The 40 most popular german thriller movies, ranked. Click any film for ratings, reviews, trailers, and where to watch.


Drive - The Pretenders
2026 · 1h 43m · DE
A young mechanic fakes an engagement with racing's most scandalous star — officially for his reputation, secretly for her own shot behind the wheel. But soon the lie threatens to destroy everything — including what's already become so much more than just a deal.


The Lives of Others
2006 · 2h 17m · DE
In 1984 East Berlin, dedicated Stasi officer Gerd Wiesler begins spying on a famous playwright and his actress-lover Christa-Maria. Wiesler becomes unexpectedly sympathetic to the couple, and faces conflicting loyalties when his superior takes a liking to Christa-Maria.


The Name of the Rose
1986 · 2h 10m · FR
14th-century Franciscan monk William of Baskerville and his young novice arrive at a conference to find that several monks have been murdered under mysterious circumstances. To solve the crimes, William must rise up against the Church's authority and fight the shadowy conspiracy of monastery monks using only his intelligence; which is considerable.


Tom Clancy's Without Remorse
2021 · 1h 50m · US
An elite Navy SEAL uncovers an international conspiracy while seeking justice for the murder of his pregnant wife.


The Three Musketeers
2011 · 1h 50m · DE
The hot-headed young D'Artagnan along with three former legendary but now down on their luck Musketeers must unite and defeat a beautiful double agent and her villainous employer from seizing the French throne and engulfing Europe in war.


Ninja Assassin
2009 · 1h 39m · US
Ninja Assassin follows Raizo, one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.


Machete
2010 · 1h 45m · US
After being set-up and betrayed by the man who hired him to assassinate a Texas Senator, an ex-Federale launches a brutal rampage of revenge against his former boss.


Point Break
2015 · 1h 54m · DE
A young undercover FBI agent infiltrates a gang of thieves who share a common interest in extreme sports. A remake of the 1991 film, "Point Break".


The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo
2009 · 2h 32m · DK
Swedish thriller based on Stieg Larsson's novel about a male journalist and a young female hacker. In the opening of the movie, Mikael Blomkvist, a middle-aged publisher for the magazine Millennium, loses a libel case brought by corrupt Swedish industrialist Hans-Erik Wennerström. Nevertheless, he is hired by Henrik Vanger in order to solve a cold case, the disappearance of Vanger's niece


M
1931 · 1h 50m · DE
In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.


The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari
1920 · 1h 17m · DE
Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recently went through. Francis and his friend Alan visit The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, an exhibit where the mysterious doctor shows the somnambulist Cesare, and awakens him for some moments from his death-like sleep.


Run Lola Run
1998 · 1h 20m · DE
Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manni. He lost 100,000 DM in a subway train that belongs to a very bad guy. She has 20 minutes to raise this amount and meet Manni. Otherwise, he will rob a store to get the money. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event along Lola's run.


Who Am I
2014 · 1h 45m · DE
Benjamin, a young German computer whiz, is invited to join a subversive hacker group that wants to be noticed on the world's stage.


The Girl Who Played with Fire
2009 · 2h 9m · DK
Mikael Blomkvist, publisher of Millennium magazine, has made his living exposing the crooked and corrupt practices of establishment Swedish figures. So when a young journalist approaches him with a meticulously researched thesis about sex trafficking in Sweden and those in high office who abuse underage girls, Blomkvist immediately throws himself into the investigation.


Fall for Me
2025 · 1h 43m · DE
Lilli is suspicious of her sister's new fiance, but when an attractive stranger enters her life, she's suddenly distracted by the thralls of desire.


The Ghost Writer
2010 · 2h 8m · FR
A writer stumbles upon a long-hidden secret when he agrees to help former British Prime Minister Adam Lang complete his memoirs on a remote island after the politician's assistant drowns in a mysterious accident.


The Ghost and the Darkness
1996 · 1h 49m · DE
Sir Robert Beaumont is behind schedule on a railroad in Africa. Enlisting noted engineer John Henry Patterson to right the ship, Beaumont expects results. Everything seems great until the crew discovers the mutilated corpse of the project's foreman, seemingly killed by a lion. After several more attacks, Patterson calls in famed hunter Charles Remington, who has finally met his match in the bloodthirsty lions.


K-19: The Widowmaker
2002 · 2h 18m · CA
When Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.


Guns Akimbo
2020 · 1h 38m · BE
An ordinary guy suddenly finds himself forced to fight a gladiator-like battle for a dark website that streams the violence for viewers. In order to survive and rescue his kidnapped ex-girlfriend, he must battle Nix, a heavily armed and much more experienced fighter.


Big Game
2014 · 1h 30m · FI
Air Force One is shot down by terrorists, leaving the President of the United States stranded in the wilderness of Finland. 13-year-old Oskari is on a hunting mission to prove his maturity to his kinsfolk by tracking down a deer, but instead discovers the President in an escape pod. With the terrorists closing in to capture their prize, the unlikely duo team up to escape their hunters.


Nemesis
2010 · 1h 23m · DE
Claire and Robert spend most of their time in a house they own in the beautiful and remote countryside in Italy. Their life seems to be perfect. But when Claire's sister gets murdered in the very same house, the traumatic event shakes up their relationship. Disappointment, fear and resentment they swept under the rug for years, resurface. Revealing the dark side of a blissful love - a dream that turns into a nightmare. It is the story of two people trapped in a dark secret.


