tense backdrop

Movies with tense vibe

Before Midnight

2431. Before Midnight

Romance Drama Bittersweet Romance Relationship Drama
7.9

20131h 49min

Greece, United States

Director: Richard Linklater

It has been nine years since we last met Jesse and Celine, the French-American couple who once met on a train in Vienna. They now live in Paris with twin daughters but have spent a summer in Greece at the invitation of an author colleague of Jesse's. When the vacation is over and Jesse must send his teenage son off to the States, he begins to question his life decisions, and his relationship with Celine is at risk.

Themes

Parenting versus partnership, Career vs family choices, Communication under strain, Long-term relationship tension, Aging and life stages, Gendered perspectives

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Evil Dead

2432. Evil Dead

Horror Supernatural Horror
6.5

20131h 31min

United States

Director: Fede Álvarez

Mia, a drug addict, is determined to kick the habit. To that end, she asks her brother, David, his girlfriend, Natalie and their friends Olivia and Eric to accompany her to their family's remote forest cabin to help her through withdrawal. Eric finds a mysterious Book of the Dead at the cabin and reads aloud from it, awakening an ancient demon. All hell breaks loose when the malevolent entity possesses Mia.

Themes

Addiction exerts withdrawal pressure, Isolation amplifies danger, Possession triggers bodily harm, Forbidden knowledge unleashes possession, Group dynamics under duress, Survival conditions strain trust

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Upstream Color

2433. Upstream Color

Drama Science Fiction Relationship Drama Bio-Genetic Sci-Fi
6.5

20131h 36min

United States

Director: Shane Carruth

A man and woman are drawn together, entangled in the lifecycle of an ageless organism. Identity becomes an illusion as they struggle to assemble the loose fragments of wrecked lives.

Themes

Shared trauma memory, Parasite mediated control, Loss as connective force, Identity refracted by transfer, Economic coercion through manipulation, Illusion of pregnancy

Available on

Apple TV
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Adore

2434. Adore

Drama Relationship Drama
6.2

20131h 40min

Australia, France

Director: Anne Fontaine

Lil and Roz are two lifelong friends, having grown up together as neighbors in an idyllic beach town. As adults, their sons have developed a friendship as strong as that which binds their mothers. One summer, all four are confronted by simmering emotions that have been mounting between them, and each find unexpected happiness in relationships that cross the bounds of convention.

Themes

Friendship under pressure, Competing loyalties, Secrecy and disclosure, Fragile marriages, Enduring betrayal, Forbidden intimacy

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
fuboTV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

In Fear

2435. In Fear

Thriller Survival Thriller
5.4

20131h 25min

France, United Kingdom

Director: Jeremy Lovering

Driving to a music festival in Ireland, a young couple gets trapped in a country maze on their way to a remote hotel, where an unidentifiable sinister force torments them.

Themes

Coercive manipulation, Institutional corruption, Power abuse, Public scrutiny, Memory gaps, Evidence credibility

Available on

Amazon Prime Video
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

Love Is in the Air

2436. Love Is in the Air

Comedy Romance Romantic Comedy
6.3

20131h 36min

France

Director: Alexandre Castagnetti

Antoine is a lawyer living in New York. On his way back to France for the final round of a job interview, Antoine finds himself sitting right next to his ex-girlfriend Julie. With a seven-hour flight ahead of them, they are going to have to speak to each other.

Themes

Romance under pressure, Loyalty versus desire, Ex-girlfriend pressure, Final job interview, Seven-hour flight dynamics, Imminent wedding pressure

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

We Are the Nobles

2437. We Are the Nobles

Comedy Satire
7.3

20131h 48min

Mexico

Director: Gary Alazraki

Tells the "riches to rags" story of the Nobles, three upper-class twenty-somethings that appear to have no limits to their checkbooks, and no direction in their lives. Until one day, their father tries to teach them a lesson by staging a financial scandal that forces the whole family to escape to an old house in the poor side of town, and leads the "kids" to do what they haven't done before: get jobs.

Themes

Class inequality, Deception and consequences, Social mobility pressures, Independence through work, Family authority dynamics, Value of work

Available on

Amazon Video
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

A mysterious epidemic spreads across the planet. Humanity develops an irrational fear of open spaces that causes instant death. Soon, the world population is trapped inside buildings. As Barcelona descends into chaos, Marc sets off on a quest to find Julia, his missing girlfriend, without ever going outside.

Themes

Panic attack dynamics, Subway survival dynamics, Agoraphobia constraint, Pregnant life under crisis, Bear attack risk, Seeds scarcity

Available on

Apple TV
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation

2439. G.I. Joe: Retaliation

Action Science Fiction Adventure Thriller Military Action
5.7

20131h 50min

Canada, United States

Director: Jon M. Chu

Framed for crimes against the country, the G.I. Joe team is terminated by Presidential order. This forces the G.I. Joes into not only fighting their mortal enemy Cobra; they are forced to contend with threats from within the government that jeopardize their very existence.

Themes

Loyalty under duress, Deception in leadership, Technology-driven conflict, Covert operations and accountability, Civilian control of military power, Power under political pressure

Available on

Amazon Video
Apple TV
Google Play Movies
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.

The Host

2440. The Host

Action Adventure Science Fiction Alien Contact Sci-Fi Survival Adventure
5.8

20132h 6min

Switzerland, United States

Director: Andrew Niccol

A parasitic alien soul is injected into the body of Melanie Stryder. Instead of carrying out her race's mission of taking over the Earth, "Wanda" (as she comes to be called) forms a bond with her host and sets out to aid other free humans.

Themes

Dystopian survival, Resistance and solidarity, Coexistence under invasion, Memory access and control, Interspecies bond and trust, Autonomy under occupation

Available on

Netflix
Amazon Video
Apple TV
Data provided by JustWatch.Availability may vary by region.