Whether you like your screen suspense on the Hitchcockian side (The Skin I Live In, Harry, He's Here To Help, The Witness), chic and stylish (Run Lola Run, Subway), gritty and realist (A Hijacking, In the Fade), psychological (Take Shelter, Mr. Brooks) or dystopian (The Wave), SBS On Demand has something to satisfy all your thriller needs, with this range of nail-biting titles from all around the world.
Subway
M
France, 1985
Genre: Action, Thriller
Language: French
Director: Luc Besson
Starring: Isabelle Adjani, Christopher Lambert, Richard Bohringer, Michel Galabru
What's it about?
Fred, a raffish safe blower, takes refuge in the Paris Metro after being chased by the henchmen of a shady businessman from whom he has just stolen some documents. While hiding out in the back rooms and conduits of the Metro, Fred encounters a subterranean society of eccentric characters and petty criminals.
Streaming until May 31st, 2021 at SBS On Demand:
Harry, Here's Here To Help
M
France, 2000
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Language: French
Director: Dominik Moll
Starring: Laurent Lucas, Sergi López, Mathilde Seigner, Sophie Guillemin
What's it about?
Michel (Lucas) and Claire (Seigner) are a low-income, educated couple who - with three demanding daughters in the back seat - are on their way to their holiday home, an old house which requires so much work that it consumes their entire vacation. On their way, in the bathroom of a gas station, Michel is approached by Harry (López), a school acquaintance he can't remember, who then proceeds to invade Michel's life. Also known under the title With a Friend Like Harry.
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Streaming until June 3rd, 2021 at SBS On Demand:
The Skin I Live In
MA15+
Spain, 2011
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Horror
Language: Spanish
Director: Pedro Almodóvar
Starring: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes, Jan Cornet
What's it about?
Ever since his wife was burned in a car crash, Dr. Robert Ledgard (Banderas), an eminent plastic surgeon, has been interested in creating a new skin with which he could have saved her. After 12 years, he manages to cultivate a skin that is a real shield against every assault. In addition to years of study and experimentation, Robert needed a further three things: no scruples, an accomplice and a human guinea pig. From legendary director Pedro Almodóvar (All About My Mother, Talk To Her), this film won the 2012 BAFTA award for Best Film Not in the English Language.
Streaming until June 4th, 2021 at SBS On Demand:
The Wave
MA15+
Germany, 2008Genre: Thriller, DramaLanguage: German
Director: Dennis Gansel
Starring: Jurgen Vogel, Frederick Lau, Max Riemelt
What's it about?A high school teacher's unusual experiment, to demonstrate to his students what life is like under a dictatorship, spins horribly out of control when he forms a social unit with a life of its own. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008.
Streaming until June 6th, 2021 at SBS On Demand:
Take Shelter
M
USA, 2011
Genre: Drama
Language: English
Director: Jeff Nichols
Starring: Michael Shannon, Jessica Chastain, Shea Whigham, Katy Mixon, Kathy Baker
What's it about?Plagued by a series of apocalyptic visions, a young husband and father (Shannon) questions whether to shelter his family from a coming storm, or from himself. Written and directed by Jeff Nichols (Mud, Loving), and nominated for Independent Spirit awards in the Best Feature, Director, Actor (Shannon) and Supporting Actress (Chastain) categories.
Streaming until June 14th, 2021 at SBS On Demand:
A Hijacking
M, CC
Denmark, 2012
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Language: Danish, Swedish
Director: Tobias Lindholm
Starring: Pilou Asbæk, Amalie Ihle Alstrup, Abdihakin Asgar, Gary Skjoldmose Porter
What's it about?
The cargo ship MV Rozen is heading for harbor when it is hijacked by Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Amongst the men on board are the ship's cook Mikkel (Asbæk) and the engineer Jan (Møller), who along with the rest of the seamen are taken hostage in a cynical game of life and death. With the demand for a ransom of millions of dollars a psychological drama unfolds between the CEO of the shipping company and the Somali pirates.
Streaming until June 30th, 2021 at SBS On Demand:
In the Fade
MA15+
France, Germany, 2017
Genre: Drama, Crime, Thriller
Language: English, German
Director: Fatih Akin
Starring: Diane Kruger, Denis Moschitto, Numan Acar, Johannes Krisch, Ulrich Brandhoff
What's it about?
After two neo-Nazis kill a woman's (Kruger) husband and child, she seeks legal action when her world falls apart. As the two suspects stand trial for murder, her quest for justice soon pushes her to the edge. From acclaimed writer-director Fatih Akin (The Edge of Heaven, Head-On) and nominated for an Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film.
Streaming until June 30th, 2021 at SBS On Demand:
In the House
MA15+
France, 2012
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Language: English
Director: François Ozon
Starring: Kristin Scott Thomas, Fabrice Luchini, Emmanuelle Seigner, Ernst Umhauer
What's it about?
A 16-year-old teenager (Umhauer) sneaks into a classmate’s house. He then writes about the event in stories for his French teacher (Luchini). Inspired and confronted by the student, the teacher finds renewed joy in his job. Yet the teenager’s intrusion unleashes a series of uncontrollable events. Directed by François Ozon (Swimming Pool, Frantz) and inspired by the Spanish play The Boy in the Last Row.
Streaming into August 31st, 2021 until SBS On Demand:
Beast
M
UK, 2017
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Mystery, Crime
Language: English
Director: Michael Pearce
Starring: Jessie Buckley, Johnny Flynn, Trystan Gravelle, Geraldine James, Oliver Maltman
What's it about?
