Sometimes you want Netflix to provide comfort food, and other times you want it to give you a jolt to the system. When it's the latter, you'll want a good thriller that may not go heavy on the blood and gore, but still manages to rattle you to your core. The streaming service has a solid selection of picks from the genre, but they've also got a lot of other movies labeled under "thriller" that wouldn't be the best use of your time, so we've got an updated list of the best thriller movies on Netflix to save you some scrolling.

If you need a bit of guidance on what thrillers you should check out, look at our recommendations below.

'Society of the Snow' (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes: 94% | IMDb: 6.5/10

The poster for Society of the Snow
Society of the Snow
Adventure
Drama
Biography
History
Thriller

Release Date
December 23, 2023
Director
J.A. Bayona
Cast
Enzo Vogrincic , Esteban Bigliardi , Simon Hempe , Matías Recalt
Runtime
144 minutes

Read Our ReviewHorror fans will absolutely love X, while those who prefer not to watch an absolute blood bath should probably stay away. Produced by A24, X is written and directed by Ti West (Pearl). The film tells the story of a group of friends who rent a cabin outside of town to film their adult movie. The film takes place in 1979, in the days way before Airbnb, so the crew’s hosts, Pearl and Howard, are anything but hospitable. One by one, the friends are picked off by their mysterious hosts, whose background is slowly revealed as the plot unfolds.

X stars Mia Goth (Suspira), Jenna Ortega (Scream), Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect), Kid Cudi (The Harder They Fall), Martin Henderson (Smokin’ Aces), and Owen Campbell (Super Dark Times). The film had a sequel come out just months after its release, Pearl, which tells the origin story of X’s villain, Pearl. Reprising the role of Pearl is Goth, whose performance in both films is award-worthy. - Emily Cappello

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'Leave the World Behind' (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes: 75% | IMDb: 6.6/10

leave-the-world-behind-poster
Leave the World Behind
Drama
Mystery
Thriller

Release Date
December 8, 2023
Director
Sam Esmail

Read Our Review

Premiering at AFI Fest in May 2023, Leave the World Behind is an apocalyptic psychological thriller based on the 2020 novel by Rumaan Alam. The film tells the story of Amanda (Julia Roberts) as she decides to take her family on an impromptu trip to an Airbnb on Long Island. Her husband, Clay (Ethan Hawke), and her kids, Archie (Charlie Evans) and Rose (Farrah Mackenzie), go along with the sudden plan. But it isn’t long before strange things start happening, from losing Wi-Fi to an oil tanker crashing into the beach to a strange amount of deer showing up in their yard (and if there’s anything Get Out taught us, it’s that deer can be absolutely terrifying in the right context). When the Airbnb homeowner George (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter Ruth (Myha’la) come home unannounced, things only get stranger.

Written and directed by Sam Esmail (the mind behind Mr. Robot), Leave the World Behind couldn’t be more timely, diving into themes like technology, privilege, and political tension. Collider’s Ross Bonaime called it a “smart, compelling take on the end of the world” and praised the film’s performances and direction. - Emily Cappello

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'The Killer' (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes: 85% | IMDb: 6.8/10

The Killer poster
The Killer (2023)
Action
Adventure
Crime

Release Date
November 10, 2023
Director
David Fincher
Cast
Michael Fassbender , Tilda Swinton , Charles Parnell , Monique Ganderton
Runtime
118 minutes

Directed by David Fincher, The Killer is a thrilling and intense drama based on the French graphic novel series from Alexis "Matz" Nolent. Michael Fassbender absolutely dominates in the titular role, playing an elite assassin forced to clear his name after a job goes wrong, leading to him becoming the subject of an international manhunt. Co-starring Arliss Howard, Charles Parnell, and Tilda Swinton, The Killer also features an incredible soundtrack featuring talent composed by Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross, as well as English rock band the Smiths.

