Insights from the Cinematic World: thriller

Nerve

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The bigger the risk, the bigger the payoff in Nerve, an exhilarating thriller set on the streets of New York City, where amateur daredevils compete in an all-or-nothing game that mines their online information to exploit their wildest dreams—and their deepest fears.

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Our Kind of Traitor

While on holiday in Marrakech, an ordinary English couple, Perry (Ewan McGregor) and Gail (Naomie Harris), befriend a flamboyant and charismatic Russian, Dima (Stellan Skarsgård), who unbeknownst to them is a kingpin money launderer for the Russian mafia.

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Concussion

Will Smith stars in Concussion, a dramatic thriller based on the incredible true story of an American Nigerian immigrant Dr. Bennet Omalu, the brilliant forensic neuropathologist who made the first discovery of CTE, a football-related brain trauma, in a pro player and fought for the truth to be known.

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The irreconcilable differences between struggling homeowners and wealthy realtors led writer-director Ramin Bahrani to his title. On the one hand, the title refers to the big payday Carver and Nash are hustling towards. But in addition, Bahrani liked that 99 HOMES echoes Nobel Prize-winning economist Joseph Stiglitz’s coining of the now-ubiquitous phrase “the 99%” – referring to the vast majority of the world’s populace who don’t enjoy the mega-wealth of the 1%, who partake in nearly a quarter of the world’s riches.

99 Homes

A propulsive, timely thriller unfolds against an ageless story of greed, injustice and a man
confronting a corrupted system in 99 HOMES. The film showcases three electric performances as Michael Shannon, Andrew Garfield and Laura Dern play out an escalating battle of money, morals and wills.

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The Forger

Learning that his teenage son Will (Tye Sheridan) has been diagnosed with cancer, Ray Cutter (John Travolta) manages to get out of prison nine months ahead of schedule to rejoin the household where Ray’s spry, ornery dad, Joseph (Christopher Plummer), has been caring for Will in Ray’s absence.

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Child 44

A proud product of the Soviet system, orphan-turned-war-hero Leo Demidov (Tom Hardy) has risen through the ranks of the MGB, the state’s domestic security apparatus, to become a star investigator of dissident activity.

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Cut Bank

Cut Bank is a clever morality tale, a visceral thriller, and ultimately a surprising story of redemption. It is an original story populated by well-drawn, unique characters that manages to be both contemporary and classic at the same time.

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The Lazarus Effect

The story builds on a mysterious medical reality that has resulted in more than 3 dozen documented cases of the so-called Lazarus Phenomenon – when a patient spontaneously returns to life even after resuscitation has failed, named for the Biblical figure who rose from the dead.

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Citizenfour

Citizenfour is a real life thriller, unfolding by the minute, giving audiences unprecedented access to filmmaker Laura Poitras and journalist Glenn Greenwald’s encounters with Edward Snowden in Hong Kong, as he hands over classified documents providing evidence of mass indiscriminate and illegal invasions of privacy

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Before I Go To Sleep

Before I Go To Sleep starring Nicole Kidman is a thriller based on the worldwide best-selling novel about a woman who wakes up every day remembering nothing—the result of a traumatic accident in her past—until one day, new terrifying truths emerge that force her to question everyone around her…

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Gone Girl

From the tour de force thriller that became a bestselling must-read comes David Fincher’s screen version of Gone Girl, a wild ride through our modern media culture and down into the deep, dark fault lines of an American marriage – in all its unreliable promises, inescapable deceits and pitch-black comedy.

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