The Wave
2008 · 1h 47m · DE
A school teacher discusses types of government with his class. His students find it too boring to repeatedly go over national socialism and believe that dictatorship cannot be established in modern Germany. He starts an experiment to show how easily the masses can become manipulated.


Chess Story
2021 · 1h 50m · AT
1938. While the Nazi troops march into Vienna, the lawyer Josef Bartok hastily tries to escape to the USA with his wife but is arrested by the Gestapo. Bartok remains steadfast and refuses to cooperate with the Gestapo that requires confidential information from him. Thrown into solitary confinement, Bartok is psychologically tormented for months and begins to weaken. However, when he steals an old book about chess it sets him on course to overcome the mental suffering inflicted upon him, until it becomes a dangerous obsession.


Rache für mein totes Kind
1998 · 1h 30m · DE
No overview available


Blood Red Sky
2021 · 2h 3m · DE
A woman with a mysterious illness is forced into action when a group of terrorists attempt to hijack a transatlantic overnight flight. In order to protect her son she will have to reveal a dark secret, and unleash the inner monster she has fought to hide.


The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest
2009 · 2h 27m · DK
After taking a bullet to the head, Salander is under close supervision in a hospital and is set to face trial for attempted murder on her eventual release. With the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his researchers at Millennium magazine, Salander must prove her innocence. In doing this she plays against powerful enemies and her own past.


Four Hands
2017 · 1h 27m · DE
After Sophie and Jessica had witnessed a brutal crime when they were kids, Jessica promised her younger sister Sophie: "I will always protect you!" Growing older, this promise became an obsession. Now, Jessica (28) is suffering from paranoia and sees threats to her and her sister everywhere. But Sophie (26) wants to live a normal life without fear, without her sister. She wants to become a pianist and wants to fall in love. When the perpetrators are released of prison after 20 years, Jessica is shocked and wants to confront them. But an accident changes everything. Jessica's promise to always protect her little sister turns into an existential nightmare.


Shattered
2022 · 1h 32m · DE
Chris, a wealthy divorcee, lives in a high-tech house of his own design in Montana. His life changes when he meets Sky, a mysterious young woman who draws him out of his shell and moves in after Chris is injured.


Heaven
2002 · 1h 36m · FR
A woman takes the law into her own hands after police ignore her pleas to arrest the man responsible for her husband's death, and finds herself not only under arrest for murder but falling in love with an officer.


Brick
2025 · 1h 39m · DE
When a mysterious brick wall encloses their apartment building overnight, Tim and Olivia must unite with their wary neighbors to get out alive.


The Calendar Killer
2024 · 1h 33m · DE
Klara is going to die today unless she kills her husband instead. The Calendar Killer has given her that impossible choice. When Jules starts his night shift at a telephone safety helpline for lonely women on their way home, Klara's call reaches him. He soon becomes her last hope for survival and races against time to save her.


Friend Request
2016 · 1h 32m · DE
Enjoying college life as a popular student, Laura shares everything with her more than 800 friends on Facebook. But one day, after accepting a friend request from a social outcast named Marina, Laura’s life is cursed...


Running Scared
2006 · 2h 2m · DE
A low-ranking thug is entrusted by his boss to dispose of a gun that killed corrupt cops, but things spiral out of control when the gun ends up in wrong hands.


Exit Plan
2019 · 1h 30m · BE
Insurance broker Max's life is about one thing - keeping his walnut brain tumour in check. He eats properly, exercises and lives properly, but all of this self-consciousness makes him more and more depressed. When he realises that his beloved wife plans to leave him, he decides to take his own life.


Open Water 2: Adrift
2006 · 1h 34m · DE
A weekend cruise on a luxurious party yacht goes horribly wrong for a group of old high-school friends when they get stuck in the water many miles from shore and a happy reunion turns into a fight for survival.


House of the Dead
2003 · 1h 30m · CA
On an island off the coast, a techno rave party attracts a diverse group of college coeds and a Coast Guard officer. Soon, they discover that their X-laced escapades are to be interrupted by zombies and monsters that attack them on the ground, from the air, and in the sea, ruled by an evil entity.


Pelican Blood
2020 · 2h 1m · BG
Wiebke, a professional horse trainer, faces a unique challenge when she adopts Raya, a five-year-old girl, who is prone to violent outbursts because of her traumatic past.


Brimstone
2016 · 2h 28m · BE
In the menacing inferno of the old North-American West, Liz is a genuine survivor who is hunted by a vengeful preacher for a crime she didn’t commit.


Pride and Glory
2008 · 2h 10m · US
A saga centered on the Tierneys, a multi-generational family of New York City Police officers. The family's moral codes are tested when Ray Tierney investigates a case that reveals an incendiary police corruption scandal involving his own brother-in-law. For Ray, the truth is revelatory, a Pandora's Box that threatens to upend not only the Tierney legacy but the entire NYPD.


The Million Dollar Hotel
2000 · 2h 2m · DE
A federal agent searches for a potential killer among the bizarre residents of a dilapidated Los Angeles hotel.
German cinema's two great periods bookend the century: Weimar-era Expressionism, whose shadows and angles built the visual grammar of horror and noir, and the New German Cinema of the 1970s under Fassbinder, Herzog, and Wenders.
Thrillers are engineered for tension: the pace, the withholding, the sense that something is closing in. The genre blends freely with crime, horror, and science fiction, and it's where a lot of the sharpest genre craft happens.