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Despite not having the prestige of Netflix, the streaming service Hulu still has an impressive catalog, especially when it comes to thrillers. Ranging from tense murder mysteries to psychological drama, there's no shortage of suspenseful content to watch. With such a wide selection of movies, it can be understandable if choosing exactly which ones to stream first is a little difficult.
Hosting both classic essentials and new favorites, Hulu offers a wide variety of fantastic thrillers. Whether it's a potential conspiracy, a mind-bending horror, or just a plain life-or-death scenario, there are sure to be tense films that any fan of the genre is guaranteed to enjoy.
8 Parasite
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The Oscar-winning thriller from Bong Joon-Ho was such a game-changer that it became essential viewing practically upon release. For those who still haven't gotten a chance to see it, Parasite follows the exploits of a poor South Korean family as they take advantage of an unsuspecting rich family. While the plot becomes much more complex as the film progresses, Parasite is best enjoyed knowing as little about the story as possible.
To call Parasite "unpredictable" would be an understatement. Bong navigates several winding twists and turns, transforming his movie from a satirical comedy-drama to a tense thriller and back again with surprising ease. The result is a movie that keeps the audience on the edge of their seats constantly, even upon multiple viewings. Parasite became the first foreign film to win the Oscar for Best Picture, a much-deserved accolade. Set to become an HBO series, now is the perfect time to revisit this acclaimed thriller.
7 The Conversation
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Apart from his famous Godfather trilogy, Francis Ford Coppola also made this stark thriller that uses sound as its main point of tension. In the movie, Gene Hackman plays a surveillance expert who believes that he may have accidentally recorded evidence of a murder. He then must decide whether to risk coming forward with the evidence or not.
A classic in the thriller genre, The Conversation plays with fear and paranoia, made even more relevant by the timing of its release just after the Watergate scandal. It won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, which is one of the highest honors in film. The Conversation was also nominated for Best Picture, but lost to Coppola's own The Godfather: Part II.
6 Mother
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Ten years before Parasite, Bong directed this Hitchcockian mystery-thriller that is just as addicting and mind-bending as anything else in his catalog. The story follows an older mother who lives with her intellectually disabled adult son. When he is accused of murdering a young girl, his mother is convinced that he's innocent and proceeds to do whatever it takes to prove it.
Just like Parasite, Mother keeps the audience constantly guessing as the titular character sorts through countless leads and red herrings. As the film reaches its conclusion, the moral lines begin to blur, eventually leaving with a heartbreaking but unforgettable ending. It's all held together by both Bong and the film's star Kim Hye-ja, who might have the best performance in a Bong film to date.
5 Gone Girl
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David Fincher and Gillian Flynn practically redefined the murder mystery genre with this adaptation of Flynn's novel. Ben Affleck plays Nick, a writing teacher who finds that his wife Amy, played by Rosamund Pike, has gone missing. With the house a mess, he assumes she's been kidnapped. However, when the police show up, all signs point to Nick, despite him knowing himself to be innocent.
Anyone who has yet to read or see this story will likely never guess exactly what happened to Amy. Completely shifting gears in its second half, Gone Girl remains eerie, cold, and stylish throughout its 2-1/2 hour runtime. Rosamund Pike in particular is haunting as Amy, a performance that earned her an Oscar nomination.
4 Black Swan
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From director Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan is probably the most terrifying movie ever made about ballet dancing. Natalie Portman plays a ballerina competing for the role of the White Swan in a prestigious production of Swan Lake. However, as the film progresses, she slowly begins to lose grasp of reality in a terrifying downward spiral into mental illness.
With some similarities to the anime Perfect Blue, Black Swan leans heavily into the psychological horror genre, though still remains gripping enough throughout to also qualify as a psychological thriller. As it becomes increasingly difficult for the protagonist to decipher what's real and what isn't, it eventually becomes difficult for the audience as well. It's bizarre and horrifying, but also immensely suspenseful.
3 Seven
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This 90s mystery-thriller instantly defined David Fincher's career after Alien 3 nearly destroyed it. Since then, it has become a major influence on numerous movies and TV shows. The story follows two detectives, played by Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, as they try to catch a serial killer who uses the concept of the seven deadly sins as a reoccurring motif in his killings.
Much like Gone Girl, Seven feels cold, calculating, and constantly suspenseful. It's also a film best viewed knowing as little about it as possible. This is because, if going in blind, Seven has one of the most memorable character introductions in film history. It also has one of the most intense finales in any mystery-thriller.
2 Prisoners
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The first English-language movie from Dune director Denis Villeneuve, Prisoners is a dark and personal take on the kidnapping thriller story. In Prisoners, Jake Gyllenhaal plays a detective trying to find a kidnapped girl. The girl's father, played by Hugh Jackman, doesn't believe that the detective is doing everything he can, and eventually takes matters into his own hands when he suspects a neighbor of the kidnapping.
Any Dune fans wanting to catch up on Villeneuve's filmography should start here. While Prisoners is arguably his most conventional movie, it's also directed with the same precision he applies to all of his work. Dark and morally gray, the movie quickly grabs hold of the audience and keeps them second-guessing right up to the final moments.
1 Memories Of Murder
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Made almost 20 years ago, Memories of Murder is the thriller that put Bong Joon-Ho on the map as a director. The film follows two detectives trying to catch a ruthless serial killer. It's loosely based on a true story of a South Korean serial killer in the 1980s, who wasn't caught until 2019.
In this tightly-controlled thriller, Bong never fails to bring the maximum amount of tension to this story. The focus of the story isn't just on the serial killer but also on the detectives, as human fallibility proves to be just as much a hindrance as the killer's cunning nature. While many facts were made up for the movie, Bong stayed true to the then-unsolved real-life case, perfectly ending the movie with a devastating final shot that is sure to stick with the audience.