Horrors and thrillers love tapping into our innermost fears, whether it be claustrophobia, coulrophobia (fear of clowns), hemophobia (a fear of blood) or some other such rational fear. One of cinema’s most recent examples of playing on common fears comes in the form of Scott Mann’s Fall (2022), a story following two best friends who agree to climb a 2,000-foot tower and find themselves stranded at the top. Acrophobia (the fear of heights) is one of the most common phobias in the whole world, alongside arachnophobia (fear of spiders) and ophidiophobia (fear of snakes).
Fall grossed $16.4 million (thus far, as it’s still showing in theaters in some countries) against a $3 million budget. As much as audiences were terrified, it still performed well at the global box office, which just goes to prove that some of us—neigh the majority of us—enjoy the exposure to our biggest fears.
There are countless thrillers where the protagonists are thrust into dangerous scenarios with insurmountable odds. Fall comes to mind, but some others include shark-attack films like The Reef (2010), 47 Metres Down (2017), and The Shallows (2016). Why so many? That’s simply because it’s extremely lucky, unlikely and unthinkable to survive a shark attack in real life — just ask any survivor. Naturally, most of these flicks end somewhat happily, but there are those (47 Metres Down springs to mind) where a protagonist is actually killed and doesn’t make it out alive, which is far more realistic but not nearly as satisfying. Over on Reddit, thrill-seekers have gathered the best nail-bitters with insurmountable odds out there.
Right away, Neil Marshall’s British-made The Descent (2005) is suggested to the OP, who specifically asked for thrillers baring a conceptual likeness to the aforementioned shark-attack flicks. The Descent follows follows a group of six women who enter an intricate, maze-like cave system and fight to survive against the various humanoid creatures inside. Against a £3.5 million budget (around U.S. $4 million), The Descent grossed $57.1 million worldwide, which is a pretty staggering take-home.
Rather similar to Fall, Danny Boyle’s 127 Hours stars James Franco as Aron Ralston, an American mountaineer famous for surviving a canyoneering accident by cutting off his right arm. In this survival biography, which is based on Ralston’s true story, Franco’s iteration finds himself in the same terrifying situation, trapped by a boulder inside a canyon in southeastern Utah. Against an $18 million budget, 127 Hours grossed $60.7 million worldwide, thus sharing Ralston’s incredible story of survival and triumph with the whole world.
Jumping back on the shark-attack trend, alongside 2010’s The Reef, another comment mentions Black Water (2007), a tale about Grace (Diana Glenn), her husband Adam (Andy Rodoreda) and her sister Lee (Maeve Dermody), who go on a fishing trip in Northern Australia. When their tour guide is suddenly killed by a crocodile, the trio is forced to fend for themselves. Directed by Andrew Traucki and David Nerlich, Black Water grossed $1.272 million against a $700,000 budget.
We might never know the true appeal of thrillers, especially survival thrillers, but there’s something about an adrenaline rush that really gets the blood pumping and instills a sense of existential dread.