Verity is out in theaters. Starring Anne Hathaway, Dakota Johnson, and Josh Hartnett, the movie follows Lowen (Johnson), a struggling author offered with a life-changing alternative: ghostwriting the unfinished novel of Verity Crawford (Hathaway), one of many world’s largest authors. She accepts and shortly finds herself dwelling in Verity’s residence and entangled together with her husband, Jeremy (Hartnett). The snag is that Verity, left incapacitated from an accident, lies in a mattress upstairs.
The film is a welcome addition to the erotic thriller canon. The style has a outstanding historical past in Hollywood, originating in traditional movie noirs, which have been filled with hidden subtext, femme fatales, and detectives. The erotic thriller makes all of that subtext express, and it drew theatergoers in droves again within the ’80s and ’90s. Its heyday coincided with the rise of the VHS rental market, making these movies big hits at residence too.
The style has since spilled over into others, however it’s now experiencing a increase of kinds, aided partly by BookTok bestsellers like Verity and The Housemaid, which carry the style’s trappings to a brand new era.
For those who’ve already seen Verity and hope to search out motion pictures that discover related issues, or are merely searching for a primer on the style, this record is for you. Listed below are 10 erotic thrillers you’ll be able to watch.
1
Rebecca
Rebecca is the clearest reference for Verity. It’s within the title, with each movies/books named after the absent lady who haunts the protagonist. Written by Daphne du Maurier in 1938 and tailored into certainly one of Alfred Hitchcock’s greatest movies in 1940, the story follows an unnamed lady (Joan Fontaine) who falls into a fast relationship with Mr. de Winter (Laurence Olivier), an older and rich man. When he proposes, Mr. de Winter rescues the younger lady from poverty, reworking her from the paid companion of an unbearable socialite into the mistress of Manderley, a surprising manor. The issue is that Mr. de Winter was beforehand married to the late Rebecca, who haunts each nook of the house.
2
Les Diaboliques
Les Diaboliques got here out in 1955 and is full of twists and sexual undertones, changing into a key precursor to the erotic thriller. Directed by Henri-Georges Clouzot, the story follows a love triangle between Michel (Paul Meurisse), the headmaster of a rundown boys’ boarding college, his spouse Christina (Véra Clouzot), and his mistress Nicole (Simone Signoret). When the ladies meet, they join over Michel’s abusive nature and make a plan to homicide him. The movie was remade within the ’90s, starring Sharon Stone, Isabelle Adjani, and Kathy Bates, bringing a few of the erotic thriller subtext to the foreground whereas adapting the story to up to date audiences.
3
Vertigo
Voyeurism, suspense, and repressed sexuality have been foundational to Hitchcock’s movies. Vertigo (1958) is certainly one of his most well-known, following a retired detective, Scottie (James Stewart), who’s employed to research Madeleine (Kim Novak), the spouse of an outdated faculty acquaintance. Scottie’s outdated pal claims Madeleine is melancholic and possessed by the spirit of a useless ancestor; he’s afraid that she may damage herself. As Scottie begins to comply with her by means of the hills and valleys of San Francisco, he types an obsession together with her and falls prey to a entice.
4
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
Curtis Hanson’s The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992) is likely one of the twistiest motion pictures on this record. Like Verity, Cradle follows a girl with a mysterious previous who infiltrates the house of a household. It opens with Claire Bartel (Annabella Sciorra), a younger mother who studies her obstetrician for sexual abuse, prompting different ladies to come back ahead and do the identical. The scandal destroys his profession, and he takes his personal life, leaving his pregnant spouse (Rebecca De Mornay) widowed. The girl decides to take issues into her personal palms, reinventing herself and adopting the persona of Peyton Flanders. She will get a job at Claire’s residence and infiltrates her life, flirting with Claire’s husband and mothering her child. It additionally stars a scene-stealing pre-fame Julianne Moore.
5
Primary Intuition
In 1992, the erotic thriller hit its peak with Primary Intuition. Paul Verhoeven, certainly one of our biggest provocateurs, directed a film that perfects most of the key parts within the style: a detective, a femme fatale, a voyeuristic author, homoeroticism, and intercourse. The story follows detective Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), who’s investigating the homicide of a rock star who was killed with an ice choose. The prime suspect is Catherine Tramell (Sharon Stone), a rich and sensible crime novelist, who was relationship the sufferer, and whose most up-to-date novel options an nearly equivalent homicide (a setup Verity followers will acknowledge). Because the story develops, Nick can’t resolve if Catherine is out to border him or if she’s harmless. That doesn’t cease him from sleeping together with her, although.
