Film

Burn

Name: Burn
Genre: Thriller, Crime, Action
Released: 2019
Cast: Tilda Cobham-Hervey, Josh Hutcherson, Suki Waterhouse, Shiloh Fernandez, Harry Shum Jr.

Other titles called Burn: the 1969 film.

Drama
Crime
Very dark

A taut 89-minute thriller about Melinda, a lonely gas station attendant who sees opportunity in a robbery. When Billy holds up the station, she spots a chance at connection—or maybe just chaos. It's a compact, tension-wound character study dressed as crime drama: intimate, morally murky, and built on the chemistry between two unstable people making terrible decisions together.

TMDb rating

3.0

If you liked this

GoodFellas1990

The definitive film about ordinary people seduced by crime and complicity. It shows how proximity to transgression can rewire someone's moral compass, exactly like Melinda's trajectory here.

But Nearly 2.5 hours, and the voice-over narration won't be for everyone. Its style is very '90s—aggressively confident in ways that can feel dated.

In a Lonely Place1950

Bogart as a volatile man suspected of murder; the real thriller is watching how his instability corrodes his closest relationship. The isolation and psychological claustrophobia mirror Burn exactly.

But Black-and-white, slow-burn '50s pacing. If you want explosions or plot twists, this will feel like watching paint dry.

The Killing1956

Kubrick's heist film told in fragments, building dread through character collision rather than action. Petty criminals, desperation, and one bad decision that spirals—same DNA as Burn.

But Extremely fragmented narrative that can feel confusing. You have to pay close attention or you'll lose the thread.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from Burn

The wildcard

Something you would not have found on your own.

Christine1983

Both explore how attachment to another person (or thing) can override your survival instinct. Melinda and Billy orbit each other like Arnie and Christine—locked in, unable to break free.

Carpenter's film about a boy and his car, but really about possession and how objects (or people) can consume you from the inside. The genre is horror, but the engine is the same: fixation as destruction.

But It's a horror film first—jump scares and gore. If you wanted a crime drama and not a supernatural thriller, this will feel like a misdirect.

Gun Shy2017

Antonio Banderas as a hitman having a crisis of conscience. It's about moral collapse and the gap between who someone thinks they are and what they actually do, quieter and sadder than expected.

But Uneven tone; it wobbles between thriller and character study without committing fully. Some scenes feel half-baked.

Marnie1964

Tippi Hedren as a compulsive liar and thief. Hitchcock's study of a woman lying to herself and everyone else—the psychology of self-sabotage is the real plot.

But Slow and mannered; the suspense is internal, not external. The process matters more than resolution.

Mulholland Drive2001

Two women, Los Angeles, ambition and delusion. Like Burn, it's about people who want connection so badly they'll burn everything down to get it. Hypnotic and unsettling.

But Surreal, nonlinear, and deliberately confusing. Lynch doesn't explain himself, and if you need answers, this will frustrate you.

Thief1981

James Caan as a professional criminal trying to go straight. It's about the seductive pull of transgression and how hard it is to be good when crime is who you are.

But 80s aesthetic—synthesizer score, neon color grading. The look can feel dated or self-consciously stylish depending on your tolerance.

Kalifornia1993

David Duchovny and Brad Pitt on a cross-country road trip with a serial killer. A character study of co-dependency and how proximity to darkness changes you.

But Grimy and relentlessly nihilistic. It never finds humor in its darkness, and for some that's draining rather than compelling.

Beau Travail2000

Like Burn, it's about isolation driving someone toward dangerous intimacy with the wrong person. The fixation is the story, not the events around it.

A French Foreign Legion film told without plot. It's all atmosphere, desire, and the slow burn of resentment between men. Formally experimental, visually gorgeous, morally complicated.

But Nearly plotless, very slow, heavy on dance and abstraction. If you want narrative clarity, this is the opposite. Many viewers find it impenetrable.

Memories of Murder2003

Like Melinda and Billy, the detectives in this film are defined by their capacity to normalize transgression. Once the line is crossed, crossing it again becomes easier. Same moral trajectory, bigger canvas.

Bong Joon-ho's serial killer film that's really about institutional failure and the men who break under it. Tense, darkly comic, psychologically intricate. A masterpiece.

But Subtitled, and the tone shifts unpredictably between dark comedy and real horror. If you're not ready for a South Korean police procedural, the shift can be jarring.