The best film and TV thrillers to get your heart racing
Like your binge with a side of adrenaline? From Mindhunter to Uncut Gems and Nobody, these thrillers have you covered
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Ever feel the need for clammy palms, a pumping heart and your sweat glands working in overdrive? Thank god for the best TV and film thrillers, because who needs rollercoasters when you can watch Adam Sandler make endless life-endangering decisions in Uncut Gems for the six-dozenth time.
There are some corkers on Netflix, for one — and only, like, two-thirds of them star Sandler in precarious predicaments. Take Steve McQueen’s 12 Years a Slave follow-up Widows, or Bob Odenkirk's family man-does-John Wick flick, Nobody. There's also a healthy helping of David Fincher on this list for good measure, from Gone Girl (the thriller with the wicked wife) to The Killer (the thriller with the killer).
And there's way, way more to watch elsewhere: the likes of Apple TV+’s Hijack and Robert Pattinson's Good Time, another frenetic feast from the Safdie brothers. Here's our pick of the best thrillers out there…
Merrick Morton/20th Century Fox/Regency/Kobal/Shutterstock1/20Gone Girl
How could you make a list of the greatest thrillers without the patron saint of the genre himself? David Fincher made his name — or rather remade his name, after Alien 3 infamously bombed — with a series of grisly thrillers about, among other things, a fight club attended by a disillusioned Brad Pitt and a guy murdering people per the seven deadly sins. But our first pick of the crop is Gone Girl, in which Rosamund Pike chews the scenery as the beleaguered wife of Ben Affleck who, on discovering his affair, frames him for her own murder. Ain't love the sweetest thing? You can watch Gone Girl on Netflix.
- 2/20
Hijack
It's pretty straightforward. Idris Elba is an ordinary(ish) guy who realises the plane he's on has been hijacked and has to coordinate an effort to rescue the aircraft from the nefarious plane thieves' dastardly grasp. Season one's seven episodes play out basically in real time – a conceit that, in tandem with the sealed cabin setting, lends itself rather perfectly to the escalation of tension through carefully-judged detail. Everything could mean something. You can't afford to miss a moment. It's sort of like taking a rather daft but, above all, incredibly enjoyable exam. Read the question carefully. Read it again. Think about what it's asking you. Do you want to watch Hijack? Yes you do. You can watch Hijack on Apple TV+.
- Patrick Harbron/Netflix3/20
Mindhunter
David Fincher took on a police line-up's worth of real-life slashers in his prematurely butchered Netflix murderthon, Mindhunter, which saw a special unit of the FBI invade the minds of America's most notorious ne'er-do-wells. Looking and Glee's Jonathan Groff stars as the the lead badge-and-suit. He and his team try to crack the psyche of such serial savages as Ed Kemper, Charles Manson (and his merry Mansonites) and Jerry Brudos, known as the “shoe fetish slayer.” This is what you get when Fincher goes full Fincher, and Netflix will never see peace for sending it to an early grave. You can watch Mindhunter on Netflix.
- 4/20
Uncut Gems
They don’t come much more thrilling than Uncut Gems, the Safdie brothers’ brilliant, relentless drama about a jeweller (Adam Sandler) with a gambling addiction. Sandler puts in his best post-Punch-Drunk Love work as Howard, who acquires a rare black opal – which could be the key to paying off his debts – and immediately loans it to NBA legend Kevin Garnett, setting off a chain of events that will cause him – and us – a huge amount of distress. You can watch Uncut Gems on Netflix.
- 5/20
The Killer
And here’s yet another one from thriller king David Fincher, in which Michael Fassbender's bucket hat clad anxious assassin monotonously murders his way through a coterie of fellow contract killers while barely breaking sweat. But what else does he love, aside from bloodshed? His girlfriend and, going by the dozen-odd “How Soon is Now” needle-drops, The Smiths, much to the joy of Dad Rock apologists everywhere. You can watch The Killer on Netflix.