Highlighted by Fincher’s clever visuals, an undeniably incredible cast, and a killer soundtrack, The Killer is more than its often predictable and purely simple premise. Fassbender has always been leading man material, regardless of genre, and continues his ability to captivate on screen through the stylish cinematography and borderline-absurd plot points.

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'Emily the Criminal' (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes: 94% | IMDb: 6.7/10

Emily the Criminal Film Poster
Emily the Criminal
R
Drama
Crime
Thriller
Director
John Patton Ford
Release Date
August 12, 2022
Cast
Aubrey Plaza , Theo Rossi , John Billingsley , Bernardo Badillo
Runtime
97 minutes

Writer and director John Patton Ford makes his feature directorial debut with this award-winning crime thriller starring Aubrey Plaza (The White Lotus). Emily the Criminal is an unsettlingly relatable tale about a young woman who’s drowning in student loan debts and can’t find a sustainable job due to a felony conviction that leads to an onslaught of rejection from all but the worst jobs, ultimately forcing her to turn to an underground network of credit card scammers to make money. The film is a scathing indictment of the ways that corporations and predatory lenders exploit the working class and is a realistic showcase of the ways that poverty is a leading cause of crime. – Tauri Miller

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'Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery' (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes: 92% | IMDb: 7.1/10

Glass Onion A Knives Out Mystery Poster-1
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
PG-13
Mystery
Thriller
Director
Rian Johnson
Writers
Rian Johnson
Release Date
December 23, 2022
Runtime
139 minutes

Unlike many of the titles on this list, Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery (2022) eschews the "dark and gritty" for the "bright and humorous." But make no mistake, Rian Johnson's follow-up to 2019's Knives Out is an extremely thrilling story with a gripping plot. The comedy of the film arises from the satirical depictions of its cast of suspects, whose lives intertwine in a complicated, multi-layered narrative that's simultaneously obvious and obscure, much like the titular "Glass Onion." World-famous detective Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) receives an invitation for a weekend at an eccentric billionaire's private island, where the host (Edward Norton) has gathered his closest friends for what is to be a fun murder mystery game. But when the threat of a real murder makes itself clear, Blanc must solve the case, which has its roots in the pasts of all the people assembled. The plot is, as mentioned, a brilliantly crafted classic whodunit but what sets this film apart is the sheer style that Johnson brings to his mystery sequel. Everything from the costumes to the set design is top-notch, presenting a well-made, well-crafted film that's enjoyable for every type of audience.- Remus Noronha

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'Extraction 2' (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes: 79% | IMDb: 7.10/10

Extraction 2 Poster
Extraction 2
R
Action
Thriller
Director
Sam Hargrave
Release Date
June 16, 2023
Cast
Chris Hemsworth , Golshifteh Farahani , Daniel Bernhardt , Sinead Phelps
Runtime
122 minutes

Chris Hemsworth (The Avengers) returns as the black ops mercenary Tyler Rake, along with writer Joe Russo (The Gray Man) and director Sam Hargrave (Extraction) in Extraction 2. The film finds a retired Rake resting in Austria, but his tranquility doesn’t last long once a strange man asks him to break a mother and her two daughters out of a Georgian prison. As expected from a collaboration between Russo and Hargrave, who previously worked together on several MCU films, the film is a thrilling ride filled with intense action and suspenseful chases that get the heart pumping throughout this dangerous escort mission. – Tauri Miller

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'It Follows' (2015)

Rotten Tomatoes: 95% | IMDb: 6.8/10

It Follows Film Poster
It Follows
R
Horror
Thriller

Director
David Robert Mitchell
Writers
David Robert Mitchell
Release Date
March 15, 2015
Cast
Bailey Spry , Carollette Phillips , Loren Bass , Keir Gilchrist , Maika Monroe , Lili Sepe
Runtime
100 minutes

