Thriller Movies We’re Looking Forward to This Spring
I’m the person who actually has “the list.” You know, the list of films that I want to watch when I actually have a couple uninterrupted hours to myself. If you’re already stacking up your own list for springtime releases, make sure you give these some consideration!
Last Breath
Release Date: 2/28
When I was a kid, my dad and I played this game where we’d try to hold our breath as long as the characters on Baywatch stayed underwater. For this film, that’s impossible. The story follows a team of underwater welders as they undergo literal compression to repair the manifold of a deep-water oil line off the coast of Scotland’s Aberdeen. Their levels of experience vary: Dave Yuasa (Simu Liu) is at the top of his game. Duncan Allcock (Woody Harrelson) is about to be forced to retirement. And Chris Lemons (Finn Cole) is the rookie professional. The ship from which they’re diving is also full of pros, but the swells of the North Sea make this dive super dangerous… so much so that they have to get the divers back into the bell much sooner than they anticipated. When one of the divers’ umbilical snaps as a result of the storm, it’s all hands on-deck to retrieve him before his bailout air supply runs out… in ten minutes.
Riff Raff
Release Date: 2/28
Vincent (Ed Harris) is at his family’s vacation home in northern Maine with his wife (Gabrielle Union) and stepson (Miles J. Harvey) when the unthinkable happens: his son (Lewis Pullman) from his first marriage to Ruth (Jennifer Coolidge) shows up with her and his eight-months-pregnant girlfriend, and he’s clearly on the run from something. But why Lefty (Bill Murray) and Lonnie (Pete Davidson) are tailing him, we don’t know. It’s wild how differently Vincent treats Rocco and DJ, and everyone knows it. From the opening scenes, something’s off about Vincent—not to mention he’s twenty years older than his second, stunning wife—but we only confirm what the issue is after the family dramedy unfolds from within. It’s part comedy, part drama, part mob movie, all rolled into one fascinating thriller.
Opus
Release Date: 3/14
Ariel Ecton (Ayo Edibiri) is a music journalist trying to prove herself at an illustrious magazine, despite her lack of insight and experience… so when the infamous musical artist Moretti (John Malkovich) resurfaces after a thirty-year hiatus, she’s eager to write about him. Ariel is super surprised when, after her boss (Murray Bartlett) receives his invitation to a weekend at Moretti’s compound by way of an overflowing gift basket, an invitation of the same kind comes to her desk. In the basket is a book about “Levelism,” which particularly piques her tribalist interest. She knows her boss will write the main feature about the weekend, but it’s a super-exclusive retreat. No one has heard from him in years. Everyone is so gassed for the getaway that no one finds it strange when his staff confiscates the attendees’ phones, or that a concierge is appointed to each of them, or that he has very specific ideas for makeovers… no one thinks it strange, that is, except Ariel.
Black Bag
Release Date: 3/14
If you love an understated British espionage whodunnit, this one should absolutely be what you see. When George Woodhouse (Michael Fassbender) is alerted that there’s a mole in his team somewhere, he does the unexpected: he invites them all over for a homecooked dinner party, complete with party games. Unfortunately, his wife, Kathryn (Cate Blanchett), is also a spy and a suspect… yet they’ve both stated they’d lie and kill for each other. But can you really trust a spy? Especially because when asked any question they don’t want to answer, they can just tell you that information is in the black bag? This movie is a tight, wry, smart spy movie that doesn’t rely on gadgets but does boast a truly memorable wardrobe and set, not to mention a cast that expands to include recognizable names like Marisa Abela, Regé-Jean Page, and Pierce Brosnan, among other incredible performers.
The Assessment
Release Date: 3/21
In this future world destroyed by climate change, Mia (Elizabeth Olsen) and Aaryan (Himesh Patel) are eager to have a child… but, as I mentioned, this is a dystopian near future, one in which the right to parenthood is very strictly monitored. An assessor (Alicia Vikander) comes to monitor the couple and their home over the course of seven days to see if they are fit for a new member of the family… the catch is, they don’t know what the test entails. So when the assessor insists on observing the most intimate parts of their married life, or starts to embody the most infuriating parts of a child’s personality, including favoring one parent over the other, the situation quickly evolves into a nightmare. And not the traditional type of parenting nightmare. It’s the ultimate case of paranoia and test anxiety.
Holland
Release Date: 3/27
If you loved Mimi Cave’s movie Fresh, you might also love Holland. Nancy Vandergoot (Nicole Kidman) lives in what she calls the best place on earth, Holland, Michigan. It’s locally famous for its tulip festival, and everyone in the town looks as picturesque as the scenery sounds. But when Nancy suspects her optometrist husband Fred (Matthew Macfayden) of an affair, she teams up with her colleague Dave (Gael Garcia Bernal) to investigate… and they find out much more about Fred than she ever anticipated.
The Accountant 2
Release Date: 4/25
If you loved The Accountant, you’re probably pumped for this sequel! When her former boss is murdered, treasury agent (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) sees a note telling her to “find the accountant.” The accountant is Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck), he’s the autistic accountant who launders money for criminals. Now he has to use his unorthodox—and illegal—methods and team up with his estranged brother Brax (Jon Bernthal) to solve the murder.
The Surfer
Release Date: 5/2
Ready for a psychological thriller about surfing? Who would have thought those two things go together? Apparently at one father (Nicolas Cage)’s childhood beach in Australia, other surfers are very territorial. All he wants to do is take his son (Finn Little) to the same places where he used to surf, but the locals instead try to humiliate him, steal his surfboard—a gift from his own father—and try to prevent them from visiting. It doesn’t seem like they’ll get their way… but we’ll have to watch it to know how it all goes down.
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Mary Kay McBrayer is the author of Madame Queen: The Life and Crimes of Harlem’s Underground Racketeer, Stephanie St. Clair and America’s First Female Serial Killer: Jane Toppan and the Making of a Monster. You can find her short works on history, true crime, and horror at Oxford American, Narratively, Mental Floss, and FANGORIA, among other publications. She hosts the podcast about women in true crime who are not just victims, The Greatest True Crime Stories Ever Told. Follow Mary Kay McBrayer on Instagram and Twitter, or check out her author site here.