Desert Thriller Movies

List of the best desert thriller movies selected by visitors to our site: Gone Girl, 127 Hours, Breakdown, U Turn, Sneaky Pete, Unknown, The Killing of Kenneth Chamberlain, The Raven, The Skin I Live In, Nocturnal Animals.

In the top there are new films of 2021, a plot description and trailers for films that have already been released.

Markimdb: 8.1
Genrethriller, drama, detective
CountryUSA
Duration02:29

    With his wife's disappearance having become the focus of an intense media circus, a man sees the spotlight turned on him when it's suspected that he may not be innocent.

    Markimdb: 7.5
    Genrethriller, drama, adventure, biography
    CountryUnited Kingdom, USA, France
    Duration01:33

    The true story of mountain climber Aron Ralston's remarkable adventure to save himself after a fallen boulder crashes on his arm and traps him in an isolated canyon in Utah.

    Markimdb: 7
    Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:33

    When his SUV breaks down on a remote Southwestern road, Jeff Taylor lets his wife, Amy, hitch a ride with a trucker to get help. When she doesn't return, Jeff fixes his SUV and tracks down the trucker -- who tells the police he's never seen Amy. Johnathan Mostow's tense thriller then follows Jeff's desperate search for his wife, which eventually uncovers a small town's murderous secret.

    Markimdb: 6.7
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUSA, France
    Duration01:59

    When Bobby's car breaks down in the desert while on the run from some of the bookies who have already taken two of his fingers, he becomes trapped in the nearby small town where the people are stranger than anyone he's encountered. After becoming involved with a young married woman, her husband hires Bobby to kill her. Later, she hires Bobby to kill the husband.

    Markimdb: 8.1
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:59

    A con man on the run from a vicious gangster takes cover from his past by assuming the identity of his prison cellmate, Pete, “reuniting” with Pete’s estranged family, a colorful, dysfunctional group that threatens to drag him into a world just as dangerous as the one he’s trying to escape - and, just maybe, give him a taste of the loving family he’s never had.

    Markimdb: 6.8
    Genreaction, thriller, detective
    CountryUnited Kingdom, Germany, France, USA
    Duration01:53

    An American biologist attending a conference in Berlin awakens from a coma after a car accident, only to discover that someone has taken his identity and that no one, not even his wife, believes him. With the help of an illegal immigrant and a former Stazi agent, he sets out to prove who he is and find out why people are trying to kill him.

    Markimdb: 6.9
    Genrethriller, drama
    CountryUSA

    Based on the true story of the events that led to the death of Kenneth Chamberlain Sr., an elderly African American veteran with bipolar disorder, who was killed during a conflict with police officers who were dispatched to check on him.

    Markimdb: 6.4
    Genrethriller, crime, detective
    CountryUSA, Spain, Hungary, Serbia
    Duration01:50

    A fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe's life, in which the poet is in pursuit of a serial killer whose murders mirror those in the writer's stories.

    Markimdb: 7.6
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountrySpain, USA
    Duration02:00

    A brilliant plastic surgeon creates a synthetic skin that withstands any kind of damage. His guinea pig: a mysterious and volatile woman who holds the key to his obsession.

    Markimdb: 7.5
    Genrethriller, drama
    CountryUSA
    Duration01:32

      Susan Morrow receives a book manuscript from her ex-husband – a man she left 20 years earlier – asking for her opinion of his writing. As she reads, she is drawn into the fictional life of Tony Hastings, a mathematics professor whose family vacation turns violent.

      Genrethriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA, Mexico, Canada

      An ambitious young carny with a talent for manipulating people with a few well-chosen words hooks up with a female psychiatrist who is even more dangerous than he is.

      Markimdb: 7.8
      Genreaction, thriller, drama, crime
      CountryUSA
      Duration02:14

        The true story of Captain Richard Phillips and the 2009 hijacking by Somali pirates of the US-flagged MV Maersk Alabama, the first American cargo ship to be hijacked in two hundred years.

        Markimdb: 6.7
        Genrethriller, detective
        CountryRussia, USA, United Kingdom, Cyprus

        Looking to investigate recruitment techniques of ISIS to lure women into Syria, Amy Whitaker, a journalist, creates a Facebook profile of a Muslim convert. When an ISIS recruiter contacts her online character, she experiences the process first hand.

        Markimdb: 7.7
        Genrethriller, drama, biography
        CountryUSA, United Kingdom
        Duration02:00

        As the Iranian revolution reaches a boiling point, a CIA 'exfiltration' specialist concocts a risky plan to free six Americans who have found shelter at the home of the Canadian ambassador.

