Why you should watch: Directed by David Cronenberg, who blew our minds with both The Fly and Eastern Promises, this portrait of a man's hidden layers "slams you like a body punch and then starts messing with your head" according to Rolling Stone. Boasting a William Hurt performance that tops any before or after, A History of Violence's deal-sweetening 88% rating on Rotten Tomatoes should arguably be higher.

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Why you should watch: It’s Hopkins in Hannibal Lecter mode minus the cannibalism (thankfully), versus the ever-charismatic Gosling. Fracture follows a cat-and-mouse battle of wits that you can't afford to take your eyes off. Variety reviewer Justin Chang called it an "absorbing legal thriller that can't help but taste like exquisitely reheated leftovers", while Empire Magazine applauded the two lead actors going toe-to-toe.

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Why you should watch: M. Night Shyamalan's sequel to the equally brilliant Unbreakable - which deconstructed superhero mythology - Split made a tasty $278 million at the box office. Jordan Hoffman of The Guardian described it as a "masterful blend of Hitchcock, horror and therapy session" in his four-star review. McAvoy was deservedly nominated for Best Actor in a Movie at the MTV Awards.

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Why you should watch: Better known for their future parts in Apple TV+ spy series Slow Horses and BBC One's Blue Lights, Lowden and McCann are electric on screen together. Speaking about the film ahead of its release, Variety commented: "Matt Palmer's terrific, intensely terrifying Scottish twist on Deliverance has big-screen swagger." Believe the hype. This has a 95% score from critics on Rotten Tomatoes with good reason.

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Why you should watch: Scoring an eye-catching 89% on Rotten Tomatoes, Run is an enjoyable descent into poisonous parenthood with Paulson on top psycho form. The New York Times found it to be a "nifty little thriller whose title pleads for an exclamation point" and The Hollywood Reporter liked that the film "keeps us guessing without seeming too thirsty to impress us with twists". It's a brilliantly-convincing performance from relative newcomer Kiera Allen, too, who is destined for big things.

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Why you should watch: From Straight Outta Compton director F. Gary Gray, Law Abiding Citizen was not a critical success upon release, but don't let that put you off. The sheer outlandishness of its premise and action sequences – not to mention Butler's badass performance - makes this one well worth your time. Viola Davis, Regina Hall, Colm Meaney, Bruce McGill and The Penguin's Michael Kelly make up the impressive supporting cast.

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Why you should watch: This pioneering erotic thriller paved the way for future hits Sleeping with the Enemy, and Basic Instinct. It received six nominations at the 1988 Oscars, including Best Director for Adrian Lyne, Best Actress for Close and Best Picture. Although it left empty-handed on the night, Fatal Attraction remains one of THE best and most famous thrillers on the planet. And, of course, the film gave birth to the "bunny boiler’ tag. Needless to say perhaps, but Glenn Close and Michael Douglas are both masterful here.

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Why you should watch: Zodiac director David Fincher adapts the acclaimed Stieg Larsson book with his typically punishing and glacial eye. It's a no-brainer, isn't it? Entertainment Weekly's Owen Gleiberman felt Mara was a "revelation" in the part of a sexual abuse victim turned vigilante, and judging by its 86% Rotten Tomatoes score, so did many others. It's a crime thriller with a difference, and most definitely worth a watch.

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Why you should watch: Directing duo Benny and Josh Safdie followed up the Robert Pattinson thriller Good Time with Uncut Gens - a wilder feast of breathless anxiety. The film even bought actor Adam Sandler, formerly known as a comedian, into the Oscar conversation. "It's excruciating and exhilarating", says reviewer Roger Ebert, while Vogue found the film to be "gloriously unglamorous".

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Why you should watch: In 2017, The New York Times described director Steven Spielberg's Munich as the "16th Best Film of the 21st Century So Far". Reelviews writer James Berardinelli described it as "a motion picture that asks difficult questions, presents well-developed characters, and keeps us white-knuckled throughout". Although Munich is not a true story, it IS based on real events and people. And Eric Bana is always watchable.

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Why you should watch: Shifting between reality and the novel's blood-splashed desert setting, Nocturnal Animals is a neo-noir head-trip thrumming with evil energy. Michael Shannon and Aaron Taylor-Johnson give two of their finest performances to date, outshining the ever-reliable Jake Gyllenhaal. Both The Independent and The Guardian awarded the film five stars.

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Why you should watch: Two film favourites - Al Pacino and Johnny Depp - in a film reminiscent of The Departed and American Hustle. What's not to love? Rotten Tomatoes calls Donnie Brasco a "stark, nuanced portrait of life in organised crime, bolstered by strong performances from Al Pacino and Johnny Depp". San Francisco Chronicle called it "a first class Mafia thriller", while Newsweek celebrated Pacino for reminding cinema-goers "how great he can be when he loses himself inside a character".

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Why you should watch: Redmayne's demeanour gives Cullen, who is currently serving 18 consecutive life sentences, an unnervingly removed quality that's perfect for this chilling thriller. The British actor was nominated for a Golden Globe Award, British Academy Film Award, SAG Award and Satellite Award. Chastain, meanwhile, blends "vulnerability and guts to portray a woman who is neither total dupe nor all-powerful superhero", says Empire Magazine. Unlike the often distastefully glamorous depictions like The Staircase, or Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, this keeps it real.

