10 Movies You Probably Didn’t Know Were Part of a Trilogy

Director Edgar Wright really made his mark on popular culture in 2004 with the release of his zombie satire, Shaun of the Dead. With Simon Pegg and Nick Frost producing comedy gold and riffing on George A. Romero’s classic horror flicks, this film became an instant hit and has remained one of the most popular films of the 21st century – it helps that it plays on ITV most weekends.

Wright brought Pegg and Frost back together again just three years later for Hot Fuzz, a buddy cop comedy, which is just as funny and is a brilliant blend of smart one-liners and silly slapstick comedy. In 2013, he completed the Cornetto Trilogy – named as such because the characters always have a craving for the famous ice cream – with The World’s End, a sci-fi story set in the midst of an apocalypse, with a humorous twist

I know what you’re thinking… William Shakespeare’s classic love story didn’t have any sequels, did it? Well, no, but Baz Luhrmann’s modern interpretation of the tale in Romeo + Juliet was actually sandwiched between two other movies in his Red Curtain Trilogy. The sensual and vivacious Strictly Ballroom came first in 1992, and then the glorious Moulin Rouge wrapped up the collection in 2001.

You can find Romeo + Juliet and Moulin Rouge on Disney Plus, while Strictly Ballroom is available on Amazon Prime Video. All three films are mesmerising, from their sumptuous visuals to the way Luhrmann incorporates big, bold musical numbers into the stories. The Shakespeare adaptation, in particular, is a delightful twist on the original, with a crime-drama edge, Verona Beach setting, and vibrant costumes.

The Coen Brothers have a very unique brand of dry, dark humour, often intertwining noir elements and larger-than-life characters in their work. Burn After Reading is a superb example of that, with an ensemble cast firing on all cylinders, and some of the most hilarious situational comedy you’ll find on film.

That same tone is also found in two of their other movies, Intolerable Cruelty and O Brother, Where Art Thou? Together, these three films make up what is affectionately referred to as the Idiot Trilogy, a phrase coined by George Clooney, who stars in all three flicks. Whether it’s corporate espionage in Burn After Reading, a high-stakes divorce in Intolerable Cruelty, or musically-charged crime capers in O Brother, the Coens brilliantly blend genres and always deliver fun.

If you’re a purveyor of international cinema, you may well have heard of Park Chan-wook’s Vengeance Trilogy. If you haven’t, change that now. Oldboy is the most famous film in this collection, with the thrilling combat sequences and jaw-dropping plot twists making it a staple of any foreign language diet. But, it’s actually the second movie in the trilogy.

Sympathy For Mr. Vengeance came first in 2002, and offers a more desperate, gritty tone compared to the slightly surrealist vibe of Oldboy. Meanwhile, perhaps the most bloody and violent of the three films is 2005’s Lady Vengeance. You can find that one and Oldboy on BFI Player, but the best thing is, the films don’t follow on from one another so you can watch them in any order.

Taylor Sheridan is better known for creating the Yellowstone franchise these days, but before he started dominating the small screen, he actually put together one of the most impressive movie trilogies of the past decade. It all started with Denis Villeneuve’s Sicario, which Sheridan wrote the script for. He then wrote the story for David McKenzie’s scintillating heist-drama Hell or High Water, before taking the director’s chair himself for Wind River.

All three films in the Frontier Trilogy are full of thrills and shocking, action-packed moments, but it’s the intricate character work that sets them apart from other movies of that ilk. Hell or High Water, in particular, is a fascinating study of brotherhood and masculinity, with outstanding performances from Chris Pine, Ben Foster, and Jeff Bridges to boot. Check it out on Studio Canal now.

Another titan of the modern movie landscape, Jordan Peele wowed the world when he delivered Get Out in 2017, proving he’s not just a hilarious comedian, but a future king of horror. The razor-sharp social commentary on race and modern America was clever, entertaining, and highly provocative. But Peele didn’t stop there.

His next two films, Us and Nope, form part of a loose trilogy known as the Dark Capitalism Trilogy. While Us is a strong study of identity and the darker, secret sides of our lives, it is Nope that perhaps better exemplifies the concept of a society gone wrong. Themes of voyeurism, greed, and naive, morbid curiosity are at the heart of this alien thriller. You’ll have to pay to rent the latter two, but Get Out is streaming on NOW Cinema.

John Carpenter has literally made some of the best films the world has ever seen, particularly in the horror genre. I think it would be fair to say that The Thing is his crowning achievement, though. The story of an alien parasite invading an arctic research centre is gripping and gory, with the star power of Kurt Russell propelling it forward, and an ambiguous ending that has teased audiences for decades.

Years on from The Thing, Carpenter would form his Apocalypse Trilogy, with Prince of Darkness and In the Mouth of Madness joining the collection. Admittedly, neither of them are as good as The Thing, but not many films are. Still, they both feature exciting and bonechilling ideas, with In the Mouth of Madness especially being a firm favourite for anyone who loves a bit of Lovecraftian horror.

OK, a lot of you probably do know that The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly is part of the Dollars Trilogy, but the third film in Sergio Leone’s series is so revered that it often steals the thunder of its predecessors. It’s easy to see why, of course, given it’s a riveting Western story on a much bigger scale than A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More.

The sprawling epic gets plenty of praise, especially for its thrilling conclusion, but I do have a real soft spot for the more introspective nature of Leone’s earlier work. The two films really lean into the trope of a mysterious hero riding into town to save the day; they’re more confined and simpler, but that’s not always a bad thing. You can watch the whole trilogy on MGM+ if cowboys are your thing.

Controversial director Roman Polanski has made some undeniably incredible films, most notably the twisted horror movie Rosemary’s Baby. It’s a great exploration of themes of gaslighting and exploitation, all wrapped up in a story of demonic cults. What more could you want? 

You can find that film on Paramount Plus, along with The Tenant, which is also part of Polanski’s Apartment Trilogy, but you’ll have to look elsewhere and pay a rental fee for Repulsion from 1965. All three films really find a way to get under your skin and make you question what is really happening, while tormenting us (and the characters) with claustrophobic, largely single-location terror.

When you need a biopic about an influential female figure, you give Pablo Larrain a call. The Chilean filmmaker first forayed into that very specific brand of story in 2016 with Jackie. Starring Natalie Portman as Jackie Kennedy, it’s a raw and emotional depiction of a woman grieving the loss of her husband in the immediate aftermath of John F. Kennedy’s assassination.

He followed that up with Spencer in 2021, tackling the story of Princess Diana, before rounding out his 20th Century Women Trilogy with Maria, offering a look at the difficult life of acclaimed opera singer Maria Callas. All three movies are absolutely divine from a technical standpoint, with immaculate costume work and marvellous mise-en-scene. It’s the lead performances of Portman, Kristen Stewart, and Angelina Jolie that really make these movies so special, though.