The 13 Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in May, from ‘Fair Play’ to ‘Emily the Criminal’

Sometimes, when you’re looking to be entertained, only a thriller will cut it. Sure, everybody loves a rom-com or an action movie, but If you ever find yourself feeling like life is getting inexplicably dark and morality is becoming more ambiguous, immersing yourself in a tense world of serial killers, terrorists, crooked sleazebags, and jaw-dropping twists of all kinds is a pretty great form of escapism. The genre is broad enough to encompass a wide variety of tropes. so you could probably watch thrillers forever and never get bored.

Netflix’s thriller offerings are surprisingly well-rounded this month, offering a good mix of undisputed classics from the likes of Quentin Tarantino and Paul Greengrass as well as newer indie flicks that you may have missed. This April, top-tier archival titles include Park Chan-Wook’s “Oldboy” and Stan Lee’s “Inside Man.” Whether you’re looking to revisit an old favorite, fill an embarrassing gap in your movie knowledge, or find something new and cutting-edge that will blow your mind, the thriller genre always has something for you.

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Keep reading for 13 of our favorite thrillers streaming on Netflix in May 2024.

With editorial contributions from Christian Zilko.

13. “Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile”

At first glance, the casting of Zac Efron as Ted Bundy seemed like an indulgence of all of the worst parts of mainstream true crime culture. As America’s fascination with serial killers continued to skyrocket, bringing in a former Disney star to play a brutal serial killer could have been a shameless attempt to cash in on the trend. But Efron delivers an excellent performance in a nuanced film that does nothing to glamorize the murderer, choosing instead to break down the cult of personality surrounding Bundy at every turn. —CZ

12. “Run Rabbit Run”

Sarah Snook took on her first post-“Succession” leading role in this Australian thriller about a fertility doctor who begins to suspect that something is very, very wrong with her young daughter. In a performance that wildly diverges from her tightly-wound Waystar Royco heiress persona, Snook goes to great lengths to elevate a conventional thriller premise (complete with familiar tropes like ominous animal iconography) into one of the more entertaining films to hit Netflix in recent memory. Equal parts “The Babadook” and “We Need to Talk About Kevin,” it’s a film that will push you to your breaking point as quickly as Snook’s character reached hers. —CZ

11. “Emily the Criminal”

A nasty crime thriller about how economic uncertainty can push people to desperate extremes, “Emily the Criminal” stars Aubrey Plaza as the titular Emily, a former art student whose college debt and former felony charge prevents her from escaping the drudgeries of service work. When a coworker connects her to a credit card fraud ring, Emily leaps at the opportunity to make some fast cash, and under the tutelage of organizer Youcef (Theo Rossi), she quickly becomes a natural at this very unsavory line of work. The screenplay is occasionally a bit silly, but John Patton Ford’s feature directorial debut shows great promise, and Plaza’s charismatic performance as an ordinary woman with a surprising capacity for violence and crime is damn near flawless. —WC

10. “Gerald’s Game”

Stephen King’s chilling tale of bondage sex gone wrong was long thought to be unfilmable, due to so much of the novel “Gerald’s Game” taking place inside the mind of a woman who is chained to her bed. But “The Haunting of Hill House” creator Mike Flanagan found a way, turning the story into a chilling two-hander starring Carla Gugino and Bruce Greenwood that remains faithful to the novel while still thrilling viewers. —CZ

9. “Fair Play”

The buzziest title of the 2023 Sundance Film Festival made its way to Netflix in October 2023 following a $20 million acquisition from the streaming giant. Chloe Domont’s take on the sexual power dynamics at the apex of the financial industry stunned Park City audiences by offering an unapologetic throwback to 1990s erotic thrillers like “Basic Instinct” and “Fatal Attraction” while still exploring contemporary gender politics. Phoebe Dynevor and Alden Ehrenreich star as two corporate climbers at an elite hedge fund whose dueling ambitions and depraved sexual chemistry reach a breaking point when her career begins to surpass his. It’s a non-stop thrill ride that never shies away from the ugly side of sex and is practically guaranteed to be one of the most shocking titles to hit Netflix this fall. —CZ

8. “The Killer”

David Fincher’s latest is one of his slightest works, but the “Fight Club” and “Memento” director is still in top form with “The Killer.” Based on a French graphic novel series, the film stars Michael Fassbender as a highly experienced professional hitman who’s more than a little burnt out by his profession and ends up flubbing a mission, leading him on an international journey to take out his former employers before they take him out first. The film’s dryly funny sense of humor and Fassbender’s perfectly stoic performance sometimes make it feel like a lark more than a pulsing thriller, but Fincher’s nimble direction and sleekly executed action can still get your heart racing. —WC

7. “Wild Things”

