The 23 best thriller movies on Netflix (October 2026)

The Black Phone (2021)

The ‘70s were a heyday of serial killers, and the villain from The Black Phone would fit right in with the John Wayne Gacys and Ted Bundys of the world. Set in 1978, The Black Phone focuses on a Denver suburb that is being targeted by “the Grabber” (Ethan Hawke), a serial child abductor and murderer.

After 13-year-old Finney Blake is taken, his sister Gwen starts having psychic dreams about his location. Meanwhile, Finney is locked in a room with only a broken pay phone that keeps ringing with calls from the Grabber’s former victims. A horror film distinguished by its supernatural elements, The Black Phone is a terrifying return to horror for Hawke (following his tantalizing turns in 2012’s Sinister and 2013’s The Purge), made even more nightmarish by his masked face and frequent giggling. —Ilana Gordon 

Where to watch The Black Phone: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Scott Derrickson 

Cast: Ethan Hawke, Madeleine McGraw, Jeremy Davies, James Ransone

The Bourne Identity (2002)

This action thriller serves as the origin story for a government agent who turns into a government target. After an unidentified male is fished out of the water with two gunshots in his back and a total lack of memory or identity, Jason Bourne (Matt Damon) goes on a mission to find out who he is, where he came from, and why so many shadowy operatives are hunting him.

A spycraft thriller that doesn’t skimp on chase scenes or fight sequences, The Bourne Identity solidly launched one of the aughts’ most popular franchises. As EW’s critic wrote after a 2022 rewatch, “How can you not celebrate an action thriller that shows protagonists acting like actual, recognizable humans in the face of random self-defenestration?” —I.G.

Where to watch The Bourne Identity: Netflix

Director: Doug Liman

Cast: Matt Damon, Chris Cooper, Clive Owen, Franka Potente, Julia Stiles

Bugonia (2025)

Yorgos Lanthimos and Emma Stone reunite for their fifth collaboration with Bugonia, a satirical sci-fi thriller. Stone plays Michelle Fuller, a high-powered pharmaceutical CEO, and Jesse Plemons stars opposite her as Teddy, a conspiracy theorist who kidnaps Michelle, believing her to be an alien. A loose remake of the 2003 South Korean film Save the Green Planet!, Bugonia’s outlook on Earth and humanity isn’t necessarily optimistic, but it is entertaining. —I.G.

Where to watch Bugonia: Netflix

Director: Yorgos Lanthimos

Cast: Emma Stone, Jesse Plemons, Aidan Delbis, Stavros Halkias, Alicia Silverstone

Caught Stealing (2025)

No good deed goes unpunished in Caught Stealing, Darren Aronofsky’s black comedy crime thriller. The film, adapted from the first novel in Charlie Huston’s Henry Thompson series, follows Hank (Austin Butler), a former baseball player who makes ends meet by bartending in New York City. When Hank agrees to watch his British punk rock neighbor’s (Matt Smith) cat while he’s out of town, he finds himself plunged into a brutal world of criminality and violence. 

Caught Stealing is a madcap throwback bolstered by Butler’s charismatic — and very physical — performance. Solid chemistry between Butler and his character’s girlfriend (played by Zoë Kravitz), plus a fun twist at the end, ensures that audiences never know what’s around the corner in this freewheeling thriller. —I.G.

Where to watch Caught Stealing: Netflix

Director: Darren Aronofsky

Cast: Austin Butler, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Matt Smith, Liev Schreiber

Creep (2014)

In this found-footage two-hander, a young videographer named Aaron (Patrick Brice) is hired by Josef (Mark Duplass) to record a day of his life. Josef explains that he has an inoperable brain tumor and wants to leave something behind for his soon-to-be-born son, but his eccentric behavior becomes increasingly concerning, and Aaron needs to decide whether to continue filming — assuming Josef will let him leave.

