The most exciting action and thriller films of 2018

The 15:17 to Paris

Remember the three Americans who foiled a terrorist attack on a train in France? Clint Eastwood has made a thriller about them – with the trio starring as themselves.

Apostle

Gareth Evans directs a period thriller about a man travelling to a remote island to rescue his sister from a cult. The Raid meets The Wicker Man? If so, it will be your favourite film of 2018.

Bad Times at the El Royale

Drew Goddard – always a welcome presence – directs Chris Hemsworth and Jeff Bridges in this 60s-set film based in a dilapidated hotel near Lake Tahoe, California. That’s the sum total of anyone’s knowledge so far, but it sounds promising.

Beirut

John Hamm is a former US diplomat who returns to work to save a colleague in a Tony Gilroy-written thriller, co-starring Rosamund Pike. It will gett its debut at Sundance.

Damsel

A Million Ways to Die in the West should still be enough to repel you from comedy westerns for ever. Could Damsel – starring Robert Pattinson and Mia Wasikowska – be enough to turn the tide? Here’s hoping.

Kursk

The K-141 Kursk submarine disaster in 2000, in which 118 sailors died, was the stuff of nightmares. If you’ve got the stomach for it, Thomas Vinterberg’s retelling – starring Colin Firth – is likely to be grimly compelling.

The Nightingale

Jennifer Kent’s follow-up to The Babadook sounds wild, although it remains to be seen if the tale of a woman seeking bloody revenge against her family’s murderers in 1825 Tasmania can inspire as many memes as her last feature.

Old Man and the Gun

Robert Redford stars as Forrest Tucker, a criminal who once escaped Alcatraz in a homemade canoe. It’s based on a New Yorker longread, so its fancypants credentials are in place.

Outlaw King

Chris Pine stars as Robert the Bruce. You have already decided whether you want to see this film or not. The fact that it’s directed by Hell or High Water’s David Mackenzie should be just enough to convince.

Red Sparrow

After the misfires that were Passengers and Mother!, Jennifer Lawrence needs a hit. This film – which looks to all the world like her Salt – looks like a fun enough diversion at the very least.

Sicario 2: Soldado

With Sicario, Denis Villeneuve proved he could handle heavyweight blockbusters. He’s absent for the sequel – as is Emily Blunt – but if it manages to be half as tense as the original, it’ll still be worth a look.

Under the Silver Lake

The suburban slasher It Follows was a triumph, so it’ll be interesting to see whether David Robert Mitchell’s follow-up will be as rapturously received. Star Andrew Garfield has already called it “the weirdest, wildest, most unique thing I’ve been a part of”.

White Boy Rick

The real-life story of Richard Wershe Jr, a 14-year-old FBI informant turned major- league cocaine dealer turned career prisoner. It sounds like Catch Me If You Can gone septic, and is directed by Yann Demange, tipped to be given the reins for the next Bond film.