The cinema culture of each society turns into an archive where the genres paralleling the traditional culture of that society are concentrated. While the Koreans do the horror thing, we make freaky jinn movies. The Spaniards do justice to the thriller genre. Of course, it is not correct to examine the whole cinema under one genre, but it is possible to say that the thriller genre has a unique style among Spanish films.
When we look at thriller-type Spanish films, we see that it usually starts with a story in a simple world where everything is ordinary. The tension, which increases as the story progresses, ends with a reverse corner finale that we would not have thought of for a thousand years, adding to our enjoyment of watching movies. Let’s take a closer look at some of the best Spanish thriller movies that you can watch without taking your eyes off the screen.
Suspenseful Spanish movies with twisted stories:
- La isla minima
- Magical Girl
- Facility
- [Rec]
- hand orfanato
- La piel que habito
- nueve reinas
- Contratiempo
- relatos salvajes
- El Secreto de Sus Ojos
Mysterious murder in town: La isla minima
- Year: 2014
- Genre: Action, Crime, Mystery
- Director: Alberto Rodriguez
- Cast: Raúl Arevalo, Javier Gutierrez, Antonio de la Torre
- IMDb: 7.2
In 1980s Spain, at a time of political turmoil, two police officers with opposing views are assigned to an investigation. To investigate the disappearance of two young girls, our characters go to a small town that is home to the largest swamp in the country, where they will stand out among the locals and try to solve the blood-curdling murders.
Daughter’s last request: Magical Girl
- Year: 2014
- Genre: Drama, Thriller
- Director: Carlos Vermut
- Cast: Jose Sacristan, Barbara Lennie, Luis Bermejo
- IMDb: 7.2
In the movie Magical Girl, which has a three-part story, we watch the story of a father who fulfills his daughter’s last wish. When his daughter asks him for an anime costume, the father hits the road and goes to places in the city he has never been before. Here, a housewife and an ex-convict math teacher whose paths cross form the suspense elements of our dramatic story.
When he witnessed the murder of his thesis teacher: Facility
- Year: 1996
- Genre: Crime, Horror, Mystery
- Director: Alejandro Amenábar
- Cast: Walter Prieto, Emiliano Otegui, Ana Torrent
- IMDb: 7.4
Angela, a film student, chose violence in cinema as her thesis topic, but she gets help from another friend because she doesn’t know much about the subject. Meanwhile, he will witness the death of his thesis teacher. While watching the recording of the moment of death, she encounters a very interesting detail. In fact, this death will bring to light the multi-layered and disturbing truths that the school is behind.
More than an accident: [Rec]
- Year: 2007
- Genre: Horror, Mystery, Thriller
- Director: Jaume Balaguero, Paco Plaza
- Cast: Manuela Velasco, Ferran Terraza, Carlos Lasarte
- IMDb: 7.4
[Rec], made using the popular handheld camera shooting technique of the era, begins with a reporter’s eagerness to produce a firefighting programme. The team, who gathered together and went to the region after a notification, encountered a home accident here. But as time goes on, it turns out that this was not an accident, but rather an incredible event that they had never encountered before.
Strange memories of the past: El orfanato
- Year: 2007
- Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery
- Director: JA Bayona
- Cast: Belén Rueda, Fernando Cayo, Roger Princep
- IMDb: 7.4
Published in our country as the Orphanage, El orfanato presents a dramatic horror story to the audience. Laura, who has no parents, had a good childhood in the orphanage. When she grows up and starts a family, she decides to take her husband and son with her to restore her old orphanage and serve those in need. Unfortunately, what happened after this point will destroy the good memories of the past.
Those who don’t watch lose a lot: La piel que habito
- Year: 2011
- Genre: Horror, Drama, Mystery
- Director: Pedro Almodóvar
- Cast: Antonio Banderas, Elena Anaya, Marisa Paredes
- IMDb: 7.6
Pedro Almodóvar, the master of Spanish cinema, is in the director’s chair of the film, which was published in the world as The Skin I Live In, and in our country as The Skin I Live In. The film, which is the film adaptation of the novel Tarantula by Thierry Jonquet, tells a story of revenge. To make a subjective comment, it is possible to say that it has one of the biggest reverse corner finals in the history of cinema, make sure to watch it.
Unqualified scammers: Nueve reinas
- Year: 2000
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Director: Fabian Bielinsky
- Cast: Ricardo Darín, Gaston Pauls, Leticia Bredice
- IMDb: 7.9
Juan is a young man who has just started his fraud business. Marcos, on the other hand, went through the circle of fortune a few times. Marcos offers to work together for a while to teach Juan the trade. When the two meet their old friend Sandler, they decide to expand their business and forge a bigger plan. Of course, the growth of business means the growth of problems.
Who is lying: Contratiempo
- Year: 2016
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Director: Oriol Paulo
- Cast: Mario Casas, Barbara Lennie, Ana Wagener
- IMDb: 8.0
One day, the wife of our character, a wealthy businessman climbing the career ladder, is murdered, and the only suspect is himself. He hires an experienced lawyer to justify himself. He tells the lawyer his story from start to finish, but the lawyer gets suspicious because there are inconsistencies in the story. From this point on, the lawyer tries to put pressure on his client and reveal the dark points of the story.
Common theme, different stories: Relatos salvajes
- Year: 2014
- Genre: Comedy, Drama, Thriller
- Director: Damian Szifron
- Cast: Ricardo Darín, Oscar Martinez, Leonardo Sbaraglia
- IMDb: 8.1
We watch six different stories in the movie Relatos salvajes, which was released in our country under the name of Asabiyim Ben. In fact, each of these stories is like an independent short film. But there is a strange theme of violence and revenge common to all of them. Each new story searches for the previous one, and when the movie ends and the screen goes black, the audience begins to question the real world.
In fact, everything is before our eyes: El Secreto de Sus Ojos
- Year: 2009
- Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance
- Director: Juan Jose Campanella
- Cast: Ricardo Darín, Soledad Villamil, Pablo Rago
- IMDb: 8.2
In the movie El Secreto de Sus Ojos, which is published worldwide as The Secret in Their Eyes, we follow the story of a former court inspector writing a novel. Our character, who decides to write a rape and murder case that took place many years ago when he retired, starts to re-investigate this incident, which was covered up at the time, and as the research deepens, he sees that the perverted murderer is right in front of him.
We have listed some of the most Spanish movies in the thriller genre that you will watch every second of it. Of course, this list could have been much longer. You can share the spanish thrillers you want to be on our list in the comments.