Creep’s continued success depends on whether Josef can keep finding fresh ways to be unnerving, and he does. (Things get even creepier in Creep 2, which documents another video project gone terribly wrong.) —Danny Horn

Where to watch Creep: Netflix

Director: Patrick Brice

Cast: Mark Duplass, Patrick Brice

Dead Man’s Wire (2025)

A thriller based on true events, Dead Man’s Wire takes audiences back to Indianapolis in 1977, when Tony Kiritsis (Bill Skarsgård) took mortgage broker Richard Hall (Dacre Montgomery) hostage, used a piece of wire to attach him to the trigger of a sawed-off shotgun, and refused to release him until his list of demands was met. Journalists covered the 63-hour standoff, while also questioning the media ethics of potentially broadcasting Hall’s murder live on air. 

Gus Van Sant’s stylish ‘70s thriller is tense, darkly funny, and relevant: The abduction took place almost 50 years ago, but Tony’s rants about capitalism — delivered with fervor in a top-notch performance by Skarsgård — remain timeless. —I.G.

Where to watch Dead Man’s Wire: Netflix

Director: Gus Van Sant

Cast: Bill Skarsgård, Dacre Montgomery, Cary Elwes, Myha’la, Colman Domingo

The Devil All the Time (2020)

A Netflix original horror thriller, The Devil All the Time explores several interconnected groups of people living in two small towns in Southern Ohio between the end of World War II and the mid-1960s. Linked by religious evangelism, war, corruption, suicide, abandonment, and serial murder, the cast — which includes a host of young Hollywood heavy hitters — makes the most of the story’s melodrama and dark subject matter. Based on the 2011 novel, The Devil All the Time takes the “all the time” portion of its title literally: The sins are multitudinous, and the depths of human depravity are on full display. —I.G.

Where to watch The Devil All the Time: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Antonio Campos

Cast: Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Sebastian Stan, Riley Keough, Eliza Scanlen

Donnie Brasco (1997)

A decade after Johnny Depp went undercover to play a high schooler on Fox’s 21 Jump Street, he once again donned the mantle of double agent — this time to infiltrate the Mob. Based on the true story of FBI agent Joe Pistone, Donnie Brasco offers a glimpse into the emotional turmoil that comes with living the cloak and dagger lifestyle.

Depp stars as Pistone, who meets Mob enforcer Lefty Ruggiero (Al Pacino) while posing as a jewel thief named Donnie Brasco. Ruggiero befriends and mentors Pistone (as Brasco), who discovers within himself a talent for impressing the Mob with his participation in their extracurricular activities. But the more enmeshed in the criminal underworld Pistone becomes, the more he struggles to maintain his family life — and divorce himself from his emotional attachment to his mentor. —I.G.

Where to watch Donnie Brasco: Netflix

Director: Mike Newell

Cast: Al Pacino, Johnny Depp, Michael Madsen, Bruno Kirby, James Russo

The Good Nurse (2022)

Nurses are angels with the power to do the work of demons. In the Netflix original psychological thriller The Good Nurse, Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain) is a night nurse with a work husband: Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne). A single mom with a serious heart condition, Amy is shocked to learn that the recent death of one of their hospital’s patients is thought to have occurred intentionally, and that Charles might be involved. And the more Amy digs, the more she realizes the co-worker she trusts is actually someone far more nefarious.

Based on the true story of how the real-life Amy Loughren helped authorities take down serial killer Charles Cullen, The Good Nurse is good old-fashioned, ripped-from-the-headlines cinema with a story made all the more terrifying because so little of it is exaggerated. Trust us — you’ve never seen Eddie Redmayne like this before. —I.G.

Where to watch The Good Nurse: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Tobias Lindholm

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Eddie Redmayne

Green Room (2015)

Punk musicians square off against neo-Nazis in Green Room, a horror thriller about a murder that turns into a bloodbath. The punk band the Ain’t Rights are at the tail end of their tour of the Pacific Northwest when they find themselves booked at a skinhead bar. After the band witnesses the aftermath of a murder, the Nazis take them hostage; with only one way out of the green room, it’s up to the band to fight for their right to survive. 

