Thriller from the 2020s: the best movies
24 thriller films from the 2020s, ranked by audience rating. The best of the decade, and it still holds up tonight. Updated 13 November 2026
Facing El Chapo leads with 8.7 out of 10, ahead of Protector (8.4). Ratings range from 7.7 to 8.7. All were released between 2020 and 2026.
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Facing El Chapo
Two Mexican officers must survive the final hours of their shift after crossing a ruthless cartel boss.
Protector
Nikki's life is shattered when her daughter is kidnapped. Thrust into the criminal underworld while hunted by cops and military, she must fight to rescue her child.
The Shadow's Edge
Macau Police brings the tracking expert police officer out of retirement to help catch a dangerous group of professional thieves.
Succubus
A new father going through a marital separation joins a dating app and matches with a beautiful but mysterious young woman... whose powers of seduction and manipulation entangle him in a mystery more horrifying than he could have ever imagined.
Counterattack
When a hostage rescue mission creates a new enemy, Capt. Guerrero and his elite soldiers must face an ambush by a criminal group.
The Furious
When Wang Wei's daughter is abducted by a criminal organization and law enforcement declines to intervene due to corruption, Wei embarks on a solo mission to find her. His sole ally is Navin, a determined journalist whose wife has also mysteriously disappeared. Together, this improbable pair confronts the kidnappers in a fierce martial arts confrontation, driven by an intense desire for retribution.
Runner
A former soldier is thrown into a brutal race against time when a critical medical delivery makes him and his unlikely partner the targets of a ruthless cartel. As the mission spirals into a deadly manhunt, every detour, delay, and bullet pushes them closer to failure. With betrayal closing in from every side, they must survive the chase and deliver their cargo to save the life of a little girl.
Obsession
After breaking the mysterious "One Wish Willow" to win his crush's heart, a hopeless romantic finds himself getting exactly what he asked for but soon discovers that some desires come at a dark, sinister price.
Wild Horse Nine
Shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup, CIA agents Chris and Lee are dispatched from Santiago to Easter Island by their bureau chief, MJ. Amongst the Island's iconic statues, and as the longtime partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies, Chris's newfound bond with a pair of rebellious students threatens to send everyone’s trip to this remote paradise sideways.
Monster
After an outburst at school involving her son, a concerned single mother demands answers, triggering a sequence of deepening suspicion and turmoil.
Nobody
Hutch Mansell, a suburban dad, overlooked husband, nothing neighbor — a "nobody." When two thieves break into his home one night, Hutch's unknown long-simmering rage is ignited and propels him on a brutal path that will uncover dark secrets he fought to leave behind.
Thirteen Lives
Based on the true nail-biting mission that captivated the world. Twelve boys and the coach of a Thai soccer team explore the Tham Luang cave when an unexpected rainstorm traps them in a chamber inside the mountain. Entombed behind a maze of flooded cave tunnels, they face impossible odds. A team of world-class divers navigate through miles of dangerous cave networks to discover that finding the boys is only the beginning.
The Debt Collector
Tormented by past mistakes and a terminal diagnosis, an ex-debt collector returns to the underworld to protect the victims of a violent organization.
Gone Mom: The Disappearance of Jennifer Dulos
The story of Jennifer Dulos, the wealthy Connecticut mother-of-five who mysteriously vanished on May 24, 2019. Jennifer believed that she had found her Prince Charming in Fotis Dulos, but by the time of her disappearance, their 13-year marriage had disintegrated and they were engaged in a bitter divorce and a contentious custody dispute for their five children. When she disappeared without a trace after dropping off her children at school, the police turned the spotlight on Fotis, who claimed that Jennifer had staged her own disappearance a la Gone Girl.
Tetris
In 1988, American video game salesman Henk Rogers discovers the video game Tetris. When he sets out to bring the game to the world, he enters a dangerous web of lies and corruption behind the Iron Curtain.
Predator: Killer of Killers
While three of the fiercest warriors in human history—a Viking raider, a ninja in feudal Japan, and a WWII pilot—are killers in their own right, they are merely prey for their new opponent: the ultimate killer of killers.
