Top 30 Ranked

The Best Thriller Movies of 2014, Ranked

Uncover the Best Psychological Suspense and Dark Cinema

Explore top rated thriller movies from a standout year in cinema. Discover edge of your seat psychological hits and intense suspenseful masterpieces.

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About 2014 Thriller Movies

When we look back at the cinematic landscape of 2014, it feels like the year the thriller finally stopped trying to be a loud, pyrotechnic spectacle and decided to crawl back under our skin. It was a vintage year for tension, defined by a shift toward clinical precision and psychological rot. If the previous decade was obsessed with the frantic energy of the Bourne series, 2014 was the year we slowed down and realized that the person sitting right next to us was far more terrifying than a rooftop sniper.

The undisputed heavyweight champion of the year was David Fincher via Gone Girl. It was more than just a hit movie; it was a cultural autopsy of marriage and media manipulation. Fincher used his cold, digital perfectionism to strip away the veneer of suburban bliss, giving us a protagonist in Amy Dunne who redefined the concept of the unreliable narrator. It reminded audiences that a thriller doesn't need a ticking bomb to be explosive. Sometimes, a well-placed diary entry and a sharp smile are enough to set the world on fire.

While Fincher was dissecting the home, Dan Gilroy was prowling the streets of Los Angeles with Nightcrawler. Jake Gyllenhaal gave a career-defining performance as Lou Bloom, a wide-eyed sociopath who treated the evening news like a blood sport. The film functioned as a neo-noire nightmare, capturing a specific kind of modern desperation. It was a thriller that looked at the audience and pointed out that we are the ones who provide the demand for the carnage we see on our screens.

The year also excelled in the realm of high-concept pressure cookers. Whiplash shifted the genre boundaries by proving that a musical drama could be more harrowing than a slasher flick. The sheer psychological warfare between a jazz student and his abusive instructor created a level of palm-sweating anxiety that most traditional thrillers fail to achieve. It was a masterclass in pacing, showing that the snap of a drumstick can carry as much weight as the cocking of a gun.

On the more visceral end of the spectrum, 2014 gave us The Guest and Blue Ruin. These films felt like a love letter to the gritty, lean storytelling of the eighties. The Guest brought a synthesized, neon-soaked menace to the domestic thriller, while Jeremy Saulnier’s Blue Ruin stripped the revenge subgenre of its usual glamour. In Blue Ruin, violence is clumsy, amateurish, and devastatingly permanent. It was a sobering antidote to the hyper-competent assassins usually found in Hollywood fare.

Even the international scene contributed to this banner year with the Argentinian anthology Wild Tales. It reminded us that the line between a comedy and a thriller is often just a matter of how far someone is pushed before they snap. Whether it was a wedding gone wrong or a dispute over a towed car, the film tapped into a universal sense of mounting rage.

Looking back, 2014 was a year where the genre felt incredibly vital. It moved away from the shadows and into the harsh light of reality. These films didn't just ask us to be scared of monsters in the dark. They asked us to look at our careers, our marriages, and our ambitions, and then they asked us if we liked what we saw. It was a year of precision, darkness, and unforgettable discomfort.

The Complete Rankings

Based on the top picks in drafts on SnakeDrafts

See Top Ten
30
2014 Thriller in Magical Girl (2014)
Magical Girl
2014

The father of a terminally ill girl is determined to grant his daughter's last wish, a ridiculously expensive collectors' costume from a Japanese TV series. The request will drive him into a journey within his city's dark underbelly.

Drama
Thriller
2h 7m
Carlos Vermut
Bárbara Lennie, José Sacristán, Luis Bermejo, Lucía Pollán
29
2014 Thriller in Predestination (2014)
Predestination
2014

Predestination chronicles the life of a Temporal Agent sent on an intricate series of time-travel journeys designed to prevent future killers from committing their crimes. Now, on his final assignment, the Agent must stop the one criminal that has eluded him throughout time and prevent a devastating attack in which thousands of lives will be lost.

Science Fiction
Thriller
1h 38m
Michael Spierig
Ethan Hawke, Sarah Snook, Noah Taylor, Christopher Kirby
28
2014 Thriller in John Wick (2014)
John Wick
2014

Ex-hitman John Wick comes out of retirement to track down the gangsters that took everything from him.

Action
Thriller
1h 41m
Chad Stahelski
Keanu Reeves, Michael Nyqvist, Alfie Allen, Willem Dafoe

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27
2014 Thriller in Who Am I (2014)
Who Am I
2014

Benjamin, a young German computer whiz, is invited to join a subversive hacker group that wants to be noticed on the world's stage.

