We all love suspense and drama! Not in life, of course. But suspenseful movies are what keep us interested. We all love a pinch of suspense in every film. Because if we know, what’s gonna happen, then there’s no point in watching that movie. No? So today, this blog is all about films that give us drama, thrill, and suspense all at once.
However, several platforms let you stream movies of every kind. Therefore, it must be difficult to decide what to watch and where. Right? Don’t fret! That’s what this article is about. You won’t have to do anything – just scroll down. Below is the list of the ten best suspense movies on HBO Max.
Image Courtesy: IMDb
A Kind of Murder
Director: Andy Goddard
Writer: Susan Boyd, Patricia Highsmith
Cast: Patrick Wilson, Jessica Biel, Haley Bennett
IMDb Rating: 5.3
Runtime: 1hr. 35mins
It’s an American suspense thriller inspired by the Patricia Highsmith novel The Blunderer. It premiered globally at the Tribeca Film Festival on April 17, 2016, and received mixed reviews from the viewers.
Walter Stackhouse, a wealthy architect, married a beautiful lady Clara living her best life in New York. But his lust and obsession with solving unsolved murder mysteries lead him into a tailspin of madness.
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A Storybook Ending
Director: Lanre Olabisi
Writer: Lanre Olabisi
Cast: Carra Patterson, Rotimi Paul, Sawandi Wilson
IMDb Rating: 5.9
Runtime: 18mins
It’s a short biographical film about James Blake, a retired Black tennis star, in 2015. Olabisi was inspired by the incident and made a short film with a pinch of comedy. It received all the positive reviews from the viewers.
It revolves around a black man who, in his self-defense, accidentally kills a white cop. Whereas the subsequent cover-up leads to more lies, extortion, and murder.
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A Simple Plan
Director: Sam Raimi
Writer: Scott B. Smith
Cast: Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, Bridget Fonda
IMDb Rating: 7.5
Runtime: 2hrs. 1min
A Simple Plan is a 1998 crime thriller inspired by the Smiths’ 1993 novel with the same title. It received a nomination for two Academy Awards, one for Best Supporting Actor (Thornton) and the other for Best Adapted Screenplay (Smith).
Three men with white-collar jobs find a crashed plane. Inside an aircraft, there’s $4.4 million in cash. They go above and beyond to keep money safe and hidden from everyone. But the story takes a turn when they begin to doubt each other.
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Backstabbing for Beginners
Director: Per Fly
Writer: Per Fly, Daniel Pyne, Michael Soussan
Cast: Theo James, Ben Kingsley, Belçim Bilgin
IMDb Rating: 6.2
Runtime: 1hr. 48mins
The film Backstabbing for Beginners is modeled on Michael Soussan’s autobiography. Critics claimed that the factual political thriller Backstabbing for Beginners classifies as intellectual and well-made despite offering little legitimate thrills.
The story follows the involvement of a young program coordinator at the UN concerning Iraq’s oil assets conspiracy.
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Capote
Director: Bennett Miller
Writer: Dan Futterman, Gerald Clarke
Cast: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Clifton Collins Jr., Catherine Keener
IMDb Rating: 7.3
Runtime: 1hr. 54mins
This biographical film centers on author Truman Capote. The film was a blockbuster hit, and critics praised Hoffman’s performance. Hoffman even won the Academy Award for Best Actor.
After learning about the Kansas family murder, Truman Capote decides to write a book. But during his writing, Capote develops a friendship with Perry Smith, one of the murderers of the death penalty.
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Moonfall
Director: Roland Emmerich
Writer: Roland Emmerich, Harald Kloser, Spenser Cohen
Cast: Halle Berry, Patrick Wilson, John Bradley
IMDb Rating: 5.1
Runtime: 2hrs. 10mins
Moonfall is a Sci-Fi fiction movie in 2022 and one of the most expensive movies produced at the time. However, viewers gave mixed reviews about the film.
When Moon leaves its orbit, three astronauts embark on a mission to save the Earth. But they realize soon that they won’t be returning or this might not be the mission they were preparing for.
Image Courtesy: Collider
Where the Crawdads Sing
Director: Olivia Newman
Writer: Delia Owens, Lucy Alibar
Cast: Daisy Edgar-Jones, Taylor John Smith, Harris Dickinson
IMDb Rating: 7.1
Runtime: 2hrs. 5mins
It’s a story about a murder mystery inspired by a novel by an American author Delia Owens. The book topped Amazon.com’s list of fiction bestsellers for the year 2019. Whereas the film also received mostly positive reviews.
Where the Crawdads Sing revolves around a girl who spent all his life in deep South Marshes. But the plot is when a man was murdered with whom she was involved, people begin suspecting her of murder.
Image Courtesy: IMDb
Malignant
Director: James Wan
Writer: James Wan, Ingrid Bisu, Akela Cooper
Cast: Annabelle Wallis, Maddie Hasson, George Young
IMDb Rating: 6.2
Runtime: 1hr. 51mins
It’s an American horror released in the US on September 10, 2021, and was accessible on HBO Max too. Critics were happy about the film and how it turned out to be good.
Malignant centers on a woman who frequently dreams where she witnesses murders. She gets horrified when she finds out what she sees in dreams happening in real life.
Image Courtesy: IMDb
Motherless Brooklyn
Director: Edward Norton
Writer: Edward Norton, Jonathan Lethem
Cast: Edward Norton, Gugu Mbatha-Raw, Alec Baldwin
IMDb Rating: 6.8
Runtime: 2hrs. 24mins
It’s an American crime thriller based on a novel of the same title by Jonathan Lethem. The movie garnered mixed reviews from critics, who praised the film’s concepts and Norton’s acting. In addition, Motherless Brooklyn was nominated for Best Original Score at the 77th Golden Globes.
It is a film set in 1950s New York and revolves around a private investigator. An isolated private investigator with Tourette’s Syndrome is ambitious to solve the murder case of his mentor and sole friend.
Image Courtesy: Wherever I look
The Fallout
Director: Megan Park
Writer: Megan Park
Cast: Jenna Ortega, Maddie Ziegler, Niles Fitch
IMDb Rating: 7.0
Runtime: 1hr. 36mins
Warner Bros.’s 2021 American teen drama “The Fallout” aired on HBO Max on January 27, 2022. Critics appreciated the director, writing, and Ortega’s acting, which was well received by the viewers. It was nominated for Hollywood Critics Association TV Awards for Best Streaming movie.
It revolves around a girl named Vada, a school student, who manages the emotional repercussions of a school shooting incident. As a result, her relationship with family and friends and her views towards the world has entirely changed.
