Movies and tv shows have the power to transport us to new worlds. And for suspense fans, that world can be one of mystery, anxiety and anticipation. When the lights dim and it’s only you and the story on screen, anticipation begins to build. With every scene, your breath catches in your throat while you wait on the edge of your seat. Suspense brings pleasure and pain on screen in fascinating and exciting ways.

There’s really no one way to approach this edition of What We’re Watching, the unique facets of suspense covers such a wide variety of styles touching on horror, drama, sci-fi, and even comedy. Holding a rather flexible form as a genre, really the only qualification is that the audience feel a sense of apprehension while watching. To celebrate this broad category of media, we’re sharing our favorite suspenseful tv shows and movies. Watch these on your own, if you dare, or plan a movie night with friends to find a new favorite!

Yellowjackets (2021 Created by Ashley Lyle and Bart Nickerson) TV-MA

- Brynna Arens, Editorial Lead
I promise I’m not exaggerating when I say that Yellowjackets is truly one of the best shows I’ve seen in a long time. In 1996, the Yellowjackets soccer team from Wiskayok, New Jersey are on their way to Seattle to compete at Nationals. Their rich teammate Lottie’s (Courtney Eaton) parents have chartered a private plane for their journey, and the girls are ready to dominate the field. But the unthinkable happens as their plane detours north into the Canadian wilderness – the plane crashes leaving the girls, their assistant coach, and their coach's sons stranded in the wild with no help in sight. Not only are they stranded, but as time goes on it seems as though a supernatural force is intent on keeping them there.

Fast forward twenty-five years, and the survivors of the plane crash find that their traumatic time in the wilderness is coming back to haunt them. Not only is one of their own dead of an apparent suicide, but they also receive blackmail messages threatening to expose the lengths they went to survive. Even though we know a few of the Yellowjackets survived long enough to be rescued, that doesn’t make the flashbacks to their time in the wilderness any less impactful. Suspense builds as we try to figure out if the Yellowjackets were influenced by an evil supernatural force dwelling in the woods or if it was simply their traumatic situation and desperation that drove them to the ritualistic cannibalism we see in the pilot’s opening scene. Yellowjackets moves effortlessly between the past and present, weaving two separate yet connected mysteries with ease. This show is the perfect combination of ‘90s nostalgia, queer coming-of-age story, and mystery/thriller…just maybe don’t eat snacks when you watch it.

The Invisible Guest - (2016 Written and Directed by Oriol Paulo) - R

- Jade Gonzales, Editorial Contributor

When it comes to endings you did not see coming, The Invisible Guest takes the cake. Now I won’t give any spoilers away, but I will tell you the twists and turns had me gasping. Originally named Contratiempo then translated to the Invisible Guest, this Spanish mystery thriller follows businessman, Adrián Doria (Mario Casas) as he accounts for the moments before he wakes up next to the body of his dead lover, Laura Vidal (Bárbara Lennie). Out on bail after being arrested for her murder, prestigious defense attorney, Virginia G (Blanca Martínez), tells Adrián that the prosecutor has found a witness and he must confess the whole truth in order to form a defense together.

Adrian begins narrating all the way back from when Laura and him started their affair to when they killed a 23 year-old kid driving back from their getaway weekend to when they received a call blackmailing them to come to the rural hotel where his lover is ultimately murdered. As Virginia presses for more and more information so that she can prepare for the winning defense - the holes, intricacies and characters of Adrián’s story start to unfold. Virginia does not seem convinced that Adrián is telling the whole truth, so she ensures he accounts for every single detail. As the suspense builds, we too, are left to question Adrián’s side of the story. Now for if the truth comes out.. You’ll have to tune in!

Money Heist (2017 Created by Alex Pina) - TV MA

- Jade Gonzales, Editorial Contributor

I’ll start by saying Money Heist (originally La Casa de Papel) is my favorite series of all time. A bold statement that I will stand by. While considered a suspense / thriller, Money Heist is also categorized as a crime drama and somehow manages to be a mystery, comedy, satire, and action series all at once; it will make you laugh, cry, think and keep your eyes glued to the TV, waiting to see what will happen next. However, what I think Money Heist nails best is the character development, and how you are able to fall in love with each character while also feeling anger towards them, relating to them and rooting for them all at different points in their journey

