A thriller movie gets a lot more thrilling and adrenaline-pumping when you realize that the movie is based on a true story. Amazon Prime Video has your back if you have been looking for a list of exciting bone-chilling movies based on real-life events. This platform caters to curious minds who find the thriller genre entertaining. Looking for exciting thriller movies based on true stories on Amazon Prime Video? Here is the List of 11!
11 of the Best Amazon Prime Thrillers
1. The Pirates of Somalia (2017)
- Director: Bryan Buckley
- Cast: Melanie Griffith, Evan Peters, Barkhad Abdi, Al Pacino
- IMDb Rating: 6.7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 67%
The Pirates of Somalia is one of the best thriller movies based on real events with Somali pirates. The film focuses on a Canadian journalist named Jay Bahadur who joins the pirates of Somali without thinking much. He gets a ton of shocking insights into the mysterious lives of these men.
The movie is based on the New York Times bestseller book of the same name, published in 2011. If you wish to unravel the astonishing facts about The Pirates of Somalia, you should check out this popular movie.
2. Thirteen Days (2000)
- Director: Roger Donaldson
- Cast: Steven Culp, Bruce Greenwood, Dylan Baker, Kevin Costner
- IMDb Rating: 7.3/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 83%
Thirteen Days is another epic movie based on the Cuban missile crisis of 1962. This movie not only provides history students with a ton of useful insights into the greatest historical event, but it also helps us understand the Cuban missile crisis in a better way. This is one of the best movies based on real-life events. If you are a history buff and enjoy a thriller, then you will surely be amused by this film.
3. Tour de Force (2010)
- Director: Kim Sønderholm
- Cast: Toke Lars Bjarke, Claire Ross-Brown, Ole Ernst, Kim Sønderholm
- IMDb Rating: 4.3/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: No Ratings Available
Tour de force is an amazing thriller based on true stories on Amazon Prime Video. This moving film follows the life of a police officer whose family members die in an accident, and he is forced to make a living out of the Hitman job. Tour de Force performance and strong performances make up for the most epic thriller movie. The critics and the viewers greatly appreciated tour de Force. This is one of the best thrillers in history.
4. Live by Night (2016)
- Director: Ben Affleck
- Cast: Brendan Gleeson, Ben Affleck, Elle Fanning, Chris Messina, Brendan Gleeson, Sienna Miller
- IMDb Rating: 6.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 34%
Live By Night is an amazing thriller based on a true story on Amazon Prime Video. It follows a group of Boston-based gangsters who opened a shop in Balmy, Florida, during the Prohibition era while competing with the Ku Klux Klan.
Elle Fanning played the character of Loretta Figgis, which fans greatly appreciated. This is one of the most thrilling real stories that need to be discovered by future generations.
5. Blow the Man Down (2019)
- Director: Bridget Savage Cole, Danielle Krudy
- Cast: Will Brittain, Morgan Saylor, Annette O’Toole, Sophie Lowe, Gayle Rankin, Marceline Hugot, Skipp Sudduth, Ebon Moss-Bachrach
- IMDb Rating: 6.4/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 98%
Blow the Man Down is a powerful, thrilling film that follows the life of two sisters, Mary Beth and Priscilla Connolly, who live in the small town of Easter Cove. Join the two sisters in their journey of concealing their crime not to get caught by the administration. Blow the Man Down is inspired by the life of writer-director duo Bridget Savage Cole and Danielle Krudy.
This movie excels at featuring strong performances and so many different layers to keep you engaged till the very end of the movie. This Amazon original is surely going to blow your mind.
6. Fruitvale Station (2013)
- Director: Ryan Coogler
- Cast: Kevin Durand, Michael B. Jordan, Melonie Diaz, Ahna O’Reilly, Octavia Spencer
- IMDb Rating: 7.5/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 94%
Fruitvale Station is an interesting thriller based on the life of a 22-year-old black man from Oakland named Oscar Grant III. The police killed him on New year’s day in the year 2009. The murder went viral and captured a lot of attention as people started using smartphones.
Fruitvale Station is a highly recommended thriller movie as it has brilliantly captured the topic’s tragedy and presents a unique celebration of life at the same time.
7. The Report (2019)
- Director: Scott Z. Burns
- Cast: Ted Levine, Adam Driver, Annette Bening, Corey Stoll, Michael C. Hall, Maura Tierney, Tim Blake Nelson
- IMDb Rating: 7.2/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 82%
This political drama movie revolves around Daniel J. Jones, who was assigned to lead the investigation regarding 9/11. He unravels a ton of shocking truths about the during. The film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival on January 26, 2019.
In The Report movie, Adam Driver plays the character of a real-life researcher who finds it difficult to publish his study on ‘extreme interrogation techniques’. The conspiracist-paranoid theme of this movie is intriguing because this movie is based on the greatest tragedy in American history. This is one of the best films by Scott Z Burns.
8. The Handmaiden (2016)
- Director: Park Chan-wook
- Cast: Ha Jung-woo, Kim Tae-Ri, Cho Jin-Woong, Kim Min-hee
- IMDb Rating: 8.1/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 96%
The Handmaiden is an interesting psychological thriller about a Japanese heiress employing a shady woman who plans to take away all her wealth. This South Korean psychological thriller erotic film was praised by viewers worldwide for its direction, writing, and performance. If you want to watch something remarkable and mind-blowing simultaneously, you should check out this movie.
9. Thirteen Lives (2022)
- Director: Ron Howard
- Cast: Colin Farrell, Viggo Mortensen, Tom Bateman, Joel Edgerton
- IMDb Rating: 7.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 86%
This thriller is based on a rescue mission organized in Thailand, where a bunch of young boys was trapped in an underground cave with their soccer coach. The movie received many positive reviews from critics for its uniqueness and originality. You will have a great time watching this movie if you are interested in sports movies.
10. Captain Phillips (2013)
- Director: Paul Greengrass
- Cast: Barkhad Abdi, Tom Hanks
- IMDb Rating: 7.8/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 93%
Captain Phillips is an exciting thriller movie based on a true story on Amazon Prime Video about captain Richard Philips and the pirates of Somalia hijacking the American cargo ship in 2009. This exciting movie is sure to make you awestruck even if you watch the movie over and over again.
Tom Hanks was part of the movie, which filled his fans with happiness. Do you know that the crew members and actors met the Somali pirates only on the day of the shoot? To create tension on the set, this was done. Tom Hanks even quoted, “the skinniest, scariest human beings I had ever come across”.
11. Beautiful Boy (2018)
- Director: Felix van Groeningen
- Cast: Maura Tierney, Timothée Chalamet, Steve Carell, Amy Ryan
- IMDb Rating: 7.3/10
- Rotten Tomatoes: 68%
Beautiful Boy is a heart-touching story about the journey of a family dealing with their son’s drug addiction problem. This a must-watch film as it has been blessed with the presence of two outstanding actors, Timothée Chalamet and Steve Carell. From comedy to thriller, the acting career of Steve Carell has seen some of the greatest twists and turns, serving us with a ton of entertainment. This is a must-watch film if you want to witness an epic film with some of the strongest performances.
