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61 Thrillers on Netflix That Take Terrifying to a Whole New Level
Suspenseful, gripping, and totally terrifying are just a few ways to describe Netflix’s wide selection of goosebumps-worthy thriller movies. These tantalizing flicks know how to make viewers’ hearts race, and damn, are they good. The wildly true flick The Red Sea Diving Resort will keep you on the edge of your seat for the entirety of the movie, while the post-apocalyptic Bird Box will give you chills as you’ve never had before. Be sure to stream Velvet Buzzsaw if you like a horror-thriller (plus an A-list cast), and give Hush a watch if you’re into the kind of movie that will make your heart race faster than you thought possible.
If you’re ready to be terrified in more ways than one, check out some of the best thrillers on Netflix ahead, and don’t be surprised if you catch yourself checking over your shoulder for the remainder of the night. Good luck!
– Additional reporting by Lauren Harano, Haley Lyndes, and Stacey Nguyen
Shutter Island
Martin Scorsese‘s thriller stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo as US Marshals investigating the disappearance of a patient at an asylum. It’s so scary, it might just make you sleep with the lights on. Good luck . . . you’ll need it.
The Guest
Want to see Downton Abbey‘s Dan Stevens in a whole new light? Watch this thriller in which he ditches his accent to play a mysterious soldier who is taken in by the family of his fallen comrade.
Lavender
In this 2016 thriller, a photographer suffers bad memory loss after an accident. After looking back through her photos, she learns that she might have been the reason none of her family is alive.
The Student
After a law professor fails one of her students for dishonesty, she is tormented by him until he gets the grade (and justice) he thinks he deserves.
The Drowning
This wild thriller tells the story of a child psychologist who helped to convict a young boy of murder years back. When they happen to meet again, each of their lives takes a turn for the worse.
22 July
Based on the true events of Norway’s deadliest terrorist attack in 2011, this movie is horrifyingly scary and extremely sad.
The Invisible Guest
This Spanish film will make your spine tingle. In The Invisible Guest, a man wakes up next to his dead lover in a hotel room, and finds he has become the prime murder suspect. It’s gripping, intense, and full of twists.
Limitless
Imagine a thriller and sci-fi flick made into one. That’s this movie. Bradley Cooper stars in this underrated movie as a down-on-his-luck writer named Eddie who – when given a drug that enhances mental acuity – finds himself rising through the ranks in the world of finance. Though a major tycoon (played by Robert De Niro) hopes to use the young man for his own gain, Eddie’s dwindling drug supply spells big trouble for them both.
1922
Another Stephen King story gets the film treatment thanks to Netflix with this horror flick set on a farm in 1922. A married couple argue over what to do with their farm and the wife’s recently inherited land, leading her husband and son to commit a gruesome act that haunts them.
In Darkness
Game of Thrones hottie Natalie Dormer both wrote and stars in this 2018 thriller about a blind pianist who accidentally finds herself witness to a murder that takes place in the apartment above hers. She’s also joined by Emily Ratajkowski as her neighbor, who even makes getting murdered look hot.
Velvet Buzzsaw
With an insane cast that includes Jake Gyllenhaal, Natalia Dyer, Toni Colette, Rene Russo, and John Malkovich, this horror-thriller tells the story of a series of paintings by an unknown artist, which, after they are discovered, release a supernatural force that exacts revenge on those who value profit over art for art’s sake. We guarantee you’ve never seen a thriller quite like this one.
Calibre
Netflix original film Calibre focuses on two lifelong friends who take a hunting trip to Scotland. Things get out of control and the two find their morals and commitment to the friendship called into question.
Secret Obsession
Former Disney Channel darling Brenda Song stars in this psychological thriller as Jennifer, a young woman who suffers from amnesia following a violent attack, and as her memories start to come back, she finds that she no longer knows who to trust.
Rebirth
A young man finds himself on a crazy adventure when he hands over his whole identity during a seminar about rebirth.
