The 20 best thriller movies on Netflix right now
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Time for some Netflix and thrills: Check out these 20 must-watch movies from the platform’s deep catalog of spine-tingling thrillers.
Movies that provoke thrills and chills aren't just reserved for Halloween. The films on this list feature some of the best actors of this generation and beyond, and are designed to flirt with the senses and entice viewers' adrenal glands, regardless of the season. With scripts based on real stories and inventive flights of fancy, Netflix's deep catalog of thrillers includes the works of filmmakers who helped jumpstart the genre, those who advanced it, and those whose work serves as a pastiche to those who paved the way. With so many compelling titles and gripping narratives available to stream, the hardest part is selecting the right film for your mood — but what a thrill when you get it right.
Bird Box (2018)
Sight becomes a handicap in Bird Box, a post-apocalyptic thriller where the enemy must go unseen, or else. Sandra Bullock stars as Malorie Hayes, a woman responsible for transporting two young children down a river while wearing blindfolds, a strategy intended to help the survivors avoid seeing the entities that attacked Earth five years earlier, and who cause those who look upon them to commit suicide.
Jumping between their present journey and the past events that led Malorie and the children to this point, director Susanne Bier leans into the tension of the unknown and relies on her talented but eclectic cast to do the rest. Released the same year as A Quiet Place, and possessing a somewhat similar premise, Bird Box received less attention when it first premiered, but this sci-fi horror film is a great option for fans of both genres. —Ilana Gordon
Where to watch Bird Box: Netflix
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Susanne Bier
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Danielle Macdonald, Sarah Paulson
Related content: Bird Box author Josh Malerman on publishing a sequel during the end times
The Devil All the Time (2020)
A Netflix original and period thriller, The Devil All the Time explores several interconnected groups of people living in two small towns in Southern Ohio between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s. Linked by religious evangelism, war, corruption, suicide, abandonment, and serial murder, the cast — which includes a host of young Hollywood heavy hitters — makes the most of the story's melodrama and dark subject matter.
Based on the 2011 novel and directed by Antonio Campos (The Staircase), The Devil All the Time takes the "all the time" portion of the film's title literally: the sins are multitudinous and the depths of human depravity on full display. Still, EW's critic writes that Campos' biggest accomplishment as the film's director is "toeing a tricky line between art-house atmosphere and Southern Gothic soap opera, and somehow still managing to land on the grim side of fascinating." —I.G.
Where to watch The Devil All the Time: Netflix
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Antonio Campos
Cast: Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Sebastian Stan, Riley Keough, Eliza Scanlen, Haley Bennett, Bill Skarsgård, Mia Wasikowska, Jason Clarke
Related content: Tom Holland did not know Jake Gyllenhaal was a producer on his new movie
El Camino (2019)
The best meth cook in Albuquerque is back, bitch. Breaking Bad's Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) return for El Camino, a film based on AMC's beloved show, with far more attention paid to Pinkman's character. Freewheeling through time and flashing back to events depicted in the series, El Camino picks up right where Breaking Bad left off, and includes a host of cameos from the show's five-season run. Jane, Skinny Pete, and Badger are all back in one form or another, but it's Nazi Todd (Jesse Plemons) who informs most of the film's plot. Breaking Bad fans will be gratified to see Jesse Pinkman finally get the time to mentally process the last couple years of his life — even if Paul looks markedly older than he did when the show wrapped in 2013. —I.G.
Where to watch El Camino: Netflix
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Vince Gilligan
Cast: Bryan Cranston, Aaron Paul, Jesse Plemons, Jonathan Banks, Matt Jones
Related content: Vince Gilligan pays tribute to Robert Forster and how he did big little things in El Camino
Emily the Criminal (2022)
Drowning in debt and student loans, Emily is one of Los Angeles' many broke artists on the verge of financial ruin. With a former felony conviction preventing her from finding a job that might pay enough to survive, Emily finds purpose — and quick cash — by getting involved with a credit card fraud ring. What starts as a survival tactic soon balloons into much more, as Emily distances herself from the corporate world she can never quite crack and leans into the world of criminality. Aubrey Plaza is in her element here, her blunt practicality and signature deadpan delivery serving as the perfect stand-in for an audience whose dreams of hitting milestones like home ownership and retirement have been deadened by current economic realities. —I.G.