6
Wild Issues
A lot has been stated about Dakota Johnson and Anne Hathaway’s kiss in Verity, an addition to the movie that wasn’t featured within the e book. No kiss looms bigger over the erotic thriller than the one featured in Wild Issues (1998), starring Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell, and Denise Richards. Set in Blue Bay, Florida, the movie follows a pair of excessive schoolers – a rich cheerleader (Richards) and an outsider (Campbell) – who accuse a well-liked steerage counselor (Dillon) of rape. A police officer (Kevin Bacon) will get concerned within the case, discovering that there’s far more to the story.
7
The Gifted Mr. Ripley
Talking of duplicitous protagonists, few are extra entertaining than Tom Ripley, Patricia Highsmith’s most well-known creation. The novel has impressed varied movie diversifications, however none as star-studded as Anthony Minghella’s The Gifted Mr. Ripley (1999). Starring Matt Damon as Ripley, a weaselly American con artist who’ll cease at nothing to get the life and standing he yearns for. The movie follows Tom, who, after a misunderstanding, is believed to be a Princeton graduate and classmate of Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Regulation), a rich socialite and inheritor to a multimillion-dollar enterprise. Tom is distributed to Italy on behalf of Greenleaf’s father to carry his wayward son residence to take over the household enterprise. He makes use of the chance to insert himself in Dickie’s life and social circle, with the story rising extra advanced and convoluted the extra his lies stack up.
8
Fifty Shades
Hear me out. Dakota Johnson wouldn’t be in Verity if she hadn’t constructed a profession primarily based on the success of the Fifty Shades film trilogy. And whereas Fifty Shades (2015) is notorious for being Twilight fanfiction, because it progressed, the movie sequence borrowed increasingly from the erotic thriller. Starring Johnson as Anastasia Steele, the story trails her romance with Christian Gray (Jamie Dornan), a wealthy and controlling businessman who’s additionally into BDSM. The story grows extra convoluted with every new entry, introducing a roster of obstacles, from Anastasia’s obsessive boss Jack Hyde (Eric Johnson) to Christian’s former enterprise accomplice, lover, and abuser Elena Lincoln (performed by trendy noir icon Kim Basinger). The final two movies of the trilogy have been directed by James Foley (Concern), who introduced a soapier, extra enjoyable strategy to the fabric.
9
Honest Play
The most effective up to date erotic thrillers is Chloe Domont’s Honest Play (2023), which makes some sharp commentary on gender and sexual dynamics. Set within the office, a beloved setting of traditional erotic thrillers, Honest Play updates the method for a contemporary viewers. The story follows Emily Meyers (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke Edmonds (Alden Ehrenreich), two workers at a extremely aggressive Manhattan hedge fund. They’ve been carrying on a secret relationship and have determined to get engaged. The 2 plan on sharing the information with their co-workers as soon as Luke will get promoted and so they’re not working on the identical degree. However all the things modifications when Emily is obtainable the promotion as a substitute.
10
The Housemaid
The Housemaid was certainly one of 2025’s largest hits. The discharge impressed a sequel (with Kirsten Dunst) coming in 2027 and has paved the best way for related movies primarily based on darkish and soapy BookTok suggestions. Primarily based on the primary novel in Freida McFadden’s sequence and directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids), The Housemaid follows Millie (Sydney Sweeney), an ex-con struggling to discover a job. She’s dwelling in her automotive when the proper alternative falls into her lap: a place as a housemaid within the luxurious Lengthy Island mansion of Nina (Amanda Seyfried) and Andrew Winchester (Brandon Sklenar). She accepts. Quickly after transferring in, Millie realizes there’s one thing incorrect with the household. Nina is merciless and begins to sabotage Millie’s life, however that is solely the start of Millie’s issues. The movie shares plenty of DNA with Verity: a girl on the sting will get tousled in a wedding, slowly studying that she shouldn’t belief anybody in it.