This 2014 horror thriller is one of those films that take a relatively simple enough premise and elevate it to new heights of tension. The film follows the events that unfold when Jay (Maika Monroe) contracts a curse after having sex. Now she is being hunted by a mysterious force, and both Jay and the viewer are taken through a paranoid journey, with every new face being a potential threat. It Follows is a truly tense thriller, and it's a must-watch for horror and thriller fans, especially for Maika Monroe's breakout performance. - Remus Noronha

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'The Pale Blue Eye' (2023)

Rotten Tomatoes: 63% | IMDb: 6.6./10

The Pale Blue Eye Film Poster
The Pale Blue Eye
R
Thriller
Horror
Crime
Mystery
Director
Scott Cooper
Writers
Mary MacDonald Rival , Allan Wylie
Release Date
January 6, 2023
Cast
Christian Bale , Harry Melling , Simon McBurney , Timothy Spall
Runtime
128 minutes

The mystery and thriller genres would be a whole lot poorer without the contributions of the great American writer Edgar Allan Poe. This, however, is not an adaptation of a Poe story (though it is adapted from the novel of the same name by Louis Bayard); instead, The Pale Blue Eye presents a fictional detective tale that happens to take place during the unhappy years that Poe spent at the United States Military Academy in West Point, New York. A period piece that blends horror and mystery elements, the movie's story kicks off when a cadet at the academy is found hanging from a tree. A case of suicide, perhaps? Except that his heart had been carved out of his dead chest. A grizzled old detective (played by Christian Bale) is called in but he soon discovers that in order to uncover the secrets of the academy, he will need the help of a bright young cadet: Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling). Bale is as brilliant as ever, delivering what's arguably his best performance of the year, but Harry Melling is the one to watch out for in this dark eerie tale. The film proceeds with all the careful terror of an uncoiling snake, revealing new secrets at every turn, and even when you think you know who the killer is, there's always another surprise waiting around the corner. The Pale Blue Eye is a must-watch for fans of gothic mystery, whether you're a fan of Poe or not. - Remus Noronha

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'Spiderhead' (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes: 39% | IMDb: 5.5/10

Spiderhead Film Poster
Spiderhead
R
Action
Crime
Drama
Director
Joseph Kosinski
Release Date
June 17, 2022
Runtime
106 minutes

Director Joseph Kosinski made quite a splash in 2022 with Top Gun: Maverick but his Netflix thriller Spiderhead is just as engaging. Set at a private research facility/prison, the film stars Chris Hemsworth as an enigmatic scientist who's running chemical tests on the prisoners. Miles Teller plays one of the prisoners, who begins to question the purpose of the experiments they are being subjected to. It's a gripping film that escalates slowly but surely toward a rather unexpected twist. Teller and Hemsworth share excellent chemistry and Jurnee Smollett's performance is both layered and endearing. With great acting and a gripping narrative, Spiderhead is one of the best movies Netflix has released this year. The fact that the film's premise is one that could very well be a reality soon just makes it all the more powerful. - Remus Noronha

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'1922' (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes: 92% | IMDb: 6.2/10​

1922 Film Poster
1922
TV-MA
Crime
Horror
Drama
Director
Zak Hilditch
Writers
Zak Hilditch , Stephen King
Release Date
October 20, 2017
Cast
Thomas Jane , Molly Parker , Brian D'Arcy James , Neal McDonough , Dylan Schmid , Roan Curtis
Runtime
102 minutes

This is for when you want a real slow-burner, and we do mean slow. Based on the Stephen King novella of the same name, 1922 moves ever so slowly with a dark inevitability that draws you in. It's not too heavy on the gore and yet manages to instill a terrible sense of fear in the viewer. The story is narrated by (and centers around) a farmer named Wilfred "Wilf" James (Thomas Jane), who decides to kill his wife Arlette (Molly Parker). Simple enough, right? But what follows is the story of good people consumed by the consequences of greed. It's unsettling, macabre, almost on par with the most intense Edgar Allan Poe stories. This is easily one of the most gripping thrillers that Netflix has to offer. - Remus Noronha

