The 31 Best Thrillers on Netflix Right Now
You’d think we all have enough stress in our lives already, but for some reason we still love those heart-pounding thrillers – be they quiet, intense or big action films. It’s entirely possible that the things that make our hearts race in real life are in the “oh no, that medical bill” realm, turning a spy movie, a botched heist scenario, or even a grim kidnapping story into a good vehicle for vicarious (and comparatively cheap) thrills. That said, here are the best thrillers currently streaming on Netflix, with tones ranging from mildly suspenseful to extremely dark.
Rebel Ridge (2024)
If you didn’t previously think of “civil forfeiture” as a suitable theme for a suspenseful action movie, perhaps that’s about to change; Aaron Pierre plays Terry Richmond, a former Marine who rides his bike to Shelby Springs, Louisiana, with cash in hand to post bail for his cousin (who’s being held on a misdemeanor charge) and a little more to buy the truck they’ll need for work. He gets knocked off his bike and the cops take the money (a real thing that absolutely happens), forcing Terry into a situation where he has to prove in court that his money isn’t linked to criminal activity. However, the clock is ticking, and his cousin is about to be sent to prison, where he will become an informant. On the side of justice? Terry’s Fists – He is an expert in close combat and is more than capable of taking on corrupt small town cops. You can stream Rebel Ridgehere .
Woman of the Hour (2023)
Anna Kendrick (also director) plays Cheryl Bradshaw, a real-life contestant on the game show The Dating Game . That’s not all that exciting on its own, except that Bradshaw guest-starred in an episode with Rodney Alcala (played here by Daniel Zovatto) and even won a date with a “successful photographer” who was actually at the center of a string of serial murders and rapes. The film alternates between their two stories until they collide on the set of a hit TV show and later when Bradshaw meets Alcala for a planned date. You can stream Woman of the Hourhere .
Network (1995)
Time has caught up with the Web in many ways: elements that seemed completely implausible in 1995 are now commonplace (for example, ordering pizza over the Internet was absolute science fiction back then). And while the aesthetic often verges on silliness, the film’s overall premise remains true: Sandra Bullock plays Angela Bennett, a systems analyst who becomes entangled in a tangled web (pun intended) of intrigue when she is given a disk containing links to a criminal conspiracy led by Jack Devlin (Jeremy Northam). Computers are all-powerful here: erasing her life, crashing planes, shooting down politicians, etc. – which was not the case in 1995, but definitely is now. You can stream The Net here .
Fair Play (2023)
Fair Game is a throwback (free) erotic thriller, an effective slow burner that builds to a rather shocking final act. Phoebe Dynevor is Emily Meyers, who’s thrilled for her secret boyfriend Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) when she learns he might be getting a promotion at the ultra-cutthroat hedge fund where they both work. When will she get a new job instead? Let’s just say Luke is less enthusiastic and begins a series of power plays that lead first to lawlessness and then to violence. You can stream Fair Playhere .
Revelations (2025)
Writer-director Yeon Sang-ho ( Train to Busan ) helms this more grounded police thriller, which follows the intersecting lives of a quiet, shy pastor (Ryu Joon-yeol) and a traumatized police detective who has only recently been transferred to the violent crimes unit—just in time to lead the hunt for a truly heinous serial kidnapper. This time one of Pastor Min-chan’s congregants is captured, and the ensuing manhunt leads to a crisis of faith for the minister and then a growing conviction that it is God’s will for him to become an instrument of divine retribution. You can stream Revelationshere .
Spider Head (2022)
While Joseph Kosinski’s Netflix original Spiderhead didn’t make the splash of his mega-blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick , it does deliver a smart thriller with sci-fi overtones. Chris Hemsworth plays Steve Abnesty, who oversees a prison program in which prisoners receive less supervision and shorter sentences in exchange for being test subjects for various pharmaceutical drugs. Supposedly, this is the project of some benevolent geniuses who simply want to improve humanity, but you may not be surprised to learn (if you’ve ever lived in our world) that a pharmaceutical conglomerate has much more to do with it. The experiments become increasingly manipulative and even deadly, thanks to excellent performances by Miles Teller and Jurnee Smollett as two prison inmates. You can stream Spiderheadhere .
