Category Archives: Thriller

2015, Acceptable for teenagers, Action Film, Action Hero, Cancer theme, Contract Killing, Father-daughter relations, Improbable details, Mad scientist, Mediocre, Merely acceptable, Mother-daughter relations, Netflix Streaming, Nothing special, Sci-Fi, Suspense, Thriller, Violent

Self/Less (2015)

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From IMDB:

An extremely wealthy man, dying from cancer, undergoes a radical medical procedure that transfers his consciousness into the body of a healthy young man. But all is not as it seems when he starts to uncover the mystery of the body’s origin and the organization that will kill to protect its cause

From Netflix you can stream this full-length film which lasts almost two hours.

Ryan Reynolds  plays the transformed real estate mogul (Ben Kingsley ) who now has a new body which he discovers to his horror belonged to a young father. This previous owner of the body sold his body in order to get money to treat his daughter’s illness. Now Reynolds must confront the grieving widow and her now healthy daughter in order to save all their lives from the ruthless transformation organization.

As you might expect from this typical, not very special story, you must suspend a fair amount of disbelief. Reynolds quickly discovers that he has the fighting fitness of the dead father. Moreover he never misses a shot when in gun battles with the bad guys. Without spoiling the plot, I will hint that the use of certain medical pills leads to a happy ending.

Not a complete waste of two hours.

 

2007, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Accidental Death, Action Film, Blackmail, Bloody scenes, Cold Cases, Contract Killing, Cooking, Corruption, Could Be Hard To Watch, Crime, DNA, Drug Dealers, Extramarital Affair, Father-daughter relations, Financial malfeasance, Forensics, Gangs, Gay theme, Happy Family Gatherings, Jealousy, jiu-jitsu, Kidnapping, MHz Choice, Mother-daughter relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Pedophilia, Physical child abuse, Police Corruption, Prostitutes, Rape, Revenge, Sadism, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish crime series, Swedish Detective, Thriller, Torture, Violent, Weapons Dealer, Wife Beating

Irene Huss (2007)

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From MHz Choice:

From the best-selling crime fiction of Helene Tursten, Irene Huss is a ju-jitsu champion, a mother, and a detective inspector. Her husband, Krister, is a successful chef and luckily for Irene, he gladly shoulders a fair share of the household tasks. In her work with the Violent Crimes Unit in Gothenburg, Irene encounters criminal minds of all stripes: from drug dealers to serial killers to psychotic young girls. Each new case challenges her assumptions about herself and others.

From MHz Choice (only foreign films with subtitles) you can stream 2 seasons of this Swedish crime series. Each season offers 6 episodes where each episode lasts approximately 1.5 hours.

As is common in so many detective series, the main police investigator is constantly interrupted when she is with her family of devoted husband Krister  and two daughters.  Running through all the episodes is the theme of her family life and her husband’s career as a chef. Often, in sometimes threatening ways, the husband and daughters become involved in Irene’s investigations. At times the lives of all four family members are in danger.

Repeatedly throughout the series we see Irene engaged in jiu-jitsu training which goes hand-in-hand with her many physical combats with criminals.  Irene is portrayed as somewhat of a superwoman who is always ready to chase on foot after a villain even if she should be suffering from some injury. Just suspend disbelief and enjoy the action sequences.

Expect a lot of nasty crime and violence. Expect ugly and explicit details of brutality, including rape and torture. This is not a series for the faint of heart.

On the positive side it is a pleasure to watch Irene’s happy family together. Also each story is so compelling and suspenseful that I could not stop watching each episode.

2018, Abduction, Action Film, Action Hero, Anti-terrorism, British, British Politics, Car Chase, Career Competition, Complicated, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Corruption, DO NOT MISS, Dysfunctional Lives, Extramarital Affair, Failing Marriage, Family Conflict, Forensics, Gangs, Made For TV, Netflix Streaming, Nudity, Political Suspense, Politicians, PTSD, Romance, Sex Scenes, Suspense, Terrorists, Thriller, Valium appropriate, Violent, War Veterans

Bodyguard (2018)

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From IMDB:

A contemporary thriller featuring the Royalty and Specialist Protection Branch of London’s Metropolitan Police Service.

From Netflix:

Sgt. David Budd is promoted to a protection detail for UK Home Secretary Julia Montague, but he quickly clashes with the hawkish politician.

