Netflix can be both a source of solace and an energy boost, depending on your mood. The latter situation calls for a solid thriller that, while light on the gore, nonetheless manages to send shivers down your spine. The netflix mystery series service offers a good number of films that fit the bill, but they also have a lot of other movies that could be filed under the heading “thriller” but aren’t as good of a use of your time. So we’ve compiled an up-to-date list of the greatest Psychological thriller movies available on Netflix.
Best Thriller Movies on Netflix
We’ve uncovered 17 films that will take you on a crazy ride if you’re looking for a thriller that actually thrills.
#1. Bird Box (2018)
In the post-apocalyptic thriller Bird Box, sight becomes a liability because the antagonist is invisible unless absolutely necessary. Malorie Hayes takes two kids down a river blindfolded to protect them from monsters that make people commit suicide..
#2. Captain Phillips (2013)
Captain Phillips, based on the 2009 hijacking of the Maersk Alabama by four Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean, features the expected tour de force performance from Tom Hanks, as well as the debut of an astonishing new face, and remains faithful to the story on which it is based. Hanks’ portrayal of Captain Richard Phillips engages pirates solely through his Boston accent. Meanwhile, newcomer Barkhad Abdi’s Oscar-nominated performance as the desperate pirate commanding the raid on Phillips’ ship strikes a fine mix between violence and vulnerability. The performances and script in Captain Phillips are strong enough to carry the film over the worst seas, and the film manages to make its audience care about both the heroes and the baddies. — I.G.
#3. Dragged Across Concrete (2019)
The media and the public have criticized movies and TV series for romanticizing law enforcement at a time when police violence is a pressing issue. This problem does not exist in Dragged Across Concrete. The detectives, frustrated and short on cash, decide to rob a crook, only to learn that their target has a far higher pain tolerance than they do. Although not everyone will enjoy it, Dragged Across Concrete is a great choice if you’re looking for a lurid B movie with strong grindhouse undertones. — I.G.
#4. El Camino (2019)
In other words, Albuquerque’s top meth cook has returned. El Camino is a cinematic adaptation of the critical Breaking Bad, and it features the return of Breaking Bad’s Walter White (Bryan Cranston) and Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul), with an emphasis on Pinkman’s role. El Camino, which features a plethora of appearances from the cast and crew of Breaking Bad across its five seasons, takes up directly where the latter left off and proceeds to freely jump around in time and flashback to events shown therein.
#5. Emily the Criminal (2022)
Emily is one of the many starving artists living in Los Angeles who are drowning in debt and student loans. When Emily’s prior felony history prevents her from landing a job that pays well enough to keep her and her daughter afloat, she turns to a credit card fraud ring for meaning and fast cash. Emily’s initial move into illegal activity is a survival strategy, but it quickly escalates as she further separates herself from the professional environment she has never been able to infiltrate.
#6. Everybody Knows (2019)
After being married for nearly a decade, real-life couple Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz played opposite each other in the Spanish thriller Everybody Knows. When Laura (Cruz) and her kids go back to her native Spain for her sister’s wedding, old family feuds and secrets come to the surface. More so, when Laura’s daughter Irene, a teenager, goes missing, she calls on an old friend, Paco (Bardem), to assist find her. However, Paco quickly discovers that Laura has a greater expectation for his contribution than he had first thought.
#7. I Care A Lot (2021)
Building on her role as a villain in Gone Girl, Rosamund Pike plays con artist Marla Grayson, who poses as a “legal guardian” to bilk the elderly out of their life savings. But then Marla meets Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest), who appears to be sick at first but actually has connections to powerful, dangerous people (like Peter Dinklage) whom Marla would be wise to avoid. It’s a lot of fun to watch Pike play the hypocrite, but it’s just as satisfying to see Marla get what she deserves. A review by EW contributor Leah Greenblatt states, “There’s good fun in I Care a Lot’s setup, and in Marla’s ruthless M.O.” From: Gwen Ihnat
#8. I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)
We’d watch Melanie Lynskey in anything after Yellowjackets, Togetherness, and Mrs. America, but even we missed Macon Blair’s sleeper in 2017. Ruth, the character played by Lynskey, is a nurse’s aide who has recently had her home broken into and has had it. She teams up with her eccentric neighbor Tony (Elijah Wood) to go on a mission to retrieve her belongings, and the two embark on an exciting and uplifting adventure together.
#9. Lou (2022)
Actress Allison Janney can not only deliver a line, but a punch as well, owing to her stunt training for her latest Netflix feature, Lou. The film’s title character, played by Janney, is a misandrist landlord who rents to a single mother, Hannah (Jurnee Smollett), and her daughter, Vee (played by Jussie Smollett). After Vee is abducted, Lou agrees to work with Hannah to rescue her, but in order to do it, Lou must face her own complicated past.
