Are you planning to have Netflix and chill?
But you do not know what movie to chill with!
Let me suggest a category that will make chilling way more chilly, and Netflix a whole lot more thrilling.
Of course, I am talking about thrillers! If you are planning to chill and watch a good movie or lazy to browse the net to find a good movie to watch on Netflix. Thriller is the category to get your blood pumping, your mind swooping, and your heart beating a thousand miles an hour, all the while from the comforts of your home.
In this article, I will name the best thrillers on Netflix which will help you reach Nirvana through scares and screams, and the ultimate unsettling suspense.
The Hateful Eight (2015)
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Writer: Quentin Tarantino
Stars: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh
This best thriller movie on Netflix comes from Quentin Tarantino already intrigues one’s mind, piques their interest to watch this Netflix thriller movie based on that fact alone.
However, that biased opinion comes from all the good quality work he has done in the past. And this one is not an exception. With an incredible cast and an Oscar for original score, the hateful eight already screams watch me, “watch me”.
Its premise is based on a bounty hunter traveling through a small town. He is made to seek refuge due to a snowstorm when the terrible events start to happen.
From then on, the unbearable suspense and mystery make each second of this best suspense movie on Netflix a precious time gem for the viewer who does not want to miss a twist or plot point. And there are lots of twists and turns throughout its long runtime.
The hateful eight is the best thriller on Netflix to enjoy now and whenever you desire a bit of Tarantino excellence.
Zodiac (2007)
Director: David Fincher
Writers: James Vanderbilt (screenplay), Robert Graysmith (book)
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., Mark Ruffalo
This thriller/mystery movie on Netflix is not from Tarantino. But from one of the directors who got popular for making the best of thriller/horror movies, David Fincher.
Zodiac has an impressive cast with the best-adapted screenplay.
The special power of the suspense movie on Netflix is not that it is one of the best thriller movies on Netflix for it haunts you, literally.
After watching one of the best thrillers on Netflix. I personally went crazy learning about the Zodiac Killer’s case, kept googling and reading articles, and watching the old news until I realized It was not a normal reaction to thrillers on netflix.
It is proof of a movie for the fact that the best thrillers don’t have to show blood and gore, and chainsaws to be scary. When the story is told right, it can scare the crap out of the audience, and everyone watching it.
1922 (2017)
Director: Zak Hilditch
Writers: Stephen King (novel), Zak Hilditch (screenplay)
Stars: Thomas Jane, Molly Parker, Dylan Schmid
Based on Stephen Kings’ short story. The best thriller movies on Netflix seems a bit too long for its source material. However, the mere acting in the best suspense movies on Netflix makes the time pass by so quickly.
One of the best thrillers on Netflix tells the story of a man who conspires to murder his wife for financial gain and convinces his teenage son to participate.
Thomas Jane puts on his best rancher performance in ages playing a rancher who is smart and conniving. That makes the role unique and memorable which was a smart choice.
The film shows how regret consumes a character in such an incredible way, from which comes the main part of the suspense. It is one of the best suspense movies on Netflix.
Gerald’s Game (2017)
Director: Mike Flanagan
Writers: Mike Flanagan (screenplay by), Jeff Howard (screenplay by)
Stars: Carla Gugin , Bruce Greenwood, Chiara Aurelia
Another one of the best Netflix thrillers is based on another one of Stephen Kings’ Novels. Directed by the famous horror director Mike Flanagan. And tells the story of a woman who accidentally kills her husband in the house. Which is in the woods during their kinky getaway.
Flanagan surely makes it seem easy to adapt a novel and direct it and make one heck of a good thriller movie.
You know how happy endings end. But the best suspense movies on Netflix takes the happy ending in a much more twisted way. That which you won’t realize until the very end.
Throughout the thriller on Netflix, acting and much of her memory will keep you awake, but once near the end, you discover what she discovers which I won’t tell because I don’t want to have any spoilers.