Tatami
Iranian female judokas Leila and her coach Maryam, travel to the Judo World Championship, intent on bringing home Iran’s first gold medal. Midway through the Judo World Championships, they receive an ultimatum from the Islamic Republic ordering Leila to fake an injury and lose, or she will be branded a traitor of the state. With her own and her family’s freedom at stake, Leila is faced with an impossible choice: comply with the Iranian regime as her coach Maryam implores her to do, or fight on, for the gold.
Maharaja
A barber seeks vengeance after his home is burglarized, cryptically telling police his "Lakshmi" has been taken, leaving them uncertain if it's a person or object, jeer at his request until they learn what they're really looking for.
The Heist of the Century
In 2006, a group of thieves performed what is considered one of the most famous and smart bank heists in the history of Argentina. How they robbed the Rio bank is as surprising as what happened afterwards. This is their story.
My Fault
Noah must leave her city, boyfriend, and friends to move into William Leister's mansion, the flashy and wealthy husband of her mother Rafaela. As a proud and independent 17 year old, Noah resists living in a mansion surrounded by luxury. However, it is there where she meets Nick, her new stepbrother, and the clash of their strong personalities becomes evident from the very beginning.
Guy Ritchie's The Covenant
After an ambush, Afghan interpreter Ahmed goes to Herculean lengths to save US Army Sergeant John Kinley's life. When Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family were not given safe passage to America as promised, he must return to the war zone and repay his debt.
Pressure
In the tense 72 hours before D-Day, and the fate of the free world hanging in the balance, General Dwight D. Eisenhower and Captain James Stagg face an impossible choice—launch the largest and most dangerous seaborne invasion in history or risk losing the war altogether.
Shelter
A man living in self-imposed exile on a remote island rescues a young girl from a violent storm, setting off a chain of events that forces him out of seclusion to protect her from enemies tied to his past.
John Wick: Chapter 4
With the price on his head ever increasing, John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes.
What to know before choosing
The thriller is a genre of rhythm, not of subject. What separates it from crime is its promise: not understanding what happened, but knowing what is about to. The best-rated set a threat inside ten minutes and never let it go. It is the safest choice when you want to be kept awake without having to think, and the worst for an evening you expect to fall asleep through.
The current decade is the hardest to judge: its films have not finished gathering votes, and a film under two years old is almost always overrated against what it will be worth in five. The vote floor corrects part of that effect, never all of it. Read this list as a snapshot, not as a settled ranking.
Frequently asked questions
How were these 24 films chosen?
They come from the TMDB catalogue, filtered on audience rating and on a minimum number of votes — without that second filter, a film rated 9 out of 10 by eleven people would outrank a classic. No place is for sale: no platform, distributor or studio can enter this list other than by being well rated.
Which film in this list is rated highest?
Facing El Chapo (2026), with 8.7 out of 10 from 991 audience votes.
Where can I watch these films?
Taro eira shows, film by film, which platforms carry it in the UK and at what price — subscription, rental or purchase. The per-platform lists are further down this page.
Are there any recent releases in this selection?
23 of the 24 films came out since 2021. The rest are older, which is expected: a film needs a few years to gather enough votes to be judged at all.
Do I need an account?
No. Taro eira is free, asks for no account and no subscription, and the two-or-three-question flow works without installing anything.
See also
- Thriller
- Thriller from the 2010s
- Thriller from the 2000s
- Thriller from the 1990s
- Thriller from the 1980s
- Thriller from the 1970s
- Thriller before 1970
- Action from the 2020s
- Adventure from the 2020s
- Animation from the 2020s
- Comedy from the 2020s
- Crime from the 2020s
- Documentary from the 2020s
- Drama from the 2020s
- Family from the 2020s
- Fantasy from the 2020s
- Biopic from the 2020s
- Horror from the 2020s
- Musical from the 2020s
- Romance from the 2020s
- Sci-fi from the 2020s
- War from the 2020s
- Western from the 2020s
How this list is built
Films come from the TMDB catalogue, filtered on audience rating and vote count, then cross-checked against real availability in the country. No paid placement, no partnerships. How we choose the films.
Film data and posters: TMDB. This app uses the TMDB API but is not endorsed or certified by TMDB.