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'Operation Mincemeat' (2022)

Rotten Tomatoes: 83% | IMDb: 6.6/10

Operation Mincemeat Film Poster
Operation Mincemeat
PG-13
Drama
War
Director
John Madden
Release Date
May 11, 2022
Runtime
128 minutes

Based on real-life events, Operation Mincemeat is a tense historical war drama about one of the most daring deceptions that won World War II. The movie stars Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen as two intelligence operatives who concoct a scheme to use a dead body to divert attention from the Allies' attack on Sicily. While perhaps not as gripping as some of the other entries on this list, Operation Mincemeat does involve a lot of twists and turns. Numerous obstacles, both foreseen and otherwise, continuously pop up throughout the planning and execution of the operation. But the spy drama elements are balanced with character moments and some interesting exploration of the relationships that form between the people involved in the scheme. - Remus Noronha

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'I Care A Lot' (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes: 78% | IMDB: 6.4/10

I Care a Lot Film Poster
I Care A Lot
R
Drama
Comedy
Crime

A crooked legal guardian who drains the savings of her elderly wards meets her match when a woman she tries to swindle turns out to be more than she first appears.

Director
J Blakeson
Release Date
February 19, 2021
Runtime
118 minutes

This 2020 black comedy movie earned Rosamund Pike a Golden Globe for her role as a ruthless con artist who preys on the elderly. I Care a Lot follows the story of Marla Grayson (Pike), a court-appointed guardian who uses her legal hold over her victims to take control of their assets. Her sordid scam hits a snag when her latest mark, a woman who calls herself Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest) turns out to be connected to a dangerous gangster, played by the iconic Peter Dinklage. With dark humor, biting satire, and a wild story, I Care a Lot should definitely be on every thriller fan's watchlist. - Remus Noronha

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'The Platform' (2020)

Rotten Tomatoes: 80% | IMDb: 7.0/10

The Platform Film Poster
The Platform
TV-MA
Thriller
Horror
Sci-Fi
Release Date
March 20, 2020
Cast
Ivan Massagué , Zorion Eguileor , Antonia San Juan , Emilio Buale
Runtime
94 minutes

A fabulous high-concept thriller that toes the line between genres, The Platform is set within the confines of an impossibly tall building where residents either feast or famine depending on which floor they're on. Every day, a massive table is stuffed with a banquet of food and slowly dropped through the building, one floor to the next, with the folks on top thriving in gluttony while those far below them starve to death - but there's a catch, every once in a while, the inhabitants are gassed, reshuffled, and they never know which floor they're going to wake up on next. It's a bit of a long set-up, but a tremendously effective vehicle, both for the social themes it explores and the non-stop suspense of investigating the beak world between these cramped walls. - Haleigh Foutch

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'Oxygen' (2021)

Rotten Tomatoes: 89% | IMDb: 6.5/10

Oxygen Film Poster
Oxygen
TV-14
Drama
Fantasy
Sci-Fi
Director
Alexandre Aja
Writers
Christie LeBlanc
Release Date
May 12, 2021
Cast
Mélanie Laurent , Mathieu Amalric , Marc Saez , Malik Zidi , Eric Herson-Macarel , Cathy Cerda
Runtime
100 minutes

From High Tension to The Hills Have Eyes to Crawl, Alexandre Aja is responsible for some of the most pulse-pounding, skin-crawling, relentlessly intense movies of the 21st Century. With his 2021 Netflix original Oxygen, the filmmaker steps (slightly) back from the horror and leans all the way in on the thrills, following a woman (Mélanie Laurent) who wakes up in a cryogenic pod with no memory of who she is, how she got there, or - her biggest problem - what to do about her rapidly dwindling supply of oxygen. Aja doesn't fully leave behind his horror touch and the flourishes of body horror only serve to further ramp up your adrenaline. Oxygen doesn't always land its twists before you figure them out, but when a filmmaker is as attuned to dialing up the tension as Aja is, your stomach's gonna wind up in your throat whether you see the next drop in the track coming or not. - Haleigh Foutch