Both Smollett and Janney spent a good portion of the picture caked in mud, demonstrating how much the director, Anna Foerster, demanded of her performers. “The mud is a character in itself!” Smollett exclaims to EW. Janney, for her part, is crossing her fingers that this part will give her a chance to show off her impressive athletic prowess and maybe even get her a part in the next John Wick film. — I.G.
#10. Operation Finale (2018)
As the end of World War II approached and news of the Holocaust spread around the world, Hitler and his closest lieutenants committed suicide rather than face justice for their misdeeds. Hitler’s most trusted aide, Adolf Eichmann (Ben Kingsley), and the man who devised the “final solution” managed to escape to Argentina with his family and live to tell the tale. Fifteen years after the conclusion of World War II, Mossad agent Peter Malkin (Oscar Isaac) is tasked with infiltrating Argentina in order to remove Eichmann and hand him over to the Israeli government for prosecution in Operation Finale.
#11. Nocturnal Animals (2016)
In his sophomore film, Tom Ford presents a meta-plot within a meta-plot. Susan (Amy Adams) is a wealthy woman who is locked in a miserable marriage until she receives the manuscript of a novel written by her first husband, Edward (Jake Gyllenhaal). Also, that plot, also titled Nocturnal Animals, follows Tony (Gyllenhaal again) and his family as they embark on a disastrous vacation. Tony’s wife is played by Isla Fisher, who looks very like Amy Adams.
There are some surprising connections between Tony’s situation and what transpired in Susan and Edward’s relationship, thus, which are seen in flashbacks. This grim noir features a number of impressive performances (most notably Michael Shannon’s as the small-town cop who assists Tony) and provides plenty of thought-provoking material that will be difficult to put out of your mind. When describing Nocturnal Animals, Leah Greenblatt of EW describes it as “a fantastic beast of a film, intoxicating and strange.” — G.I.
#12. Prisoners (2013)
Prisoners is a contemporary thriller whose frighteningly familiar concept stems from its examination of parenting, morality, justice, and retribution through the lens of prisons. Keller Dover, a father from Pennsylvania, has his 6-year-old daughter and another kid from the neighborhood go missing. Hugh Jackman plays Dover. After the appointed detective, Loki (Jake Gyllenhaal), is forced to release the suspect (Paul Dano) by the legal system, the girls’ trail becomes cold. Additionally, Dover, unwilling to give up hope for his daughter, kidnaps the suspect and promises to discover the kids himself, only to end up in a new type of prison in his search for answers and vengeance. Jackman captures brilliantly the parent racing against time, shouting against a faulty legal system, and debating whether his desperation or moral compass should take precedence. — I.G.
#13.Psycho (1960)
When it premiered in 1960, Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho shocked moviegoers and society alike. Marion Crane (Janet Leigh), an embezzler and Phoenix secretary, checks into a motel owned by Norman Bates (Anthony Perkins), an eccentric entrepreneur with a weird relationship with his mother, in what is widely regarded as the first slasher film.
#14. Reservoir Dogs (1992)
In a Los Angeles café, eight thugs are at odds over the proper way to leave a tip. Reservoir Dogs, Quentin Tarantino’s first feature film, opens with this quote, and it immediately becomes one of the greatest indie movies of all time and a favorite among cinema students. In this suspenseful tale, eight criminals attempt to steal diamonds, but their plan quickly goes awry. The remaining thieves must figure out if they were set up and who among them betrayed them after some members of the team have gone missing or been killed.
#15. Savages (2012)
Savages, Oliver Stone’s criminal drama, is a violent film that still has a compelling story. Chon (Taylor Kitsch) and Ben (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) are two weed farmers in Laguna Beach with a worldwide reputation for producing high-quality weed. Chon and Ben are cornered when the cartel, lead by Salma Hayek, calls and demands participation. And things don’t get better when the cartel abducts Ophelia (Blake Lively), the girl they’re both dating at the same time. A reviewer for Entertainment Weekly calls Savages “a jacked-up Miami Vice told from the point of view of the criminals.” The violence in Savages is intense enough to warrant a trigger warning for those with weak stomachs, but if you can manage that sort of thing, you’ll appreciate what Stone has in store. — I.G.
#16. The Devil All The Time (2020)
Taking place in two tiny towns in Southern Ohio between the conclusion of World War II and the mid-1960s. The Devil All the Time is a Netflix original historical drama that follows multiple interwoven groups of individuals. Again, the ensemble, which features a slew of up-and-coming Hollywood stars, makes the most of the story’s melodrama and dark subject matter, which includes religious preaching, war, fraud, self-harm, abandonment, and multiple murders.
