These are the best thrillers to watch on Netflix right now
20-16
20. Fair Play
- Genre: Thriller/Mystery
- Release date: January 20, 2023
- Director: Chloe Domont
- Cast: Phoebe Dynevor, Alden Ehrenreich, Eddie Marsan, Sebastian de Souza, Brandon Bassir
- Regions: Everywhere
- How long is it? 1 hour 53 minutes
What it’s about: An unexpected promotion at a cutthroat hedge fund pushes a newly engaged couple’s relationship to the brink.
Why we like it: Sally from Corrie’s daughter in a sexy, legal, love affair? It’s almost too good to be true. Fair Play is a different dramatic turn for Netflix, taking the typical romance mystery on a much darker turn. Our leads’ chemistry is off the charts, and the twists and turns will keep you on a knife’s edge.
19. I Care a Lot
- Genre: Crime thriller
- Release date: February 21, 2021
- Director: J. Blakeson
- Cast: Rosamund Pike, Eiza González, Peter Dinklage, Chris Messina
- Regions: US and Canada
- How long is it? 1 hour 58 minutes
What it’s about: Marla Grayson has a particularly insidious con: she convinces judges to make her a court-appointed guardian of elderly people, before moving them into her care home and robbing them. However, she gets more than she bargained for when she bags a new resident with ties to the mafia.
Why we like it: This is deliciously grim viewing. Pike is a force of wicked nature; if it wasn’t for Gone Girl, this would be a career-best performance. However, as compulsively nasty as it is – you’ll be distressed, and you’ll like it – it’s also slickly directed, wittily written, and always entertaining, plus it has an empowering love story at its core. Sometimes, it just feels good to watch bad people have some fun.
18. Da Five Bloods
- Genre: War thriller
- Release date: June 12, 2020
- Director: Spike Lee
- Cast: Chadwick Boseman, Delroy Lindo, Clarke Peters, Jonathan Majors, Isiah Whitlock Jr.
- Regions: Everywhere
- How long is it? 2 hours 36 minutes
What it’s about: Decades after the Vietnam War, the Bloods – a group of Black veterans – reunite in Saigon and embark on a mission to recover the remains of their fallen leader, who died in the heat of battle, and dig up a cache of gold they buried long ago. In their words, it’s reparations for “every Black boot that didn’t make it home.”
Why we like it: This is an anti-escapist war movie from Spike Lee; a furious, gruesome crusade into America’s heart of darkness, and a fascinating, blistering post-Coppola vision of the war’s immorality from America’s fieriest observer. It is sensational – in the simplest terms, it’s Stand By Me in Vietnam.
17. Unhinged
- Genre: Action thriller
- Release date: August 21, 2020
- Director: Derrick Borte
- Cast: Russell Crowe, Caren Pistorius, Gabriel Bateman, Jimmi Simpson
- Regions: US and Canada
- How long is it? 1 hour 30 minutes
What it’s about: Rachel isn’t having a good time: she’s newly single, she’s just been fired by one of her clients, and she’s stuck in rush hour traffic. However, it gets a lot worse when she honks her horn at the wrong car, and when she refuses to apologize to the driver, he won’t stop until he shows her “what a bad day really is.”
Why we like it: As the Joker famously said, “all it takes is one bad day.” Unhinged is basically a modern-day Falling Down; a feverish nightmare of seething, sweaty anger at the hands of Crowe’s terrifying villain. Don’t expect much depth: this is a simple, brutal road-rage thriller that earns its namesake with old-fashioned glee.
16. 22 July
- Genre: Documentary/Thriller
- Release date: September 5, 2018
- Director: Paul Greengrass
- Cast: Anders Danielsen Lie, Jon Øigarden, Thorbjørn Harr
- Regions: Everywhere
- How long is it? 2 hours 20 minutes
What it’s about: A true story based on the 2011 Norway attacks, 22 July examines the harrowing experiences of victims and survivors trapped at a summer camp when a right-wing extremist launched a deadly attack.
Why we like it: Greengrass takes a no-frills approach that is essential to filmmaking of this kind, offering a sobering reminder of the horrors of extremism, a message that is tragically vital today. Deeply emotional and unflinchingly realistic, 22 July balances personal stories with the broader societal impact, with its raw performances and restrained direction making its message hit even harder.