- 6/20
Drive
You’ll want to be Ryan Gosling in this film not just for all the usual well-he-looks-like-Ryan-Gosling-doesn’t-he reasons, but also because he plays maybe the coolest guy of all the cool guys. A leather jacket (with a scorpion on the back!)-wearing movie stunt driver who’s in high demand in LA’s crime underworld, in which he gets casual work through a genuinely fantastic Bryan Cranston, because of how good he is at driving. Sleek visuals and a thumping, now-iconic soundtrack ramp up the tension as Gosling embarks on a perilous job to help out Irene, played by Carey Mulligan, whom he fancies. And who could blame her for feeling the same way. You can watch Drive on Amazon Prime Video.
- 7/20
Vigil
Amy Silva (Suranne Jones) goes onto a nuclear submarine to investigate a maybe but not necessarily suspicious death. Around the time that she gets told she won’t be able to leave the submarine as planned, she realises there’s most likely a wrongun (ok fine, “saboteur” if you’re going to be like that) onboard, intent on doing more harm than just one little murder. But no one seems particularly keen to help her, except for her landlubbing fellow detective – who is also her ex! A suitably claustrophobic thriller that sees the police butting heads with the Navy and MI5, Vigil is a proper stress-in-the-box caper. And season two – which is similar but with more drones – is well worth diving into, also. You can watch Vigil on BBC iPlayer.
- ©Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection8/20
Nobody
It's a simple, schlocky premise, done gloriously, as the schlockiest premises should be. Better Call Saul's Bob Odenkirk portrays a CIA assassin-turned-family man on a murder hiatus; after a particularly brutal encounter with some tadpoles from the Russian mob, he rediscovers his taste for violence. It's just in time, as the entire East Coast mob comes after him seeking bloody revenge. The remaining 45 minutes make for a terrific shoot 'em up B-movie, with supporting turns from Christopher Lloyd (from Back to the Future) and RZA (of Wu-Tang Clan fame). Think John Wick, but centring on a loveable everyman, not an equally loveable kung-fu master. You can watch Nobody on Netflix.
- 9/20
Blue Lights
Northern Irish TV has, in recent years, fallen into one of two categories: “here’s what the Troubles was like” and “this could’ve been made anywhere.” The second has been lauded as indicative of progress, and possibly it is. But Blue Lights, the Belfast-set modern day police drama, does something different, making a new category that might be described as: “what do the dynamics that caused the Troubles look like in Northern Ireland today?” The series takes dramatic beats that could work anywhere – the impossibility of policing, the drama of a job where not doing it properly might mean someone getting hurt or killed – and applies them to the worlds of Republican criminality in the first series, and Loyalist in the second. Chuck in some heartwarming friendships, a bit of will-they-won’t-they, and you’re somehow having a great time amidst all the tension. You can watch Blue Lights on BBC iPlayer.
- ©Lions Gate/Courtesy Everett Collection10/20
Sicario
An instant classic of the genre, Denis Villeneuve's Sicario saw an FBI drug agent portrayed by Emily Blunt dropped in the middle of a devastating cartel war in Mexico. It's packed with gun-totting action, sure; at the same time, some of its sequences are nauseating in the anxiety they build towards. Then Benicio del Toro turns up as the robotic assassin Alejandro Gillick, with his silenced pistol and frozen blood — you'll be reminded of Javier Bardem's Anton Chigurh from No Country For Old Men — and all bets are suddenly off. You can watch Sicario on Amazon.
- 11/20
Widows
Steve McQueen’s 2018 follow-up to 12 Years a Slave is set in present-day Chicago, and adapted from a British show in the ‘80s. Widows is based around a fun conceit: what would happen if the guys mounting a heist were all wiped out, and their wives had to take up the mantle? A gut-busting ensemble thriller starring Viola Davis, Michelle Rodriguez, Cynthia Erivo and Elizabeth Debicki follows, rounded off by a spine-chilling performance by Daniel Kaluuya, starring as a daggers-for-eyes mob enforcer with zero chill. You can watch Widows on Netflix.
- 12/20
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
Barry Keoghan had his big breakout in this uniquely morbid sixth feature from Greek absurdist Yorgos Lanthimos, whose films tend to be deadpan, funny and mean. The Killing of a Sacred Deer is no different, starring Colin Farrell as a heart surgeon who meets a young boy, Keoghan’s Martin, with a mysterious link to his past. Tragedy ensues. Appropriately, it’s inspired by Euripides’ great tragic work about Agamemnon’s sacrifice of his daughter, Iphigenia in Aulis. Pitch-black comedy with one of Farrell’s best performances to date. You can watch The Killing of a Sacred Deer on Amazon.
