German movies thrillers

List of the best German thriller movies selected by visitors to our site: Balloon, Remember, The Lives of Others, The Captain, Red Dragon, Europa, M, The House That Jack Built, Valkyrie, Buffalo Soldiers.

In the top there are new films of 2023, a plot description and trailers for films that have already been released.

Markimdb: 7.5
Genrethriller, drama, family, history
CountryGermany, France, USA

Two families attempt a daredevil plan to escape the GDR with a homemade hot air balloon, but it crashes just before the border. The Stasi finds traces of this attempt to escape and immediately starts investigations, while the two families are forced to build a new escape balloon. With each passing day the Stasi is closer on their heels – a nerve-wracking race against time begins.

Markimdb: 7.4
Genrethriller, drama, detective
CountryCanada, Mexico, Germany, South Africa
Duration02:15

With the aid of a fellow Auschwitz survivor and a hand-written letter, an elderly man with dementia goes in search of the person responsible for the death of his family.

Markimdb: 8.4
Genrethriller, drama, detective
CountryGermany, France
Duration02:17

A tragic love story set in East Berlin with the backdrop of an undercover Stasi controlled culture. Stasi captain Wieler is ordered to follow author Dreyman and plunges deeper and deeper into his life until he reaches the threshold of doubting the system.

Markimdb: 7.3
Genrethriller, drama, military, history
CountryGermany, France, Poland, China, Portugal
Duration01:51

Germany, 1945. Soldier Willi Herold, a deserter of the German army, stumbles into a uniform of Nazi captain abandoned during the last and desperate weeks of the Third Reich. Newly emboldened by the allure of a suit that he has stolen only to stay warm, Willi discovers that many Germans will follow the leader, whoever he is.

Markimdb: 7.2
Genrethriller, drama, detective
CountryUSA, Germany
Duration02:04

Former FBI Agent Will Graham, who was once almost killed by the savage Hannibal 'The Cannibal' Lecter, now has no choice but to face him again, as it seems Lecter is the only one who can help Graham track down a new serial killer.

Markimdb: 7.6
Genrethriller, drama, crime
CountryDenmark, Sweden, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Spain
Duration01:52

Postwar Germany, 1945. Leopold Kessler, an American of German descent, works as a sleeping car conductor for the Zentropa railway line. When he meets Katharina Hartmann, the railroad owner's daughter, and they fall in love, his life intersects with the dark and violent path of a mysterious organization opposed to the United States army military occupation.

Markimdb: 8.3
Genrethriller, crime, detective
CountryGermany
Duration01:48

In this classic German thriller, Hans Beckert, a serial killer who preys on children, becomes the focus of a massive Berlin police manhunt. Beckert's heinous crimes are so repellant and disruptive to city life that he is even targeted by others in the seedy underworld network. With both cops and criminals in pursuit, the murderer soon realizes that people are on his trail, sending him into a tense, panicked attempt to escape justice.

Markimdb: 6.8
Genrehorror, thriller, drama, crime
CountryDenmark, France, Sweden, Germany, Belgium, Tunisia
Duration02:43

Failed architect, engineer and vicious murderer Jack narrates the details of some of his most elaborately orchestrated crimes, each of them a towering piece of art that defines his life's work as a serial killer for twelve years.

Markimdb: 7.1
Genrethriller, drama, military, history
CountryUSA, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Japan, United Kingdom
Duration02:01

    Wounded in Africa during World War II, Nazi Col. Claus von Stauffenberg returns to his native Germany and joins the Resistance in a daring plan to create a shadow government and assassinate Adolf Hitler. When events unfold so that he becomes a central player, he finds himself tasked with both leading the coup and personally killing the Führer.

    Markimdb: 6.7
    Genrethriller, comedy, drama, crime, military
    CountryUnited Kingdom, Germany
    Duration01:34

    Set just before the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, Sgt. Ray Elwood is an American soldier stationed at a German army camp. A soldier because a judge gave him a choice between the army and jail, Ray spends much of his free time cooking cocaine for the MPs. When a soldier dies and a toxicology screen shows an alarming level of illegal narcotics, someone is sent in to investigate.

