Crime thrillers as a genre offer the thrill of horror layered with the sensibilities of drama. Over the years, due to OTT’s non-stop expansion, a plethora of crime thrillers have made it to the surface of our screens that would never see the light of day. Gone are the days when good crime thrillers were few and far between; now, with the boom of OTT and the democratization of the entire filmmaking process, the only apparent scarcity is that of time. This phenomenon has largely loosened Hollywood’s deadlock on being the authority figure on all things film and TV and is majorly caused by the slow, but steady rise of global cinema rapidly ushered in by various OTT platforms. Here’s a look at eight international crime thrillers everyone must see.

8 Revanche (2008) - Austria

     Filmladen

Revanche is a Austrian thriller directed by Götz Spielmann, starring Irina Potapenko, Andreas Lust, and Johannes Krisch in prominent roles. The film’s plot revolves around an ex-convict, Alex, who robs a bank to help his sex worker girlfriend, Tamara (Irina Potapenko). After the bank job, Alex seeks out refuge at a nearby farm, only to realize his next door neighbor is actually a police officer. This high-octane film is full of twists and turns, not letting the viewer sit easy for even a second.

7 The Vanishing (1998) - Netherlands

     Argos Films

After the vanishing of his girlfriend Saskia (Johanna Her Steege) during a biking holiday in France, Rex (Gene Bervoets) becomes compulsively obsessed about finding her. Three years after her disappearance, Rex is approached by Raymond, who claims to have details about the incident. Directed by George Sluizer, The Vanishing is a film that simmers underneath the garb of normalcy, creating an eerie atmosphere during its course.

6 Gomorrah (2008) - Italy

     RAI Cinema Fandango

Touted as a main source of thematic inspiration for Anurag Kashyap’s war epic, Gangs of Wasseypur, Gomorrah is often viewed as a bible for all things gore and gang war. The film highlights the underbelly of the Italian mafia, where the Camorra crime syndicate operates without caution or fear. Director Matteo Garrone, through multiple storylines, highlights the tentacle-like impact the Camorra has on the lives of the residents of the slums of Campania. While some meekly, accept their fate, others try to put up a rebellion only to come to the realization: The Camorra is too large to be defeated.

5 City of God (2002) - Brazil

     Miramax FIlms

City of God is the tale of two boys that have been raised on opposite sides of Rio de Janeiro. While one becomes a professional photographer, the other becomes a local drug lord. In this deeply moving tale of the never-ending chain of poverty infused by violence and crime, director Fernando Meirelles paints a gore-filled, yet realistic portrait of life in Brazil’s unforgiving favelas.

4 Amores Perros (2000) - Mexico

     Zeta Entertainment

Amores Perros is a Mexican thriller-drama film directed by master filmmaker Alejandro González Iñárritu, the man responsible behind iconic films such as Birdman and The Revenant. Amores Perros is Iñárritu’s first installment in his “Trilogy of Death”, succeeded by 21 Grams and Babel. The narrative structure of the film is constructed as a triptych: connecting three different stories via a central event of a car crash. Upon its release the film was well received critically as well as commercially, earning Iñárritu an Academy Award Nomination for best foreign language film.

3 I Saw The Devil (2010) - South Korea

     ShowboxFineCutMagnolia Pictures

When the psychopathic Kyung-chul brutally murders a woman and her unborn baby on a cold winter night in South Korea, he unknowingly enters into a sadistic cat-and-mouse game, which will not end well for him. The woman who Kyung-chul murders, is the fiancé of special agent Kim Soo-hyeon, who makes it his life’s mission to make Kyung-chul die many deaths, before his time comes. A sadistically enticing revenge saga that never simmers and only boils, I Saw The Devil, is one of the best crime-thrillers to have come out of Korea in recent times.

2 Memories of Murder (2003) - South Korea

     CJ Entertainment

Before Bong Joon-ho became a household name after creating history with Parasite, he made Memories of Murder, a fan-favorite among crime connoisseurs. The film is based on a true story revolving around Korea’s first confirmed serial killings, where interestingly, the killer was still out in the open at the time of the film’s release. Even to this day, Memories of Murder is often regarded as one of the best crime-thrillers to have ever been made.

1 The Chaser (2008) - South Korea

     Showbox

The Chaser is a high-octane crime thriller that revolves around an ex-detective-turned-pimp, who finds himself facing a formidable foe in the form of a psychopathic killer, when one of his call girls goes missing. Directed by Na Hong-jin (The Wailing, The Yellow Sea), The Chaser is an edge-of-the-seat movie experience, that’s not recommended for people with a heart condition.