32 Best Thrillers on Netflix Right Now
These thrillers are actually thrilling.
A great thriller is hard to find. Every great thriller should have just enough tension, mystery, and occasional scares to pull you in but not so many frights that it falls into horror-movie territory. Thankfully, Netflix has a collection of some of the genre's best efforts. To make the selection process easier, we've pinned down the 32 best thrillers that the streamer has to offer.
Below, you'll find classics like The Beguiled as well as more recent films like The Devil All the Time—starring Riley Keough, Tom Holland, and Robert Pattinson—and the chilling Stephen King adaptation Mr. Harrigan's Phone. You shouldn't miss Society of the Snow—which is based on a horrifying true story—either. No matter what you choose, you'll find exactly what you're looking for: a thriller that you can watch without being scared shitless. We have a different list for that.
Leave the World Behind
In Leave the World Behind, a family's vacation on Long Island is cut short when another family knocks on their door. They claim there's been a blackout—and the vacation house is theirs. As the world around them falls apart, both camps have to rely on each other for safety.
Society of the Snow
Society of the Snow is every frequent flyer's worst nightmare. Set in 1972, this film follows a Uruguayan rugby team whose flight to Chile crashes into the Andes. When the survivors realize they're stranded, they take extreme measures to make it home.
Rebecca
Rebecca stars Lily James as a newlywed woman who visits her in-law's estate in England. Upon her arrival, she learns about her husband's first wife, Rebecca, who died years ago. Her husband may have moved on, but his family certainly has not.
The Good Nurse
Jessica Chastain stars as Amy Loughren in The Good Nurse. When one of her colleagues is accused of murdering several of his patients, she's hesitant to believe it. But when a formal investigation begins, Amy realizes that her coworker might not be as innocent as he seems.
The Gift
In The Gift, Jason Bateman and Rebecca Hall star as an ordinary married couple named Simon and Robyn. One day, they run into a man named Gordo, who claims to be Simon's old friend. As Robyn begins to learn more about their relationship, she questions if her husband is who he says he is.
Luckiest Girl Alive
Luckiest Girl Alive is based on Jessica Knoll's best-selling novel of the same name. The story follows Ani, a successful journalist with a seemingly perfect life in New York City. Her world implodes when she's asked to participate in a true-crime documentary based on a high school tragedy.
The Stranger
In The Stranger, Mark—who works as an undercover cop—forms a close relationship with a murder suspect. He hopes to get a confession, but instead, Mark puts both their lives at risk while searching for the truth.
Emily the Criminal
In Emily the Criminal, Aubrey Plaza stars as a college graduate who embarks on a credit-card scam to get out of debt—but the scheme proves to be more dangerous than she bargained for.
Before I Wake
When a young boy admits that he's afraid to go to sleep, his guardians think it's just childhood nerves. But when a dead person appears in their home, they discover the boy's dreams and nightmares have the power to transform reality. Creepy!
Mr. Harrigan's Phone
We don't want to spoil too much here, but Mr Harrigan's Phone sees, yes a mysterious phone give a young boy named Craig the ability to communicate with the dead.
Hypnotic
In Hypnotic, Kate Siegel, the queen of scary movies, plays a young woman who hires a hypnotist to quell her anxiety. Things take a dangerous turn when her hypnotist turns out to be a master manipulator.
Intrusion
Intrusion is your classic home-invasion nightmare. In the film, a couple's home is broken into, leaving the wife fearful of everyone around them. Who can you trust when everyone's a suspect?
I'm Thinking of Ending Things
I'm Thinking of Ending Things is a Charlie Kaufman flick, which should give you an idea of what you're queuing up. Meaning: It's better to press play without knowing too much beforehand.
The Devil All The Time
British actors Robert Pattinson and Tom Holland brush up on their Ohioan accents for this American gothic tale of a town haunted by its mistakes. Harry Potter star Harry Melling also excels in his role as an evangelical preacher who pours spiders all over his head to prove his faith in God.
The Guilty
Jake Gyllenhaal sitting in a chair and responding to a single 911 caller gave Netflix one of the most thrilling films of 2021. On top of the stressful conversation, an asthmatic Gyllenhaal is also blasting his inhaler at full force just to get through the night.
The Platform
In a nightmarish scenario, residents of a strange facility known as the Pit are fed via a platform that is filled with food on top floors and slowly descends until the scraps reach those out of favor toward the bottom. A commentary on wealth inequality, this Spanish film is as revolting as it is captivating.
Army of Thieves
A prequel to zombie thriller Army of the Dead, Army of Thieves follows Matthias Schweighöfer's expert safecracker on a grand heist with Game of Thrones' Nathalie Emmanuel, all while Earth is being overridden by the undead.
The Beguiled
This Sophia Coppola flick combines the best of the thriller genre: the threat of danger, sexual tension, and an incomprehensible Nicole Kidman accent. Long live the genre. Set during the Civil War, it follows an ailing soldier who finds comfort in a school for women, but obviously, things get complex really quickly.
Stowaway
You know how sometimes you go to space with two other people and everything is fine, and then all of a sudden, someone falls out of the roof of the ship because they were doing last-minute maintenance and now y'all don't have enough oxygen for everyone to live? Bummer.
The Woman in the Window
Notoriously awful? Messy in scope? Sure. Those things are true. But also, The Woman in the Window is a psychological thriller that is so over-the-top and campy that it's impossible to stop watching. Seeing Amy Adams navigate the fallout after witnessing a murder is intoxicating, especially as you decide whether or not she's a reliable witness.
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