10 Most Claustrophobic Movies Of All Time

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%

Certified Fresh with a perfect score from Rotten Tomatoes aggregated reviews, this courtroom classic examines the lives of twelve American jurors as they discuss the guilt of a young Puerto Rican on trial for the murder of his father. The film begins as the trial ends and the jurors retire to their quarters to deliberate, though it quickly becomes clear that all are convinced that the youth committed the crime - all but juror number 8 Henry Fonda.

It falls to Fonda to make his peers consider the possibility of doubt, and before they can do that they need to examine themselves. First-time director Sidney Lumet took each of his characters and systematically peeled away their respective pretenses to reveal their deepest prejudices, gradually turning a simple room into a hostile and claustrophobic environment.

Despite the film being predominantly confined to the same room as the jurors, Lumet is able to establish both the mood and motives of his characters with some nimble, inventive camera work. The huge pressures that jurors face has been highlighted in recent hit TV shows Making A Murderer and American Crime Story, and 12 Angry Men has certainly aged well enough to be mentioned in the same breath.