Heck of a good thriller movie turns into one of the best thriller movies on Netflix and anywhere it streams.
I am Mother (2019)
Director: Grant Sputore
Writers: Michael Lloyd Green (screenplay by), Grant Sputore (story by)
Stars: Rose Byrne, Maddie Lenton, Luke Hawker
A sci-fi thriller which was meant to explore the mother-daughter relationship kind of forgets the best thrillers on Netflix was supposed to be about that. However, it does not forget to deliver the twists and turns which make this Netflix thriller one of the best thrillers on Netflix.
The plot is based on the concept which is that the AI robot raises a child who is meant to repopulate the world, however, their relationship suffers and is put to test when another real human enters the scene. This alone is a concept for best thrillers on Netflix
Throughout the film, the question is if it is okay to kill one healthy person to save five or save that healthy one to kill unhealthy five.
It will be dabbling in your head long after the best thrillers on Netflix have finished, and “I am Mother” will still be in your head.
Cape Fear (1991)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Writers: John D. MacDonald (novel), James R. Webb (earlier screenplay)
Stars: Robert De Niro, Nick Nolte, Jessica Lange
The family moves into a new town, wait before you start conjuring up the rest of the sentence, this time it is different, this time it is one of the best thrillers on Netflix
Usually in horror/thriller movies when a family relocates to a new town, they will be the main point of view. But in the Scorsese version of Cape Fear, it is not.
It is the character who comes out of jail after 14 years of imprisonment, in fact, the patriarch of the family was his defense lawyer before he went to prison.
So he seeks revenge, In short, that is the suspense movies for you . However, it is not that simple as it was put here, the best thrillers on Netflix explore and develop all characters so well, that you will find it hard not to be attached to any of them.
However, the events, the twists, and turns psychological torture the Patriarch faces makes movie one of the best psychological thrillers of all time.
The Perfection (2018)
Director: Richard Shepard
Writers: Eric C. Charmelo (as Eric Charmelo), Richard Shepard
Stars: Allison Williams, Alaina Huffman, Logan Browning
The perfection is far from being a perfect thriller on Netflix, or anywhere but in its imperfectly brilliant way, it was able to surprise and awe, thrill, and impress enough people including me, that it gets to be here on our best thrillers on Netflix list.
Thrillers these days are not made for the sake of thrilling and kicking a few screams or two out of the audience.
They are attaching more and more meaning and political resonance to bring about the issues in our modern lives like the “Get out” using a horror/thriller movies on Netflix to show racism and turn it into a Frankenstein movie.
The perfection one the hand asks how far should you go to be perfect at something?. A suspense movie plot worth saying can only be met in the best netflix thrillers.
The explanation of “The perfection” would have been one that I would love to discuss but this piece is not quite about explaining but more like recommending while giving some heads up.
So, go and watch one of the best thrillers on Netflix right now.
The Invitation (2015)
Director: Karyn Kusama
Writers: Zhil Hay, Matt Manfredi
Stars: Logan Marshall-Green, Emayatzy Corinealdi, Michiel Huisman |
The plot of the suspense movie is fundamentally close but not similar to the mass suicide of the religious cult group “Heavens’ Gate” that happened in 1997.
However, here a couple is invited to dinner and starts to notice the host has different plans in mind. That is when it all starts.
The tension, the suspense, the mystery, and your heart beating fast, and the ending is something else. It is the best thrillers on netflix.
It is one of those suspense movies where it keeps on getting better and better. The tension rises through the roof to the sky and it does not happen in the beginning or in the middle, it keeps rising till the end when it finally explodes.
The producers paced it so well that you won’t have a second to breathe. Among the best thrillers on Netflix, this one has the best pacing and the highest tension delivered throughout the runtime.