Snow Society (2023)
You may be familiar with the true story of the 1972 Uruguayan rugby team lost in the Andes after a plane crash. The incident has been the subject of numerous documentaries and two previous dramas, including Frank Marshall’s 1993 Alive . This is probably the best look at the tragedy, a thoughtful and tastefully gripping drama. Director J.A. Bayona highlights both the heartbreaking physical dangers the team faces and the spiritual toll they must pay to survive. You can watch The Snow Societyhere .
I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)
When nurse Ruth (the superb Melanie Lynskey) comes home to find she’s been robbed, she and her neighbor (Elijah Wood) set out to reclaim her belongings and exact revenge in the most incompetent way possible. As a vigilante farce, it almost reaches Coen Brothers levels of absurdity, but hits many of these points while simultaneously challenging and confirming our worst instincts about our fellow human beings. You can watch the livestream of “I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore”here .
Pale Blue Eye (2022)
This brooding mystery is a gripping (and twisty) story that plays fast and loose with history even as it creates a cold and brooding atmosphere. Christian Bale plays a retired and troubled detective who teams up with a young West Point cadet you may have heard of: his name is Edgar Allen Poe, and he’s played here by Harry Melling, and he’s great. The two team up to solve a case involving dead students and creepy occult symbols. You can watch The Pale Blue Eyehere .
Runaway Jury (2003)
Gene Hackman’s third John Grisham adaptation (and his penultimate film overall) isn’t quite the film that The Firm is, but it’s still an effective legal thriller. Hackman plays shady and conniving jury consultant Rankin Fitch, going toe-to-toe with Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman) as key figures in the trial of a weapons manufacturer. The situation is complicated by the presence on the jury of Nick Easter (John Cusack), who, with the help of his girlfriend Marley (Rachel Weisz), plans to manipulate the jury in such a way as to receive a multimillion-dollar payout. You can watch Runaway Juryhere .
Trap (2024)
Cooper (Josh Hartnett) is a pretty cool dad in M. Night Shyamalan’s latest movie, taking his daughter Riley (Ariel Donoghue) to a Taylor Swift-style concert by a very cool pop star. However, we quickly learn that Cooper is a serial killer being hunted, and that the FBI knows that “The Butcher” will be at the concert, even if they don’t know exactly who it is. This premise makes for some fun thrillers where Cooper has to try to escape a pop concert while somehow making sure his daughter enjoys the show. You can stream Traphere .
Delicious (2025)
The thrill here is more psychological, but the film is no less intense. A German family hits a young woman on the road during a protest on the way to their beautiful villa in Provence. Instead of letting this ruin an absolutely delightful vacation, they take in a young woman and hire her as a house help; Each family member has their own motive for wanting her around, and each of them will deeply regret their choice (shades of Parasite ) in the final act. You can stream Delicioushere .
Doy Boy (2023)
Sorn (Awat Ratanapinta), fleeing conscription and violence in his native Myanmar, flees to Thailand, living in poverty as an illegal immigrant. With little money and fewer legal rights, he becomes a dancer and sex worker at the gay club owned by the title, one of the few ways to make money. When Covid shuts down the club, Sorn receives an offer from one of his clients, Gee, a police officer accused of quietly silencing activists: if Sorn helps a human rights activist get caught and disappeared, Gee will promise to provide him with a passport and legal status. Director Nonthawat Numbenchapol is best known for his award-winning documentaries and brings a meticulously realistic approach to this tense drama. You can stream Doi Boyhere .
Killer (2023)
Michael Fassbender plays the titular (unnamed) hitman, a fastidious and ruthless killer who suffers the consequences of the first mistake of his career—accidentally shooting the wrong man, oops—as his carefully managed life begins to unravel faster than he can hold it together. Unlike his previous Netflix original, Mank , this Fincher film is as close to pure thrilling action as it gets. You can watch The Killerhere .
Bird Box (2018)
This Netflix original had a cultural moment back in 2018, thanks to the success of A Quiet Place with its story about CREATURES YOU SHOULD NOT LOOK AT . Sandra Bullock leads an impressive cast that includes John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson, Lil Rel Howery and B.D. Wong, in a post-apocalypse where the only way to survive is with a blindfold and maybe a stylish puffer jacket. You can stream Bird Boxhere .
