Entertainment

Must-Watch Conspiracy Theory Thriller Movies With IMDb Rating Above 7

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5m ago

Nov 12, 2024 / 7995 Views

Evan Walker

Conspiracy thrillers, many of which are based on conspiracy theories have become a sought after genre in popular culture. The captivating stories blend suspense, drama and mystery, forming an intriguing concoction. A major reason behind the popularity of the best conspiracy thriller movies is perhaps the fact that they sometimes focus on real events which may have transpired in ways that left a sense of paranoia, void or questions in the minds of the people. In other cases, such movies appear to cater to the ever-present fears of the people through fictional narratives of something that may or may not play out in the near future.

Indeed, a fact about most conspiracy theories is that they are fueled when the information on something very important may have been left incomplete or muddled. Illuminati, Freemason, QAnon – conspiracy theory peddlers often point fingers at such ‘shadowy organisations’ as having a hand or more in some of the most cryptic incidents in History. From Area 51 and the moon landing to the Bermuda Triangle, anything can become a subject of conspiracy theories.

Why are conspiracy theory movies so popular?

While almost all conspiracy theories are nothing more than misinformation created and disseminated, usually by the political right-wing, to provoke people for a certain cause, they successfully tap into the minds of large groups due to their inherent fears, anxieties and an ingrained, though unfounded, belief of a hidden agenda behind some unexpected development.

The best conspiracy thriller movies of all time often tell stories in which powerful forces are seen as manipulating events that may affect the world without anyone getting a hint of it, except, maybe, a saviour hero character who tries to warn all. This kind of storytelling that exploits a general sense of mistrust of the people in their governments or other institutions deemed to be ‘too powerful’ certainly has a massive faNBAse.

But movies of this genre have to have at least a semblance of plausibility in them and, at the same time, should certainly share elements of suspense thrillers.

Some may say that the Men in Black franchise is an example of alien conspiracy movies because it is built around the unverified stories of men wearing black suits allegedly working for the US government having visited those who claimed to have seen unidentified flying objects (UFOs). Moreover, the franchise itself is more sci-fi fantasy than conspiracy thriller as nothing about it is remotely believable.

Costa-Gavras’ acclaimed film Z (1969) is a deft political thriller but does not neatly fit into this understanding of conspiracy thrillers as facts around its subject – the assassination of progressive Greek politician Grigoris Lambrakis by right-wing zealots with the help of the right-wing government – were widely known.

Sometimes, however, conspiracy theories could be so complex that questions around them are raised time and again by even rational minds. Take for example the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy, the 35th President of the United States. Though he was assassinated by Lee Harvey Oswald, the latter’s own murder at the hands of American nightclub owner Jack Ruby two days after the assassination and the circumstances in which the assassination took place have led to an incredibly high number of conspiracy theories that continue to this day. In the theories, many of which are published works of literature, everyone from the Soviets to CIA and shady criminal organisations to former US president George H.W. Bush has been accused of having planned the assassination.

Thus, due to its enduring mystery, the JFK assassination has been a highly interesting subject for filMMAkers, which is why there are quite a few thriller movies centred around the conspiracy theory on who killed Kennedy.

Apart from political incidents, including government corruption and corporate greed, conspiracy theory thriller movies may also focus on alleged secrets concerning religion. The Da Vinci Code (2006) and Angels and Demons (2009) – two movies based on Dan Brown’s novels of the same name – are the best examples. They don’t make this list due to their IMDb ratings, but are worth watching. Similarly, movies such as Capricorn One (1977), Winter Kills (1979), Conspiracy Theory (1997) and Interview with the Assassin (2002), with conspiracy angles ranging from political to space, are also quite popular with fans of the genre even though they have low ratings.