The Invisible Man (2020)
Director: Leigh Whannell
Writers: Leigh Whannell (screenplay), Leigh Whannell (screen story)
Stars: Elisabeth Moss, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Harriet Dyer
After versions and versions of Invisible Man, Universal finally gets it right. One of the best thrillers on Netflix is based on the old dark universe fitted for today’s audience.
After staging his suicide, a crazy rich scientist decided to terrorize his ex-girlfriend’s life. #metoo movement inspired film does a good job turning this political instance into a horror/thriller movie.
The premise is that the ex-girlfriend who runs away from his boyfriend because he is over-controlling, lives her life scared of him after she runs away. Which is the idea of being tormented by a mad man that even when you are finally free, you are really not free! Suspense movies should learn from this.
One of the best performances from Moss, she played the role as if she was meant to be her.
Good Time (2017)
Directors: Benny Safdie, Josh Safdie
Writers: Ronald Bronstein, Josh Safdie
Stars: Robert Pattinson, Benny Safdie, Jennifer Jason Leigh
Its heavy use of old concepts and shaky-cam makes the suspense movie look too standard and normalized, although the acting and the story they chose to go makes it one of the grittiest and edgiest and of the most engaging thrillers on Netflix.
After a bank robbery has gone somewhat successful/somewhat not. The two brothers get stopped by cops. One of the brothers with a mental downness is caught, the other now has to bail him out of jail for he knows his brother won’t survive long in prison.
One of the best netflix thriller movies is set on events that follow the actions of the brother who is desperately trying to save his mentally down brother from prison.
The best performance of Pattison in years. It was nice to see him go out of his comfort zone of romantic roles into one of thrilling and engaging with lots of tension.
The Birdbox (2018)
Director: Susanne Bier
Writers: Eric Heisserer (screenplay by), Josh Malerman (based on the novel by)
Stars: Sandra Bullock, Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich
Is it a good movie?
Perhaps yes, or no depends on how you look at it.
Is it a good thriller movie?
This would be a definite yes!
Despite the mixed and average reviews, I happen to think that this is a high tension, suspense movies that has an incredible cast with great acting.
Of course, they have deviated from the original source material which is the book it was based on. They were not successful at that like many suspense movies before.
Bird box’s metaphorical expression of today’s world is perfect and relatable. Though we are connected and closer than ever before, as humans we are still more lonely with the highest depression rates in human history.
It is one of the best thrillers on Netflix with such a cast as Sandra Bullock in a leading role.
Calibre (2018)
Director: Matt Palmer (as Matthew Palmer)
Writer: Matt Palmer (as Matthew Palmer)
Stars: Jack Lowden, Martin McCann, Tony Curran
There is not much saying about the suspense movies’ cast, or director, in fact, much of anyone involved, except they all have done their best work.
They might not have been the most famous of all people but this suspense movie proves how good the director, the writer, and some of the actors are. And it is a testament to their talent.
I will definitely be looking out for more of their work in the future.
The script itself is so full of tension and suspense throughout the film when near the end it rises, your heart rate rises at the same level if not more once it finishes.
Certainly the best thriller on Netflix in terms of suspense and tension.
Enemy (2013)
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Writers: José Saramago (novel), Javier Gullón
Stars: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mélanie Laurent, Sarah Gadon
A different type of fight club with an excellent level of acting like that of in the fight club.
However, this doppelganger thriller of a movie explores the duality of the psyche in a much more dim and nuanced way.
The premise is different and focuses on a character who thinks he is being controlled by “females” thus the spiders in the suspense movie.
However, the two characters, an actor and a teacher represent who he is and who he wants to be. The movie brings about unbearable suspense and mystery when two characters discover each other.
Excellent performance from Gyllenhaal as well, may not be his best but good enough to bring the enemy into the best thriller on Netflix.
The Gift (2015)
Director: Joel Edgerton
Writer: Joel Edgerton
Stars: Jason Bateman, Rebecca Hall, Joel Edgerton
The gift is based on the Bateman’s arrested development idea of late bloomers but in a horrifically psychological thriller of a movie.
