1990s vs. 2000s: Which Decade Had the Best Thriller Movies? 

The case for the nineties pretty much makes itself. The Silence of the Lambs in 1991, Se7en in 1995, and The Talented Mr. Ripley in 1999 anchor the decade, while being connected by dozens of absolute masterpieces in between. 

Michael Douglas catapulted a new sub-genre of thriller with Basic Instinct, Disclosure, The Game and The Perfect Murder into the limelight.

The nineties also took hardboiled detective stories and turned them into nightmare fuel, for example, Morgan Freeman’s first turn as Detective Alex Cross in Kiss the Girls was chilling.

Denzel Washington and Angelina Jolie’s The Bone Collector was also thrilling and horrifying. 

Beyond the sheer impressive list of titles, what makes the nineties such a strong decade for thrillers is that when you mention a “nineties thriller,” everyone knows what you mean.

All the films stand up well on their own, but there’s something to be said about how well they all complement one another.

The final point in favor of the nineties is that when you make a list of the best 90’s movies and the best nineties thrillers, they're pretty much the same list. It’s basically the meme from The Office where Pam shows Michael two identical pictures and asks him to spot the differences. 

Some other nineties thrillers worth mentioning: Primal Fear, The Fugitive, Cape Fear, Heat, and A Time to Kill.

While you can make the case that this decade has a signature style, as well, what makes this such a good decade for thrillers is that it felt like the first time we got such a mish-mash of the past. Bits of the seventies, eighties, and nineties can be seen throughout all the films of the 2000’s.

If I had to give a cohesive theme or brand for this decade it would be underrated and sneakily great. The titles don’t wow you quite as much as the nineties, but there are so many and there is such a wide variety.

This variety is best exemplified by American Psycho. There is nothing else like it before or since. Some films have a purely nineties feel, while others seem to be a blend of several decades.

For instance, Mystic River feels like a movie that took three decades to make (in the best way possible).

Memento, on the other hand, was written, developed, and shot in 1999, and it shows. With a release date of September 5, 2000, it is a feather in the cap of the 2000’s. Panic Room, however, felt a lot like an eighties thriller updated for the new millennium. That is the legacy of the 2000s.

It is a melting pot of decades, styles, and stories. 

Legal and political thrillers also seemed to take on a more prominent role in the 2000s. Led by the big names of the time like Michael Clayton and Syriana, there were quite a few political thrillers that cemented this decade as one of the best.

These other titles include: All the King’s Men, Babel, State of Play, and Spy Game. 

Some other 2000’s thrillers worth mentioning: Secret Window, Oldboy, The Constant Gardener, A History of Violence, and Munich.

While each of these decades boast an impressive lineup of thrillers, the nineties has too much firepower to not take this title.

The 2000s are pretty deep, but the nineties are much better at the top and just as deep. The best thrillers of the nineties are among the best movies ever made.

It is impressive how the 2000s both pay homage and build upon the legacies of so many types of thrillers, but ultimately the nineties reinvented the genre and launched it into a new stratosphere.

That is too impressive to ignore. Taking it a step further, you could put nineties thrillers up against any genre from any time period and it will more than hold its own. 

Looking at the films from 2020 until now, it doesn’t look like the nineties are in jeopardy of being challenged. However, a lot can change in five years. Let’s hope we get a stacked slate of thrillers like we did in the nineties and 2000s!

Featured photo: Still from The Talented Mr. Ripley via Paramount