnen (Stellan Skarsgård), who murdered Paul’s father, Leto. The stage is set for a massive battle that will see Paul claim his destiny. And more than just providing action and thrills, Dune: Part Two also explores themes such as religious propaganda and the dangers of cults of personality.
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Explore the mythic journey of Paul Atreides as he unites with Chani and the Fremen while on a path of revenge against the conspirators who destroyed his family.
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