6 thrillers streaming on Stan that will make you nostalgic for the video store.

One thing about me is that I am a woman of a certain age — one that holds a deep nostalgia and reverence for the ritual of going to the video store.

Picture this: It's finally the weekend, and you head to the local video store to rent some movies. You walk in, and that ever-so-distinctive smell of stale, buttery popcorn hits you. It feels like home.

You wander the aisles, scanning the covers and spines of all the movies, picking them up one by one, reading the blurbs, considering whether it's worthy of being added to your combo deal for the week (two new releases and five weekly rentals, obviously). As trailers for the latest releases play overhead, you can also hear tweens pleading with their parents to let them rent that movie that's a bit too mature for them, a couple debating whose turn it is to choose the movie, and a pretentious duo offering their commentary on the latest arthouse releases for the whole store to be impressed by.

Eventually, you make your selections and head next door, where you'll pick up some pizzas, a garlic bread and a soft drink before heading home for the perfect night in.

But while the video store may be dead, I have found a way to recreate the feeling of those beautiful days. And thankfully, Stan has so many of the films that really give off the video store vibes I'm always seeking.

Ahead, please find my selection of thrillers that will make you nostalgic for a bygone era.

Changing Lanes.

Image: Paramount Pictures

I watched this for the first time quite recently, and what a thrill it is to watch a film that feels like a time capsule for the first time.

After Ben Affleck's first Oscar win (for Good Will Hunting) but long before he became the serious filmmaker and Best Picture-winning director of Argo that we know him for today, Affleck's career had this wild run of films that have been mostly forgotten by people today. I'm talking The Sum of All Fears, The Third Wheel, Paycheck, Jersey Girl, and yes, Gigli.

Changing Lanes was also a part of this stretch of his career, and it is an absolutely wild film. The premise is this: Ben Affleck plays a young, ambitious lawyer, and Samuel L. Jackson plays a father who's fighting for custody of his children. They're complete strangers, until one morning when they get in a minor car accident, and then decide to ruin each other's lives. No, you haven't missed a sentence, and yes, they should both consider going to therapy!

Anyway, without spoiling anything, I will add that this film could not be made today due to the invention of e-signatures, and I'll leave it at that.

Gossip.

Gossip. Image: Warner Bros.

There's something about the way that this film is shot that gives it the very specific look of an episode of Buffy, the Vampire Slayer or Dawson's Creek or any of the other teen shows of the late '90s and very early 2000s that is so specific to its era, that it's nostalgic and comforting to me.

And, okay, it's probably also that the cast is absolutely stacked with 2000s stars: James Marsden, Kate Hudson, Joshua Jackson, Norman Reedus, Lena Headey and Marisa Coughlan, to name a few! The film follows three college students (Marsden, Heady and Reedus) who base their class project around gossip and how fast it spreads, only to find that the rumour they planted has spiralled out of control.

Hard Candy.

Hard Candy. Image: Lionsgate.

If you want a film that will truly unsettle you, look no further than Hard Candy. Years before Elliot Page became a household name with Juno, Page starred as Hayley, a teenage girl who agrees to meet Jeff (Patrick Wilson) at a local coffee shop after chatting with him online.

Jeff, a photographer and adult man, invites Hayley back to his place for an impromptu photoshoot. And from there? Well, let's just say that Hard Candy makes Promising Young Woman look like a children's film.

Page delivers a career-defining performance in this razor-sharp thriller that's provocative and at times difficult to watch, but will stay with you long after the film ends.

Man on Fire.

Man on Fire. Image: 20th Century Studios.

One thing about Denzel Washington is that when it comes to delivering a performance, (and this should go without saying, really) he doesn't miss. Man on Fire is no exception.

On the surface, this is the kind of film you've seen before; a classic, run-of-the-mill revenge thriller. But with Tony Scott's direction and Washington in the lead performance, Man on Fire is elevated above the fray.

Washington plays John Creasy, an alcoholic ex-CIA officer who takes a job working as a bodyguard for Pita (Dakota Fanning), the child of a wealthy automaker. The pair bond, and soon, Creasy finds that he has a reason to live again. But when Pita is kidnapped, Creasy is forced to reckon with his past as he sets out on a mission to kill everyone involved with the kidnapping. It's brutal and unflinching, but with an emotional undercurrent that will keep you hooked.

Red Eye.

Red Eye. Image: DreamWorks Pictures.

Long before he was one-half of 2023's Barbenheimer bonanza, Cillian Murphy was putting that ice-blue stare of his to good use in the Wes Craven thriller Red Eye.

Rachel McAdams, in peak-2000s queen form here, stars as Lisa, a woman who befriends a man at an airport after what she thinks is a chance encounter. Unfortunately for her, Jackson (Murphy) is in his 'What if I told you I'm a mastermind?' era, because, as it turns out, he is a domestic terrorist who is about to take her hostage for the duration of the flight.

Clocking in at just 86 minutes, Red Eye is one of those films that's set almost entirely in one location, making it a tight, tense, and claustrophobic watch. And although Craven is best known for his horror films (hello to all my fellow Scream-heads), Red Eye doesn't have the violence or terror of his other works. Instead, it's a fast, sleek, and very fun thriller that will hold your attention from start to finish.

The Talented Mr. Ripley.

The Talented Mr. Ripley. Image: Paramount Pictures.

The Talented Mr. Ripley walked so that Barry Keoghan could have sex with a grave in Saltburn. Matt Damon delivers one of his best performances as Tom Ripley, in a film that's as beautiful as it is menacing. Set against the picturesque backdrop of the Italian coast, think linen shirts, expensive boats and money, money, money.

With a stellar cast that includes Jude Law, Gwyneth Paltrow and our very own Cate Blanchett, The Talented Mr. Ripley is an absolute masterclass when it comes to stylish, haunting thrillers that will have you gasping at each new twist and turn.

Image: Stan.