From Netflix you can stream the 6 episodes of the only season available.  Each episode is an hour except the last episode which lasts 75 minutes.

In Britain this TV series was a well-deserved smash hit. Character interplay, plot, action sequences, and romance are seamlessly joined. Because certain scenes are meticulously detailed (for example the disarming of a bomb attached to a person), some viewers might at times find the film progress slow. However, for me those details just added to the unceasing tension.  At times I was literally on the edge of my seat.

Purposeful spoiler: the series has a satisfactory end.

WARNING:  British thriller TV series are not squeamish and have no qualms about killing off characters that you might think were essential to the plot.

Gina McKee (who plays Anne Sampson) was familiar to me as the actor who played Irene Forsyte in the 2002 TV series “The Forsyte Saga”.  Along with her character, Richard Madden (as David Budd) and Keeley Hawes (as Julia Montague) steal the show. But all the acting is wonderful.

As far as political thrillers go,  you cannot go wrong with this series.

 

2018, Abduction, Action Film, Action Hero, Amazon Prime, Amnesia, Bloody scenes, Brother-Sister relations, Car Chase, Child abuse, Complicated, Creepy, Detective, Disturbing Image, Emotional child abuse, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, Forensics, Improbable details, Invincible Hero, Kidnapping, Mad scientist, Marital Infidelity, Mental Illness, Mother-son relations, Murder, Murder Investigation, Physical child abuse, Psychopath, Revenge, Serial Killer, Sometimes seems silly, Suspense, Thriller, Torture, Unbelievably smart detective, Violent

Absentia (2018)

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From Amazon Prime:

Centers on an FBI agent who disappears without a trace while hunting a serial killer.

From IMDB:

After being declared dead in absentia, an FBI agent must reclaim her family, identity and innocence when she finds herself the prime suspect in a string of murders.

From Amazon Prime you can stream the 10 episodes of this one season Amazon Prime Original series. Each episode lasts about 45 minutes.

With so many categories involved, it is hard to pin down a short characterization: suspense, police detectives, FBI, serial killers, mad scientist, kidnapping, innocent suspect trying to find the truth.

Emily Byrne, who is played by Stana Katic (Kate Becket of “Castle” fame), is central to the story. Emily, an FBI agent, has been missing for 6 years. Her supposed killer, Conrad Harlow, is released from jail when she mysteriously reappears suffering from amnesia. Meanwhile her husband, FBI agent Nick Durand, has remarried Alice Durand. Nick and Alice are raising Flynn, Nick’s son by Emily. Needless to say, Nick will remain conflicted about a choice between Emily and Alice for all ten episodes.

Emily’s energies are devoted for all ten episodes in finding out what ever happened to her. She has nightmare flashbacks to being placed in a sealed glass tank that regularly fills with water to almost drown her. Unfortunately Harlow is murdered and Emily is blamed. More murders ensue for which Emily is again blamed. For the rest of the story Emily is on the run from the Boston Police Department and the FBI in a desperate attempt to learn the truth and clear her name. Emily’s father and brother become involved. Nick teams up with a BPD detective to do the investigation.

Before you devote yourself to 10 episodes, there are some warnings:

  • At least the first time you see that torture tank you will almost certainly cringe. That tank is a persistent fixture in the story.
  • Emily is an unbelievable superwoman: she leaps over walls, she runs for long distances, seeming she hardly ever eats or sleeps, she always invents incredibly clever solutions for each crisis. In other words, just suspend disbelief.
  • Similarly there are just too many suddenly convenient discoveries, clues, escapes, etc. Again just suspend disbelief. But it did help to have a happy (if somewhat lame) ending.

Having warned you, nevertheless I breathlessly binge-watched all ten episodes.

2012, Acceptable Trash, Action Film, Action Hero, B-movie, Bad Acting, Bloody scenes, Car Chase, CIA, Contract Killing, Corny at times, Father-daughter relations, Greed, Improbable details, Mediocre, Suspense, Thriller, Violent, Weapons Dealer

Erased (2012)

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From IMDB:

An ex-CIA agent and his estranged daughter are forced on the run when his employers erase all records of his existence, and mark them both for termination as part of a wide-reaching international conspiracy.

From Netflix you can stream this 1 hour 40 minutes single film (not a series).