In a small island community, a troubled young woman (Buckley) falls for a mysterious outsider (Flynn) who empowers her to escape her oppressive family. When he comes under suspicion for a series of brutal murders she defends him at all costs and learns what she is capable of.
Streaming until September 8th, 2021 at SBS On Demand:
Edge of Darkness
MA15+
USA, 2009
Genre: Thriller, Crime
Language: English
Director: Martin Campbell
Starring: Mel Gibson, Danny Huston, Ray Winstone, Bojana Novakovic
What's it about?
After his daughter is shot dead in front of him, a Boston homicide detective (Gibson) slowly realises that that she was the target, not him, leading him to investigate the nuclear research facility where she worked even as shadowy security operatives, both state and private, try to ascertain what he could uncover. Based on the acclaimed 1985 BBC mini-series of the same name.
Streaming until September 13th, 2021 at SBS On Demand:
Angel Heart
MA15+
USA, 1987
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery
Language: English
Director: Alan Parker
Starring: Charlotte Rampling, Mickey Rourke, Lisa Bonet, Robert De Niro
What's it about?
The down-and-out private detective Harry Angel (Rourke) is ordered, by a mysterious man named Louis Cyphre (De Niro), to go on a mission to find a missing person. His routine failure soon leads to a bloody spur with himself as Harry Angel goes on a supernatural journey into his soul. Directed by Alan Parker (Midnight Express, Mississippi Burning).
Streaming until September 30th, 2021 at SBS On Demand:
Run Lola Run
M
Germany, 1998
Genre: Drama, Thriller, Crime
Language: German
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Moritz Bleibtreu, Franka Potente, Ludger Pistor
What's it about?
A woman (Potente) races against the clock to meet her boyfriend (Bleibtreu), who has fallen foul of his gangster boss and needs big money, fast. The film plays out in three scenarios, which demonstrate the repercussions of tiny choices and missed opportunities. The breakthrough feature of Tom Tykwer (Babylon Berlin).
Streaming until November 30th, 2021 at SBS On Demand:
Still Here
MA15+
USA, 2020
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Language: English
Director: Vlad Feier
Starring: Johnny Whitworth, Zazie Beetz, Maurice McRae, Afton Williamson, Larry Pine
What's it about?
Christian Baker (Whitworth), a young New York journalist from The Chronicle, gets assigned to a social story about the disappearance of Monique Watson, a 12 years old African-American girl from Brooklyn. Trying to get the assignment behind, he quickly and poorly researches the story and goes with the first lead. This brings down a series of pains. Christian with guilt decides to finally do his work properly finding himself in a race against time to help the family find the girl.
Streaming until January 31st, 2022 at SBS On Demand:
99 Homes
M, CC
USA, 2014
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Language: English
Director: Ramin Bahrani
Starring: Michael Shannon, Andrew Garfield, Laura Dern
What's it about?
Hard-working single father Dennis Nash (Garfield) and his mother (Dern) are evicted from their home. Desperate to get his house back, Nash goes to work for the wealthy and ruthless businessman Rick Carver (Shannon) - the very man who repossessed Nash’s home. It is a deal-with-the-devil that comes with an increasingly high cost - on Carver’s orders, Nash must evict families from their homes; in return, Nash is promised a lifestyle of wealth and glamour. As Nash falls deeper into Carver’s web, he finds his situation grows more brutal and dangerous than he ever imagined.
Streaming until March 31st, 2022 at SBS On Demand:
Marshland
MA15+
Spain, 2014
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Language: Spanish, Turkish
Director: Alberto Rodríguez
Starring: Raul Arevalo, Javier Gutierrez, Antonio de la Torre
What's it about?
The Spanish deep South, 1980. A series of brutal murders of adolescent girls in a remote and forgotten town bring together two disparate characters - both detectives in the homicide division - to investigate the cases. With deep divisions in their ideology, detectives Juan and Pedro must put aside their differences if they are to successfully hunt down a killer who for years has terrorised a community in the shadow of a general disregard for women rooted in a misogynistic past.
Streaming until March 31st, 2022 at SBS On Demand:
The Witness
MA15+
South Korea, 2018
Genre: Thriller
Language: Korean
Director: Cho Kyu-jang
Starring: Lee Sung-min, Kim Sang-ho, Jin Kyung, Kwak Si-yang, Bae Jung-hwa
What's it about?
Late at night, Sang-hoon witnesses a murder through his apartment window. When he's about to call the police, the killer notices that he is being watched, and starts to search the apartment to find and eliminate his only witness.
Streaming until March 31st, 2022 at SBS On Demand:
The Clan
MA15+
Spain, Argentina, 2015
Genre: Drama, Crime
Language: Spanish, English
Director: Pablo Trapero
Starring: Guillermo Francella, Liliana Popovich, Gastón Cocchiarale, Giselle Motta
What's it about?
In Argentina, between 1982 and 1985, the Puccios, a well-established family of San Isidro, an upper-class suburb of Buenos Aires, kidnap several people and hold them as hostages for a ransom. Winner of the Silver Lion for Best Director at the 2015 Venice Film Festival.
Streaming until March 31st, 2022 at SBS On Demand:
Mr. Brooks
MA15+, CC
USA, 2007
Genre: Crime, Thriller
Language: English
Director: Bruce A. Evans
Starring: Kevin Costner, Demi Moore, Dane Cook, William Hurt, Marg Helgenberger
What's it about?
Earl Brooks (Costner) is a successful businessman, loving husband and father - and secretly an insatiable serial murderer known as The Thumbprint Killer, so clever no one has ever suspected him. After two years of inactivity, his pathological compulsion is inflamed again by his wicked alter ego, Marshall (Hurt).
Streaming until May 3rd, 2022 at SBS On Demand:
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