Cam
In this new Netflix psychological horror film set in the world of webcam pornography, Madeline Brewer from The Handmaid’s Tale stars as an erotic cam girl who finds her popular channel hijacked by a look-alike. What’s even better: Cam is one of the few films about sex work written by a former sex worker, resulting in a story that doesn’t glamorize, glorify, or romanticize the profession.
You Get Me
We’ll admit this movie is a little far-fetched, but there’s no doubt that Bella Thorne makes for a very compelling stalker who will go to any lengths to get close to a guy after a one-night stand.
Berlin Syndrome
You’ll never want to date again after watching this thriller, which follows a young Australian backpacker exploring Berlin on a solo trip who decides to join a sexy local to his place for a one-night stand, and it all seems to be going well – until the next morning, when she discovers that her new Berlin lover has no intention of letting her leave.
The Perfection
This terrifyingly suspenseful film follows troubled musicians Charlotte (Allison Williams) and Elizabeth (Logan Browning) down a sinister path to a place they never thought they would end up.
The Silence
A terrifying creature is attacking human prey by sound, but 16-year-old Ally Andrews (Kiernan Shipka) is deaf. When they encounter an eerie cult, things only get worse.
6 Underground
This Michael Bay action thriller features Ryan Reynolds as a billionaire and philanthropist who fakes his own death to take down terrorists that the government won’t handle. He recruits a ragtag group of five others to abandon their pasts and carry out his mission.
The Invitation
When a man accepts an invitation to a dinner party at his ex-wife’s house, things go as one would expect: extremely bad. It turns out she and her new husband have cooked up some evil plans for the rest of the night.
Nightcrawler
Nightcrawler, starring Jake Gyllenhaal, made quite the splash when it landed on the cinema scene in 2014. Gyllenhaal plays a man who is obsessed with selling breaking news footage to a news station, so much so that he goes to dangerous lengths to get ahold of the footage.
Self/less
A dying real estate agent discovers his only way to live is to transplant his consciousness into the body of a healthy young man. He goes through with it, but he quickly learns that both the procedure and company that did it are not what they seem.
Gerald's Game
If twisted thrillers are your thing, then you’ll love this adaptation of Stephen King’s novel by the same name, telling the story of a woman (played by The Haunting of Hill House actress Carla Gugino) who accidentally kills her husband during a kinky sex experience, leaving her stranded in their remote lake house and chained to their bed.
Burning
In this suspenseful South Korean film based on a Haruki Murakami story, a writer is in love with his high school friend, but she’s involved with a well-off man named Ben (Steven Yeun). This love triangle twists into jealousy and criminal behavior as the film unravels.
Hush
When a masked killer finds a deaf writer who lives in the woods, things get real scary.
Bird Box
In this thriller, Malorie (Sandra Bullock) fights for her life, as well as the lives of her two young children, in a world plagued by invisible monsters that cause anyone who lays eyes on them to immediately kill themselves. The only way Malorie and her fellow survivors are able to escape the suicidal impulses is by making their way through the world blindfolded.
The Hateful Eight
Load up this post-Civil War Quentin Tarantino thriller. It’s about two bounty hunters and a captive who encounter a group of questionable strangers while trying to find shelter from a Wyoming blizzard. There’s gore and Samuel L. Jackson, so you know it’s got to be worth the whopping three hours.
Good Time
Finally breaking free from the fangs of Edward Cullen, Robert Pattinson stars in this gritty Safdie brothers thriller before they embarked on Uncut Gems. He plays a man who tries to evade capture for a bank robbery while getting his mentally challenged brother out of jail.
Jacob's Ladder
This dark thriller follows an army medic who begins experiencing violent visions after finding his brother. This ’90s film picked up a cult following and became the inspiration for video games such as Silent Hill.
The Gift
Sam Raimi’s The Gift features the scariest Keanu Reeves you’ll ever see. Playing an abusive husband, he’s one of the suspects in a small-town drowning. In an early performance as well, Cate Blanchett portrays a psychic who begins to have visions about the local murder.