Thriller
1h 45m
Baran bo Odar
Tom Schilling, Elyas M'Barek, Wotan Wilke Möhring, Antoine Monot Jr.
26
2014 Thriller in The Raid 2 (2014)
The Raid 2
2014

After fighting his way through an apartment building populated by an army of dangerous criminals and escaping with his life, SWAT team member Rama goes undercover, joining a powerful Indonesian crime syndicate to protect his family and uncover corrupt members of his own force.

Action
Crime
2h 30m
Gareth Evans
Iko Uwais, Arifin Putra, Tio Pakusadewo, Oka Antara
25
2014 Thriller in The Captive (2014)
The Captive
2014

Eight years after the disappearance of Cassandra, some disturbing incidents seem to indicate that she's still alive. Police, parents and Cassandra herself, will try to unravel the mystery of her disappearance.

Drama
Thriller
1h 52m
Atom Egoyan
Ryan Reynolds, Scott Speedman, Rosario Dawson, Mireille Enos
24
2014 Thriller in Wild Tales (2014)
Wild Tales
2014

Injustice and the demands of the world can cause stress for many people. Some of them, however, explode. This includes a waitress serving a grouchy loan shark, an altercation between two motorists, an ill-fated wedding reception, and a wealthy businessman who tries to buy his family out of trouble.

Drama
Thriller
2h 2m
Damián Szifron
Ricardo Darín, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Érica Rivas, Oscar Martínez
23
2014 Thriller in Stretch (2014)
Stretch
2014

A hard-luck limo driver struggling to go straight and pay off a debt to his bookie takes on a job with a crazed passenger whose sought-after ledger implicates some seriously dangerous criminals.

Action
Comedy
1h 34m
Joe Carnahan
22
2014 Thriller in The Imitation Game (2014)
The Imitation Game
2014

Based on the real life story of legendary cryptanalyst Alan Turing, the film portrays the nail-biting race against time by Turing and his brilliant team of code-breakers at Britain's top-secret Government Code and Cypher School at Bletchley Park, during the darkest days of World War II.

History
Drama
1h 53m
Morten Tyldum
Benedict Cumberbatch, Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode, Rory Kinnear
21
2014 Thriller in Automata (2014)
Automata
2014

Jacq Vaucan, an insurance agent of ROC robotics corporation, routinely investigates the case of manipulating a robot. What he discovers will have profound consequences for the future of humanity.

Thriller
Science Fiction
1h 50m
Gabe Ibáñez
20
2014 Thriller in Kill the Messenger (2014)
Kill the Messenger
2014

A reporter becomes the target of a vicious smear campaign that drives him to the point of suicide after he exposes the CIA's role in arming Contra rebels in Nicaragua and importing cocaine into California. Based on the true story of journalist Gary Webb.

Crime
Drama
1h 52m
Michael Cuesta
19
2014 Thriller in As Above, So Below (2014)
As Above, So Below
2014

When a team of explorers venture into the catacombs that lie beneath the streets of Paris, they uncover the dark secret that lies within this city of the dead.

Horror
Thriller
1h 33m
John Erick Dowdle
Perdita Weeks, Ben Feldman, Edwin Hodge, François Civil
18
2014 Thriller in Black Sea (2014)
Black Sea
2014

A rogue submarine captain pulls together a misfit crew to go after a sunken treasure rumored to be lost in the depths of the Black Sea. As greed and desperation take control on-board their claustrophobic vessel, the increasing uncertainty of the mission causes the men to turn on each other to fight for their own survival.

Adventure
Drama
1h 55m
Kevin Macdonald
Jude Law, Karl Davies, Jodie Whittaker, Daniel Ryan
17
2014 Thriller in Reasonable Doubt (2014)
Reasonable Doubt
2014

When up-and-coming District Attorney Mitch Brockden commits a fatal hit-and-run, he feels compelled to throw the case against the accused criminal who was found with the body and blamed for the crime. Following the trial, Mitch's worst fears come true when he realizes that he acquitted a guilty man, and he soon finds himself on the hunt for the killer before more victims pile up.

Crime
Thriller
1h 31m
Peter Howitt
Samuel L. Jackson, Dominic Cooper, Erin Karpluk, Gloria Reuben
16
2014 Thriller in Before I Go to Sleep (2014)
Before I Go to Sleep
2014

A woman wakes up every day, remembering nothing as a result of a traumatic accident in her past. One day, new terrifying truths emerge that force her to question everyone around her.

Thriller
Mystery
1h 32m
Rowan Joffé
15
2014 Thriller in Good People (2014)
Good People
2014

Tom and Anna Wright, a young American couple, fall into severe debt while renovating Tom's family home in London. As the couple faces the loss of their dream to have a house and start a family, they discover that the tenant in the apartment below them is dead, and he's left behind a stash of cash—$400,000 worth. Though initially hesitant, Tom and Anna decide that the plan is simple: all they have to do is quietly take the money and use only what's necessary to get them out of debt. But when they start spending the money and can't seem to stop, they find themselves the target of a deadly adversary—the thief who stole it—and that's when very bad things start happening to good people.

