Father’s Day doesn’t always call for syrupy sentimentality. Sometimes, it screams for a pulse-pounding action film that wrestles with fatherhood, duty, and all the moral gray areas in between. Whether it’s a desperate dad trying to protect his child or a flawed father forced to reckon with his past, these five films deliver thrills—and a little paternal insight—just in time for Father’s Day.
Jash Hartnett and Ariel Donoghue in Trap, where a night of bonding turns into a deadly game of survival—perfect tension for Father’s Day thrills.
1. Trap (2024)
Leave it to M. Night Shyamalan to take the Father’s Day theme and throw it into a twisted psychological cat-and-mouse game. In Trap, a father brings his daughter to a pop concert, only to discover the venue is a massive trap set by the FBI to catch a serial killer—him. The tension escalates as he juggles his double life while keeping his daughter safe and unaware. While the execution falters, the premise and emotional stakes make Trap an unconventional yet fitting Father’s Day thriller.
A cast member of Missouri Breaks: The Ballad of Missouri Bill captured in a tense moment on the Western frontier.
2. Missouri Breaks: The Ballad of Missouri Bill (2024)
This indie Western serves up grit with a side of paternal vengeance. Bill, a Civil War vet and lawman, just wants to whisk his wife June away to a safer life. But when she’s kidnapped by a ghost from his past, he’s forced to saddle up for one last ride. More than a shoot-‘em-up, Missouri Breaks explores what it means to be a man—and a protector—in a world that doesn’t care about your intentions. It’s a perfect metaphor for fatherhood, with dust, danger, and duty riding side by side.
Liam Neeson as Bryan Mills in Taken, threatening his daughter’s captors in one of action cinema’s most iconic Father’s Day moments.
3. Taken (2008)
No Father’s Day action list is complete without Liam Neeson’s iconic “I will find you” speech. When his daughter is kidnapped in Paris, former CIA operative Bryan Mills unleashes a calculated fury that would make any dad beam with pride—or recoil in terror. Taken isn’t just a revenge fantasy; it’s a hyper-stylized love letter to the lengths fathers will go to keep their children safe.
Tom Hanks and Tyler Hoechlin share a solemn meal in Road to Perdition, a poignant father-son drama wrapped in a gangster thriller.
4. Road to Perdition (2002)
Tom Hanks plays a mob enforcer with a code—and a son to protect—in this visually stunning, emotionally resonant crime drama. As bullets fly and enemies close in, the film meditates on legacy, morality, and whether a violent man can still be a good father. Road to Perdition is for those looking to pair their Father’s Day popcorn with something deeper and more reflective.
John Krasinski stars as a protective father in A Quiet Place, where silence is survival and parenthood is a daily act of heroism.
5. A Quiet Place (2018)
In a post-apocalyptic world where silence is survival, John Krasinski’s character builds a fortress of quiet resilience around his family. Every decision he makes, every risk he takes, is fueled by paternal instinct. The film’s final moments are a haunting, heroic ode to fatherly sacrifice—no dialogue needed.
These films don’t just entertain—they challenge, provoke, and sometimes even inspire. So this Father’s Day, skip the brunch and fire up one of these thrillers that remind us what fatherhood looks like when everything’s on the line.
