5 Upcoming Thrillers, Ranked by Hype
William likes watching movies and writing about those movies. Anything else is minutae.
2026 is rapidly coming to a close, so while the retrospectives of the year's best movies come in, it's also a good time to look to the future for what's to come. There are still some major films on the release docket for the year, some of which have received early positive reviews on the festival circuit and others which remain a mystery. Then there are the films set for the early months of 2027, many of which are just starting to pick up steam on the hype train.
There are plenty of upcoming films to get excited about, and no genre is more exciting than the thriller. There aren't a ton of true-blue thrillers set for release in the next few months, but there are some stellar standouts from big-name directors. In addition, there are a couple of smaller-scale films coming from more novice filmmakers that could also become new favorites. Of all the upcoming thrillers, these five definitely have the most hype.
5 'Above the Below' (2026)
A sci-fi survival thriller co-directed by and starring Idris Elba, Above the Below is a movie that comes with few expectations. Elba has been a steady screen presence for decades but has struggled to find a vehicle that properly utilizes his star power and persona. Even so, he's proven a solid lead in films that are otherwise standard programmers, such as the survival thriller Beast or the buddy action comedy Heads of State. With Elba also stepping behind the camera for Above the Below, alongside journeyman Martin Owen, there's a better chance that the movie provides some solid thrills.
Simplicity is the name of the game for this movie, which features Elba alongside Caitlin FitzGerald and Hero Fiennes Tiffin as three astronauts who are blown off course during their reentry into Earth's atmosphere, which puts them in a dire survival situation when their capsule ends up in the depths of the ocean. It's the kind of stripped-down thriller premise that can either rise based on how effectively it compounds its thrills, or sink if it relies on too many standard genre elements. Hitting theaters in early December, there's hope that Above the Below will rise to the occasion.
4 'River' (2027)
Like Above the Below, River has a simple premise that could provide some lean thrills. The hype is higher for this film, however, since it's already received some positive reviews from its premiere at TIFF in September. It's the feature directorial debut for Joshua Giuliano, but it's got some serious genre cred in front of the camera. Jane Levy, of the Evil Dead remake and Don't Breathe, and Jessica Rothe, of the Happy Death Day franchise, lead the movie, while Dane DiLiegro, who played the Predator in Prey, will fill the antagonist role. With all that talent and solid festival buzz, there's a good chance that River will be the thriller of choice in January.
Levy and Rothe play sisters, alongside Max Mattern as their brother, who come together after the death of their father to spread his ashes in a rural river. That family moment gets interrupted by DiLiegro's killer, and things get more complicated when their boat dies, and the trio finds themselves stranded in the water. A small scale often works in the favor of thrillers, as long as the film is able to keep its pacing taut and characters on edge. Based on what was seen of the horror-thriller at TIFF, there's a good chance River could become one of the genre's next big hits.
3 'Slayground' (2027)
Halloween may have come and gone, but it'll get a second round of scares in January when Jeremy Saulnier takes audiences to his Slayground. Saulnier has become one of the most dependable directors in the thriller genre over the last couple of decades. He started his career with the similarly Halloween-themed Murder Party, and has continued to deliver visceral thrills in movies like Blue Ruin, Green Room and Rebel Ridge. Ever since the terrifying trailer dropped for Slayground, fans have been pumped to see what kinds of nasty thrills Saulnier will deliver in what looks to be his pulpiest film yet.
Cory Michael Smith stars as a "scare actor" in a haunted Halloween attraction who wakes up with a case of amnesia and is surrounded by some real horror in the form of his slaughtered coworkers. Now wanted for multiple murders, he has to go on the run and find out the truth. That's a hell of a hook that combines fugitive thriller elements with gorier horror, which means Slayground could play well with audiences looking for something dark and sinister at the end of January. Saulnier has been more hit than miss when it comes to his genre exercises, and there's every reason to believe he'll bring the pain in his newest movie.
2 'Ray Gunn' (2026)
Brad Bird returns with his newest animated film at the end of the year with Ray Gunn, a longtime passion project for the director that combines the sci-fi genre with a noir mystery thriller plot. The film had its world premiere in October and received generally positive reviews, if not particularly effusive. Bird is still a major name in animation, and fans are suitably hyped to see him return since it's been eight years since his last film. The most positive reviews of the film have said that Bird has recaptured the magic of The Incredibles, but even if the film only has a fraction of that film's superior style, it will be a thrilling good time.
Sam Rockwell plays the titular character, a private eye in a retro-futuristic world with an alien partner (Tom Waits), who's hired to play bodyguard to a pop star (Scarlett Johansson). In true noir fashion, that job gets more complicated when the pop star is implicated in a murder, and Gunn has to untangle a conspiratorial web. All of that sounds incredibly entertaining, and the visuals alone are enough reason for animation and noir fans alike to get hype. Ray Gunn has endured a long road through development hell, but now there's light at the end of the tunnel for both Bird and his fans in December.
1 'The Thomas Crown Affair' (2027)
There's nothing quite like a heist thriller to get audiences hyped, and they'll be getting a big one in the first quarter of 2027. In his first live-action film since winning an Oscar for Sinners, Michael B. Jordan will be playing the titular role in The Thomas Crown Affair and will also be stepping behind the camera again after directing Creed III. The film is the second remake of the classic heist movie, which starred Steve McQueen, after the 1997 version starring Pierce Brosnan. By the looks of the film's first trailer, Jordan looks to be bringing the same level of star power and stylish thrills.
Similar to his predecessors in the role, Jordan's Thomas Crown will be a wealthy playboy who pulls heists not for financial gain, but for the thrill of the game. He'll play that game with an insurance investigator who's hot on his trail, played by Adria Arjona in a role previously taken on by Faye Dunaway and Rene Russo. Both previous versions of The Thomas Crown Affair found excitement in the sexual tension between the gentleman thief and dogged investigator, and it's not hard to imagine that Jordan and Arjona will share a similar explosive chemistry in this highly hyped thriller.
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