Formulaic (CIA killers, CIA agents moving to the dark side, invincible ex-CIA agent hero and his estranged but  brave and clever daughter, amoral weapons-dealing corporation) film with lots of action, chasing, and sometimes really bad and corny acting.

You have seen it all before, but it just fun seeing the bad guys get what is coming to them.

2014, Action Film, Bloody scenes, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Corruption, Crude Talk, Dark, Ends in Cliff Hanger, Ethical struggles, Extramarital Affair, Forensics, Gloomy, Grungy, Gun Trafficking, MHz Choice, Military Corruption, Murder, Murder Investigation, Personal Betrayal, Police Corruption, Polish, Polish Border Guards, Serial Killer, Suspense, Thriller, TV Series, Upsetting ending, Violent, Weapons Dealer

Wataha (2014)

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From IMDB:

After bombing attack, which killed his friends from the Border Guard, Captain Wiktor Rebrow trying to unravel the mystery and figure out what happened and who is behind it all.

From MHz Choice:

A tense Polish thriller about an elite border unit specializing in human trafficking cases. After a bomb attack decimates his team, the lone survivor sets out to bring the perpetrators to justice.

From MHz Choice you can stream the only Polish TV series offered. Only Season 1 is available with its 6 episodes, each about 45 minutes. “Wataha” according to the subtitles means “The Pack” even though IMDB calls it “The Border.”

UNFORTUNATELY:  Season 1 resolves neither the mystery nor the injustices. IMDB describes the episodes of Season 2 and even those episodes do not end the story. Even though the series is very well done, you might want to wait until someday you can see the story to its conclusion.

Along the border between Poland and the Ukraine there is human trafficking and that is exclusively where the action takes place. But the story is really about the border guard Wiktor Rebrow who is framed for several murders and the DA Iga Dobosz who pursues Rebrow relentlessly but finally realizes Rebrow was set up just as Rebrow escapes from the police and flees toward the Ukraine at the unsatisfactory end of Season 1.

“Bleak”, “Grungy”,  “Ugly” and “Depressing” are a few words that describe the Polish territory and its inhabitants. If this presentation is representative of Poland,  you can forget about ever visiting Poland.

Isn’t it too bad that the episodes are so exciting when there will be no satisfactory conclusion in the foreseeable future?

2007, Abduction, Abuse of Women, Action Film, Bloody scenes, Crime thriller, DNA, Extramarital Affair, Forensics, Large-scale gang activity, Lesbian Theme, Made For TV, MHz Choice, Mixed Martial Arts, Murder, Norwegian, Norwegian Crime Story, Nudity, Prison, Prostitutes, Suspense, Theft, Thriller, Violent

Codename Hunter (2007)

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From IMDB:

An intense hijacking of a prisoner transfer van which leads to a formation of a secret police unit called HUNTER. The officers in this specialized group don’t always go by the book but they often get solid results. The leader is Dan W. who says he is just an analyst…but he is very smart and has a nickname of ‘sniper’. Also in the group is an undercover cop who is good with details and a good kick boxer. Six episodes cover one complete story through lots of action and complicated political characters and criminal elements.

From MHz Choice you can stream 2 seasons of this Norwegian crime thriller.  Each season contains 6 one-hour episodes.

So far the Norwegian offerings from MHz Choice have been excellent, including this exciting story.

Probably the lead male character is Bjorn Ronningen (played by Mads Ousdal). Throughout season 1 his wife is about to give birth while Bjorn is sent to many countries tracking down the gang.

Undoubtedly the lead female character is the undercover agent Kikki (played by Ane Dahl Torp) who spends the entire season 1 in great danger as she infiltrates the gang and falls in love with one of the criminals.

Enough excitement and complications to keep us interested.

2012, Acorn TV, Action Film, British, Complicated, Confusing Plot, Conspiracy, DO NOT MISS, Mother-daughter relations, Nazis, Nudity, Personal Betrayal, Plot Twist, Sex Scenes, Spy Theme, Suicide, Suspense, Thriller, War, WWII

Restless (2012)

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From Acorn TV:

Boasting a “fabulous British cast” (LA Times), this Emmy-nominated drama is a tale of passion, duplicity, and betrayal. Ruth Gilmartin (Michelle Dockery, Downton Abbey) is stunned to learn that her mother (Charlotte Rampling, Broadchurch), has been living a double life. Her real name is Eva Delectorskaya, and she worked as a spy for the British in the 1940s.

