Representing the years 1995–2025, this list has three decades’ worth of quality filmmaking that will thrill you to the bone.

The 15 best thriller movies on Netflix right now

Representing the years 1995–2025, this list has three decades' worth of quality filmmaking that will thrill you to the bone.

By Ilana Gordon,

Ilana Gordon is an entertainment, culture, and comedy writer originally from Connecticut. She currently lives in Los Angeles.

EW's editorial guidelines

and James Mercadante

on April 1, 2026 7:29 a.m. ET

Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas in 'American Gangster'; Emma Stone as Michelle Fuller in 'Bugonia'; Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna in 'Casino'. Credit:

Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection; Atsushi Nishijima/Focus Features; Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

The suspense is growing on Netflix, where the streamer is always refining its collection of blockbusters, indies, and foreign thrillers. Last year alone brought audiences exciting new additions, including *Caught Stealing**, *Darren Aronofsky's violent romp around New York City, and *Bugonia*, Yorgos Lanthimos's sci-fi thriller satirizing conspiracy theories and corporations. As far as original content goes, Netflix delivered *Wake Up Dead Man*, the third film in Rian Johnson’s *Knives Out* mystery franchise.

Time to get your blood pumping — read on for **’s guide to the 15 best thrillers on the platform.

American Gangster (2007)

Denzel Washington as Frank Lucas and Josh Brolin as Detective Trupo in 'American Gangster'.

Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

One of the most innovative gangsters of the 20th century, Frank Lucas earned the title of Harlem drug kingpin in the late-‘60s and early-‘70s by importing high-quality heroin from Southeast Asia and selling it under the street name Blue Magic. Ridley Scott adapted Lucas' story into a biographical crime drama starring Denzel Washington as Lucas and Russell Crowe as Richie Roberts, the detective determined to take him down.

*American Gangster* is Lucas’ story, but the film is a true two-hander, with Crowe’s obsessive performance as Roberts balancing out Denzel's Lucas, who moves through the criminal world quietly and with control. EW’s critic calls the film “meticulous and detailed, a drug-world epic that holds you from moment to moment, immersing you in the intricate and sleazy logistics of crime.” —*Ilana Gordon*

Where to watch *American Gangster*: Netflix

**EW grade:** B

**Director: **Ridley Scott

**Cast: **Russell Crowe, Denzel Washington, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Cuba Gooding Jr., Josh Brolin

Bugonia (2025)

Emma Stone as Michelle Fuller in 'Bugonia'.

Atsushi Nishijima/Focus Features

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.

Stone received her seventh Oscar nomination for her role as Michelle, and the film also received nods for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Original Score. Released during a year of buzzy, standout films, *Bugonia* slid under the radar in 2025, but deserves your attention in 2026. —*I.G.*

Where to watch *Bugonia*: Netflix

**Director: **Yorgos Lanthimos

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

Casino (1995)

Sharon Stone as Ginger McKenna (center) in 'Casino'.

Universal/Courtesy Everett Collection

Released five years after *Goodfellas*, Martin Scorsese’s *Casino *tells the story of Ace Rothstein (Robert De Niro), a Mob associate who runs Las Vegas’ Tangiers Casino in the 1970s and early-‘80s. Ace’s natural affinity for the business is compromised by the arrival of his childhood friend, Nicky Santoro (Joe Pesci), and his love affair with hustler Ginger McKenna (Sharon Stone). Adapted from the nonfiction book *Casino: Love and Honor in Las Vegas*, *Casino* is a little bit Mafia, a little bit Vegas history, and a lot of cocaine.

The crime thriller represents De Niro’s eighth collaboration with Scorsese, but Stone is the movie’s standout. Her passionate performance as a woman-about-town turned frustrated housewife earned her an Oscar nod for Best Actress, with EW’s critic writing, “her rage and desperation are palpable.” —*I.G.*

Where to watch *Casino*: Netflix

**Director: **Martin Scorsese

**Cast: **Robert De Niro, Joe Pesci, Sharon Stone, James Woods, Don Rickles

Caught Stealing (2025)

Matt Smith as Russ and Austin Butler as Hank in 'Caught Stealing'.

Niko Tavernise/Columbia Pictures

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)

Mark Duplass as Josef in 'Creep'. Desiree Akhavan

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

Everest (2015)

Jason Clarke as Rob Hall in 'Everest'.

In 1996, eight people died trying to summit Mount Everest; Icelandic director Baltasar Kormákur's *Everest** *chronicles their ascent through treacherous conditions. The film combines never-before-heard audio tapes recorded between the climbers and the staff at base camp, and survivor accounts to recreate the story of what happened that fateful day atop the most dangerous place on Earth.

