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1. the Usual Suspects (1996) - Bryan Singer
A shooting and subsequent explosion claim dozens of lives in the port of Los Angeles. The background is completely unclear to the local authorities. Astronomical sums of money, heavily armed crooks - actually everything points to a drug deal on a grand scale. Everything except the fact that no drugs were found at the crime scene. Customs Inspector Dave Kujan (Chazz Palminteri) hopes that the interrogations of the only two survivors of the massacre, an Eastern European coma patient and the hemiplegic small-time hood Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey), will provide information to solve the mystery. Piece by piece, Kujan's interrogation of Kint reveals a complex puzzle of betrayal, blackmail, corruption and murder centered on criminals Dean Keaton (Gabriel Byrne), Todd Hockney (Kevin Pollack), Michael McManus (Stephen Baldwin), Fred Fenster (Benico del Toro) and Kint himself. Kujan encounters thorny questions: who is the client of the slimy lawyer Kobayashi (Pete Postlethwaite)? Is there perhaps a shred of truth in the underworld myth of the all-controlling gangster-in-chief Keyzer Söze...?
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2. Fight Club (1999) - David Fincher
A yuppie (Edward Norton) finds shelter with the charismatic Tyler Durden (Brad Pitt) after his apartment is blown up. A tussle between the two develops into a brawl that ends with the realization that you just feel better after a good beating. The "Fight Club" is born. More and more men gather to fight - and go into everyday life stronger. The concept spreads like a virus, but for Tyler, the fight club is just the first stage in bringing the USA to its knees.
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3. twilight (1996) - Gregory Hoblit
Someone has brutally murdered the Archbishop of Chicago. The police quickly succeed in identifying a prime suspect: altar boy Aaron Stampler (Edward Norton), who is picked up by officers near the crime scene - covered in blood. Star defense attorney Martin Vail (Richard Gere) takes on the defense of the penniless prime suspect, burdened by overwhelming evidence, because he wants to raise his public profile. In court, he meets his former lover, prosecutor Janet Venable (Laura Linney). Initially interested only in prestige and not in the question of guilt, Vail falls more and more under the spell of his mentally unstable client, which is why he asks the psychologist Dr. Molly Arrington (Frances McDormand) for support. She unearths Aaron's formative youth experiences, in which ecclesiastical pedophilia plays a sinister role...
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4. Identity (2003) - James Mangold
A torrential thunderstorm causes a group of ten people to meet in a small motel in Nevada and get stuck there for some time: a chain of coincidences initially triggers a disaster. Paris (Amanda Peet), a prostitute, loses her suitcase, which tumbles out of her convertible. Her high-heeled pumps are left on the street. Unfortunately for George (John C. McGinley) and his family. Their car rolls over a shoe, the toe of which slashes the car's tire. While George tries to change the wheel, chauffeur Ed (John Cusack) speeds up with his passenger, Hollywood diva Caroline Suzanne (Rebecca DeMornay), and accidentally runs over George's wife Alice (Leila Kenzle) because bitch Caroline gets Ed into an argument. Alice is badly injured, but son Timmy (Bret Loehr) is fine. Ex-cop Ed takes the woman to the remote motel. Stranded there that same night are police officer Rhodes (Ray Liotta) with his prisoner, felon Maine (Jake Busey), and newlywed couple Lou (William Lee Scott) and Ginny (Clea DuVall). After a short time, a series of murders takes its course...
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5. Gone Girl (2014) - David Fincher
A warm summer morning in Missouri: Nick (Ben Affleck) and Amy Dunne (Rosamund Pike) were supposed to celebrate their fifth wedding anniversary today, but the woman has suddenly disappeared. When she doesn't reappear, Nick becomes the target of investigating police officers Rhonda Boney (Kim Dickens) and Jim Gilpin (Patrick Fugit). The former journalist, who now only teaches a little and also runs a bar with his sister Margo (Carrie Coon), insists on his innocence, but becomes more and more entangled in a web of lies and betrayal. Little by little, circumstantial evidence emerges that suggests Amy was afraid of her husband. But even the disappeared woman's slate is not as clean as she thought. The discovery of her diary brings to light dark things that no one would ever have expected from the supposedly perfect woman. Whether Amy is still alive at all remains unclear...
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6. Prestige (2007) - Christopher Nolan
Based on a novel by Christopher Priest, Christopher Nolan tells the story of two magicians in London at the end of the 19th century. The two aspiring magicians Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) are in a relentless competition with each other, which soon claims the first fatality: Angier's wife Julia (Piper Parabo), an assistant on stage, is killed during one of Borden's spectacularly daring tricks. Angier blames Borden for his wife's death. A fierce battle for fame, honor and audience favor follows...
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7. The Sixth Sense (1999) - M. Night Shyamalan
Malcolm Crow (Bruce Willis) is a child psychologist and receives an important award, which he celebrates with his wife Anna (Olivia Williams) in the evening. When suddenly with Vincent Grey (Donnie Wahlberg) a former, however not healed patient enters the house, it comes to the disaster. Crow is shot and the perpetrator commits suicide. A year later, the psychologist takes care of the behaviorally disturbed boy Cole (Haley Joel Osment). Malcolm is so intensively involved in the case that his wife feels neglected. Despite everything, the ambitious shrink doesn't want to give up, and eventually Malcolm's affection for the boy is rewarded. He learns what is tormenting Cole: The boy sees dead people. He realizes that Vincent also possessed this "gift" and advises the boy not to be afraid of the deceased anymore, but to listen to them.
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8. Memento (2001) - Christopher Nolan
A traumatic experience caused former insurance agent Leonard Shelby (Guy Pearce) to lose his short-term memory: he had to watch his wife Catherine (Jorja Fox) being raped and subsequently murdered. He can remember everything that happened before that, but what happens afterwards, Leonard forgets after 15 minutes at the latest, then his memories are erased. In order to organize his everyday life at all, he takes Polaroid photos and makes notes. But his life serves only one purpose: he wants revenge for his violated wife. He meticulously traces the criminal case, because the police do not believe him that there was a second perpetrator in the robbery, while he shot the other one. With the help of the shady Teddy (Joe Pantoliano) and the equally inscrutable waitress Natalie (Carrie-Ann Moss), Leonard tries to shed light on the case. The most significant facts, which he has painstakingly collected, he had tattooed on his body...
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9. Runaway Jury (2004) - Gary Fleder
It could set a precedent against the gun industry: The murder of Jacob Wood (Dylan McDermott), who was killed by an illegal handgun. His widow, represented by attorney Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman), is now suing the company that manufactured the gun that killed her husband. Since the gun manufacturer's claim for damages is very high, they hire the unscrupulous jury consultant Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman), who does not shy away from having jurors monitored or blackmailed in order to achieve the most positive result possible for the gun lobby. Piquantly, however, among the jurors is Nicholas Easter (John Cusack), who tries to play both sides off against each other and offers to influence the jury internally. But of course only if there is enough profit for him...
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10. The Game (1997) - David Fincher
At the beginning of "The Game," Nicholas Van Orton (Michael Douglas) is a successful millionaire. But then his brother Conrad (Sean Penn) gives him a gift certificate for a game for his birthday. Van Orton is hesitant at first, but he wouldn't have gotten this far if he'd let risks deter him. As the game begins, strange incidents start to pile up around the millionaire. It doesn't take long before he even has to fear for his life...
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