The 12 best thriller movies on Hulu
Get out of your head and into the exploits of some of Hulu's best thriller movies. Those in search of stunning plot twists, relationship mind games, and films chronicling true stories of valor in the face of desperation will find them on this list. Between stolen pigs, delirious ballerinas, and magicians that kill, these movies may require a stretch session after the credits roll to release all the tension incurred while watching. That health warning aside, here are the 17 best thriller movies currently streaming on Hulu.
Before the Devil Knows You're Dead (2007)
Money is the root of all evil, and in Sidney Lumet's 2007 crime thriller, Before the Devil Knows You're Dead, money rots the Hanson family from the inside out. After finance executive Andy Hanson (Philip Seymour Hoffman) realizes his embezzling activities are on the cusp of being discovered, he convinces his similarly cash-strapped younger brother, Hank (Ethan Hawke), to rob their parents' jewelry store. The brothers' "victimless" crime does not work out as hoped, and as their father seeks revenge on the mysterious perpetrators, his two sons struggle to clean up the mess they left behind. The last film Lumet made before his passing in 2011, Before the Devil is arguably his best. EW's critic at the time writes, "Lumet's camera has become an invisible cage, inviting us to study the behavior of the human animals trapped inside." — Ilana Gordon
Where to stream Before the Devil Knows You're Dead: Hulu
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Sidney Lumet
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Ethan Hawke, Albert Finney, Rosemary Harris, Marisa Tomei
Related content: Sidney Lumet on his Oscar past
Black Swan (2010)
A psychological thriller like no other, Black Swan is so twisted that the viewer becomes almost as mentally confused as deranged ballerina, Nina (Natalie Portman), an artist at war with the dark and light sides of herself. Since it's a Darren Aronofsky film, we know it's not destined to be feel-good; instead, Black Swan is a fascinating exploration of personality under pressure. Portman gives an Oscar-winning performance, juxtaposing Nina's innocent exterior with her ambitious attempts to channel her internal darkness to play the Black Swan in Swan Lake. These efforts put Nina's mental state in great peril, and Aronofsky manages to craft a gorgeous, horrific, psychological descent against the regimented, sublime backdrop of ballet. — Gwen Ihnat
Where to stream Black Swan: Hulu
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Darren Aronofsky
Cast: Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis, Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder, Barbara Hershey
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Enemy of the State (1998)
The internet had only been publicly available for five years when Jerry Bruckheimer and director Tony Scott released Enemy of the State, a political action thriller underscored by a growing concern that personal privacy rights were being eroded and might soon be gone forever. Will Smith stars as Robert Clayton, a lawyer whose career, family, and personal life are targeted after he unwittingly receives evidence of a Congressman's murder. Now facing off against a crooked NSA agent (Jon Voight) who is desperate to pass legislation that would expand his agency's ability to secretly surveil the public — and to cover up his role in the Congressional murder — Clayton must work with Brill (Gene Hackman), an off-the-grid former NSA agent who knows what the agency is capable of, to clear his name and reunite with his family. — I.G.
Where to stream Enemy of the State: Hulu
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Tony Scott
Cast: Will Smith, Jon Voight, Gene Hackman, Regina King, Jason Lee, Lisa Bonet, Jack Black, Jamie Kennedy, Tom Sizemore, Seth Green
Related content: Tony Scott death -- Stars remember director
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 own Leah Greenblatt 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. — G.I.
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Mimi Cave
Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Sebastian Stan, Jonica T. Gibbs, Charlotte Le Bon, Andrea Bang
Related content: Watch Sebastian Stan dance with a VERY big knife in his Fresh audition tape
Nightmare Alley (2021)
In Nightmare Alley, director Guillermo del Toro weaves 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 of the dangers of performing these "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 stream Nightmare Alley: Hulu
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Guillermo del Toro
Cast: Bradley Cooper, Rooney Mara, Cate Blanchett, Toni Collette, Willem Dafoe, David Strathairn
Related content: Read a script page from Guillermo del Toro's Nightmare Alley
Pig (2021)
By his own admission, Nicolas Cage has taken a lot of roles in recent years just to cover the bills (many of them thrillers also available on Hulu, like Grand Isle, Knowing and A Score to Settle). 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.
EW grade: N/A
Director: Michael Sarnoski
Cast: Nicolas Cage, Alex Wolff, Adam Arkin, Cassandra Violet
Related content: Nominated for Nothing: The Oscars did Nicolas Cage's Pig dirty
Prey (2022)
The Predator monster has terrified audiences for over 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 told 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.