Green Room’s premise is terrifying enough, but the film’s fear factor is taken up a notch thanks to Patrick Stewart’s performance as the primary villain. EW’s critic writes, “Stewart is way scarier when he’s neither barking nor biting but just purring controlled threats.” —I.G.

Where to watch Green Room: Netflix

EW grade: A–

Director: Jeremy Saulnier

Cast: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat, Joe Cole, Callum Turner

Influencer (2022)

There are movies that use social media as a device, and then there’s Influencer. This twisty horror thriller is set in Thailand, where Madison (Emily Tennant), a social media personality, is posting her way through a solo vacation because her boyfriend didn’t come along. She befriends a free spirit named CW (Cassandra Naud), who escorts her through the country’s hidden gems — until Madison’s passport is stolen, and her trip takes a bleak turn.

To complicate matters, another influencer named Jessica (Sara Canning) enters the picture, and Madison’s absent boyfriend and social media manager, Ryan (Rory J. Saper), makes an appearance. If social media is a highlight reel, Influencer reminds us that life behind the photo dumps is often much darker. —I.G.

Where to watch Influencer: Netflix

Director: Kurtis David Harder

Cast: Emily Tennant, Cassandra Naud, Rory J. Saper, Sara Canning

Jaws (1975)

The thriller that gave generations a fear of deep water and sharks, Steven Spielberg’s Jaws didn’t just inspire new methods of filmmaking — it also helped create the summer blockbuster. A movie that claimed the number one box office spot for 14 weeks, Jaws terrified and delighted moviegoers in the mid-‘70s; they had no idea the film shoot was so laden with budgetary and visual effects issues that it was nicknamed “Flaws.” 

Jaws turned Martha’s Vineyard’s placid beaches into the stuff of nightmares, and the film’s fear factor lingers just as effectively more than 50 years later. The movie remains a thriller must-see, but if you venture into these waters, take heed: There’s a reason EW ranked Jaws second on our list of the 50 best thriller movies. —I.G.

Where to watch Jaws: Netflix

Director: Steven Spielberg

Cast: Roy Scheider, Robert Shaw, Richard Dreyfuss, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton

Memento (2001)

Memento, Christopher Nolan’s acclaimed sophomore feature, is a non-linear thriller about grief and memory. Guy Pearce stars as Leonard Shelby, a man who began suffering from short-term amnesia after a brutal attack, an affliction that complicates his goal of avenging his wife’s death. Reliant on tattoos, Polaroid pictures, and hastily scribbled notes in place of memories, Leonard attempts to hunt down his wife’s killer, while struggling to discern who he can trust. 

Nolan is meticulous with his plot, structuring the film’s chronology to mimic the fractures in Leonard’s memory. EW’s critic gave the film an A, writing, “Memento has the uniquely disorienting quality of a puzzle that reveals its design the fewer pieces there are in place. It’s the rare mystery in which every moment lives.” —I.G.

Where to watch Memento: Netflix

EW grade: A

Director: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Guy Pearce, Carrie-Anne Moss, Joe Pantoliano

Nightcrawler (2014)

Writer-director Dan Gilroy explores the seedy side of freelance journalism in his 2014 thriller, Nightcrawler. An emaciated Jake Gyllenhaal stars as Lou Bloom, a thief who turns from a life of crime to a life of documenting crime after he learns about the entrepreneurial benefits of selling lurid footage to local news stations.

With questionable morals and a camcorder in tow, Lou lurks around Los Angeles looking for — and sometimes staging — incidents to film for profit. Happy to lie, cheat, steal, and exploit his co-workers in his rise to make more money and solidify his position as the city’s most prodigious stringer, Lou is the ideal anti-hero and the perfect metaphor for the way sensational news and media end up feeding one another to stay alive. —I.G.

Where to watch Nightcrawler: Netflix through Oct. 31

EW grade: B+

Director: Dan Gilroy

Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Riz Ahmed, Bill Paxton

Oxygen (2021)

A nightmare come to life for claustrophobics everywhere, Oxygen is a French-language sci-fi film that thinks outside the box in terms of action. At the genesis, an unidentified woman (Mélanie Laurent) awakens in an airtight medical unit, unsure of who or where she is. Interactions with the system’s AI — dubbed M.I.L.O. (Medical Interface Liaison Officer) — provide some clarity as to her identity, but no matter what she tries, she cannot escape her prison.