#17. The Good Nurse (2022)
Nurses are guardian angels given the ability to perform the tasks of devils. In The Good Nurse mystery thriller movies, a Netflix original psychological thriller series, Jessica Chastain plays Amy Loughren, a night nurse who is married to Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne) at work. Furthermore, Amy, a single mother with a major heart condition, is stunned to learn that Charles may have been involved in the recent death of one of the hospital’s patients. As Amy continues to investigate, she learns that her dependable coworker is actually someone far more sinister.
Psychological Thriller Movies on Netflix
This demonstrates the breadth of the genre in mystery film, and when it comes to Netflix, the company has amassed incredible collection of psychological thriller movies on netflix guaranteed to keep any viewer on the edge of their seat.
#1. Rebecca (2020)
The year 2020’s suspense thriller Rebecca was already fighting an uphill struggle when circumstances beyond its control doomed its debut on Netflix as an original film. The novel was published in 1938, and Alfred Hitchcock’s adaptation of it was nominated for an Academy Award. Armie Hammer’s sexual assault allegations tarnished the film before its Netflix premiere. Ben Wheatley’s crisp direction and Lily James and Kristen Scott Thomas’s performances as Mrs. Danvers make it a good thriller.
#2. Secret Window (2004)
The film Secret Window, Secret Garden, by David Koepp, was adapted from a short tale by Stephen King. Johnny Depp’s mystery writer persona goes to his lonely cabin after discovering his wife’s adultery with a close friend. However, Mort’s world becomes dark and dangerous when John Shooter (Jim Turturro) arrives. Johnny Depp and John Turturro’s talents make movies Netflix psychological thriller one of the greatest series.
#3. The Midnight Sky (2020)
The Midnight Sky, a George Clooney-directed film for Netflix, will premiere that year. In this science fiction film, an Earth scientist seeks to stop a spaceship from returning after a worldwide calamity. As Augustine spends his final days alone in his Arctic laboratory, he discovers a young girl has also been abandoned. The film did not fare well with critics, but its visuals earned an Oscar nod for Best Visual Effects.
#4. Secret Obsession (2019)
Secret Obsession is a fantastic suspense novel that will make readers doubt their perception of reality. After waking up from an accident, Jennifer has amnesia, but as the film progresses, she remembers her past. Jennifer must decide whether or not the danger she was in before she passed out is still present once she wakes up to find a man who claims to be her husband at her bedside.
#5. Chloe (2009)
The best psychological thriller movies are available across a wide range of release dates on Netflix series. Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neeson, and Julianne Moore feature in the 2009 sexual thriller Chloe. Moore plays Catherine, a lady suspicious that her husband is being unfaithful. She employs Chloe, Seyfried’s prostitute, as a sex test for her husband. As in Fatal Attraction, Chloe flips the script when her crush on Catherine becomes into something more serious. The Director’s Guild of Canada recognized the film’s editing, which also nominated the film’s direction and production design for prizes.
#6. 1922 (2017)
The Netflix original film 1922 is based on a Stephen King short tale from his anthology Full Dark, No Stars. Thomas Jane plays a farmer in Nebraska who is the breadwinner for his family. But when he finds out that his wife wants to sell the farm and move to the city, he murders her with the help of his son and then dumps her body in a well. He begins to experience hauntings from a person who may or may not be his dead wife seeking revenge. Reviews were generally favorable for the film, praising the work of the director and the cast—especially Jane.
#7. The Devil All The Time (2020)
Netflix Southern Gothic psychological thriller movies, for example, The Devil All the Time stars series Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson. In the film, Holland plays Arvin, the son of a World War II veteran who commits suicide after the death of his wife. Arvin is highly protective of Lenora, a girl he grew up with, and once a new preacher (Pattinson) shows up in town with nefarious purposes, everything falls apart and Arvin has to cross a line from which there is no turning back. Despite its grim subject matter, the film was well received.
Mystery Thriller Series Movies on Netflix
The top Netflix Mystery thriller series movies are listed here.
#1. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery
Rian Johnson’s Knives Out stars Daniel Craig as Southern gentleman detective Benoit Blanc. Glass Onion continues. Detail-oriented investigator Blanc investigates a terrible crime with affluent individuals in a remote place again. It’s a private island owned by Elon Musk-like software entrepreneur Miles Bron (Edward Norton) and his band of “disrupters.” Blanc is prevented from learning the truth about a murder by a complex web of lies.
#2. The Call
Lee Chung-hyun’s The Call is a dark, unsettling South Korean mystery thriller movies series on Netflix that you can’t hang up on. The Caller, Matthew Parkhill’s 2011 supernatural horror movie, inspired it. Kim Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) loses her phone while visiting her family, receives disturbing calls, and discovers a connection to Young-sook. There’s no telling where the plot will go from here, so you can’t afford to let your guard down. Powerful acting, unsettling sound design, gorgeous visuals, and a tight narrative all add up to one bizarre and unsettling experience.