Where to watch Emily the Criminal: Netflix
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: John Patton Ford
Cast: Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Bernardo Badillo, John Billingsley
Related content: Aubrey Plaza on why her new thriller Emily the Criminal felt like pulling off a scam
Fair Play (2023)
For newly engaged couple Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) and Emily (Phoebe Dynevor), their sizzling, can't-keep-their-hands-off-each-other love must remain discreet within their workplace. However, when Emily secures a managerial position at their dog-eat-dog hedge fund, the power shift within the bullpen begins to splinter their romantic bliss. Praising its "lean, crackling script," EW's critic observes how Fair Play's final act is "so freighted with increasingly unhinged possibilities" yet "both leads hang on, throwing themselves headlong into the tar pits of contemporary workplace politics and gender roles without being drawn into clumsy, one-dimensional ideas of victimhood or villainy." —James Mercadante
Where to watch Fair Play: Netflix
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Chloe Domont
Cast: Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich, Eddie Marsan, Rich Sommer
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The Good Nurse (2022)
Nurses are angels with the power to do the work of demons. In the Netflix original psychological thriller The Good Nurse, Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain) is a night nurse with a work husband: Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne). A single mom with a serious heart condition, Amy is shocked to learn that the recent death of one of their hospital's patients is thought to have occurred intentionally, and that Charles might be involved. And the more Amy digs, the more she realizes the co-worker she trusts is actually someone far more nefarious.
Based on the true story of how the real life Amy Loughren helped authorities take down serial killer Charles Cullen, The Good Nurse is good old-fashioned, ripped-from-the-headlines cinema with a story made all the more terrifying because so little of it is exaggerated. Trust us — you've never seen Eddie Redmayne like this before. —I.G.
Where to watch The Good Nurse: Netflix
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Tobias Lindholm
Cast: Jessica Chastain, Eddie Redmayne
Related content: Eddie Redmayne's daughter wants him to be a wizard again after realizing he was 'the bad nurse' in The Good Nurse
I Care A Lot (2021)
Seacia Pavao/Netflix
Rosamund Pike in 'I Care a Lot'Rosamund Pike builds on her Gone Girl villainess status to portray Marla Grayson, a con artist who fronts as a professional "legal guardian" to fleece the elderly of their life savings. But Marla takes it a step too far when she meets Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest), who seems infirm at first but actually has ties to important, dangerous people (like Peter Dinklage) who Marla would do well to stay clear of. Pike's duplicitous performance is a blast to witness, but seeing Marla meet her match is just as gratifying. As EW's writes in their review, "There's good fun in I Care a Lot's setup, and in Marla's ruthless M.O." —Gwen Ihnat
Where to watch I Care a Lot: Netflix
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: J Blakeson
Cast: Rosamund Pike, Dianne Wiest, Peter Dinklage, Eiza González, Chris Messina, Isiah Whitlock Jr.
Related content: Rosamund Pike compares her cunning antiheroines in I Care a Lot and Gone Girl
I Don't Feel At Home In This World Anymore (2017)
After Yellowjackets, Togetherness, and Mrs. America, we'd straight-up watch Melanie Lynskey in anything, but even we missed Macon Blair's 2017 sleeper. Lynskey plays Ruth, a down-on-her-luck nursing assistant who decides after her house gets broken into that she's fed up. She hooks up with her odd neighbor Tony (Elijah Wood) to go out on a quest to get her stuff back, leading to a quirky journey that's both suspenseful and inspiring for the downtrodden.
Second only to Lynskey in luminescence in this movie is Wood, whose Tony named his dog Kevin and specializes in nunchucks and ninja stars. And Jane Levy is unrecognizable as one of the unsavory thieves. As EW's Clark Collis points out, the film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for its reconfiguration of "the buddy-cop film — at one point, Ruth even flashes a toy police badge." —G.I.