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'Gerald's Game' (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes: 91% | IMDb: 6.5/10

Geralds Game Film Poster
Gerald's Game
TV-MA
Drama
Horror
Thriller
Director
Mike Flanagan
Release Date
September 29, 2017
Cast
Carla Gugino , Bruce Greenwood , Chiara Aurelia , Carel Struycken
Runtime
103 minutes

In novella form, Gerald’s Game makes for one of Stephen‌ Kings queasiest, most relentlessly gripping works. It’s the very definition of a page-turner, keeping you glued to the next word, following one woman’s seemingly impossible fight to survive a very slow, silent death while tending to the trauma she’s buried deep inside herself. It’s also entirely first-person, taking place inside the mind of a woman left handcuffed to the bed in a remote cabin after her husband dies of a heart attack in the middle of a tryst. Understandably, it was long thought unfilmable, but Mike Flanagan’s tender, terrifying 2017 adaptation proved the naysayers wrong with a heartfelt but oh-so-horrifying film that’s faithful to King’s work in all the right ways. Gore-phobes be warned though! At its core, Gerald’s Game is a lovely film about surviving trauma, but it is also a brutal survival film and one climactic scene (which was infamously hard to read, let alone watch) wins the gold star for the most vocal audience freak-out I’ve ever heard in a movie theater. – Haleigh Foutch

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'Velvet Buzzsaw' (2019)

Rotten Tomatoes: 61% | IMDb:​​​​ 5.7/10

Velvet Buzzsaw Film Poster
Velvet Buzzsaw
R
Thriller
Horror
Mystery
Director
Dan Gilroy
Writers
Dan Gilroy
Release Date
February 1, 2019
Cast
Jake Gyllenhaal , Rene Russo , Zawe Ashton , Tom Sturridge , Toni Collette , Natalia Dyer
Runtime
113 minutes

If you liked Nightcrawler, you should check out writer/director Dan Gilroy’s kind of insane Netflix movie Velvet Buzzsaw. One part thriller and one part slasher, the movie is set in the art world and revolves around a cache of art that is found to have been created by a mysterious and deceased artist. Once it's put on display, people begin dying in grisly ways. The film has a lot of dark humor to it, and Jake Gyllenhaal gives a really colorful performance as Gilroy goes for the jugular as far as the art world is concerned. - Adam Chitwood

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'Bird Box' (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes: 64% | IMDb: 6.6/10

Bird Box Netflix Poster
Bird Box
R
Thriller
Sci-Fi
Director
Susanne Bier
Writers
Eric Heisserer , Josh Malerman
Release Date
December 21, 2018
Runtime
124 minutes

Netflix squeezed in one last streaming sensation before the end of 2018 with Bird Box, the star-studded and meme-friendly new thriller starring Sandra Bullock as a mother trying to protect her children in an apocalyptic world Set across two timelines, Bird Box follows a group of survivors through the end of the world after a mysterious force starts causing people to kill themselves on sight. Naturally, that sets up director Susanne Bier for plenty of thrills and gags based on the anxiety of trying to survive without sight (some more believable than others) and she uses the opportunity for all its worth, staging some pulse-pounding set-pieces in the fight for survival. Bullock carries Bird Box with a commanding performance that reminds you why she’s an old-school movie star and she’s matched by Trevante Rodes, who sets his charm level to “dangerously high” and John Malkovich, who leans into his gift for playing smart men of a nasty disposition that you just can’t help but love/hate. — Haleigh Foutch

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'Apostle' (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes: 78% | IMDb: 6.3/10

Apostle Film Poster
Apostle
TV-MA
Horror
Drama
Fantasy

In 1905, a drifter on a dangerous mission to rescue his kidnapped sister tangles with a sinister religious cult on an isolated island.