        Markimdb: 7.1
        Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
        CountryUSA
        Duration02:03

        Lake Tahoe, 1969. Seven strangers, each one with a secret to bury, meet at El Royale, a decadent motel with a dark past. In the course of a fateful night, everyone will have one last shot at redemption.

        Markimdb: 7.3
        Genrehorror, fantastic, thriller, drama, detective
        CountryUSA, Japan
        Duration02:27

        Though Kevin has evidenced 23 personalities to his trusted psychiatrist, Dr. Fletcher, there remains one still submerged who is set to materialize and dominate all the others. Compelled to abduct three teenage girls led by the willful, observant Casey, Kevin reaches a war for survival among all of those contained within him — as well as everyone around him — as the walls between his compartments shatter apart.

        Markimdb: 7.1
        Genrethriller, drama
        CountryUSA
        Duration01:41

          Dirty tricks stand to soil an ambitious young press spokesman's idealism in a cutthroat presidential campaign where 'victory' is relative.

          Markimdb: 7.4
          Genrethriller, drama, crime
          CountryUSA

          A charismatic New York City jeweler always on the lookout for the next big score makes a series of high-stakes bets that could lead to the windfall of a lifetime. Howard must perform a precarious high-wire act, balancing business, family, and encroaching adversaries on all sides in his relentless pursuit of the ultimate win.

          Markimdb: 7.3
          Genreaction, thriller, melodrama, drama, crime
          CountryUSA, France
          Duration02:13

            A married couple's life is turned upside down when the wife is accused of a murder. Lara Brennan is arrested for murdering her boss with whom she had an argument. It seems she was seen leaving the scene of the crime and her fingerprints were on the murder weapon. Her husband, John would spend the next few years trying to get her released, but there's no evidence that negates the evidence against her. And when the strain of being separated from her family, especially her son, gets to her, John decides to break her out. So he does a lot of research to find a way.

            Markimdb: 6.8
            Genrethriller, drama, adventure
            CountryUSA
            Duration01:57

              An oil drilling team struggles to survive after a plane crash strands them in the wilds of Alaska. Hunting them is a pack of wolves that sees them as intruders.

              Markimdb: 6.9
              Genrethriller, melodrama, drama
              CountryUSA
              Duration01:51

              Depressed single mom Adele and her son Henry offer a wounded, fearsome man a ride. As police search town for the escaped convict, the mother and son gradually learn his true story as their options become increasingly limited.

              Markimdb: 7.5
              Genrethriller, drama
              CountryUSA
              Duration01:55

                Disconnect interweaves multiple storylines about people searching for human connection in today’s wired world. Through poignant turns that are both harrowing and touching, the stories intersect with surprising twists that expose a shocking reality into our daily use of technology that mediates and defines our relationships and ultimately our lives.

                Markimdb: 7.4
                Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, crime
                CountryUSA
                Duration01:53

                In the midst of a searing Florida heat wave, a woman convinces her lover, a small-town lawyer, to murder her rich husband.

                Markimdb: 6.6
                Genreaction, thriller, drama
                CountryUSA
                Duration02:08

                A deadly airborne virus finds its way into the USA and starts killing off people at an epidemic rate. Col Sam Daniels' job is to stop the virus spreading from a small town, which must be quarantined, and to prevent an over reaction by the White House.

                Markimdb: 6.8
                Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
                CountryUSA, United Kingdom, Italy
                Duration02:11

                After having successfully eluded the authorities for years, Hannibal peacefully lives in Italy in disguise as an art scholar. Trouble strikes again when he's discovered leaving a deserving few dead in the process. He returns to America to make contact with now disgraced Agent Clarice Starling, who is suffering the wrath of a malicious FBI rival as well as the media.

                Markimdb: 6.7
                Genrethriller, drama, military, history
                CountryUnited Kingdom, Germany, Canada, USA
                Duration02:18

                When Russia's first nuclear submarine malfunctions on its maiden voyage, the crew must race to save the ship and prevent a nuclear disaster.

                Markimdb: 7.3
                Genrehorror, thriller, fantasy, drama, detective
                CountryUSA, United Kingdom

                A traumatized, alcoholic Dan Torrance meets Abra, a kid who also has the ability to "shine." He tries to protect her from the True Knot, a cult whose goal is to feed off of people like them in order to remain immortal. Doctor Sleep is a sequel to Stephen King's 1977 novel "The Shining". Doctor Sleep is set several decades after the events of the first "Shining".