Cam (2018)
Director Daniel Goldhaber (upcoming film How to Blow Up a Pipeline ) teamed with writer Isa Mazzei, who based this Black Mirror- style story in part on her own memoir. Madeline Brewer ( Orange Is the New Black ) plays online sex worker Alice Ackerman, aka Lola_Lola, who one night discovers that there is another Lola – a cam girl identical to Alice in appearance and general vibe, but whose willingness to go further puts her ahead in terms of viewership. It’s a horror film that talks a lot about the dehumanization of sex workers, with a great central performance from Brewer. You can stream the Camhere .
Guilty (2021)
It doesn’t quite live up to the standards of the Danish original, but this 2018 American remake of the film is still great. Director Antoine Fuqua is joined by screenwriter Nic Pizzolatto ( True Detective ) in the film starring Jake Gyllenhaal as Joe Baylor, an LAPD officer who is arrested by a 911 dispatcher for initially unspecified errors in judgment. He receives a call from a panicked woman who forces him to make several dramatic decisions, not all of them good. An exercise in pure tension, the film’s content rests largely on Gyllenhaal’s shoulders, although a few big names appear via voiceover. You can stream The Guiltyhere .
Shimmering Lake (2017)
This crime drama begins on Friday with Andy (Rainn Wilson) hiding in his basement while his wife apprehends his brother Zeke (Benjamin Walker), who is also the sheriff. Andy, who escaped with the bag of money, will be dead before the end of the day, but here we go backwards: writer-director Oren Uziel’s narration then takes us to Thursday, and then to each previous day until we understand how everyone ended up where they are. You can stream Shimmer Lakehere .
Gerald’s Game (2017)
Set almost entirely in an isolated cabin in the woods, this Stephen King adaptation features one immobilized character most of the time. However, director Mike Flanagan manages to create a tense and suspenseful story about a married woman (Carla Gugino) who finds herself trapped in a remote cabin when her husband, played by Bruce Greenwood, dies after handcuffing her to a bed. Delirious, she is forced to face not only her past trauma, but also a hungry dog that constantly sniffs her surroundings. You can stream Gerald’s gamehere .
Lou (2022)
Lou (Allison Janney) is a quiet loner on Orcas Island in 1986; she is also Hannah’s (Jurnee Smollett) mistress. Lou has just arrived to tell Hannah that rent is due when she learns that Hannah’s daughter has been kidnapped by the girl’s father, a former Green Beret and war criminal. Luckily for Hannah, Lou has a few secrets about her past, much like John Wick, making her an unexpectedly good ally in the fight against her kidnapper. You can stream Louhere .
Luther: Fallen Sun (2023)
Continuing the British crime series starring Idris Elba, but also a film that you can watch on its own, the film follows disgraced, imprisoned former Chief Inspector John Luther as he is taunted by a serial killer (Andy Serkis) who he is almost certain can only be stopped if Luther breaks out of prison and hunts him down. If you’ve watched the series, this is an important sequel. If not, now is the time to find out why Elba handles the morally gray detective better than anyone else, maybe ever. You can watch The Fallen Sunhere .
Creep (2014)
Mark Duplass ( The Morning Show ) writes and stars alongside director and co-writer Patrick Brice in this clever twist on the found footage genre. Filmmaker Aaron (Brice) responds to an ad from Josef (Duplass), who says he wants to document his life for the benefit of his unborn child. Everything starts out quite normal, but then Josef’s requests become more and more strange, and Aaron’s car keys go missing. The slightly comedic atmosphere, at least in the beginning, only makes the whole thing even more unsettling. You can stream Creephere .
Fracture (2019)
This is a prime example of a thriller in which one person realizes that someone has disappeared, and everyone else acts as if that person was never there in the first place. (If that’s not exactly a subgenre, it’s definitely a thing.) After an accident on an outdoor construction site, Ray (Sam Worthington) takes his family to the hospital and then takes a nap in the waiting room. Big mistake: when he wakes up, they’re gone, and the hospital has no idea what he’s talking about. If it’s not entirely original, it’s still a fun and creepy mystery. You can stream Fracturedhere .
