Our team compiled the best thrillers on Netflix and here is what they came up with
Netflix is a streaming app for you when you want a little bit of everything. They’ve got some award-winning dramas, fun animated movies for the kids, and stirring young-adult shows for tweens and teens. But let’s say you want something exciting to get the blood pumping with a good thriller. Netflix has many types of thrillers to consider, covering everything from dark comedy to engrossing science fiction. Check out these 14 must-watch thrillers on Netflix on their streaming app.
Here are the 12 best thrillers on Netflix to check out on the streaming service.
1. Best thrillers on Netflix – The Platform
If Netflix’s Squid Game has you hungry for more vicious economic satire, The Platform is a must-watch thriller. The film takes place in a dystopian future where test subjects are placed on a level of a stone-like prison. Every day, a platform lowered with food but only with whatever was left over from the floor above. The lower the level, the less food. It’s a fascinatingly dark story and a savage attack on the decayed theory of trickle-down economics.
2. The Guilty
Director Antoine Fuqua is known for big and bold action movies but brings that tension to a smaller environment with The Guilty. The film centers around an emergency call center where the troubled LAPD officer Joe Baylor who is having problems with his deteriorating family, takes on the night shift. However, his shift becomes more chaotic when he receives a desperate call from a woman who has been taken hostage on the road. Committed to stopping this crime, Joe goes above and beyond in the call center to save the day. He might need more time to be ready for the greater crime he unearths as he digs deeper. This thrilling picture takes place entirely in a call center and stars Jake Gyllenhaal, Ethan Hawke, Riley Keough, Christina Vidal Mitchell, Eli Goree, Da’Vine Joy Randolph, Paul Dano, and Peter Sarsgaard.
3. I Don’t Feel At Home in This World Anymore
Premiering at the Sundance Film Festival and winning the Grand Jury Prize, this thriller is a mixture of suburban hysteria and surreal drama. Ruth has a bad day at work that is so awful she’s had it with the grind after being robbed. Seeking justice, she teams up with the amateur warrior Tony to track down the thieves and bring them to justice. Her quest takes a violent and darkly comedic shift when a series of mishaps turns a home invasion into a bizarre scenario. Loaded with oddness and eccentricities, the film features notable performances by Melanie Lynskey, Elijah Wood, David Yow and Jane Levy.
4. Emily the Criminal
For those who feel like they can’t catch a break in life, Emily is a relatable character fighting the system. With one crime on her record and student loans yet to be paid, she’s desperate for cash. Her only path forward involves committing fraud crimes in hopes of paying off her debt and making rent. But the jobs become more dangerous, and an unexpected romance with one of their fellow criminals complicates her future. With a sharp commentary on capitalism and sexism in employment and criminal justice, the film comes from writer/director John Patton Ford with a cast that includes Aubrey Plaza, Theo Rossi, Megalyn Echikunwoke, and Gina Gershon.
5. Shutter Island
Martin Scorsese tries his hand at a mystery thriller in the intriguing drama of Shutter Island. Based on the novel of the same name by Dennis Lehane, Deputy U.S. Marshal Edward “Teddy” Daniels accepts a missing-person case at a psychiatric facility on a remote island. The further he delves into the facility, the darker secrets he unearths, not just about the doctors and patients but his own life. The film has plenty of haunting imagery and a stellar cast, including Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, and Max von Sydow.
6. I Care A Lot
Writer/director J Blakeson (The Disappearance of Alice Creed) crafts this surprisingly balanced mix of dark thriller elements and vicious absurd satire of societal expectations. The film centers around con artist Marla Grayson and her elaborate plans to swindle money out of the hands of the elderly. Her plans are unearthed by Roman Lunyov, a gangster who doesn’t appreciate his mother being scammed. What follows is a dangerous battle of wits and schemes, highlighting greed’s corruption and the desperation it breeds. The film is worth watching for the fantastic performances of Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza González, Chris Messina, and Dianne Wiest.
7. Oxygen
If you like some science fiction in your thrillers, Oxygen is a film you should check out on Netflix. The film finds a mysterious woman waking in an enclosed pod with robotic instruments. The machines inform her that she doesn’t have much oxygen left. As she struggles to stay alive and override her pod’s controls, she slowly discovers the truth about herself and why she ended up in this pod. Saddled with a solid sci-fi mystery and plot twist, the film comes from director Alexandre Aja (Crawl) and stars Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, and Malik Zidi.
8. Mute
Director Duncan Jones (Moon, Warcraft) is behind this dystopian neo-noir thriller. Leo lives as a mute man who works as a bartender in Berlin. After falling in love, he goes missing for the woman he loves by probing into the worst part of the city’s criminal underground. This leads to tense situations and brutal violence through a neon-drenched vision of the future. Evoking classic noir elements amid its vibrant and detailed setting, the film’s cast includes Alexander Skarsgård, Paul Rudd, and Justin Theroux.
9. Stowaway
A space mission goes awry when a team of scientists discovers a stowaway in the shuttle. A mission intended for three is complicated when there’s a fourth member added into the mix. Now the crew will have to find a way to conserve their oxygen to ensure the mission doesn’t go awry. Unfortunately, the stowaway is only the beginning of their problems as the elements of space threaten the safety of all aboard. The film comes from director Joe Penna with a cast that includes Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson, and Toni Collette.