Hotel Cat-and-Mouse, from "No Country for Old Men" (2007), directed by Joel and Ethan Coen

One of the most heart-stopping and edge-of-your-seat scenes in cinema. Watch it in dim light. Anton Chigurh (Javier Bardem) is stalking Llewelyn Moss (Josh Brolin), who's carrying a briefcase full of money filched from a drug deal gone wrong. Llewelyn can't figure out how Anton keeps finding him. Then he discovers the tracking device ... at which point he knows that Anton is closing in. We don't see Chigurh distinctly until nearly the end of the sequence, but his presence is palpable, and the more terrifying for being invisible, since we know what kind of cold-blooded psychopath he is. There's not a note of music in the entire sequence -- the sound design is murderously precise; you feel like your hearing is being permanently sharpened. Then we shift to a messy, nasty shootout in the street, and the film -- maybe my favourite American movie of the last two decades -- barrels toward its climax. A lot of people would choose Bardem's "Coin Toss" scene, which certainly gives you crucial insight into his character. I'll link this below, along with an excellent shot-by-shot breakdown of the hotel scene.

No Country for Old Men - Hotel Room Scene Breakdown

"Coin Toss" Scene

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