Thriller | The Last Movie Guy

Crime 101 (2026): An Old School Caper

Posted on February 24 by Hugo Pagan Soto

It is easy for audiences to connect with films built around crime stories. That binary contrast between good and evil, embodied by police officers and criminals respectively, places the viewer in a comfort zone. The brain only has to choose between two options and let our ideas and assumptions do the rest. In the case of Crime 101 (2026), the film adheres closely to the established rules of the crime-thriller genre. We are presented with the classic cops-versus-robbers story.

The Secret Agent: A Political Thriller Set in Brazil’s Dark Past – TIFF 2025

Posted on September 12 by Hugo Pagan Soto

In 1977, Brazil was in the midst of a military dictatorship. General Ernesto Geisel led the government and was the fourth military leader since the 1964 coup d’état. Against this political backdrop, Kleber Mendonça Filho gives us The Secret Agent (2025), an intense political thriller that revolves around Marcelo (Wagner Moura), a man trying to escape his past. Through the eyes of Marcelo, the director takes us on a journey that revives the dark past of a nation and, through fiction, tells a story that was the reality for thousands of Brazilians during the dictatorship.

Dead Ringer (1963): Bette Davis Eyes

Posted on August 7 by Hugo Pagan Soto

Hollywood’s love for remakes is an old story. Before Bette Davis, there was Dolores del Rio in La Otra (1946). Rian James wrote the original story, which was acquired by Warner Bros.. Paul Henreid was brought in to direct and Bette Davis to star in the American version, titled Dead Ringer. Karl Malden and Peter Lawford were added to the cast to make it even more American. The original manuscript is perfectly suited for a traditional Hollywood thriller, and that’s exactly what the film delivers.

Bunny Lake is Missing: Exploring the Intrigue and Suspense of Otto Preminger’s Classic Film

Posted on April 6, 2023 by Hugo Pagan Soto

Otto Preminger was a craftsman of cinema. His absolute control of the details and the impeccable staging always accompanied him. Bunny Lake Is Missing (1965) has, in effect, that trademark that made Preminger a master of the seventh art. Whether from the stand with his Anatomy of Murder (1959) or immersed in the dark world of addictions in The Man with the Golden Arm (1955), Preminger was always poignant when it came to telling his stories. Common stories that mutated until they became unusual chronicles.