EW grade: N/A
Director: Dan Trachtenberg
Cast: Amber Midthunder, Dane DiLiegro, Dakota Beavers, Michelle Thrush, Harlan Blayne Kytwayhat
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Runaway Jury (2003)
It's your civic duty to watch Runaway Jury, a cat and mouse legal thriller adapted from John Grisham's bestselling novel. Two years after a mass shooting kills 11 people at a stock brokerage, a victim's widow sues the gun manufacturer for negligence. The defense attempts to stack the jury to assure a verdict in their favor, but finds themselves thwarted by one of the jurors (John Cusack), and a mysterious woman named Marlee (Rachel Weisz), who makes contact with both the defense and prosecution, offering to deliver the preferred verdict to the highest bidder. A tense ride filled with legal U-turns and commanding performances from both the film's principal and supporting casts, Runaway Jury is an engrossing watch — even if the idea that a weapons company might ever be held accountable for their actions feels sadly out of date. — I.G.
Where to stream Runaway Jury: Hulu
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Gary Fleder
Cast: John Cusack, Gene Hackman, Dustin Hoffman, Rachel Weisz, Bruce Davison, Bruce McGill, Jeremy Piven, Nick Searcy
Related content: Great role: Rachel Weisz in Runaway Jury
Shirley (2020)
Shirley offers a fabricated biopic worthy of being crafted by the titular character herself. Following the success of her short story "The Lottery," author Shirley Jackson (Elisabeth Moss) and her academic husband (Michael Stuhlbarg) welcome innocent young married couple Rose (Odessa Young) and Fred (Logan Lerman) into their Vermont home. The situation may appear benign on the surface, but it soon becomes as sinister and upsetting as one of Jackson's own creations. It's a thriller purely in the psychological sense, as Shirley works on her second novel and looks to Rose for inspiration ("Think Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, but queerer and weirder," says EW's glowing review). Slow-moving but fraught with anticipatory dread, Shirley is worth the watch purely for Moss' transformative personification as Jackson, and her magnetic chemistry with Young, which is both energizing and tragic. — G.I.
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Josephine Decker
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Michael Stuhlbarg, Odessa Young, Logan Lerman
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The Infiltrator (2016)
Behind the scenes, the biographical crime drama thriller The Infiltrator is actually a family affair. Written by Ellen Brown Furman and directed by her son Brad Furman, the movie is set in the 1980s and follows the infiltration and dissolution of Colombian drug kingpin Pablo Esocbar's money laundering business. Three years after Breaking Bad went off the air, Bryan Cranston switches sides from meth maker to cartel breaker, starring as real-life U.S. Customs Special Agent Robert Mazur, whose undercover work was crucial in exposing Escobar's far reaching financial misdeeds. Pivoting effortlessly from family man to ruthless felon, Cranston once again puts his acting range on full display, with a nuanced performance that is underscored by the knowledge that the slightest misstep could cost him — and his family — their lives. The film may have premiered a year after Netflix released Narcos, but Cranston's efforts are enough to distinguish the project and make it a must-watch. — I.G.
Where to stream The Infiltrator: Hulu
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Brad Furman
Cast: Bryan Cranston, Diane Kruger, John Leguizamo, Benjamin Bratt, Yul Vazquez, Amy Ryan
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The Night House (2021)
Navigating grief is a solo quest, but recent widow Beth (Rebecca Hall) finds herself traversing through its emotional stages alongside mysterious supernatural entities. After Beth's architect husband Owen commits suicide, leaving her alone in the home he designed and built, the widow struggles to understand his cryptic suicide note and her own teenage experiences with death. Tormented by supernatural presences within the house and women who look incredibly similar to her, Beth investigates horrific truths about her husband and the home the two shared. A supernatural horror thriller that interrogates what it means to mourn, and the lengths to which people will go to protect the ones we love, The Night House is a film without a floor plan — you never quite know where it's headed, but at least in this case, it's best to trust the process. — I.G.
Where to stream The Night House: Hulu
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: David Bruckner
Cast: Rebecca Hall, Sarah Goldberg, Evan Jonigkeit, Stacy Martin, Vondie Curtis-Hall
Related content: The Night House review: Indoor horror with real atmosphere
Unstoppable (2010)
Newton's law dictates that an object in motion will stay in motion unless acted upon by an outside force. In the 2010 disaster action thriller Unstoppable, the role of object in motion is played by a runaway freight train carrying toxic chemicals, and the outside force is portrayed by two railroad employees (Denzel Washington and Chris Pine), who must halt the vehicle before the "missile the size of the Chrysler building," as one character describes it, can crash and detonate the train's contents. Representing director Tony Scott's last directorial project before his death in 2012, Unstoppable's premise is adapted from a real-life incident and dropped squarely into recession-era America. The plot may be barebones, but the film's execution is always full steam ahead. — I.G.
Where to stream Unstoppable: Hulu
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Tony Scott
Cast: Denzel Washington, Chris Pine, Rosario Dawson
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