Where to watch I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore: Netflix
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Director: Macon Blair
Cast: Melanie Lynskey, Elijah Wood, Jane Levy
Related content: I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore wins top Sundance prize
Joker (2019)
Since the '60s, Hollywood has spun a kaleidoscope of portrayals for Batman's iconic archenemy, remaking him from a kooky evil genius (César Romero in Batman) to a dark, chaotic anarchist (Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight), and in 2019, Todd Phillips confronted the character's psyche through the lens of mental health. Beaten and overlooked by society, aspiring comic and street clown Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) dreams of making his mark in '80s Gotham City — and his alter ego, the "Joker," seems to be the perfect vessel for his aspirations. Marred by controversy upon release due to its depiction of gun violence, the film presents a man echoing the results of contemporary incel culture; one who rationalizes harming others when pushed to the brink. Phoenix's Oscar-winning performance is undeniably magnetic, with EW's critic noting how he "feels possessed by the part, communing with Arthur’s hurt and rage and raw vulnerability even as he falls deeper into whatever kind of spiders-in-the-brain psychosis the willful halting of his meds lets in." —J.M.
EW grade: N/A (read the review)
Director: Todd Phillips
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen
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L.A. Confidential (1997)
In the vein of classic detective novels, L.A. Confidential unravels like a perfectly-spun yarn. Depicting a crime-infested 1950s Los Angeles, this neo-noir favorite follows investigators delving into a seemingly routine robbery and homicide case, only to uncover revelation after revelation of the corruption lurking beneath the self-proclaimed City of Angels. Featuring a star-studded ensemble including Guy Pearce and Russell Crowe in breakout roles and Kim Basinger, who won an Oscar for her performance as a sex worker/Veronica Lake's doppelgänger, L.A. Confidential crackles with style and riveting plot twists. "Like Chinatown, the 1974 classic of Los Angeles depravity," writes EW's critic, "this is the rare night-world thriller that understands what bad impulses can do to good men. Even the heroes have to get down in the muck to take on the devil." —Kevin Jacobsen
Where to watch L.A. Confidential: Netflix
EW grade: A (read the review)
Director: Curtis Hanson
Cast: Kevin Spacey, Russell Crowe, Guy Pearce, James Cromwell, David Strathairn, Kim Basinger, Danny DeVito
Related content: L.A. Confidential cast: Where are they now?
Lou (2022)
Liane Hentscher/Netflix
Allison Janney in 'Lou'Allison Janney knows how to deliver a line, and thanks to stunt training for her new Netflix film, Lou, she also knows how to deliver a punch. Janney stars as the film's titular character, a misandrist landlord who rents a home to a single mother named Hannah (Jurnee Smollett) and her young daughter, Vee. After Vee is kidnapped, Lou agrees to help Hannah bring her back, but saving Vee's future will require Lou to confront her own messy past.
Director Anna Foerster asked a lot of her cast during production, as evidenced by the fact that both Smollett and Janney spend much of the film covered in mud. (Smollett tells EW, "The mud is a character in itself!") As for Janney, she hopes this role will showcase her rarely-seen physical abilities — and maybe land her a role in the next John Wick movie. —I.G.
Director: Anna Foerster
Cast: Allison Janney, Jurnee Smollett, Logan Marshall-Green
Related content: Jurnee Smollett and Allison Janney team up to rescue an abducted child in Lou trailer
Missing (2023)
One might have suspected that the novelty of "screenlife" thrillers had run its course after Searching (2018), but Will Merrick and Nick Johnson exalted the genre with its standalone sequel, Missing: a story about a teenager (Storm Reid) investigating her mother's (Nia Long) disappearance in Colombia via all her digital resources. While the film's logic sometimes flirts with absurdity, the infinite pathways of the internet prove to be an imaginative tool for peeling back the mystery's myriad layers. Glowing with a sharp and witty portrayal of 2023's techno-centric culture, Missing grounds itself with a heartfelt journey of repairing a strained mother-daughter relationship. (And when the credits roll, you might want to reconsider using the same password for everything!) —J.M.