                Markimdb: 6.2
                Genrethriller, crime, detective
                CountryUSA, United Kingdom
                Duration01:49

                Recruited to assist Montreal police in their desperate search for a serial killer who assumes the identities of his victims, FBI profiler Illeana Scott knows it's only a matter of time before the killer strikes again. Her most promising lead is a museum employee who might be the killer's only eyewitness.

                Markimdb: 6.5
                Genrethriller, melodrama, drama
                CountryUSA, Germany, Saudi Arabia
                Duration01:41

                A thriller in which a battle of philosophies between a fundamentalist Christian and an atheist escalates into a lethal battle of wills.

                Markimdb: 7.5
                Genrethriller, drama, crime
                CountryUSA
                Duration02:34

                Jackie Brown is a flight attendant who gets caught in the middle of smuggling cash into the country for her gunrunner boss. When the cops try to use Jackie to get to her boss, she hatches a plan—with help from a bail bondsman—to keep the money for herself. Based on Elmore Leonard's novel “Rum Punch”.

                Markimdb: 6.7
                Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
                CountryUSA, Canada
                Duration01:58

                Rookie cop, Amelia Donaghy reluctantly teams with Lincoln Rhyme – formerly the department's top homicide detective but now paralyzed as a result of a spinal injury – to catch a grisly serial killer dubbed 'The Bone Collector'. The murderer's special signature is to leave tantalizing clues based on the grim remains of his crimes.

                Markimdb: 7.9
                Genrethriller, comedy, drama, crime, detective
                CountryUSA

                Jonathan Ames, a young Brooklyn writer, is feeling lost. He's just gone through a painful break-up, thanks in part to his drinking, can't write his second novel, and carouses too much with his magazine editor. Rather than face reality, Jonathan turns instead to his fantasies — moonlighting as a private detective — because he wants to be a hero and a man of action.

                Markimdb: 6.2
                Genrethriller, drama
                CountryUSA
                Duration01:39

                A young woman fakes her own death in an attempt to escape her nightmarish marriage, but discovers it is impossible to elude her controlling husband.

                Markimdb: 7.1
                Genrethriller, drama, crime
                CountryUSA
                Duration01:37

                A convert to Islam sends the U.S. government a tape showing him in three nondescript storage rooms, each of which may contain a nuclear bomb set to detonate in less than a week. Helen Brody, an FBI agent in L.A., is tasked with finding the bombs while a CIA "consultant", known as H, interrogates the suspect who has allowed himself to be caught. The suspect, whose wife and children have left him and disappeared, seems to know exactly what the interrogation will entail. Even as H ratchets up the pressure, using torture over Brody's objection, the suspect doesn't crack. Should H do the unthinkable, and will Brody acquiesce? Is any Constitutional principle worth possible loss of life?

                Markimdb: 7.2
                Genrehorror, action, thriller, comedy, melodrama, drama, crime
                CountryMexico, Spain, USA
                Duration02:05

                Young lovers Sailor and Lula run from the variety of weirdos that Lula's mom has hired to kill Sailor.

                Markimdb: 7
                Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, detective
                CountryUSA
                Duration01:43

                  The Words follows young writer Rory Jansen who finally achieves long sought after literary success after publishing the next great American novel. There's only one catch - he didn't write it. As the past comes back to haunt him and his literary star continues to rise, Jansen is forced to confront the steep price that must be paid for stealing another man's work, and for placing ambition and success above life's most fundamental three words.

                  Markimdb: 8.5
                  Genrethriller, drama, crime
                  CountryUSA, Hong Kong
                  Duration02:31

                  To 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 career criminal rises through the police ranks. But both sides soon discover there's a mole among them.

                  Markimdb: 7.5
                  Genrethriller, drama, crime
                  CountryUnited Kingdom, Germany, Spain, USA
                  Duration02:10

                  A man against capital punishment is accused of murdering a fellow activist and is sent to death row.

                  Markimdb: 7.3
                  Genrethriller, drama, history
                  CountryUSA
                  Duration02:20

                  Dramatisation of the Cuban Missile Crisis, the nuclear standoff with the USSR sparked by the discovery by the Americans of missle bases established on the Soviet allied island of Cuba. Shown from the perspective of the US President, John F Kennedy, his staff and advisors.