Emily the Criminal (2022)
Emily (Aubrey Plaza) is a very relatable character: she went to an expensive school and found herself saddled with a mountain of debt. A relatively minor criminal record prevented her from finding a well-paying job. When presented with the opportunity to learn all about credit card fraud, the potential rewards are too good to pass up—that’s about when things go wrong and turn violent. And then we will find out exactly what Emily is capable of. Plaza is so great here as the anti-hero that it’s hard not to root for her. You can stream Emily the Criminalhere .
Paramedic (2020)
Mario Casas plays here Angel, the paramedic of the title – not really the best guy who takes souvenirs from the people he helps, either to sell or keep. An accident causes him to lose the use of his legs, and his confusion and rage do not make him a better person, but instead allow him to be thrown into a world that he blames for almost everything. The girl who left him is especially dangerous. It’s a standard horror/thriller setup, but Casas makes an impressively convincing transformation from run-of-the-mill jerk to full-on monster. You can watch Paramedichere .
Gray Man (2022)
The Russo brothers took a break from the Avengers films for another blockbuster – costing around $200 million – but they didn’t decide to make the quiet indie drama. Ryan Gosling plays spy Sierra Six, whose latest mission is to take down another agent. He’s soon on the run from a corrupt agency boss (played by Regé-Jean Page) and is aided and thwarted by a supporting cast including Billy Bob Thornton, Ana de Armas, Chris Evans and Alfre Woodard. Sierra Six doesn’t make much of an impression as a character, but the Russos know how to create an action movie, and this movie kicks the action right off the bat and never really slows down. You can watch The Gray Manhere .
I Care a Lot (2020)
Rosamund Pike’s Marla Grayson is possibly the worst character on this list, and that’s saying a lot. She’s a con artist who specializes in persuading the courts to grant her guardianship over elderly people she says can’t take care of themselves. She then drains their bank accounts at her leisure. All is going well (for her) until she hooks up with the wrong senior: in this case, Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest), who looks like a perfect score. It turns out she’s the mother of a scary Russian gangster (Peter Dinklage), and things escalate from there. The tone ranges from satirical to comedic, but it’s both tense and satisfying to see the screws turn against Marla. You can stream I Care a Lotyhere .
Hold the Dark (2018)
Jeffrey Wright plays Russell Core, a writer and wolf expert called by Riley Keough’s Medora Sloane to investigate the disappearance of three young children in rural Alaska. Not all locals are convinced that wolves are to blame, or at least that they were wolves . The return of Medora’s (Alexander Skarsgård) husband from Iraq only further complicates the mystery. If you’ve seen director Jeremy Saulnier’s previous film, Green Room , you’ll get a sense of the dark tones and dirty aesthetic that’s in store. You can watch Hold the Darkhere .
Occupant (2020)
Advertising executive Javier Muñoz (Javier Gutierrez) once lived with his family in an ultra-chic apartment, but they simply couldn’t afford it when he lost his job. Due to limited circumstances, they share a tiny rented apartment in a less desirable area of Barcelona, but you see, they have a set of spare keys and Javier can’t help but go and check out his old house and the new family who live there. His interest quickly turns into an obsession with getting his old place back, although to be fair, none of his actions seem all that outlandish given today’s real estate market. You can watch the film “Occupier”here .
Carry On (2024)
The thriller Carry-On opens at an airport (naturally) and on Christmas Eve – I’m already tense. Taron Edgerton is TSA agent Ethan Kopec, who was blackmailed into allowing Jason Bateman to smuggle a very dangerous package onto a flight (yet I can’t get through it with a belt). Having missed the package, Kopeyka is determined to stop the man (known only as the Traveler) from carrying out his plan. You can stream Carry-Onhere .
A simple favor (2018)
The darkly comedic tone makes this film a little lighter than many of the other films on this list, but that makes it even more confusing. It all starts when blogger mom Stephanie (Anna Kendrick) befriends and unwisely confesses to Emily (Blake Lively), a public relations director and the mother of her son’s classmate. Then Emily disappears, Stephanie sleeps with Emily’s husband (Henry Golding), and the dark secrets Stephanie uncovered begin to come to light under shocking circumstances. It’s all a lot of fun and boasts some truly wild twists. You can stream A Simple Favorhere .