10 Most Anxiety-Inducing Movie Scenes EVER

Ben Affleck's turn in the director's seat for Argo - whilst also starring and producing - wasn't his first time wearing many a filmmaking hat, but it's arguably his best. Affleck's movie is a depiction of the Canadian Caper, a true rescue mission led by Tony Mendez to extract six U.S. diplomats from Tehran during the Iran hostage crisis in 1979-1981. The innovative way Mendez managed to get his people out is what wrote it into the history books however, as the whole operation was done under the guise of filming a sci-fi movie in the country, covered by the diplomats posing as Canadians.

The white-knuckle moment at the film's climax doesn't care for history though, and will have you on the edge of the seat no matter how informed you arrive - with the team of diplomats forced to carry out their plan to leave the country even as the CIA tells them their support has been cut.

Believing the mission will go ahead on the other end despite the backing pulling out, the queue through customs is one of the most taut in cinema history. Hunted by guards, scrutinised by security, and their sources pulled at every opportunity, something as simple as a phone call - and sitting in a plane seat - has never felt so long.