Best Thriller Movies of the 2000s
The 2000s reshaped thriller cinema, and this is what survived the decade's own hype cycle — 20 films ranked purely by audience score, from 2000 to 2009. The Dark Knight leads at 8.5. If you only work through the top ten, you will have covered the decade properly.
20 titles · average score 8.0 ·
The top 5 picks
- 1
The Dark Knight (2008)
★ 8.5 · 36,426 ratingsBatman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lt. Jim Gordon and District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the streets. The partnership…
- 2
Oldboy (2003)
★ 8.2 · 10,088 ratingsWith no clue how he came to be imprisoned, drugged and tortured for 15 years, a desperate man seeks revenge on his captors.
- 3
Inglourious Basterds (2009)
★ 8.2 · 24,585 ratingsIn Nazi-occupied France during World War II, a group of Jewish-American soldiers known as "The Basterds" are chosen specifically to spread fear throughout the Third Reich by scalping and brutally killing Nazis. The…
- 4
Memento (2000)
★ 8.2 · 16,592 ratingsLeonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty of locating his wife's killer, however, is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of short-term…
- 5
The Departed (2006)
★ 8.2 · 16,494 ratingsTo take down South Boston's Irish Mafia, the police send in one of their own to infiltrate the underworld, not realizing the syndicate has done likewise. While an undercover cop curries favor with the mob kingpin, a…
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How this list is ranked
Nothing on this page is hand-picked to hit a word count. We pull films matching this list's criteria from TMDB, require a real audience behind each score, and rank by that score — 20 titles averaging 8.0. The page rebuilds daily, so new releases appear here as soon as enough people have rated them.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best thriller movie of the 2000s?
The Dark Knight (2008) leads the decade with 8.5. The full list covers 2000–2009 and averages 8.0.
How many thriller movies from the 2000s are on this list?
20, each with at least 300 audience ratings behind its score. Anything with a thin vote count is excluded so the ranking reflects a real consensus.
Is this list updated?
Yes — it rebuilds every day from TMDB, so newly released movies appear as soon as enough people have rated them. You do not need an account to browse it, and there is no paywall on anything at MovieAI.