Spoilers ahead: for the puzzle and the movies/games
This page reveals all categories and answers for this puzzle. It also discusses plot details, story endings, and other spoilers for some of the movies/games shown.
easy
Ordinary people deciding someone else's guilt
12 Angry Men · Runaway Jury · The Ox-Bow Incident · Juror #2
medium
Heist stories with a comic or offbeat streak
Bottle Rocket · American Animals · Small Time Crooks · A Fish Called Wanda
These are crime stories where the caper matters, but the fun comes from eccentrics, bad planning, or thieves who are in over their heads rather than polished professionals.
hard
The threat stays hidden, invisible, or only briefly glimpsed
Duel · Bird Box · It Follows · Signs
These films build dread by withholding the thing doing the damage. Sometimes it cannot be seen, sometimes it barely appears, and the tension comes from everyone reacting to what is mostly offscreen.
tricky
Most of the tension unfolds aboard one vehicle or vessel
Speed · The Commuter · United 93 · Lifeboat
The setting is the trap. Each film takes a bus, train, plane, or lifeboat and turns it into a pressure cooker where escape is limited and every decision suddenly feels much louder.