    Markimdb: 6.6
    Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
    CountryUSA, Germany, Canada
    Duration01:56

    Forensic psychologist Alex Cross travels to North Carolina and teams with escaped kidnap victim Kate McTiernan to hunt down "Casanova," a serial killer who abducts strong-willed women and forces them to submit to his demands. The trail leads to Los Angeles, where the duo discovers that the psychopath may not be working alone.

    Markimdb: 8
    Genrehorror, thriller, detective
    CountryGermany
    Duration01:11

    Francis, a young man, recalls in his memory the horrible experiences he and his fiancée Jane recently went through. Francis and his friend Alan visit The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari, an exhibit where the mysterious doctor shows the somnambulist Cesare, and awakens him for some moments from his death-like sleep.

    Markimdb: 7.7
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryUSA, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany
    Duration01:50

    Slevin is mistakenly put in the middle of a personal war between the city’s biggest criminal bosses. Under constant watch, Slevin must try not to get killed by an infamous assassin and come up with an idea of how to get out of his current dilemma. A film with many twists and turns.

    Markimdb: 7.7
    Genrethriller, drama, crime
    CountryGermany
    Duration01:21

    Lola receives a phone call from her boyfriend Manni. He lost 100,000 DM in a subway train that belongs to a very bad guy. She has 20 minutes to raise this amount and meet Manni. Otherwise, he will rob a store to get the money. Three different alternatives may happen depending on some minor event along Lola's run.

    Markimdb: 6.4
    Genrethriller, drama, military
    CountryUnited Kingdom, Germany, Canada, USA
    Duration02:08

    Part war movie, part courtroom thriller, this gripping drama finds a war hero put on trial for a rescue mission gone terribly wrong with only his doubtful friend and fellow marine to represent him.

    Markimdb: 6.9
    Genrethriller, drama
    CountryUnited Kingdom, Germany, USA
    Duration02:10

      Set against the backdrop of the succession of Queen Elizabeth I, and the Essex Rebellion against her, the story advances the theory that it was in fact Edward De Vere, Earl of Oxford who penned Shakespeare's plays.

      Markimdb: 7.6
      Genrethriller, drama, history
      CountryUSA, Germany, India
      Duration02:39

        During the Cold War, the Soviet Union captures U.S. pilot Francis Gary Powers after shooting down his U-2 spy plane. Sentenced to 10 years in prison, Powers' only hope is New York lawyer James Donovan, recruited by a CIA operative to negotiate his release. Donovan boards a plane to Berlin, hoping to win the young man's freedom through a prisoner exchange. If all goes well, the Russians would get Rudolf Abel, the convicted spy who Donovan defended in court.

        Markimdb: 7.1
        Genrefantastic, thriller, drama, detective
        CountryUSA, Germany
        Duration01:42

        A military veteran goes on a journey into the future, where he can foresee his death and is left with questions that could save his life and those he loves.

        Markimdb: 7.8
        Genrethriller, drama, detective, history
        CountryGermany, France, Italy, Austria
        Duration02:24

        Strange events happen in a small village in the north of Germany during the years just before World War I, which seem to be ritual punishment. The abused and suppressed children of the villagers seem to be at the heart of this mystery.

        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: 6.1
        Genrethriller
        CountryGermany
        Duration01:56

        To cover up his infidelities and protect his upcoming marriage, a star advertiser helps free an accused rapist by giving a false alibi and suffers the brutal revenge of the victim.

        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: 7.4
        Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, detective
        CountryUnited Kingdom, Germany
        Duration02:03

        Justin Quayle is a low-level British diplomat who has always gone about his work very quietly, not causing any problems. But after his radical wife Tessa is killed he becomes determined to find out why, thrusting himself into the middle of a very dangerous conspiracy.

        Markimdb: 8.8
        Genrethriller, drama, crime
        CountryUSA, Germany
        Duration02:11

        A ticking-time-bomb insomniac and a slippery soap salesman channel primal male aggression into a shocking new form of therapy. Their concept catches on, with underground "fight clubs" forming in every town, until an eccentric gets in the way and ignites an out-of-control spiral toward oblivion.