Where to watch Missing: Netflix
EW grade: B+ (read the review)
Directors: Will Merrick, Nick Johnson
Cast: Storm Reid, Joaquim de Almeida, Ken Leung, Amy Landecker, Daniel Henney, Nia Long
Related content: 'Screenlife' thrillers like Searching are here to stay; here are 9 on the horizon
The Mule (2018)
Clint Eastwood's 10-year acting hiatus came to an end with 2018's The Mule, a crime thriller he both directed and starred in. And the veteran performer couldn't have picked a better script to celebrate his return to the big screen. Based on a true story published in The New York Times Magazine, The Mule centers around Earl Stone, an octogenarian struggling with the failures of both his business and relationships with his family. Given an opportunity to make some easy money by driving an unidentified package to Mexico, Earl inadvertently becomes the preeminent drug courier for a cartel. But as Earl falls deeper into the criminal underworld, even his advanced age and mild-mannered demeanor can't keep him off the DEA's radar. While Eastwood's physical appearance may have changed since the last time audiences saw him onscreen in 2008, his refractory charisma and old-school movie-star charm remain as solid as ever. —I.G.
Where to watch The Mule: Netflix
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Clint Eastwood
Cast: Clint Eastwood, Bradley Cooper, Laurence Fishburne, Michael Peña, Dianne Wiest, Andy García, Taissa Farmiga
Related content: Arnold Schwarzenegger pays tribute to Clint Eastwood for 93rd birthday: 'You're a legend'
The Novice (2021)
IFC Films/Courtesy Everett Collection
Isabelle Fuhrman in 'The Novice'The obsession with perfection crosses the line from competitive to dangerous in Lauren Hadaway’s directorial debut, The Novice. Orphan’s Isabelle Fuhrman stars as a compulsive college student who is determined to make her school’s varsity rowing team at all costs. Fuhrman gives a virtuoso performance as Alex, a queer first-year student whose addiction to being the best torpedoes her mental and physical health, her academic performance, and her social and romantic life. Anyone who has ever met a self-destructive, Type A teenager will recognize the anxious thrill that comes with watching someone who can’t relax work themselves into a terrifying state, and The Novice transforms that feeling into a thriller with aplomb. —I.G.
Where to watch The Novice: Netflix
Director: Lauren Hadaway
Cast: Isabelle Fuhrman, Amy Forsyth, Dilone, Charlotte Ubben, Jonathan Cherry, Kate Drummond
Related content: How 'KISS boots' and a 'butt dolly' allowed Isabelle Fuhrman to play Esther again in Orphan: First Kill
Oldboy (2003)
Mary Evans/Egg Films/Show East/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection
Choi Min-sik and Kang Hye-jung in 'Oldboy'South Korea’s Oldboy — not to be confused with the American version directed by Spike Lee — is considered one of the greatest films ever made, and since its release more than two decades ago, the movie’s fight sequences have challenged action directors and stunt coordinators to up their game. Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) is a businessman who has spent 15 years in captivity with no idea of who his kidnapper is or what they want with him. After his release, he wants vengeance — but he only has five days to hunt down his captor. Beloved for its memorable plot twist, hallway fight scene, and terrifying use of a living octopus, the film is beyond memorable. At the time of its release in 2003, EW’s critic writes, “Oldboy caused a love-it-or-hate-it stir at Cannes last year, and how could it not: It’s an onslaught made to cause a sensation.” —I.G.
Where to watch Oldboy: Netflix
EW grade: N/A (read the review)
Director: Park Chan-wook
Cast: Choi Min-sik, Yoo Ji-tae, Kang Hye-jung
Related content: How the iconic Oldboy hallway fight influenced a generation of Hollywood action
Oxygen (2021)
A nightmare come to life for claustrophobics everywhere, Oxygen is a French language sci-fi film that thinks outside the box in terms of action. At the genesis, an unidentified woman (Mélanie Laurent) awakens in an airtight medical unit, unsure of who or where she is. Interactions with the system's AI — dubbed M.I.L.O. (Medical Interface Liaison Officer) — provide some clarity as to her identity, but no matter what she tries, she cannot escape her prison. As she seeks to understand who placed her in the box and why, truths about her personal life and the current state of the world come into focus — but her search for context is actually a race to outwit the slowly depleting oxygen levels. Laurent is excellent, and despite being forced to perform on her back, she manages to imbue the film with a strong sense of determination and humanity. —I.G.