Director
Gareth Evans
Writers
Gareth Evans
Release Date
October 12, 2018
Runtime
130 minutes

Brace yourself for some bloody, brutal thrills with Apostle, the horror-thriller from The Raid director Gareth Evans, who turns his attentions from breathless action to stomach-churning tension. Legion star Dan Stevens delivers another swing-for-the-fences performance as a man who infiltrates a rural cult that’s taken his sister hostage and discovers some deeply disturbing truths behind the utopian facade. Evans’ slow-burn pays off with a mighty explosion of viscera, and a strong stomach is required for the blood-soaked finale, which veers from suspense to full-on carnage. — Haleigh Foutch

​​​​​​​Watch on Netflix​​​​​​​

'Cam' (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes: 93% | IMDB:​​​​​​​ 5.9/10

Cam Film Poster
Cam
TV-MA
Horror
Drama
Mystery
Director
Daniel Goldhaber
Writers
Isa Mazzei , Daniel Goldhaber , Isabelle Link-Levy
Release Date
November 16, 2018
Cast
Madeline Brewer , Patch Darragh , Melora Walters , Devin Druid , Imani Hakim , Michael Dempsey
Runtime
94 minutes

A tense thriller about ambition, identity, and survival in the internet age, Cam stars Madeline Brewer as Alice, a successful cam girl intent on climbing to the top of the ranks — an ambition that’s going rather well until she logs on one day to find she’s been replaced by a cheerful doppelganger who’s taken her face and her career. From there, Cam follows Alice down a surreal rabbit hole as she tries to discover who’s behind her new web clone and how to reclaim her life, building a growing sense of unease and sick helplessness as Alice’s reality drops out from under her. Screenwriter Isa Mazzei and director Daniel Goldhaber are a dynamite creative team, who bring a refreshing sex-positive, non-exploitative approach to the often untouched subject matter while staging a dazzling and disorienting plummet through the pitfalls of internet identity and the intensity of ambitious careerism. — Haleigh Foutch

​​​​​​​Watch on Netflix​​​​​​​

'Berlin Syndrome' (2017)

Rotten Tomatoes: 75% | IMDb:​​​​​​​ 6.3/10

Berlin Syndrome Film Poster
Berlin Syndrome
R
Thriller
Horror
Mystery
Director
Cate Shortland
Writers
Shaun Grant , Melanie Joosten
Release Date
May 16, 2017
Cast
Teresa Palmer , Max Riemelt , Matthias Habich , Kristina Kostiv , Peter Young , Lucie Aron
Runtime
116 minutes

Clare Havel (Teresa Palmer) is a young Australian photojournalist on vacation in Berlin. She's living the dream. Taking in the sights, falling in love with a new city, and just maybe falling in love with a handsome local man, Andi (Max Riemelt), who strikes up a passionate romance with her. But after she goes back to his place for a romantic night, she wakes up to the next morning to realize he's locked her in his apartment on his way to work, and with a slow dawning terror, she understands that he never intends to let her out. This is how we enter Berlin Syndrome, Cate Shortland's taut thriller, which takes us through every step of their courtship and Clare's subsequent imprisonment in a slow-burn portrait of psychological terror and the human capacity for survival.

Palmer is excellent in the role of a smart woman in captivity, who discovers new depths of strength with each passing day, and Shaun Grant's script gives her great material to work with, never treating Clare like a fool. She makes clever, assertive choices the whole way through, a fact that incites you to root for her and drastically notches up the tension at the same time. Her instinct for survival is met by Andi's capacity for cruelty, unfolding a bit each day as Clare realizes how dire her predicament truly is. Consummately tense and emotionally challenging, Berlin Syndrome kicks up a slow boil battle of the wits that constantly notches up the dread and pays off in a breathless finale. -- Haleigh Foutch

​​​​​​​Watch on Netflix​​​​​​​