- 13/20
Only Murders in the Building
Martin Shortt and Steve Martin are having so much nice cuddly fun in their beautiful New York apartment building that it’s easy to forget that this is in fact a murder mystery. I mean, it isn’t really – it’s got “Murders” in the title – but the tone is certainly not that of your typical thriller. Only Murders in the Building works because we’re allowed to laugh at our vaguely ridiculous true-crime-wannabe protagonists as much as we’re allowed to laugh with them. Yes, the genre is problematic. But this series knows that, and as we follow these guys around trying to catch the murderer in their building, the tension is maintained at a level that keeps us sufficiently invested in the plot alongside the gags that go with it. You can watch Only Murders in the Building on Disney+.
- 14/20
Cam
This mind-melting Black Mirror-like flick focuses on Alice, an ambitious sex worker who suddenly realises that she’s been replaced on her very own online account with an exact replica of herself. If that wasn’t enough, her mysterious doppelgänger carries out increasingly more intense acts, forcing her to work out the unnerving mystery before things go too far. netflix.com
- 15/20
I Am All Girls
A special crimes investigator played by Erica Wessels unexpectedly finds common ground with a serial killer who targets the men linked to a global child trafficking syndicate. I Am All Girls is loosely inspired by true events which took place in 1980s South Africa. Directed by Donovan Marsh, it tackles a weighty subject and does a good job of unpacking the horrors of the human trafficking, all while maintaining nail-biting levels of suspense. You can watch I Am All Girls on Netflix.
- Claudette Barius/Netflix/Kobal/Shutterstock16/20
Velvet Buzzsaw
What starts as a sneering satire descends into a comment on greed and ownership. Gallery assistant Josephina (Zawe Ashton) discovers a hoard of paintings in her dead neighbour's apartment. The artist wanted the entire collection destroyed upon his death and when they begin to appear in galleries and exhibitions across LA his reasoning becomes clear. Packed with A-listers including Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, John Malkovich and Natalia Dyer, the film serves melodrama and gore by the bucket-load. You can watch Velvet Buzzsaw on Netflix.
- 17/20
Nightcrawler
This is easily one of Jake Gyllenhaal’s finest performances. The actor transforms into the snivelling, deeply creepy freelance videographer Lou Bloom, who's out to make a name for himself in the competitive world of local TV news. Told by his boss that viewers are particularly interested in graphic footage, he begins to tamper with crime scenes in order to make his stories more salacious, with a camera that never stops rolling. You can watch Nightcrawler on Netflix.
- 18/20
Good Time
From the makers of Uncut Gems, this one is a slightly less accessible but no less fascinating odyssey through the grimy underbelly of New York City. It follows Connie (Robert Pattinson), a low-life who involves his mentally disabled brother in an ill-planned and poorly executed bank robbery and spends the rest of the movie trying to get him out of prison when things go sideways. Stylish, pacy, and maybe even one of Pattinson's best roles to date? You can watch Good Time on Amazon Prime.
- 19/20
I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore
When Ruth (Melanie Lynskey) comes home from the worst day of her life to find out she’s been burgled, she snaps. With the help of her neighbour (Elijah Wood) and no support from the condescending local police, she tracks down the nefarious intruders, looking to get her revenge. Part thriller, part black comedy, this is a fun watch filled with eccentric characters. You can watch I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore on Netflix.
- 20/20
Bodyguard
Jed Mercurio’s 2018 political thriller was a universal hit when it arrived in 2018, with ten million viewers tuning in to BBC each Sunday night to watch PTSD-riddled David Budd (Richard Madden) attempt to unravel a government conspiracy and protect home secretary Julia Montague (Keeley Hawes), who he also happens to be sleeping with. Like most of Mercurio’s stuff, it is highly entertaining, even if it does border on the absurd as it reaches its climax. You can watch Bodyguard on Netflix.