In just two 88 minute episodes Acorn TV streams this excellent spy drama.

As with many spy stories, the plot is complicated and there are many characters. But the suspenseful sequence of events is worth the trip even if at times it is not clear what is happening. Finally at the end you may be surprised to learn who the real “bad guy” is.

Besides Charlotte Rampling and Michelle Dockery, you might also recognize:

  • Rufus Sewell (Lord Melbourne in the TV series “Victoria”) plays Lucas Romer.
  • Michael Gambon  plays Lord Romer.  Because his acting resume is so huge it seems almost beneath him to recall that he played Professor Albus Dumbledore in “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 “.

Perhaps I am having a lucky streak, but this is another DO NOT MISS!

2011, Abduction, Action Film, Adultery, Bank Robbery, Bloody scenes, Boating, Cancer theme, Car Chase, Chase film, Complicated, Computer geeks, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Could Be Hard To Watch, Dark, Detective, Disturbing Image, DO NOT MISS, Dysfunctional Lives, Explicit sex, Explicit sexual discussion, Family Conflict, Father-daughter relations, Father-son relations, FBI, Forensics, Gangs, Grim, International thriler, Iraq War, Made For TV, Marital Infidelity, MHz Choice, Murder, Nudity, Plot Twist, Psychopath, Sadism, Serial Killer, Sex Scenes, Spy Theme, Suspense, Swedish, Swedish crime series, Swiss detective, Terrorists, Thriller, Torture, TV Series, Various Romances, Violent, Well developed plot

Arne Dahl (2011)

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From MHz Choice:

Rough. Raw. Real. This is the world of Arne Dahl, whose crime novels have been transposed to the screen in adaptations that follow the dramatic tradition of all best-selling Scandinavian thrillers. The series revolves around cases taken on by the ‘A Unit’, an elite force of officers recruited after a series of assassinations rocks Stockholm’s high society.

MHz Choice streams several seasons (from many years beginning with 2011) of this Swedish thriller.  There are 5 complete stories, one per different year. Each story consists of 2 episodes. Each Episode is about 1.5 hours long. Swedish script with English subtitles.

REVISION 1 (Feb 2021):

There are now 2 seasons available from MHz Choice.  In the second season several of the excellent first season actors are missing or have been replaced.  Season 2 is acceptable, but not (in my opinion) a good as season 1.  Season 2 is a bit more of a soap opera. Still worth watching.

ORIGINAL REVIEW:

Throughout the 5 stories the same team of detectives are together. As is usual in such productions, the personal lives of the detectives are easily as important as the mystery plots.

As powerful and as grim as the stories are, they are so well done that they are really worth watching. But you should expect blood, torture as well as some explicit sex. Many scenes involve foot or car chases.

Not only are the stories complicated, but there are many surprise turns including some endings you might not expect.

This series is so compelling that I will rate it a DO NOT MISS!

 

 

 

2014, Abduction, Action Film, Action Hero, Arson, Bloody scenes, Brother-Brother relations, Car Chase, Complicated, Computer geeks, Confusing Plot, Conspiracy, Contract Killing, Corruption, Emotional child abuse, Father-son relations, Financial malfeasance, Good Brother - Bad Brother, Greed, Grim, Grisly, MHz Choice, Mother-son relations, Murder Investigation, Newspaper Culture, Norwegian, Norwegian Journalists, Suicide, Suspense, Thriller, Uncle-Nephew relations, Violent

Mammon (2014)

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From IMDB:

A newspaper journalist revealing fraud in a large multinational company, finds his family involved, ruining his career, family relations, and entangles him in a following mystery.

From MHz Choice you can stream season 1 (2014) of this thriller. Each of the 6 episodes lasts about an hour. Season 1 is a complete story. Norwegian with English subtitles.  In the Spring of 2018 MHz Choice will offer Season 2 (2016).

For me the plot was complicated and a bit confusing, possibly because there were so many characters. Nevertheless the episodes were tense and exciting.  Peter Veras (played by Jon Oigarden) is placed in one difficult situation after another. Just watching him escape fatal traps set by all sorts of really evil people is exhausting.

Exciting enough to binge watch.  Thankfully, the story ends in episode 6.  Otherwise a cliff-hanger would have killed me.