        Markimdb: 7.2
        Genrethriller, drama, crime
        CountryUSA, Germany
        Duration01:48

          A husband is on trial for the attempted murder of his wife, in what is seemingly an open/shut case for the ambitious district attorney trying to put him away. However, there are surprises for both around every corner, and, as a suspenseful game of cat-and-mouse is played out, each must manipulate and outwit the other.

          Markimdb: 7
          Genrethriller, comedy, melodrama, drama, crime, biography
          CountryUSA, Germany, Canada
          Duration01:53

          Television made him famous, but his biggest hits happened off screen. Television producer by day, CIA assassin by night, Chuck Barris was recruited by the CIA at the height of his TV career and trained to become a covert operative. Or so Barris said.

          Markimdb: 6.8
          Genrethriller, drama, adventure
          CountryGermany, USA
          Duration01:50

          Sir Robert Beaumont is behind schedule on a railroad in Africa. Enlisting noted engineer John Henry Patterson to right the ship, Beaumont expects results. Everything seems great until the crew discovers the mutilated corpse of the project's foreman, seemingly killed by a lion. After several more attacks, Patterson calls in famed hunter Charles Remington, who has finally met his match in the bloodthirsty lions.

          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: 6.5
          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: 7.2
          Genrethriller, drama
          CountryUSA, Germany
          Duration02:10

          When Rudy Baylor, a young attorney with no clients, goes to work for a seedy ambulance chaser, he wants to help the parents of a terminally ill boy in their suit against an insurance company. But to take on corporate America, Rudy and a scrappy paralegal must open their own law firm.

          Markimdb: 7.2
          Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
          CountryFrance, Germany, United Kingdom
          Duration02:08

          A writer stumbles upon a long-hidden secret when he agrees to help former British Prime Minister Adam Lang complete his memoirs on a remote island after the politician's assistant drowns in a mysterious accident. In director Roman Polanski's tense drama, the author realizes that his discovery threatens some very powerful people who will do anything to ensure that certain episodes from Lang's past remain buried.

          Markimdb: 7.7
          Genrethriller, drama, crime
          CountryUSA, Germany, Australia
          Duration01:48

          Los Angeles citizens with vastly separate lives collide in interweaving stories of race, loss and redemption.

          Markimdb: 7.3
          Genrethriller, drama, crime
          CountryGermany, USA, Mexico
          Duration02:00

          A Texas cop (Kevin Kline), whose own daughter might have been forced into sexual slavery, joins forces with a Mexican youth (Cesar Ramos) to find the boy's sister, who was abducted and forced into prostitution. Meanwhile, a Ukrainian woman who was promised a better life in America also becomes a victim.

          Markimdb: 7.3
          Genrehorror, thriller, fantasy, detective
          CountryUSA, Germany
          Duration01:45

          New York detective Ichabod Crane is sent to Sleepy Hollow to investigate a series of mysterious deaths in which the victims are found beheaded. But the locals believe the culprit to be none other than the ghost of the legendary Headless Horseman.

          Markimdb: 6.5
          Genrethriller, crime, detective
          CountryUSA, Germany
          Duration02:03

          A small, seemingly innocuous plastic reel of film leads surveillance specialist Tom Welles down an increasingly dark and frightening path. With the help of the streetwise Max, he relentlessly follows a bizarre trail of evidence to determine the fate of a complete stranger. As his work turns into obsession, he drifts farther and farther away from his wife, family and simple life as a small-town PI.

          Markimdb: 6.9
          Genrethriller, drama, crime, biography
          CountryUSA, Germany
          Duration01:52

            Johnny Truelove likes to see himself as tough. He's the son of an underworld figure and a drug dealer. Johnny also likes to get tough when things don't go his way. When Jake Mazursky fails to pay up for Johnny, things get worse for the Mazursky family, as Johnny and his 'gang' kidnap Jake's 15 year old brother and holds him hostage. Problem now is what to do with 'stolen boy?'

            Markimdb: 7.6
            Genrethriller, drama
            CountryGermany, France
            Duration01:47

            A school teacher discusses types of government with his class. His students find it too boring to repeatedly go over national socialism and believe that dictatorship cannot be established in modern Germany. He starts an experiment to show how easily the masses can become manipulated.

