Best Mexican thriller movies

Sonora: The Devil’s Highway (2019)

1931, a year of nationalisms and excesses: The Chinese are expelled from Sonora; the US deports Mexicans and closes its borders. Twelve desperate people cross the Sonoran desert in a 1929 Chrysler, hoping to find peace in Baja California. As their sojourn exposes both the best and the worst of human nature, racism, greed, and paranoia prove as deadly as the merciless landscape around them.

Human Animals (2020)

The harmony of a seemingly idyllic neighborhood is disrupted when a dog attacks a young girl.

The Violin (2005)

In an unnamed Latin American country that closely resembles Mexico, the government fights a rural insurgency with torture, assault, rape, and murder. Soldiers descend on a town, cutting off the rebels from their cache of ammunition hidden in a field. A family of grandfather, son, and grandson are among the rebels in the hills. The grandfather, with his violin over his shoulder, tries to pass the checkpoint, ostensibly to tend his corn crop. The commanding officer lets him pass but insists on a daily music lesson.

The Darkness (2016)

A family lives in a cabin in the middle of a submerged forest in the mist and shrouded in perpetual twilight after an undefined global catastrophe. The father keeps his children locked in the basement into believing that a wild beast roams outside.

El señor fotógrafo (1953)

Cantinflas, a traveling photographer, is captured by some gangsters while trying to get some flowers for his girlfriend. The gangsters have confused him with the assistant of Dr. Penongo, a scientist who has discovered the formula of a new atomic bomb. Meanwhile, Penongo has suffered a car accident and has lost his memory ...

Help Me, Please (2020)

A child stumbles upon what seems to be the perfect house, yet its interior holds unexpected surprises.

Los bastardos (2008)

A 24 hour period in the lives of Fausto and Jesus, two undocumented Mexican day-laborers in L.A. Each day another task, each day the same pressure to find money. They go about their daily routine, standing on the corner at the Home Improvement Store waiting for work to come. Today, the job they are given is well paid compared to their poor usual wages.

The Neighbor (2017)

Improvised film about an ex-kidnapper trying to fit back into 'normal' society but he finds himself repeating the same patterns from his past of observation and monitoring with his next door neighbors.

Beyond The Mountain (2019)

Miguel is a lonely boy letting his life pass by in a monotonous routine. He works in a public kiosk, takes care of his mother Consuelo and dreams with Carmela's love, one of his usual clients. One day, this perfect bubble of dissatisfaction pops when his mother dies. The tragic event, forces him to face his past and to make a radical decision: find the father that abandoned them, with the intention to kill him.

Obsessions (2022)

A young gay university student in search of his identity and his queer sister deal with adversity by confronting their conservative father, and discovering that their sexuality overpowers them in the desire of their most unexpected obsessions.

Desfase (2022)

Vidas violentas (2015)

Lost Paradise (2016)

Mexican Caribbean islands are famous for their spectacular beauty. The vast distance where them are found, has transformed them into dens of heartless men, prepared to whatever they need to do in order to remain anonymous. Three young people decide to visit one of these islands, without knowing that there is something inside that can separate them forever.

Nocturne (2016)

Ana, a mysterious nurse, is hired to take care of Oli, an old sick man in his last days. The relationship becomes uncomfortable when she reveals a past that they had apparently shared. “Nocturne” is the intimate encounter between two lonely people seeking to settle accounts with the past. It’s a dark nightmare between the two.

The Dinner (2023)

After breaking up with her boyfriend, Mónica gathers her friends for a casual dinner to reveal a dark secret.

Failure! (2023)

Shot in a single, 87-minute take, James has just one hour to choose between financial ruin or murder to protect his family.

Maria of My Heart (1979)

Héctor and María meet again after eight years of not seeing each other. She works as a magician in cabarets and he robs houses. María convinces Héctor to become a magician and work together. Life seems to smile on them until one day, when Maria travels to another city, the couple's situation will be overshadowed by an unfortunate event.

El lado oscuro (2013)

A novelist realizes that his works gradually begin to exceed reality into a world of the unknown and supernatural, creating in its viewers an atmosphere of terror and suspense.

Clara's Rage (2016)

After getting bitten by a rabid dog, Clara must stay locked in the small cabin where she lives with her mother and husband for 40 days. While the town is assaulted by a pack of savage dogs, Clara's seclusion causes a growing desire for freedom. To escape, she will have to overcome her family's fear and determination to protect her.

La Devoradora (1946)

After her lover commits suicide, Diana involves her fiancé and his nephew in a scheme to help her disappear with the corpse.

Alta Tensión (1997)

A retired man that used to work for the National Electricity Company fight with his sons who want to get his money.

Guyana: Crime of the Century (1979)

This horrific dramatization of the Guyana tragedy traces the steps of Reverend Jim Jones, a highly charismatic, but profoundly paranoid clergyman, who after years of evangelism and good deeds, begins his own church in the mid-western United States. When Jim Jones becomes increasingly obsessed with the belief that the CIA is "a wicked enemy" who is out to get him, he emigrates with his congregation to Guyana, where he plans to create a utopia. But Jim Jones' utopia consists of a society where he demands his followers turn their minds, bodies and possessions over to him, one that is rife with orgies, physical violence, mental torture, and sexual abuse of children and adults. Ultimately, Jim Jones' paranoia reaches a fevered pitch that culminates in him taking savage action against his own congregation. (VCI Home Video)

Dark Seduction (2010)

Laura is a successful plastic surgeon who feels her life is somewhat empty. She meets a young nurse and falls in love and experiences sexuality to a extent not known to her. However, this spiral of desire and seduction is a dangerous game where no one is who they appear to be.

The Fifth Commandment (2012)

Víctor, a psychopath, loves carving crosses onto women post-mortem, blames paedophile priest and mother-in-denial for his behaviour, falls in love with one of his intended victims and decides to give up his adopted lifestyle. An alcoholic detective (he’s mourning his sister’s passing), eventually tracks down Víctor, and manages to break his habit with the bottle.

Rage (1966)

Small-town doctor bitten by rabid dog, races the clock to get to the city and receive treatment.

Las siete muertes (2017)

After the strange death of her boyfriend and beloved ones, one by one, Clara lives terrified and mistrustful, suspecting revenge from a famous writer she worked with ten years ago. A circle that will only close with the seventh victim.

Throw Everything Into Play (2020)

Ismael, a 12 year old boy, dreams to become a professional baseball player but he is asthmatic. One night, while approaching the girl he loves, he witnesses a crime.

Sweet Obsession (2022)

When a university student moves in with a family in Mexico City, conflicts emerge. An inevitable affaire with the father, a rebellious bond with the adolescent daughter and tensions with the mother lead up to a painful secret that will shake the family apart.

El complot mongol (1977)

In the context of a visit by the President of the United States to Mexico, there is a threat that China will attack his life. Policeman Filiberto is commissioned to avoid it, at any cost. His searches in the Chinatown will lead him to endanger his life, while he will find love in the young Marta.

Beautiful Losers (2021)

A boy and a girl who have just met transport a corpse on request to the north of Mexico. When the police discover them at a routine check, they are forced to flee. Forced to team up, they will abandon their secrecy and mistrust while trying to assert his only heritage: a dead man who they only know is worth money if they manage to take him to his destination.