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Why you should watch: Layer Cake turned out to be Craig's audition for James Bond... He commanded the screen with a streetwise suaveness opposite the late Michael Gambon's suntanned head honcho Eddie Temple. Total Film announced in a review: "The Brit gangster pic gets a designer makeover in this stylishly executed piece of superior entertainment."

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Why you should watch: South Korean filmmaker Bong Joon-ho well and truly mopped up at the Oscars with this ground-breaking film, which is both black comedy, drama, and thriller. It also won the Cannes Film Festival's prestigious Palm d'Or. Expect inventive twists and gnarly set pieces with this jaw-droppingly good film. "The kind of smart, generous, aesthetically-energised movie that obliterates the tired distinctions between art films and popcorn movies," opined The New York Times reviewer A. O. Scott, while Parasite deservedly rates 99% on Rotten Tomatoes.

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Why you should watch: This radiant adaptation of the 2005 novel of the same name was a film festival darling at the time of its release. Come for the acting - Albert Brooks as the villainous Bernie Rose is terrifying - and stay for the untouchable electronica soundtrack. There's also the building tension between Ryan Gosling, and Carey Mulligan in what could arguably be called a love story as well as a thriller. Drive was ranked the best film of the year by Rolling Stone, Empire Magazine, Chicago Sun-Times, Time Out New York, BoxOffice and The Oregonian.

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Why you should watch: Directed by Antonio Campos, known for The Sinner, The Staircase, and The Punisher, you're in good hands with this dark thriller. For The Guardian, Mark Kermode enjoyed this "deliciously ripe gothic melodrama" enough to award it four stars, with The Diamondback giving it the "calculated masterpiece" sticker and commending The Devil All the Time's "lingering darkness" that forces viewers to "remain on edge" throughout.

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Why you should watch: The inimitable Gary Oldman earned his first-ever Oscar nod for playing Smiley in this excellent spy thriller (way before he stopped washing to play cynical Jackson Lamb in Slow Horses). But, it's arguably the edgy supporting party of Benedict Cumberbatch, Colin Firth, Toby Jones, Tom Hardy, Stephen Graham, and Kathy Burke that truly sets Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy apart from other espionage thrillers. Rolling Stone fancied it as "a tale of loneliness and desperation among men who can never disclose their secret hearts, even to themselves. It's easily one of the year's best films".

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Why you should watch: Electricity crackles between actors Viola Davis, Elizabeth Debicki, Michelle Rodriguez and Cynthia Erivo as the novice criminals... Meanwhile, Liam Neeson, Colin Farrell, Daniel Kaluuya, Carrie Coon, Robert Duvall, Jackie Weaver and Brian Tyree Henry bring star power on the fringes for filmmaker Steve McQueen. IndieWire's Eric Kohn wrote how Widows smoothly "engages with topics as complex as sexism, police brutality, and interracial marriage, but it still delivers on the car chases and gunplay".

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Why you should watch: Bringing Bret Easton Ellis' satirical book to the big screen, director Mary Harron injects chainsaw-wielding horror into this yuppie culture and consumerist mickey-take. Initially polarising audiences, it's now considered a cult classic, which announced Bale as a one-of-a-kind talent. Bloody Disgusting said: "At its best, the film reflects our own narcissism and the shallow American culture it was spawned from, with piercing effectiveness." Be warned, though, this is gruesome and bloody, bordering on horror.

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Why you should watch: Marking just the second feature-film outing for director Duncan Jones – the son of David Bowie – Source Code sits handsomely on a 92% Rotten Tomatoes result. CNN was complimentary of its structure in particular, expressing how it's "as authoritative an exercise in fractured storytelling as Christopher Nolan's Memento". Den of Geek called it "a rare example of a film that wisely underplays the strength of its hand".

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Why you should watch: The Fall actress Aisling Franciosi proves more than a match for Sam Claflin's merciless officer and went on to take home an AACTA Award for her efforts. You won't be able to keep your eyes off Baykali Ganambarr as Billy, either, who dishes out charismatic retribution. After premiering at the Venice International Film Festival, The Nightingale earned the Special Jury Prize. This rage-story is violent, thrilling, and emotional all at once, but it won't be for everybody.

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Why you should watch: Written and directed by Martin McDonagh, who would later reunite with Farrell and Gleeson for The Banshees of Inisherin. This profanity-stuffed caper thriller is his greatest film to date and was rightfully honoured with a Best Original Screenplay nomination at the Oscars. A never-better Farrell accepted the Best Actor in a Motion Picture Musical or Comedy award from the Golden Globes, too.

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Why you should watch: It's every sane person's worst nightmare - being alone and alienated in hostile territory. And former Skins actor Jack O'Connell is all-too convincing as the young and disorientated soldier. Expanding on the film's sky-high 96% rating, the Rotten Tomatoes critical consensus reads: "Powerfully directed and acted, '71 stays true to its fact-based origins while remaining as gripping as any solidly crafted action thriller."

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