                  Markimdb: 7
                  Genrethriller, melodrama, drama
                  CountryUSA
                  Duration01:35

                  Three stories portray women coping with unplanned pregnancies in various social climates, the 1950s, 1970s and 1990s. In 1952 the newly widowed nurse Clare goes and sees a back-street abortionist in order to put an end to her pregnancy. After giving birth to three children, Barbara at last has the realistic hope of finding a job again, but then a new pregnancy thwarts her plans. In 1974 abortion is already legal; however, this fact does not make it any easier for Barbara to take the right decision. In 1996 Christine, a student, consults an abortion clinic to get information on abortion. While doing this, she is being harassed by militant anti-abortionists.

                  Markimdb: 8.5
                  Genrefantastic, thriller, drama, detective
                  CountryUnited Kingdom, USA
                  Duration02:05

                    A mysterious story of two magicians whose intense rivalry leads them on a life-long battle for supremacy -- full of obsession, deceit and jealousy with dangerous and deadly consequences.

                    Markimdb: 7.3
                    Genrethriller, drama, crime, biography
                    CountryUSA, Germany
                    Duration01:49

                    Aileen Wuornos is an emotionally scarred highway hooker who shoots a sadistic trick who rapes her and ultimately becomes America's first female serial killer.

                    Markimdb: 6.4
                    Genrehorror, thriller, drama, crime, detective
                    CountryUSA
                    Duration01:41

                    Walter Sparrow is an animal control officer that becomes obsessed with a mysterious book that seems to be based on his own life. As soon as he opens the book, he notices strange parallels between what he reads and what he's experienced. But now he's worried that a fictional murder might materialize.

                    Markimdb: 8.5
                    Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
                    CountryUSA
                    Duration01:53

                    Leonard Shelby is tracking down the man who raped and murdered his wife. The difficulty, however, of locating his wife's killer is compounded by the fact that he suffers from a rare, untreatable form of memory loss. Although he can recall details of life before his accident, Leonard cannot remember what happened fifteen minutes ago, where he's going, or why.

                    Markimdb: 6.8
                    Genrethriller, drama
                    CountryUSA
                    Duration02:01

                    48 hours in the life of a burnt-out paramedic. Once called Father Frank for his efforts to rescue lives, Frank sees the ghosts of those he failed to save around every turn. He has tried everything he can to get fired, calling in sick, delaying taking calls where he might have to face one more victim he couldn't help, yet cannot quit the job on his own.

                    Markimdb: 7
                    Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, military
                    CountryUnited Kingdom, France, Canada, Belgium, USA
                    Duration01:47

                    France, 1940. In the first days of occupation, beautiful Lucile Angellier is trapped in a stifled existence with her controlling mother-in-law as they both await news of her husband: a prisoner of war. Parisian refugees start to pour into their small town, soon followed by a regiment of German soldiers who take up residence in the villagers' own homes. Lucile initially tries to ignore Bruno von Falk, the handsome and refined German officer staying with them. But soon, a powerful love draws them together and leads them into the tragedy of war.

                    Markimdb: 7.4
                    Genrefantastic, thriller, drama
                    CountryUSA, Mexico
                    Duration01:45

                    A paranoia-fueled action thriller about an unsuccessful writer whose life is transformed by a top-secret "smart drug" that allows him to use 100% of his brain and become a perfect version of himself. His enhanced abilities soon attract shadowy forces that threaten his new life in this darkly comic and provocative film.

                    Markimdb: 7.5
                    Genrethriller, drama, crime
                    CountryUSA
                    Duration02:04

                    Doug MacRay is a longtime thief, who, smarter than the rest of his crew, is looking for his chance to exit the game. When a bank job leads to the group kidnapping an attractive branch manager, he takes on the role of monitoring her – but their burgeoning relationship threatens to unveil the identities of Doug and his crew to the FBI Agent who is on their case.

                    Markimdb: 7
                    Genrethriller, drama, crime
                    CountryUSA
                    Duration01:35

                    When a promised job for Texan Michael fails to materialise in Wyoming, Mike is mistaken by Wayne to be the hitman he hired to kill his unfaithful wife, Suzanne. Mike takes full advantage of the situation, collects the money and runs. During his getaway, things go wrong, and soon get worse when he runs into the real hitman, Lyle.

                    Markimdb: 7.4
                    Genrethriller, crime
                    CountryUSA

                    A graduate student and obsessive runner in New York is drawn into a mysterious plot involving his brother, a member of the secretive Division.




                    MoviesList