The Best Thrillers Of 2021

After a year like 2020, the only thing on many people's minds is finding some way to decompress and relax, to escape the stress and pretend that everything is just fine. That is, unless you're a hardcore thriller fan (or just really sick of quarantine), in which case you've been looking for something to get the blood pumping and provide a little excitement after months of isolation and boredom.

And just over two months into 2021, we've got quite an enthralling batch of suspenseful entries in the thriller canon. From the comfort (or boredom) of our own homes, we can witness all kinds of scares and chases, twists and turns, freshly minted for our enjoyment this year. If 2021 does turn out to be just as horrific as its predecessor and demand that we turn to escapism through our movies, at least it has provided us with some exciting films to turn to — and stacked up even more upcoming titles to look forward to as the year wears on.

As far as reboots go, 2021's take on Wrong Turn is more than respectable. In fact, critics liked it even more than the 2003 original! And since the 2021 version is the seventh installment in the franchise, it's even more impressive that it was able to garner positive reception rather than dismissal or even frustration.

The original Wrong Turn relies heavily upon the gore and suspense of being chased through remote woods by a group of cannibals. False hopes repeatedly give way to the harsh illumination of human depravity: The protagonists find a cabin and hope to be able to phone for help, but instead discover that it belongs to the very cannibals who are stalking them, and are forced to watch in hiding as their friend is dismembered and eaten. We witness all manner of weapons and traps, from arrows to axes, tire punctures to explosions. There's a lot of action, to be sure, but nothing new.

In 2021's version, though, we get a clearer window into the cult of the cannibals themselves. Rather than fleeing from largely unknown forces, we learn that the cult was originally an 1859 settlement established on the basis of the belief that the United States was doomed. The protagonists meet and interact with multiple members of the community, becoming more enmeshed with them in their attempts to survive than in the first film — which makes for a much more thrilling disentanglement and escape.

If you think a detective's job is hard, try doing it with schizophrenia. That's essentially the situation Rain (Madison Iseman) finds herself in as the protagonist of the 2021 psychological thriller Fear of Rain. She not only has to battle the unnerving hallucinations brought on by her illness and attempt to discern what is real from what is not in the midst of this confusion, but when she begins to suspect her neighbor of kidnapping, this delicate balance is thrown into upheaval.

There is no critics' consensus yet for Fear of Rain, and the few reviews that have already been cast are mixed, but audiences loved the film — and left ratings to that effect in many times greater numbers. The thriller is engaging because of the personal way it shows a young person reckoning with powerful forces both outside and within, which amounts to the kind of impossible odds that make for good suspense.

The juxtaposition of these threats in the film makes it compelling: hallucinations of cemetery statues crying blood are frightening, yet outside the realm of reality, while kidnapping is very real. The film also features a Shyamalan-esque twist and an emphasis on the bonds of love that tether us not just to reality, but to our humanity.

The ingredients of a thriller can easily sneak into its sister genres to give them a bit of an extra kick, and that's exactly what happens in Boss Level, the sci-fi action film released on Hulu to positive reactions from critics and audiences alike. While the time loop trope in films has itself become a little repetitive, the "excess" of Boss Level allows it to "power up" the concept, according to the consensus on Rotten Tomatoes.

The name of the film is a reference to the term for the final level of a video game in which the player must face a "boss" or challenge that represents (or even directly incorporates) all the challenges of the previous levels combined in overwhelming force. It is typically the hardest level of the game, and many players in various games attempt it dozens, even hundreds of times before they beat it – if they even do.

Boss Level combines this familiar experience with the time loop concept, but tells the story of one man trying to survive the same day over and over in the style of a thriller, with narration by star Frank Grillo that's more reminiscent of a noir. This ambitious and captivating entry in a tired genre proves that there's always a way to break the cycle.

There are certain kinds of films that frequently struggle to impress critics: sequels and horror films. Sequels face the challenge of attempting to live up to their predecessors (or, if the first installment was a dud, attempting to redeem it). Horror films face the obstacle of a formulaic genre: It's hard to tell a story that hasn't been told before without relying on predictable jump scares, while still managing to terrify people in a way they aren't expecting.

"A Quiet Place Part II" had to face both of these challenges at once. The first film, John Krasinski's directorial debut and first foray into the horror genre, was an immediate success. After he rose to fame playing Jim Halpert on "The Office," Krasinski gained prominence in action roles like the titular character in the "Jack Ryan" TV series, and finally made his directorial debut with "A Quiet Place" in 2018 ... in which he killed himself off.

Clearly, Krasinski isn't afraid to make loud statements and shocking changes in his career, and the sci-fi horror film in which survival depends on silence was only the beginning. The sequel not only lived up to its panic-inducing predecessor, but broadened the scope of its universe while remaining anchored in the relationships at its heart.

The 2021 action thriller is called "Nobody," but its star and producer Bob Odenkirk is anything but. You might recognize him from roles in similarly thrilling pieces, like the television show "Breaking Bad" or its spin-off, "Better Call Saul," based on his "Breaking Bad" character, stingy defense lawyer Saul Goodman.

Or you might recognize him from comedic roles like the carbon copy of Michael Scott who interviews Pam in the final season of "The Office" for a receptionist position in Philadelphia, or as the willfully ignorant, weak-stomached Officer-made-Chief Bill Oswalt on the FX series "Fargo" (which has elements of both thriller and comedy).

Suffice it to say, the guy has range, and he proves it yet again as Hutch "Nobody" Mansell in the violent, destruction-packed thriller that cements him as a formidable force in yet another category: action star. Odenkirk's character humorously navigates both his own self-image and relationship with his family (as the everyday "nobody" he first appears to be) as well as the intense violence of his secret-assassin life.

It's always the boyfriend or husband, right? "The Dry" doubles down on this premise and then spends its entire running time unraveling it. A childhood friend works to clear his deceased buddy of a murder-homicide charge, even as he battles vitriol from his former neighbors for the suspicion that he killed his own girlfriend two decades earlier. It's a layered, slow-burn thriller with lots of false leads and great twists, and it's anchored in the deeper themes of personal struggles and community history.

The engaging thriller plays on the commonly bittersweet experience of returning to one's hometown. There is both a sense of obligation and alienation inherent in these circumstances, and that's without any suspicion of murder. The dual tensions of returning after estrangement and a murder investigation find their perfect triplet in the oppressive heat of a drought that keeps everyone on edge and pushes secrets through the community's pores like sweat. It's literally a slow burn.