A man vs. nature thriller with an excellent ensemble cast, *Everest* uses its mountain backdrop —shot in Italy, Iceland, and Nepal — to its fullest effect. Dizzying cinematography makes the thriller a poor choice for those with acrophobia, but an excellent option for fans of disaster movies, survival stories, and films based on real events. *—I.G.*

Where to watch *Everest*: Netflix

**Director: **Baltasar Kormákur

**Cast: **Jason Clarke, Josh Brolin, John Hawkes, Robin Wright, Emily Watson

The Good Nurse (2022)

Eddie Redmayne as Charlie Cullen and Jessica Chastain as Amy Loughren in 'The Good Nurse'. Courtesy of TIFF

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)

Patrick Stewart as Darcy Banker in 'Green Room'. Scott Green/A24

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**

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Hell or High Water (2016)

Jeff Bridges as Marcus Hamilton and Gil Birmingham as Alberto Parker in 'Hell or High Water'.

Lorey Sebastian/CBS Films/Courtesy Everett Collection

Before Taylor Sheridan built his *Yellowstone* empire, he wrote *Hell or High Water*. This neo-Western crime thriller stars Ben Foster and Chris Pine as brothers who rob a series of Texas banks to keep their family’s ranch from being foreclosed. They are dogged in their financial pursuit by Marcus Hamilton (Jeff Bridges), a Texas Ranger on the brink of retirement.

Brothers Tanner (Foster) and Toby (Pine) are perfect contrasts, with Tanner being a reckless hothead, and Toby playing the part of the responsible father hoping to pull his family out of poverty. Sheridan is known for keeping his plots simple in favor of more complicated character development, which *Hell or High Water *delivers in spades. *—I.G.*

Where to watch *Hell or High Water*: Netflix

**EW grade: **A

**Director: **David Mackenzie

**Cast:** Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Gil Birmingham

I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore (2017)

Elijah Wood as Tony and Melanie Lynskey as Ruth in 'I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore'. Allyson Riggs

After *Yellowjackets*, *Togetherness*, and *Mrs. America, *we'd straight-up watch Melanie Lynskey in anything, but even we missed Macon Blair's 2017 sleeper. Lynskey plays Ruth, a down-on-her-luck nursing assistant who decides after her house gets broken into that she's fed up. She hooks up with her odd neighbor Tony (Elijah Wood) to go out on a quest to get her stuff back, leading to a quirky journey that's both suspenseful and inspiring for the downtrodden.

Second only to Lynskey in luminescence in this movie is Wood, whose Tony named his dog Kevin and specializes in nunchucks and ninja stars. And Jane Levy is unrecognizable as one of the unsavory thieves. As EW*'*s critic points out, the film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival for its reconfiguration of "the buddy-cop film — at one point, Ruth even flashes a toy police badge." —*Gwen Ihnat*

Where to watch *I Don't Feel at Home in This World Anymore*: Netflix

**EW grade:** B+

**Director: **Macon Blair

**Cast: **Melanie Lynskey, Elijah Wood, Jane Levy

Oxygen (2021)

Mélanie Laurent as Elizabeth 'Liz' Hansen in 'Oxygen'. Netflix

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 Platform (2019)

Alexandra Masangkay as Miharu in 'The Platform'.

Netflix/Everett Collection

In this Spanish dystopian thriller, prisoners are trapped in a "Vertical Self-Management Center," a towering structure of stacked cells featuring a large hole in the floor. Every day, a platform loaded with food descends the tower, pausing at each level for the prisoners to eat. Those at the top feast heartily, while those below get the leftover table scraps. If everyone only took what they needed, there would be enough for all, but the greedy folks don't care about those suffering beneath them. (FYI: *The Platform 2* is also available to watch on Netflix.) —*D.H.*

Where to watch *The Platform*: Netflix

**Director: **Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia

**Cast: **Iván Massagué, Antonia San Juan, Zorion Eguileor**

Society of the Snow (2023)

Matías Recalt as Roberto Canessa and Enzo Vogrincic as Numa Turcatti in 'The Society of the Snow'.

In 1972, the Andes Mountains became a crucible of survival when a Uruguayan flight crashed en route to Santiago, Chile. Sixteen remaining passengers found themselves stranded in one of Mother Nature's most life-threatening terrains, pushing them to take ineffable means to find their way back. While Hollywood attempted to soften this tragedy with a more glossy depiction in *Alive* (1993), *Society of the Snow* delivers a far more raw and emotive experience — enriched by the director's conversations with the real-life survivors — that sinks viewers into the gut-wrenching terror of the situation without being overly insensitive.

"A story that is based on humanism," J.A. Bayona (the director who also helmed another intense disaster film, 2012's *The Impossible*) describes the story as "more about emotional survival. It's not only physical survival. It's to understand that there's something bigger than yourself." *—James Mercadante*

Where to watch *Society of the Snow*: Netflix

**Director:** J.A. Bayona

**Cast: **Enzo Vogrincic, Matías Recalt, Agustín Pardella, Felipe González Otaño, Luciano Chatton

They Cloned Tyrone (2023)

John Boyega as Fontaine, Teyonah Parris as Yo-Yo, and Jamie Foxx as Slick Charles in 'They Cloned Tyrone'.

Parrish Lewis/Netflix

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**

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

Josh Brolin as Monsignor Jefferson Wicks in 'Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery'.

John Wilson/Netflix

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

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Source: “EW Movie”