3022
In this popular Netflix sci-fi thriller starring Omar Epps and Kate Walsh, the Earth is destroyed. Astronauts at a space station between Earth and Jupiter slowly go insane.
Freaks
In Freaks, a young girl steps outside for the very first time in her life after being kept inside by her paranoid father. In discovering the outside world, she soon learns dangerous secrets about her family.
The Occupant
The Spanish thriller The Occupant tells the story of an out-of-work ad executive. He creepily follows the people living in his old home, which he can no longer afford to live in.
The Platform
Another Spanish thriller, this time of the sci-fi variety, The Platform balances dark violence with scathing class commentary. It introduces us to a dystopian future where prisoners in higher cells are fed while those below starve with scraps.
Taxi Driver
Martin Scorsese‘s classic crime thriller is back on Netflix. The psychological thriller features Robert De Niro as a jaded cab driver who increasingly becomes disgusted by the corruption in New York City.
The Roommate
Leighton Meester trades Blair from Gossip Girl for the role of a roommate from hell. In The Roommate, her character increasingly becomes violent and psychotic over time.
The Killing of a Sacred Deer
In Yorgos Lanthimos’ offbeat film before The Favourite, Colin Farrell plays a surgeon whose life forever changes when a wandering teen starts following him. Slowly, but surely, we learn why the adolescent boy keeps lurking around his family.
Awake
In this 2019 mystery movie, a man wakes up in a hospital bed with no idea who he is or why he’s there. He soon learns that the police are suspecting him to be a serial killer, and he must figure out how he got here before he is accused.
Hangman
Al Pacino, Karl Urban, and Brittany Snow star in this movie as a trio who are on the hunt to bring down a serial killer whose crimes are based on the game Hangman.
What Keeps You Alive
When a couple goes to a remote cabin to celebrate their anniversary, it soon becomes evident that one of them has a dark side and is out for blood.
House at the End of the Street
Jennifer Lawrence stars in this psychological thriller as 17-year-old Elissa, who moves with her recently divorced mother to a new home only to find out they now live on the same street as a house where a gruesome double murder took place four years before. Against her mom’s wishes, Elissa begins seeing Ryan, the brother of the missing murderer, and she discovers that the seemingly sweet, lonely boy is not who he appears to be.
Thriller
This teen scream tells the story of a horrifying homecoming weekend when a shy and quiet boy gets blamed for a murder he didn’t commit. Years later, he’s out for blood and revenge.
Delirium
After being released from a psychiatric hospital, a man (Topher Grace) inherits his parents’ estate following their death. Unfortunately, it looks like their sprawling home might come with a few unwanted guests, if you catch my drift.
Would You Rather
This 2012 thriller follows Iris (Brittany Snow) and seven other people who partake in a deadly game in order to win a large sum of money . . . That is, if they make it out alive.
The Open House
When a mother and her son move to a family vacation house, it’s evident that sinister forces don’t want them there. This movie will spook you to your core.
Clinical
The 2017 Netflix original film Clinical follows a psychiatrist grappling with the after effects of her terrifying attack, as she must also help a patient who was disfigured in an accident. Also, get ready to fangirl, because it stars Vinessa Shaw from Hocus Pocus as the psychiatrist.
Before I Wake
Kate Bosworth and Thomas Jane star in this movie as foster parents who take in an eight-year-old boy, Cody (played by Jacob Tremblay), only to learn that the young boy’s dreams can turn into reality – and so can his nightmares. The worst part: the things imagined by Cody have the power to actually cause harm.
The Ritual
Here we have one of the rare cases in which there’s a horrifying monster and they show it in all its glory. And let me tell you, it’s truly a sight to see. It all tumbles into one rather haunting tale.
In the Tall Grass
When a pregnant woman and her brother hear a young boy in the fields, they go out to try and find him. Once they are in the fields, they are disoriented by a sinister force and realize that being lost in the tall grass is the only thing better than being found.