Thrillers & Suspense

Actor John Malkovich is making his directorial debut with the new film The Dancer Upstairs. Malkovich has been nominated twice for an Academy Award for his work in the films In the Line of Fire and Places in the Heart. His other films include Heart of Darkness, Being John Malkovich, Shadow of the Vampire, Woody Allen's Shadows and Fog and Steven Spielberg's Empire of the Sun. Malkovich is also a founding member of Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre Company.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Spartan, the new thriller written and directed by David Mamet.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews the new Matt Damon movie The Bourne Supremacy. It's a sequel to the 2002 hit The Bourne Identity, shot in a fast-paced style that heightens the tension of the storyline.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews The Manchurian Candidate, starring Denzel Washington, Meryl Streep and Liev Schreiber. Jonathan Demme directed the remake of the 1962 classic thriller.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Collateral, starring Tom Cruise and directed by Michael Mann.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Cellular, a new thriller starring Kim Basinger as a kidnap victim.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews the new Pixar animated film The Incredibles. Voiced by Craig T. Nelson and Holly Hunter, among others, the comic film tracks a family of superheroes who must abandon a quiet life in the suburbs to fight evil.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews this weekend's new releases: thriller Red Eye and the comedy The 40-Year-Old Virgin, starring Steve Carell of The Office.

Critic at large John Powers considers the films of Alfred Hitchcock as a new DVD survey of his work is coming out: Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews The Departed, the new Martin Scorsese film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, and Jack Nicholson.

The story of FBI agent-turned-spy Robert Hanssen is told in the new film Breach with Chris Cooper as Hanssen and Ryan Phillippe and Laura Linney as his pursuers.

Bug, the new psychological thriller from director William Friedkin (The Exorcist, The French Connection), got its start as a paranoia-driven stage play by actor-writer Tracy Letts (Killer Joe).

The film won the international critics' prize at the Cannes Film Festival in 2006, but it's only now getting a U.S. release. It features Ashley Judd, Harry Connick Jr. and Lynn Collins, as well as Michael Shannon, who starred in the Off-Broadway production.

Film critic David Edelstein reviews Michael Clayton, the new corporate thriller starring George Clooney. Despite a routine outline, the film is sensationally well done, Edelstein says, and Clooney is as good as he's ever been.

We Own the Night is a crime drama starring Joaquin Phoenix and Mark Wahlberg. They play two brothers — one a cop, the other a nightclub owner — who find themselves on opposite sides of the law. James Gray directed this thriller.

Fresh Air's film critic reviews the sci-fi action-adventure Jumper. The film stars Hayden Christensen (Anakin Skywalker in the Star Wars prequels); it's directed by Doug Liman, whose other films include The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith.

The new releases Shutter Islandand The Ghost Writer both take places on islands off the coast of the Eastern seaboard. Critic David Edelstein explains how the two movies, made by Martin Scorsese and Roman Polanski respectively, are a study in contrasts — in directors, plot, and mood.

The third installment of Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy focuses once again on the corruption-fighting duo of journalist Mikael Blomkvist and cyber-avenger Lisbeth Salander. But as critic David Edelstein notes, an epic devotion to detail makes the movie seem like "an interminable footnote." (Note: Spoilers galore.)

British actor Jason Statham plays a professional hit man in The Mechanic, based on a 1972 Charles Bronson thriller. Critic John Powers says the film offers a revealing look at Statham's distinctive appeal.

The less you know about the unnerving thrillers Source Code and Insidious the better, says critic David Edelstein. But only one of the two films "has so much emotional heft that it never loses that exhilarating jitter."