#3. His House
The scariest films aren’t limited to a few simple techniques. There are character studies, stories with wider themes or complex social issues. His House, the first film from writer-director Remi Weekes, manages to do all of these things at once.
His House is a drama/haunted house hybrid that follows Bol (Sope Dirisu) and Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) as they seek asylum in the UK but are met with a harsh world of bureaucracy and bigotry upon their arrival.
#4. The Guilty
In this twisting thriller about an abducted lady, Jake Gyllenhaal bursts veins as an angry police officer during a shift at 911 headquarters.
#5. Fear Street
There’s a genuinely interesting murder mystery thriller movies on Netflix heart of what could have been a cheesy homages to legendary horror series films from the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s. Based on R.L. Stine’s more mature novel series, the Fear Street trilogy follows the people of Shadyside as they deal with a curse that causes a series of killings. Equally Important, part One takes place in 1994, Part Two in 1978, and Part Three in 1666; all three films are directed by Leigh Janiak and are connected by these events.
#6. I Am All Girls
Please be warned that this is not an easy movie to watch. The film begins with South African sex criminal Gert van Rooyen’s 1980s kidnapping of six young girls. The film is set in the twenty-first century and is inspired by van Rooyen’s alleged crimes; a detective is trying to expose a child trafficking ring while additionally looking into the motives and methods of a serial murderer who looks to be targeting the people involved.
Best Thriller Series on Netflix
Here are the best drama series available on Netflix that you can watch right now.
#1. Mindhunter
In one of the best shows Netflix has ever made, David Fincher’s precise style is used to make a TV show. Still, FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany) examined serial killers in criminal psychology for two seasons.
In a nice twist on typical character tropes, the younger spy is often cold and unfeeling, while the older one fears what will happen because of what they do.
#2. Babylon Berlin
Things are looking bad for Berlin in 1929. With hindsight, we know that economic uncertainty and the birth of the Nazi Party characterized the Weimar Republic era. But in the universe of Babylon Berlin, the 1920s exist just before that horror, when the degeneracy from all that economic depression might give way to vibrant ’20s clubs just as easily as eternal darkness.
#3. Ganglands
One of the key figures in the resurgence of French action cinema is director Julien Leclercq. He directed Sentinelle, starring Olga Kurylenko, The Bouncer, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, and Braqueurs, my favorite.
The Netflix series Ganglands (also known as Braqueurs) was Leclercq’s television debut six years later. It is neither a remake or a sequel despite its name, primary character (Sami Bouajila), and tone.
#4. Erased
Satoru Fujinuma, a 29-year-old delivery driver, is the protagonist of this 2016 series sci-fi mystery thriller movies on Netflix miniseries. Also, he mysteriously finds himself in his 11-year-old body. Satoru’s mother and a classmate from his primary school died and vanished under strange circumstances, and he has a mission to find the perpetrator and put them to justice by using his knowledge of the future and his power to alter the past.
#5. The Night Agent
A “light brain” thriller is great for watching with a bucket of popcorn or while doing laundry. Netflix’s plot-heavy popcorn thriller The Night Agent is elevated by its two protagonists’ surprise connection.
Shawn Ryan, a creator of The Shield, adapted the novel The Night Agent, starring Gabriel Basso as an FBI agent stationed in the White House basement with a phone that never rings.
What’s the Difference Between a Horror and a Thriller?
Many people get the horror and thriller genres mixed together, yet there are significant differences between them.
Horror stories make the reader or viewer uncomfortable, while thrillers keep them on the edge of their seats. The top works in each genre often share characteristics with the other.
Why Did Netflix Remove Bird Box?
The 2013 train catastrophe in Quebec, Canada, depicted in the film Bird Box, resulted in the deaths of 43 individuals. In a statement to The Wrap, Netflix revealed that it and the film’s creators had “decided to replace the clip” only a few months after the outcry, which included condemnation from the Canadian parliament.
Will Netflix Make a Bird Box 2?
Netflix has not greenlit a Bird Box sequel. The new film is not a direct sequel to the 2018 film Bird Box but rather a spin-off. If you’re curious about the sequel, Bird Box Barcelona will be available to view on Netflix starting on Friday, July 14, 2023.
Why Are Psychological Thriller Movies on Netflix Popular?
People enjoy watching psychological thriller movies on netflix because they get a kick out of being transported to alternate mystery realities. In a sense, the genre satisfies a need among its audience members by providing an atmosphere of unease.
This category includes the darker sides of humanity, such as physical and mental cruelty.
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