As she seeks to understand who placed her in the box and why, truths about her personal life and the current state of the world come into focus — but her search for context is actually a race to outwit the slowly depleting oxygen levels. Laurent is excellent, and despite being forced to perform on her back, she manages to imbue the film with a strong sense of determination and humanity. —I.G.

Where to watch Oxygen: Netflix

EW grade: B

Director: Alexandre Aja

Cast: Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, Malik Zidi

The Prestige (2006)

Christopher Nolan shifts away from movie magic and into regular magic with his psychological thriller, The Prestige. A period piece set in late 19th-century London, the film follows rival magicians Robert Angier (Hugh Jackman) and Alfred Borden (Christian Bale) as they battle over a teleportation trick that eventually makes their careers and love lives disappear.

The only film to attempt the brave move of casting David Bowie as Nikola Tesla, The Prestige dazzles with displays of magical one-upmanship and dangerous technology. As EW’s critic writes, the film “leaps around in time with dizzy abandon, a deliberate strategy to make magic seem like the most concrete, grounded thing in the movie.” —I.G.

Where to watch The Prestige: Netflix

Director: Christopher Nolan

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, Piper Perabo

Rebel Ridge (2024)

The police illegally seize money from the wrong man in Rebel Ridge, an action thriller that pits a Black former Marine veteran and graduate of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program against a group of racist and corrupt small-town cops. Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) rolls into town on his bike, hoping to buy a new truck and post bail for his cousin. When the police confiscate his money through civil asset forfeiture, he tries to get it back — and the more reluctant the cops are to accommodate him, the more physically insistent Terry becomes. One of Netflix’s best-received recent original thrillers, Rebel Ridge is well-deserving of the Primetime Emmy it won for Outstanding Television Movie. —I.G.

Where to watch Rebel Ridge: Netflix

Director: Jeremy Saulnier

Cast: Aaron Pierre, Don Johnson, AnnaSophia Robb, David Denman, Emory Cohen

Speed (1994)

One of the ultimate ‘90s action movies, Speed is the story of a vindictive bomber who rigs a bus to explode if it goes too slow, and the Los Angeles cop who is determined to foil him. LAPD Officer Jack Traven (Keanu Reeves) works on the city’s SWAT team and has had run-ins with the psychopathic Howard Payne (Dennis Hopper) before. When Jack gets word of Payne’s plot, he manages to board the armed vehicle, where he assigns one of the passengers, Annie (Sandra Bullock), to keep the bus in motion while he de-escalates the situation.

EW’s critic writes that Hitchcock “would be proud” of the movie “in which a zooming bus becomes a pop metaphor for a world speeding chaotically out of control.” All of the leads are excellent, but it’s Reeves who carries the film, turning the 116-minute popcorn thriller into a compelling sales pitch for why he is one of Hollywood’s go-to action stars. —I.G.

Where to watch Speed: Netflix through Oct. 31

Director: Jan de Bont

Cast: Keanu Reeves, Dennis Hopper, Sandra Bullock, Joe Morton, Jeff Daniels

They Cloned Tyrone (2023)

A single genre isn’t enough to contain one of Netflix’s 2023 releases, They Cloned Tyrone. A sci-fi comedy that combines ‘70s Blaxploitation with mystery and social satire, the film has similar vibes to movies like Get Out (2017) or Sorry to Bother You (2018) while employing a far more absurd premise. Fontaine (John Boyega) is a drug dealer living in an impoverished area called the Glen. While trying to collect funds owed to him by a local pimp named Slick Charles (Jamie Foxx), Fontaine is shot and killed — but that doesn’t stop him from showing up on Slick’s doorstep the next day to collect his money.

