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As the moniker suggests, Cinema Romantico’s annual THRILLERS ONLY movie preview is limited in scope by design. We are not attempting to steer you toward all the year’s most anticipated movies nor are we trying in any way to forecast what might be the year’s best in movies. And yet, if you consult last year’s THRILLERS ONLY list, you will discover that not only does it contain one of my favorite movies of the 2025 — Steven Soderbergh’s “Black Bag” — but my actual favorite movie of 2025. True, Paul Thomas Anderson’s “One Battle After Another” kinda transcends genre, which is why IMDb lists eight total genres in its entry, but those entries include thriller and political thriller and that counts. So, what movie in the 2026 THRILLERS ONLY preview might turn out to be this year’s version of Nikola Jokic, the 3x MPVP drafted 41st in 2014? You never know.
(Releases are, of course, ranked on the Runaway Jury Scale, measuring each new thriller’s potential for glorious middlingness, 1 being the lowest and 5 the highest.)
Cinema Romantico 2026 Movie Preview: THRILLERS ONLY
Blood in the Snow. A hit man falls for his client’s wife, who happens to be the target of the assassin's latest assignment. I mean, that sounds like a Hallmark hitman movie. We give it...4 Runaway Juries
How to Make a Killing. I feel like I’m beginning to sense the first waves of backlash toward the unremitting Glen Powell is a Star marketing campaign and you know what, I understand it. I do. But still, to me it’s a little like Lamar Jackson; I will never stop believing Lamar Jackson is going to win a Super Bowl and I will never stop believing Glen Powell is going to be a movie star. We give it...3 Runaway Juries
Cold Storage. Uh oh! This David Koepp-penned thriller was on last year’s list, meaning the release date was pushed back, never a good sign, and you know how this works; we have to dock it a Runaway Jury meaning we now give it...2 Runaway Juries.
Shiver. This seemingly serious “Sharknado” was also on last year’s THRILLERS ONLY list except it was titled Beneath the Storm. They tried changing the name to throw us off the scent! Nice try! No Runaway Juries for you!
Dead Man’s Wire. Thrillers based on heavy real-life incidents like this one of the 1977 Tony Kiritsis hostage case, bring me pause, but Gus Van Sant is not a fly-by-night director, and I would like to believe he is up to something here. We give it...3 Runaway Juries
Send Help. “Cast Away” meets “Swimming with Sharks” starring an against-type Rachel McAdams makes me think of Mr. Lippman wondering why Elaine did not bring him Kramer’s pitch for the coffee table book about coffee tables: “you see, this is the kind of idea you should be coming in with.” We give it...5 Runaway Juries
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We interrupt our usually scheduled THRILLERS ONLY review to pit two pairs of upcoming thrillers against one another to determine who gets the coveted Runaway Jury.
Crime 101 versus How to Rob a Bank. Hmmmmmm the former has a helluva cast but it feels a little too much like it’s straining to be “Heat” while the latter has an eclectic cast with a story about documenting bank heists on social media that sounds like the kind of B-movie they would have made back in the day if back in the day had included the interweb. The Runaway Jury goes to...“How to Rob a Bank.”
Mutiny versus Shelter. This showdown doubles as Jason Statham versus Jason Statham. In the former, Statham has been framed for a crime he did not commit, is named Cole Reed, and appears per the trailer to escape an aircraft carrier as the movie begins. In the latter, Statham is an ex-assassin turned hermit, has the mononymous name of Mason, and has to fend off sinister parties who appear to invade the island where he is in exile. Boy oh boy, it’s close, but I have to give the Runaway Jury to “Shelter” because it sounds like someone pitched the toolshed scene in “Commando” but if the toolshed was a whole island.
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| This is Barack Obama, who is not Hope Davis, more’s the pity. |
Greenland 2: Migration. I saw some rumor floating around that the 44th President was going to have a cameo in this one, but a cameo by the 44th President would not be better than Hope Davis co-starring which she did in the unexpectedly solid first “Greenland” and is one of many reasons why this movie did not require a sequel. We give it...1 Runaway Jury
In Cold Light. Hope Davis is also not in this thriller of an ex-criminal who gets pulled back into her old life, as criminals do, but Helen Hunt is, playing a crime boss. That’s inspired. We give it...3 Runaway Juries
Apex. “When an adrenaline junkie sets out to conquer a menacing river, she discovers that nature isn't the only thing out for blood.” That’s a 5 Runaway Jury synopsis if I’ve ever heard one.
Cliffhanger. I don’t know that we needed a 33-year later reboot of Sylvester Stallone’s “Cliffhanger,” even if it is being directed by modern-day middling thriller master Jaume Collet-Serra, but that does not really concern me. No, what concerns me is that in doing research on this new “Cliffhanger,” I stumbled upon an AI-generated trailer for a fake Cliffhanger 2 starring Sylvester Stallone and Dwayne Johnson, the latter with a voice that sounds like The Rock filtered through a T-800 Terminator talk box and this is our bright and glorious future? The fake Cliffhanger 2 trailer gets a 2025 Kennedy Center Honor.
Mercy. As a seeming mix of “Minority Report” and “Judge Dredd,” this one seems like a timely message about the perils of AI. Too timely, in fact (see above); I don’t want anything to do with it. We give it...Zero Runaway Juries
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| No, not this Deep Water. |
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Not this Deep Water either.
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Deep Water. Speaking of “Cliffhanger,” here we seem to have something like “The Grey” reimagined in the water with sharks directed by the director of “Cliffhanger.” We give it...3 Runaway Juries
The Sheep Detectives. You’re telling me the sheep are the ones doing the investigating when their shepherd is killed? And that one of the sheep is voiced by national treasure Julia Louis-Dreyfus? I mean, forget Runaway Juries; I give this the Elaine Gets Rabies Jury Prize.
Remain. Gosh, man, I don’t know, M. Night Shyamalan and Nicholas Sparks teaming up could yield some bizarre collaborative energy or it could open an interdimensional gate allowing some hostile Sumerian deity entry to our world. Can’t risk it. We give it...Zero Runaway Juries
Normal. Most of moviegoing America is salivating over Christopher Nolan’s forthcoming adaptation of Homer’s The Odyssey, and fair enough, but I’m hungering for Bob Odenkirk as a smalltown sheriff named Ulyesses who discovers his small town is not as, ahem, normal as it seems. We give it...5 Runaway Juries
