The Most Exciting PG-13 Thriller Movies 

Let’s start off with a classic from master filmmaker Alfred Hitchcock.

With minimal set design, Rear Window offers a masterclass in designing compelling storylines—almost the entire film is shot in a single room, looking into the windows of a neighborhood.

It follows the POV of a wheelchair-bound photographer whose astute powers of observation have convinced him that one of his neighbors has committed murder.

Meticulously-filmed with an eye for minor details, the drama unfolds with a minor romantic subplot, keeping the viewers hooked till the very last frame.

Nothing’s wrong with a good ol’ murder mystery, and Rian Johnson delivers splendidly on that count with Knives Out, starring Daniel Craig as Benoit Blanc, an eccentric private detective that draws upon figures like Hercule Poirot and Sherlock Holmes to gracefully revitalizing the genre.

Benoit investigates the death of an author (dubbed a suicide), running into more and more suspects as the film probes into issues of class, race, and wealth inequality.

Since its release, Blanc has starred in two more detective films in the same franchise, and we can sincerely hope that he’ll continue the successful streak. Smartly written and directed, Knives Out promises to be an entertaining and thought-provoking watch for all audiences. 

If you’re more into heart-pounding action, then Mission Impossible can be your perfect entry point to the genre of spy thrillers.

At its heart, each Mission: Impossible follows Ethan Hunt (played by Tom Cruise) and his team as they strive to prevent the enemy force from wreaking some kind of global disaster. The first film opens with a bang as Hunt is mysteriously framed for the murder of most of his teammates, and at one point, he even breaks into the CIA Headquarters to collect evidence.

Extremely diverting and filled with non-stop action and tension, the Mission: Impossible films are enhanced by the fact that Cruise performs all those dangerous stunts by himself!

A rather underrated release from last year, Drop is a light yet compelling thriller that follows a widowed mother going on her first date in years. The date goes disastrously wrong as she’s bombarded with texts from an unknown sender threatening her with blackmail and the murder of her child unless she complies with his demands.

The film taps into the fear and uncertainty that many women experience on blind dates—wondering if the guy they’re having dinner with is their soulmate or secretly a serial killer.

Borrowing some elements from rom-coms, Drop is terrifically-plotted and enticing enough to make you skip your pee break.

This is the film that defined many of our childhoods and left us with a lifelong obsession with dinosaurs.

Based on Michael Crichton’s acclaimed novel and directed by none other than Steven Spielberg, Jurassic Park unfolds in a special wildlife park where some genetic scientists have succeeded in recreating dinosaurs—and now a small group of people are trapped in that park with the beasts on the loose.

With its terrific visual effects and sound design, Jurassic Park was something of a game changer upon its release, ushering in a new era of film-making with top-notch computer-generated imagery, while realistically capturing the awe and fear of what it’s like to coexist with dinosaurs.

It’s definitely a film worth rewatching, especially with the kids. 

Finally, for those who like trippy, mind-bending films, Inception, directed by Christopher Nolan, is a must-watch.

In it, Leonardo di Caprio plays the role of a thief who steals vital corporate secrets by infiltrating the subconscious of his targets. Intricately-plotted, the film unfolds like a smartly-written heist, within a dream within a dream, leading to the characters and the viewers to repeatedly question what’s real and what’s an illusion.

While the average thriller is often an exhilarating one-time watch, films like Inception present themselves like a puzzle to be solved, inviting repeat viewership as they piece the clues together...or not.