100 percent pure grade Trash with a capital T, “Wild Things” is brilliantly, radically dumb. John McNaughton’s 1998 cult classic feels retrograde and conservative on the surface, telling the story of two high school girls (Neve Campbell and Theresa Russell) who make a seemingly false accusation of rape against their high school guidance counselor (Matt Dillon). But as a police detective played by a scene-chewing Kevin Bacon digs into the alleged crime, it becomes clear that this plot hook is just a vehicle for absolute schlock mayhem. In an hour-and-40-minute runtime, “Wild Things” packs ludicrous plot twist after ludicrous plot twist, in addition to blazingly hot erotic scenes featuring a very game cast. The jury is out on whether or not “Wild Things” is an intentional parody of the ’90s erotic thriller, but who cares about intention when a film is this much fun? —WC

6. “The Beguiled”

Thomas P. Cullinan’s novel “The Beguiled” had already been adapted into a well-received, faithful film in 1971, with Clint Eastwood in the central role of an injured Union soldier from the Civil War who gets taken in at a Southern girls boarding school and becomes an object of sexual desire for the students and staff. But Sofia Coppola’s 2017 take on the material is just as good, thanks to her sharp, insightful screenplay, which digs deep into the tortured psychology of the women in the story. And she assembled a talented cast to play these complicated women; Nicole Kidman, Kirsten Dunst, and Elle Fanning all turn in ravishing, nuanced performances opposite Colin Farrell in the central male role. Coppola’s lush direction captures the sensuality of the material, as well as the lurking danger underneath. —WC

5. “Body Double”

A commercial and critical failure upon release, “Body Double” has since been embraced as an erotic little sister to the Alfred Hitchcock canon. A gumbo stew of themes and ideas from the Master of Suspense’s most famous films — most prominently “Vertigo” and “Rear Window” — Brian De Palma’s neo-noir is a queasy odyssey through the seedier side of showbusiness, following a struggling actor whose house-sitting job causes him to develop a voyeuristic obsession with a beautiful neighbor. Its sexual content and view into the world of porn seems trashy, but “Body Double” is a legitimately smart ride that modernizes many of Hitchcock’s themes of illusion and obsession for the modern day, and features a brilliant performance from Melanie Griffith at its center. —WC

4. “Uncut Gems”

There are many terrible Adam Sandler movies on Netflix, but the streamer also has what might be the movie star’s single greatest performance in its library. Josh and Benny Safdie’s smash hit “Uncut Gems” gives Sandler a meaty, tour de force role in Howard Ratner, a smooth-talking, charismatic jeweler with a massive gambling addiction and mountains of unpaid debts. As collectors begin closing in, the film tracks Howard’s increasingly desperate efforts to get the money he needs to save his skin, as his business and family disintegrate around him. Sandler keys into Howard’s selfish, manic behavior with sharp focus, creating one of the most indelible film protagonists of recent memory. And the Safdie Brothers build an exquisitely realized world for him to play in, using immersive sound and hyper-editing to transplant the audience into the film’s vision of New York, where they feel all the stress and pressure that mounts on Howard minute-by-minute. —WC

3. “Burning”

Lee Chang-dong’s acclaimed Korean thriller has a strong literary pedigree, mixing elements of two different short stories both titled “Barn Burning” by writers Haruki Murakami and William Faulkner. But the result is an extraordinary cinematic creation: a nervy, slow-moving, and absorbing look into the relationships between its three main characters, childhood friends Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in) and Hae-Mi (Jong-seo), alongside stranger Ben (Steven Yeun, in a charming but unnerving performance). On the surface, the two are lifelong pals — but a possessive attitude towards Hae-Mi becomes apparent, and Ben clearly hides strange secrets. A deep sense of unease is palpable in every scene and “Burning” keeps that tension growing thicker and thicker, until the final horrifying release that closes the film. —WC

2. “Inside Man”

Spike Lee’s single highest-grossing film, “Inside Man” is also one of the director’s best, a nervy, exhilarating thriller that grabs you with its hooks and refuses to let go. An absolute killer trio of stars — Denzel Washington, Clive Owen, and Jodie Foster — lead the film as several different figures on different sides of a bank heist-turned-hostage situation in a New York bank. Washington is commanding as the negotiator working for the police, Owen is slippery as the mastermind behind the heist, and Foster is ice cold as a fixer hired to resolve the situation at the behest of the bank’s mysterious owners. The result is pulpy fun with a brain, and Lee’s muscular direction and style has never been as slick as it is here. —WC

1. “Oldboy”

Forget Spike Lee’s regrettable American remake if you somehow haven’t already; Park Chan-wook’s original “Oldboy” still thrills over 20 years later. One of the most acclaimed films of its decade, the film tells the propulsive, zig-zagging, and subversive story of Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), an ordinary businessman who is suddenly and abruptly captured and placed in captivity for 15 years. When he’s just as abruptly freed, he goes on a rampage to figure out who was responsible for his torture. Park shoots the hell out of “Oldboy” — that hallway fight scene remains justly influential — but the movie is just as much a deconstruction of the thriller genre than a straight example of the form, examining the depths people can sink to in the pursuit of vengeance. Its horrifying ending is well-known to many, but regardless of whether or not the film can still surprise, its critical look at the futility of revenge remains just as insightful and devastating. —WC

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