            Markimdb: 6.7
            Genrethriller, melodrama, drama
            CountryFrance, Germany, USA
            Duration02:04

              Connie is a wife and mother whose 11-year marriage to Edward has lost its sexual spark. When Connie literally runs into handsome book collector Paul, he sweeps her into an all-consuming affair. But Edward soon becomes suspicious and decides to confront the other man.

              Markimdb: 7.7
              Genrethriller, drama, military
              CountryNetherlands, Germany, United Kingdom, Belgium
              Duration02:25

                In the Nazi-occupied Netherlands during World War II, a Jewish singer infiltrates the regional Gestapo headquarters for the Dutch resistance.

                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: 8.5
                Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
                CountryUSA, Germany
                Duration01:46

                Held in an L.A. interrogation room, Verbal Kint attempts to convince the feds that a mythic crime lord, Keyser Soze, not only exists, but was also responsible for drawing him and his four partners into a multi-million dollar heist that ended with an explosion in San Pedro harbor – leaving few survivors. Verbal lures his interrogators with an incredible story of the crime lord's almost supernatural prowess.

                Markimdb: 7.7
                Genrethriller, drama, biography, history
                CountryUnited Kingdom, Germany
                Duration02:01

                Young Scottish doctor, Nicholas Garrigan decides it's time for an adventure after he finishes his formal education, so he decides to try his luck in Uganda, and arrives during the downfall of President Obote. General Idi Amin comes to power and asks Garrigan to become his personal doctor.

                Markimdb: 7.3
                Genreaction, thriller, crime, detective
                CountryGermany, USA
                Duration02:14

                The police try to arrest expert hostage negotiator Danny Roman, who insists he's being framed for his partner's murder in what he believes is an elaborate conspiracy. Thinking there's evidence in the Internal Affairs offices that might clear him, he takes everyone in the office hostage and demands that another well-known negotiator be brought in to handle the situation and secretly investigate the conspiracy.

                Markimdb: 7
                Genrethriller, drama, detective
                CountryUnited Kingdom, Germany, Spain, USA, France
                Duration02:08

                A police detective is in charge of the investigation of a brutal murder, in which a beautiful and seductive woman could be involved.

                Markimdb: 7.5
                Genrethriller, fantasy, drama, detective
                CountryUSA, Germany
                Duration02:24

                A hotshot lawyer gets more than he bargained for when he learns his new boss is Lucifer himself.

                Markimdb: 7.3
                Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
                CountrySweden, Denmark, Germany, Norway
                Duration02:27

                After taking a bullet to the head, Salander is under close supervision in a hospital and is set to face trial for attempted murder on her eventual release. With the help of journalist Mikael Blomkvist and his researchers at Millennium magazine, Salander must prove her innocence. In doing this she plays against powerful enemies and her own past.

                Markimdb: 7.5
                Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
                CountryFrance, Germany
                Duration01:52

                Sophie, a quiet and shy maid working for the upper-class family Lelievre, finds a friend in the energetic and uncompromising postmaster Jeanne, who encourages her to stand up against her bourgeois employers.

                Markimdb: 7.7
                Genrethriller, drama
                CountryGermany
                Duration01:54

                Das Experiment is a shocking psycho thriller about the potential for brutality that humans hide. Even more shocking is the fact that it’s based on an actual occurrence—a 1971 psychological experiment at Stanford University that was aborted prematurely when the experimenters lost control.

                Markimdb: 6.5
                Genrethriller, drama, crime, detective
                CountryUSA, Germany, Canada
                Duration01:45

                A woman framed for her husband's murder suspects he is still alive; as she has already been tried for the crime, she can't be re-prosecuted if she finds and kills him.

                Markimdb: 7
                Genrethriller, melodrama, drama, crime
                CountryUnited Kingdom, France, Italy, Germany, USA
                Duration01:37

                A woman takes the law into her own hands after police ignore her pleas to arrest the man responsible for her husband's death, and finds herself not only under arrest for murder but falling in love with an officer.




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