17 Pulse-Pounding Thrillers Streaming on Amazon Prime You Can Watch Tonight

This 2019 film is based on real political intrigue, centering on the article published by Katherine Eban in Vanity Fair, “Rorschach and Awe.” Following the attacks on September 11, Senator Feinstein (portrayed by Annette Bening) selects Senate staffer Daniel J. Jones (Adam Driver) to lead an investigation into the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes—leading into a much bigger investigation of the CIA’s use of torture. The deeper Jones digs into the case, the more shocking and horrifying secrets he uncovers. The film also stars Jon Hamm, Sarah Goldberg, Michael C. Hall, and Jennifer Morrison.

This well-known film is based on the 1988 novel of the same name by Thomas Harris. Brilliant FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) travels to the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane to interview the notorious cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). Starling hopes to gain his help in catching another serial killer—Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine)—who skins the bodies of his young female victim. But as Starling closes in on her current case, Lecter enacts his own deadly game.

The delightful 2009 adaptation of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s beloved detective Sherlock Holmes stars Robert D Downey Jr. in the titular role. Holmes and his loyal and sensible partner, Dr. John Watson (Jude Law), follow peculiar clues on the trail of occultist murderer Lord Henry Blackwood (Mark Strong). When old adversary Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams) turns up, a twist is thrown into Holmes’s investigation.

Wholesome mommy-vlogger Stephanie Smothers (Anna Kendrick) and tough-as-nails PR director Emily Nelson (Blake Lively) don’t have much in common besides sons that go to the same elementary school. That doesn’t stop them from becoming fast friends—best friends, if you ask Stephanie. When Emily goes missing, Stephanie will stop at nothing to find the woman who has changed her life. And as disturbing secrets come to light, Stephanie only grows more invested in the wild mystery consuming her life.

Michael MacCauley (Liam Neeson) is an ex-cop turned insurance salesman whose life has gotten into a mundane routine of commuting to and from work. When he’s suddenly laid off, that routine is disrupted. But a second disruption comes when he meets the mysterious Joanna (Vera Farmiga) on his train, and finds himself in the middle of a murder conspiracy. This action-packed thriller also stars Patrick Wilson, Jonathan Banks, and Sam Neill.

This 2019 Hindi-language action thriller is a sequel to the 2014 original Mardaani. The film follows superintendent of police Shivani Shivaji Roy (Rani Mukerji) as she engages in a cat and mouse chase with a young man named Sunny (Vishal Jethwa), who has a penchant for contract murders and assaulting young women. As Sunny’s crimes get more heinous, the pressure wears hard on Shivani. Will she catch her criminal before it’s too late?

This chilling psychological thriller from 2017 stars Jaoquin Phoenix as Joe, a veteran who suffers from the traumatizing flashbacks of wartime and his own abusive upbringing. Accustomed to violence, Joe makes a living tracking down missing girls, often delivering brutal extrajudicial punishment to their abductors. But when he’s hired to find the daughter of a senator, Nina (Ekaterina Samsonov), he finds himself in the middle of a dark conspiracy that may tip him over the edge.

Based on the John Grisham novel of the same name, this 1997 legal thriller was written and directed by Francis Ford Coppola. Rudy Baylor (Matt Damon) is a fresh law school graduate who takes up with ambulance chaser J. Lyman Stone (Mickey Rourke). As Rudy hunts for potential clients at the hospital, he strikes up a business deal with a shady ex-insurance assessor, Deck Shifflet (Danny DeVito). But as Rudy goes toe to toe with big-shot lawyer Leo F. Drummond (Jon Voight) in an insurance bad faith case, he finds that justice is a more complicated beast than he expected.

Stanley Kubrick co-wrote and directed this 1956 crime film noir based on the novel Clean Break by Lionel White. Long-time crook Johnny Clay (Sterling Hayden) plans to pull off one last job before he gives it up to settle down with his lover, Fay (Coleen Gray). Recruiting a corrupt cop (Ted de Corsia), a betting window teller (Elisha Cook Jr.), a sharpshooter (Timothy Carey), a wrestler (Kola Kwariani), and a bartender (Joe Sawyer), Clay plans to pull a heist at a racetrack for $2 million. However, there are more complications to this robbery than expected.

This South Korean action thriller was written and directed by Lee Jeong-beom. Quiet pawnshop owner Cha Tae-sik (Won Bin) finds a true friend in the form of a little girl, So-mi (Kim Saw-ron). When So-mi is abducted by a criminal organization raking in cash with drug and organ trafficking, Tae-sik must utilize the skills from his violent past to save the only person left who understands him.

Based on true events, The Whistleblower is set in 1999 post-war Bosnia. When Nebraskan police officer Kathryn Bolkovac is recruited by the United Nations to work as a peacekeeper in war-torn Bosnia, she expects to help rebuild a devastated country. Instead, she discovers that her employers are running a sex trafficking ring while the UN turns a blind eye. As Kathryn races to save two trafficking victims, her pleas for help are met with deafening silence, forcing her to continue the investigation at her own peril.

Based on the crimes of real-life serial killer Robert Hansen, The Frozen Ground is the chilling story of a family man and local business owner who hunted down women for sport. Nicholas Cage plays an Alaskan State Trooper who partners with a young woman (Vanessa Hudgens) who came within inches of a brutal death at Hansen’s hands. Together, they try to build a case against the so-called Butcher Baker, before he claims any more lives.

Danny Gallagher was once a talented narcotics detective. Now, he’s an ex-con hell-bent on finding the people who framed him and murdered his partner. There are a number of leads—his former coworkers, a drug lord, the CIA. In his search, Gallagher crosses paths with Rebecca, a rogue government agent, and Jimmy, a retired cop dedicated to fighting corruption. Rebecca and Jimmy could become Gallagher’s allies, or they could make his mission just that much harder.

Joe Braven is the owner of a logging company, and he needs a break. Braven, his father, who is developing dementia, and his daughter, Charlotte, decide to go to the family’s cabin for some time away. Unbeknownst to Joe, a coworker has gotten involved in the drug trade and is storing cocaine there. When they arrive at the cabin, the Bravens are surrounded by armed mercenaries and must engage in a dangerous fight for their lives.

When Detective Mal Toohey survives a gunshot thanks to his bulletproof vest, he spends the night celebrating life. Drunk after the night’s festivities, Toohey drives home and hits a young boy on his way. He calls 911, insisting that he had no part in the accident. Two cops, the eager, idealistic Jim Mellic and the seasoned Carl Summer, are assigned to investigate the crash that left the boy in a coma. As Toohey struggles to cover up his crime, he entangles Mellic and Summer in a complicated web of lies.

Adapted from James Grady's Six Days of the Condor, this 1975 Cold War thriller stars Robert Redford, Faye Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, and Max von Sydow. A mild-mannered CIA employee named Turner (Redford) returns from lunch break to find all of his colleagues massacred. Clearly, Turner and his now-dead team uncovered something they were not meant to find … and he's next on the hit list. 

Cary Grant and Grace Kelly set the silver screen on fire in this romantic thriller from Alfred Hitchcock. John Robie (Grant), a former jewel thief, is accused of returning to his nefarious ways. So he sets out to prove his innocence, and soon gets tangled up with the alluring Francie (Grace Kelly).