Thriller
Crime
1h 30m
Henrik Ruben Genz
James Franco, Kate Hudson, Anna Friel, Omar Sy
14
2014 Thriller in Open Windows (2014)
Open Windows
2014

Nick is excited to discover he's won a dinner date with his favorite actress, Jill Goddard. But when Jill refuses to honor the contest, he receives an offer he can't refuse: the ability to view Jill secretly via computer. Nick begins watching the unknowing star on her webcam, not realizing that this decision will put himself and Jill at risk as they enter a terrifying world of cat-and-mouse.

Thriller
Action
1h 41m
Nacho Vigalondo
Elijah Wood, Sasha Grey, Neil Maskell, Iván González
13
2014 Thriller in Cold in July (2014)
Cold in July
2014

While investigating noises in his house one balmy Texas night in 1989, Richard Dane puts a bullet in the brain of a low-life burglar. Although he’s hailed as a small-town hero, Dane soon finds himself fearing for his family’s safety when Freddy’s ex-con father rolls into town, hell-bent on revenge.

Drama
Thriller
1h 49m
Jim Mickle
Michael C. Hall, Don Johnson, Sam Shepard, Vinessa Shaw
12
2014 Thriller in 3 Days to Kill (2014)
3 Days to Kill
2014

A dangerous international spy is determined to give up his high stakes life to finally build a closer relationship with his estranged wife and daughter. But first, he must complete one last mission - even if it means juggling the two toughest assignments yet: hunting down the world's most ruthless terrorist and looking after his teenage daughter for the first time in ten years, while his wife is out of town.

Action
Drama
1h 53m
McG
Kevin Costner, Amber Heard, Hailee Steinfeld, Connie Nielsen
11

McCall believes he has put his mysterious past behind him and dedicated himself to beginning a new, quiet life. But when he meets Teri, a young girl under the control of ultra-violent Russian gangsters, he can’t stand idly by – he has to help her. Armed with hidden skills that allow him to serve vengeance against anyone who would brutalize the helpless, McCall comes out of his self-imposed retirement and finds his desire for justice reawakened. If someone has a problem, if the odds are stacked against them, if they have nowhere else to turn, McCall will help. He is The Equalizer.

Thriller
Action
Denzel Washington, Marton Csokas, Chloë Grace Moretz, David Harbour
10
2014 Thriller in Non-Stop (2014)
Non-Stop
2014

Bill Marks is a Federal Air Marshall for whom every day is the same until this one. On this plane ride, he starts receiving text messages from someone claiming to be on the flight and threatening to kill passengers. In a race against the clock, he must identify and stop the killer to save everyone on board.

Action
Thriller
1h 47m
Jaume Collet-Serra
Liam Neeson, Julianne Moore, Scoot McNairy, Michelle Dockery
Why it ranks

Liam Neeson solidifies his genre-icon status in this claustrophobic aerial mystery. By confining the logic-defying action to a pressurized cabin, the film achieves a relentless, ticking-clock momentum that represents popcorn cinema at its most efficient.

9
2014 Thriller in The Loft (2014)
The Loft
2014

For five men, the opportunity to share a penthouse in the city -- in which to carry on extramarital affairs -- is a dream come true, until the dead body of an unknown woman turns up. Realizing that her killer must be one of their group, the men are gripped by paranoia as each one suspects another. Friendships are tested, loyalties are questioned, and marriages crumble while fear and suspicion run rampant.

Thriller
1h 43m
Erik Van Looy
Karl Urban, James Marsden, Wentworth Miller, Eric Stonestreet
Why it ranks

A sleek and cynical whodunit that weaponizes architectural coldness to mirror its characters' moral bankruptcy. The film stands out for its intricate, non-linear construction and its unapologetic commitment to the sleazier roots of the erotic thriller.

8
2014 Thriller in No Good Deed (2014)
No Good Deed
2014

Terri is a devoted wife and mother of two, living an ideal suburban life in Atlanta when Colin, a charming but dangerous escaped convict, shows up at her door claiming car trouble. Terri offers her phone to help him but soon learns that no good deed goes unpunished as she finds herself fighting for survival when he invades her home and terrorizes her family.

Crime
Thriller
1h 24m
Sam Miller
Idris Elba, Taraji P. Henson, Leslie Bibb, Kate del Castillo
Why it ranks

This lean home-invasion exercise thrives on the palpable screen chemistry and simmering menace of its lead duo. It succeeds by stripping the genre down to a visceral, high-stakes game of psychological cat and mouse.

7
2014 Thriller in The Two Faces of January (2014)
The Two Faces of January
2014

1962. A con artist, his wife, and a dangerous stranger are caught up in the murder of a private detective and are forced to try and escape Athens.