Joined by a sex worker named YoYo (Teyonah Parris), the trio attempts to get to the bottom of what appears to be a massive government conspiracy aimed at exploiting their disenfranchised community as medical subjects. A satirical romp that has as much to say about class and racial injustices as it does about mystery movie tropes, They Cloned Tyrone is smart, silly, and uniformly well-acted. —I.G.

Where to watch They Cloned Tyrone: Netflix

Director: Juel Taylor

Cast: John Boyega, Teyonah Parris, Jamie Foxx

True Romance (1993)

In their 1993 review of the “cheerfully disreputable” romantic thriller True Romance, EW’s critic writes that the film “has all the tawdry surface pleasures you want from a high-style getaway caper: fast sex, ballistic violence, a cast of flamboyant goons who talk as well as they shoot.” Tony Scott directs Quentin Tarantino’s script about a pair of newlyweds, Clarence and Alabama (Christian Slater and Patricia Arquette), who spend their honeymoon in Los Angeles trying to evade angry drug dealers intent on recovering a stolen suitcase of cocaine. The movie was a box office bomb, but Tarantino’s screenplay — which features several appearances from Elvis’ ghost (played by Val Kilmer) acting as a spiritual muse — and the movie’s exceptional cast make it a relevant addition to ‘90s movie history. —I.G.

Where to watch True Romance: Netflix

EW grade: B+

Director: Tony Scott

Cast: Christian Slater, Patricia Arquette, Dennis Hopper, Val Kilmer, Gary Oldman

Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery (2025)

In the third installment of the Knives Out franchise, Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) travels to upstate New York to solve a murder disguised as a miracle. After the controversial leader of an ill-attended parish is killed during services, Detective Blanc is brought in to determine which of Monsignor Jefferson Wicks’ co-workers and loyal followers orchestrated his demise. 

Writer-director Rian Johnson works his misdirection magic, and Wake Up Dead Man is just as satisfying as Knives Out (2019) and Glass Onion (2022). Josh O’Connor joins the cast as a young priest who is transferred to the church after punching a former parishioner, and Glenn Close is a lovely addition in her role as Martha, a longtime congregant and Wicks’ chief confidant. —I.G.

Where to watch Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery: Netflix

Director: Rian Johnson

Cast: Daniel Craig, Josh O’Connor, Glenn Close, Josh Brolin, Mila Kunis

Woman of the Hour (2023)

Rodney Alcala was a serial killer on the loose in California when he took a break from his multi-year murder spree to appear on The Dating Show. Anna Kendrick makes her directorial debut with Woman of the Hour, a lean thriller based on Alcala’s TV appearance — but this isn’t his story. Instead, Kendrick shifts the focus to his female victims, highlighting some of Alcala’s fatal interactions with women between 1971 and 1979.

Kendrick also stars as Sheryl Bradshaw, a struggling Los Angeles actress who accepts a job as a contestant on The Dating Show, and meets Alcala (played by Daniel Zovatto) during his episode taping. Woman of the Hour is tense and evocative, but thoughtful enough to portray sexual violence without resorting to brutal imagery. —I.G. 

Where to watch Woman of the Hour: Netflix

Director: Anna Kendrick

Cast: Anna Kendrick, Daniel Zovatto, Nicolette Robinson, Tony Hale

Zero Dark Thirty (2012)

Zero Dark Thirty isn’t a historically accurate account of the decade during which Osama bin Laden was hunted and killed, but it is an unquestionably gripping thriller. Written by Mark Boal and directed by Kathryn Bigelow, the film’s release prompted controversy on all sides, with some arguing that it propagandized the Obama administration and others claiming it glorified the CIA’s use of torture tactics.

The one thing all sides can agree on is that Jessica Chastain delivers a standout performance as Maya, a CIA analyst tasked with finding bin Laden. While Maya’s character serves as a composite of the many people who contributed to the terrorist’s capture and killing, Chastain plays her with a restrained, obsessive fervor. —I.G.

Where to watch Zero Dark Thirty: Netflix

EW grade: A

Director: Kathryn Bigelow

Cast: Jessica Chastain, Jason Clarke, Joel Edgerton