Money Heist follows The Professor (Álvaro Morte), a criminal mastermind, and the 8 people he recruits to pull off the biggest heist in history, a robbery of the Royal Mint of Spain. These 8 recruits, all have nothing to lose and have a unique skill set that will be utilized in The Professors’ plan of printing 2.4 billion euros while in the Royal Mint of Spain. The series is narrated by one of the recruits, Tokyo (Úrsula Corberó) and is told in the heist’s real-time but also through flashbacks and time-jumps to tell the story of each character, their situation and what brought them to the moment of the heist. The viewer understands the complexity of each character through following along as relationships build and various storylines develop over the heist’s five months of planning to the day they enter the Royal Mint of Spain. Once inside, the group of thieves take hostages and carry out their plan while the authorities in Spain outside the Royal Mint, strategize how to get the hostages out safely, capture The Professor and stop the PR nightmare Spain is about to face. Tensions run high as both sides negotiate and the clock winds down to the final moments that will determine whether it is successful heist or a failed heist.

Search Party (2016 Created by Sarah-Violet Bliss, Charles Rogers, and Michael Showalter) TV-MA

– Mercedes Gonzales-Bazan, Research Lead

This dark comedy series first aired on TBS in 2016 where it remained through season two, before moving to HBO Max in 2020 for three more seasons, after a three year hiatus. Search Party focuses on twenty-something, Brooklyn-based Dory Sief, played by Alia Shawkat, trying desperately to find a purpose in her post-grad life. When she discovers a college classmate has disappeared, Dory recruits her boyfriend Drew (John Reynolds) and two friends Elliott (John Early) and Portia (Meredith Hagner) to search for the missing Chantal (Claire McNulty). While Dory’s investigation becomes more intense, her friends struggle to navigate their own lives in work and relationships, all the while entertaining her newfound Nancy Drew attitude. The throughline in the series is in fact not just a search for someone, but a search for a sense of self, which is why they all agree to the chaotic demands of Dory’s obsessive pursuit. The best part is, even when they get what they spent so much time going after, they are left without any fulfillment and instead wind up digging themselves a larger hole, literally.

Each season turns into a different sub-genre— mystery to thriller to courtroom drama to psychological horror and ending in apocalyptic surrealism— all while maintaining its self awareness, twisted humor, and narcissistic, millennial characters. Dory evolves into a new version of herself every season but insists she always has good intentions even after the most sinister acts (murder, deception, fostering a cult, etc.). These leads exist in constant search for attention, direction, and validation, but somehow always manage to ignore taking accountability for the destruction they’ve created. As a viewer, I remain captivated by Search Party with every rewatch; it’s one of the smartest contemporary comedies because of its bonkers twists, accurate parody of popular cultural jargon, and ability to effortlessly genre jump in order to shift personas as much as any twenty-something can.

American Horror Stories (2021 Written by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk Our Lady J Directed by Alonso Alvarez) TV-MA

- JeanJacques, Content Creator

American Horror Stories is a spin-off of the original anthology horror television series American Horror Story (AHS), but rather than each season being its own story, each episode is a self-contained narrative of disturbing tales, mysteriously sexy characters, and a Ryan Murphy take on society's faults and failures. The cast rotates similarly to other AHS series as each episode takes on new and different stories on a variety of topics. Some episodes are campy curious call backs to the original series, the infamous AHS Murder House is the focus of three episodes in the first season alone!

One of my favorites,“Milkmaids” (Season 2 episode 4) focuses on a deadly virus spreading, authority figures spreading false information, the public denouncing scientific reasoning, and women fighting for life-saving medical care… all in one episode. Power-hungry men trying to control women’s bodies and sexual liberty through disinformation feels like a summation of a 2021-2022 news headlines if one could ever be made on television. There’s also some cannibalism, religious power of abuse, and lesbian exploration sprinkled into the episode in true Ryan Murphy fashion. “Milkmaids'' takes place the days before and then after cures for the 18th-century smallpox epidemic are discovered. Though the allusion to the COVID-19 pandemic is obvious and direct, the episode doesn’t feel like other TV shows’ “COVID” episodes where it is like we’re reliving the worst of it onscreen. Having this episode set in the past with a different disease helps separate the story from COVID-19 where the themes of the story are more clear and evergreen.

Other episodes are encapsulated AHS takes on pop culture- like episode 4 “The Naughty List” where a group of influencers is tormented after posting a string of failed Youtube videos starting with filming a man’s suicide. Truthfully, I couldn’t watch an entire season of influencers vlogging their way through a Ryan Murphy nightmare, but as a one-hour episode it was fast and suspenseful. With self-contained storylines covering a diversity of current world topics, American Horror Stories is a suspenseful one-hour watch that brings a refreshing sense of newness and modernity to the AHS universe, whether you want to pick and choose episodes or binge watch an entire season.