Netflix can provide comfort at times, and it can also send a jolt to the system at other times. When the latter is the case, you’ll want an excellent thriller that doesn’t go overboard with the blood and gore but yet manages to shake you to your core. The streaming site has a good selection of thrillers, but there are a lot of other movies called “thriller” that aren’t worth your time, so we’ve compiled a list of the greatest thriller movies on Netflix to spare you some time scrolling.
Take a look at our suggestions below if you need some help deciding which thrillers to watch.
I Care a Lot
Rosamund Pike won a Golden Globe for her performance as a cruel con artist who preys on the elderly in this 2020 black comedy film. I Care a Lot tells the story of Marla Grayson (Pike), a court-appointed guardian who utilizes her legal authority to seize the assets of her victims. Her heinous scheme comes to a halt when her latest victim, a woman named Jennifer Peterson (Dianne Wiest), turns out to be linked to a violent mafia played by Peter Dinklage. I Care a Lot should be on every thriller fan’s watchlist because of its dark comedy, scathing sarcasm, and chaotic narrative.
The Platform
The Platform is a fantastic high-concept thriller that blurs genre lines. It’s set within the limits of an impossibly tall structure where occupants either feast or famine depending on the floor they’re on. Every day, a massive table is stuffed with a banquet of food and slowly lowered through the building, one floor at a time, with the people on top thriving in gluttony while those far below starve to death – but there’s a catch: the residents are gassed, reshuffled, and they never know which floor they’ll wake up on next. It’s a long setup, but it’s a fantastic vehicle, both for the social topics it addresses and for the nonstop excitement of researching the vast world beyond these restricted confines.
Level 16
This sophisticated, stylish indie thriller should appeal to fans of The Handmaid’s Tale. Level 16 follows the teenage ladies at The Vestalis Academy, a gloomy and seemingly insurmountable boarding school where they’re taught the so-called characteristics of femininity: obedience, cleanliness, patience, as well as humility. The young women nearing the conclusion of their education begin to fear something ominous is lurking on the other side of their graduation as extreme ideology is ruthlessly pounded into their heads day in and day out. Level 16 embraces the trademarks of the dystopian thriller and reinvents them into an all-new nightmare. Relentlessly stressful with hints of sci-fi and downright horror along the way.
Nocturnal Animals
Check out Nocturnal Animals if you’re looking for a great thriller with a great cast, a convoluted plot, and a beautiful aesthetic. After the critically praised A Single Man, Tom Ford’s second directorial attempt follows an art gallery owner (Amy Adams) as she reads a new novel written by her first spouse (Jake Gyllenhaal). The events of the novel play out on the screen as she reads it, and you must connect the dots between this ostensibly fictional plot and the gallery owner’s real-life – and the reason her marriage fell apart in the first place.
Uncut Gems
Check out the wonderful Uncut Gems if you don’t mind a thriller that will cause you the most worry as its core character makes terrible decision after bad decision. The film, which was released in 2019, stars Adam Sandler as a Jewish jeweller and gambling addict in New York City’s Diamond District who needs to track down an expensive gem he bought to pay off his debts. The film follows Sandler’s journey practically minute by minute, as the stakes rise with each passing hour, as directed by Josh Safdie and Benny Safide. Sandler provides one of his best performances in this film, but be warned: it’s a tense one.