The gift is full of suspense and mystery throughout it is sure to keep you on edge and thinking long after you left the movie theater or your couch where you Netflixed and chilled 😉
This is yet the best suspense movie on Netflix that you will get your heart rating racing like no other with an exceptional cast and acting. Edgerton proves once again, he is quite as good if not better than he is known for.
It is well written and directed, characters are developed well which it must be, given it is a psychological thriller. However, not every suspense movies succeeds at what it is supposed to be, thus, making the ones which succeed, rare and praise-worthy.
The Killing Of A Sacred Deer (2017)
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Writers: Yorgos Lanthimos, Efthymis Filippou
Stars: Barry G. Bernson, Herb Caillouet, Bill Camp
When I hear about thrillers, this one comes to mind as one of the best thrillers on Netflix.
This dramatic thriller is among those which stay in your head for a long time after watching it. I know I have probably said the same thing about all of the thrillers on Netflix, but this one though is a bit more than one of the best thrillers on Netflix. It is essentially one of a kind in its parable-like storytelling.
This movie is an allegory to Greek mythology, but one that is told and directed so well, that the moral issues it represents make you love and remember the movie for more than its twists and turns, the thriller aspects.
It is an incredibly well-scripted and shot suspense movies with so much inside that viewing it once might not be enough to unpack all that it has to offer.
The Green Room (2015)
Director: Jeremy Saulnier
Writer: Jeremy Saulnier
Stars: Anton Yelchin, Imogen Poots, Alia Shawkat
This is probably one of those good thrillers on Netlfix that did not get as much talk as it probably should have.
The green room is perfect in the sense of a tension-filled sequence, that is both unexpected and cruel to give it the horror aspect.
The acting is top-notch, as it should be with Patrick Steward. Although the storytelling lacks behind movies of other genres, it is not a big issue, and it should not be, as a thriller/horror the movie has focused on more of what it should deliver than meddle in the unknown.
It has worked beautifully for it delivers the goriest, gut-splattering, visceral suspense movie of 2015, which is on the list of best thrillers on Netflix available to watch now.
Cam (2018)
Director: Daniel Goldhaber
Writers: Isa Mazzei, Daniel Goldhaber (story by)
Stars: Madeline Brewer, Patch Darragh, Melora Walters
This suspense movies has accomplished something extraordinary. And that most suspense movies nowadays don’t get positive audience reviews while it has bad critic reviews. They tend to go similarly or the audience score is sometimes lower.
When it comes to this suspense movie, it captured the hearts of the audience and got 93 percent on rotten tomatoes while only 5.9 on IMDb.
I am not taking just those numbers to say this is a good movie, those numbers were merely the reason to try to watch and see if they stand up. To my surprise, boy do they stand up.
It is a movie based on the present mentality of today’s youth, where we all yearn for more likes, comments, in a sense more social approval through the most unsocial of mediums called “social media”.
Although the best thriller on netlfix takes the example of Camgirl the concept can be applied throughout on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, whatever there is to include.
An authentic suspense movies with the most unique fear, the fear of getting locked out of our accounts, told through the thriller genre lens that has probably never been tried before.
Packed with suspense and high tension, this movie is one of the best thrillers on Netflix.
In summary
Best thrillers on Netflix might not be the category for you as suggested, however, it surely is the category to watch when you need the adrenaline to run through your veins, and the scenes to haunt you for weeks at a time.
17 of the best thrillers on Netflix are written in this article so that you won’t have to waste time swiping left or right to find the perfect one to watch.
The author’s suggestions are The Killing Of A Sacred Deer, The Perfection, Gerald’s Game.
All of which deliver one of a kind ending to the story, that is unsettling enough that you will be first pissed off and disappointed, but intriguingly beautiful and well-scripted that, the more you think about, the more you will start to understand and appreciate.
