Ready for pulse-pounding suspense and thought-provoking action?
Make sure the edge of your seat is comfortable, because that’s where you’ll be sitting while you watch these thrillers that are included with your Amazon Prime Video subscription.
Stars like Carey Mulligan, Ben Affleck and Kat Graham lead these movies, all of which explore different sub-genres under the thriller umbrella.
‘Promising Young Woman’ (2020)A darkly comedic revenge thriller, Promising Young Woman follows Cassie Thomas (Carey Mulligan), a former medical student who dropped out after her best friend was sexually assaulted at a party. Desperately seeking justice for her wronged friend, Cassie habitually pretends to be drunk at bars and waits for men to try to take advantage of her before confronting them.
When she learns that her friend’s assailant, Al (Chris Lowell), is getting married, Cassie decides to take revenge on the people who allowed Al to get away with the crime unscathed. Her plot is complicated, however, by her burgeoning romance with Ryan (Bo Burnham), an old med school classmate.
Mulligan’s performance in this film is terrifyingly powerful, and the story alternates between heartbreaking and satisfying. Director Emerald Fennell’s dark, engaging script won Promising Young Woman a well-deserved Oscar for Best Original Screenplay in 2021.
‘The Accountant’ (2016)The sequel to this Ben Affleck action thriller has been getting great buzz since it hit theaters on April 25, so if you haven’t seen it, now’s the time. The eponymous accountant at the center of the movie is Christian Wolff, an autistic CPA who makes his living inspecting the books of criminal organizations for signs of theft or embezzlement. When Christian takes on a legitimate client — a robotics company with suspicious discrepancies in their books — he uncovers a deeper conspiracy and finds himself being pursued by the Treasury Department.
But unlike your stereotypical accountant, Christian isn’t exactly defenseless. His father, a former military PsyOps operative, trained him in martial arts and weaponry. As he evades his pursuers in this pulse-pounding action epic, more of the twists in Christian’s dark past are revealed.
Affleck creates a captivating character with Christian, an action hero whose brain is just as powerful as his fists. Anna Kendrick, J.K. Simmons and Jon Bernthal round out a powerful supporting cast.
Tyler Perry combines topical issues with compelling drama in his latest film, which stars Kat Graham (The Vampire Diaries) as Marley Wells, an attorney who becomes entangled in a case after her best friend’s husband is fatally shot by police while on the run. As she tries to seek justice, she unravels a conspiracy that shows the depth of the corruption in her neighborhood’s law enforcement.
Graham’s performance delves deep into her pain as she uncovers ever more shocking twists about her friend’s death. For those seeking a thought-provoking thriller with themes of social justice and accountability, Duplicity is for you.