Where to watch Oxygen: Netflix
EW grade: B (read the review)
Director: Alexandre Aja
Cast: Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, Malik Zidi
Related content: The best sci-fi movies on Max
Society of the Snow (2023)
Netflix
'The Society of the Snow'In 1972, the Andes Mountains became a crucible of survival when a Uruguayan flight crashed en route to Santiago, Chile. Sixteen remaining passengers found themselves stranded in one of Mother Nature's most life-threatening terrains, pushing them to take ineffable means to find their way back. While Hollywood attempted to soften this tragedy with a more glossy depiction in Alive (1993), Society of the Snow delivers a far more raw and emotive experience — enriched by the director's conversations with the real-life survivors — that sinks viewers into the gut-wrenching terror of the situation without being overly insensitive. "A story that is based on humanism," J.A. Bayona (the director who also helmed another intense disaster film, 2012's The Impossible) describes the story as "more about emotional survival. It's not only physical survival. It's to understand that there's something bigger than yourself." —J.M.
Where to watch Society of the Snow: Netflix
Director: J.A. Bayona
Cast: Enzo Vogrincic, Matías Recalt, Agustín Pardella, Felipe González Otaño, Luciano Chatton, Valentino Alonso, Francisco Romero, Agustín Berruti, Andy Pruss, Simón Hempe, Juan Caruso, Esteban Bigliardi, Rocco Posca, Esteban Kukuriczka, Rafael Federman, Manuela Olivera, Agustín Della Corte, Tomas Wolf
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They Cloned Tyrone (2023)
Parrish Lewis/Netflix
John Boyega, Teynah Parris, and Jamie Foxx in 'They Cloned Tyrone'A single genre isn't enough to contain one of Netflix's 2023 releases, They Cloned Tyrone. A sci-fi comedy that combines '70s Blaxploitation with mystery and social satire, the film has similar vibes to movies like Get Out (2017) or Sorry to Bother You (2018) while employing a far more absurd premise. Fontaine (John Boyega) is a drug dealer living in an impoverished area called the Glen. While trying to collect funds owed to him by a local pimp named Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), Fontaine is shot and killed — but that doesn't stop him from showing up on Slick's doorstep the next day to collect his money. Joined by a sex worker named YoYo (Teyonah Parris), the trio attempts to get to the bottom of what appears to be a massive government conspiracy aimed at exploiting their disenfranchised community as medical subjects. A satirical romp that has as much to say about class and racial injustices as it does about mystery movie tropes, They Cloned Tyrone is smart, silly, and uniformly well-acted. —I.G.
Where to watch They Cloned Tyrone: Netflix
Director: Juel Taylor
Cast: John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, Jamie Foxx
Related content: John Boyega calls They Cloned Tyrone with Teyonah Parris and Jamie Foxx 'a new vibe entirely'
Uncut Gems (2019)
The silly Adam Sandler who ruled in the ‘90s is dead; long live the stress-inducing version of the actor who spends over two hours in 2019’s Uncut Gems driving audiences — and himself — to the brink of panic attack. A crime thriller set in New York City, Sandler plays Howard Ratner, a fast-talking diamond salesman who is trying to hold onto his wife, his family, and his mistress, while also trying to hold off the creditors intent on collecting on his many debts. Featuring a stacked cast (including Kevin Garnett playing himself), and directed by the Safdie brothers, Uncut Gems is less of a film and more of a race against self-combustion. EW’s reviewer writes that “Sandler’s never been better, really, balancing speedwalking desperation and fast-talking salesmanship with sorrow and glee.” —I.G.
Where to watch Uncut Gems: Netflix
EW grade: A– (read the review)
Director: Josh Safdie, Benny Safdie
Cast: Adam Sandler, LaKeith Stanfield, Julia Fox, Kevin Garnett, Idina Menzel, Eric Bogosian
Related content: Adam Sandler confirms he's reuniting with Uncut Gems directors for a new movie
The Weekend Away (2022)
Leighton Meester stars in this murky mystery as Beth, a married new mom who goes off to visit her more glamorous friend Kate (Christina Wolfe) in a palatial apartment in Croatia. But when Kate disappears, Beth runs into one dead end after another trying to find her, until she eventually becomes a suspect in her friend's disappearance herself. The gripping whodunnit is only augmented by the idyllic seaside backdrop, which may make you long for a (less-eventful) weekend in the Balkan region yourself. —G.I.
Where to watch The Weekend Away: Netflix
Director: Kim Farrant
Cast: Leighton Meester, Christina Wolfe, Ziad Bakri
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Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.