Thriller
1h 36m
Hossein Amini
Why it ranks

High-minded craftsmanship meets Hitchcockian suspense in this sun-drenched Mediterranean noir. The film excels as a sophisticated character study where the mounting paranoia is as sweltering as the Greek locations.

6
2014 Thriller in Enemy (2014)
Enemy
2014

A mild-mannered college professor discovers a look-alike actor and delves into the other man's private affairs.

Thriller
Mystery
Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon, Isabella Rossellini
Why it ranks

Denis Villeneuve crafts a surrealist labyrinth that burrows deep into the subconscious. This psychological puzzle uses jarring imagery and a dual-role performance to explore the suffocating anxiety of identity and infidelity.

5
2014 Thriller in Locke (2014)
Locke
2014

Ivan Locke has worked hard to craft a good life for himself. Tonight, that life will collapse around him. On the eve of the biggest challenge of his career, Ivan receives a phone call that sets in motion a series of events that will unravel his family, job, and soul.

Drama
Thriller
1h 25m
Steven Knight
Why it ranks

Tom Hardy delivers a tour de force performance within the claustrophobic confines of a single vehicle. The film derives its high-stakes tension entirely from vocal nuances and the mounting psychological weight of a life unraveling in real time.

4
2014 Thriller in A Most Violent Year (2014)
A Most Violent Year
2014

A thriller set in New York City during the winter of 1981, statistically one of the most violent years in the city's history, and centered on the lives of an immigrant and his family trying to expand their business and capitalize on opportunities as the rampant violence, decay, and corruption of the day drag them in and threaten to destroy all they have built.

Crime
Drama
2h 5m
J.C. Chandor
Oscar Isaac, Jessica Chastain, David Oyelowo, Alessandro Nivola
Why it ranks

J.C. Chandor swaps cheap shocks for a slow-burn atmospheric intensity that evokes the prestige crime dramas of the 1970s. It is a meticulous study of moral compromise set against a decaying, frozen urban landscape.

3
2014 Thriller in The Guest (2014)
The Guest
2014

A soldier introduces himself to the Peterson family, claiming to be a friend of their son who died in action. After the young man is welcomed into their home, a series of accidental deaths seem to be connected to his presence.

Mystery
Thriller
1h 41m
Adam Wingard
Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Sheila Kelley
Why it ranks

This lean exercise in retro-stylization weaponizes 1980s synth-pop aesthetics to deliver a subversive take on the 'stranger in our midst' trope. Dan Stevens anchors the mayhem with a charisma so volatile it feels both seductive and terrifying.

2

When Lou Bloom, desperate for work, muscles into the world of L.A. crime journalism, he blurs the line between observer and participant to become the star of his own story. Aiding him in his effort is Nina, a TV-news veteran.

Crime
Drama
1h 58m
Dan Gilroy
Why it ranks

Jake Gyllenhaal provides a skeletal, haunting performance as a scavenger in this scathing indictment of the local news cycle. The film pulses with a kinetic, nocturnal energy that captures the predatory nature of the American Dream.

1
2014 Thriller in Gone Girl (2014)
Gone Girl
2014

With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.

Mystery
Thriller
Ben Affleck, Rosamund Pike, Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry
Why it ranks

David Fincher transforms a ubiquitous beach read into a razor-sharp autopsy of marital artifice. It serves as a chilling masterclass in tonal control and narrative subversion that redefined the domestic noir for the modern era.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Everything you need to know about this list and SnakeDrafts

The thriller movies of 2014 are noted for their shift away from explosive action to a more psychological and tense atmosphere. They focus on clinical precision and slow-burning suspense, exploring the darker aspects of human nature and creating a sense of unease from everyday scenarios.

Nightcrawler (2014), directed by Dan Gilroy, delves into the world of crime journalism and media manipulation, following a driven man who blurs ethical lines to capture exclusive footage of crime scenes.

'Gone Girl', directed by David Fincher, exemplifies the 2014 psychological thriller with its intricate portrayal of a troubled marriage and the media frenzy surrounding a disappearance, using sharp narrative twists and deep character studies to maintain suspense.

Yes, several listed thrillers like 'The Equalizer' and 'Non-Stop' blend intense action sequences with suspenseful storytelling, creating a mix of adrenaline-fueled drama and thriller tension that was popular in 2014.

'Locke' (2014), directed by Steven Knight, is a unique thriller that takes place almost entirely inside a car, emphasizing character-driven drama through its intense dialogue and real-time storytelling.

'Enemy' (2014) by Denis Villeneuve explores themes of identity and duality through a complex narrative involving a man encountering his doppelgänger, adding a surreal and psychological depth to the thriller genre of that year.

A recurring theme in the 2014 thriller movies is the exploration of trust and deception, whether it’s within personal relationships as seen in 'Gone Girl' or in the portrayal of morally ambiguous characters like in 'A Most Violent Year'.
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