Immerse yourself in suspense and intrigue with the best Netflix thrillers of 2024. Explore a curated listing of gripping movies and series that promise heart-pounding moments and surprising twists. From psychological thrillers to crime dramas, find out the need-to-watch titles as a way to maintain you on the threshold of your seat during the year.”
Introduction: the best Netflix thrillers to watch out in 2024
You’re seeking excitement, then? Let’s be more precise now. To begin with, you seem to be in the mood for a thriller, don’t you? Not a terrifying circumstance? (Go here to get it if you want it.) The distinction between a thriller and a horror film lies in their names, even though both may be frightening and exciting. Horror movies are, of course, supposed to terrify you by showing you some evil that must be vanquished or at the very least evaded. In contrast, the unpredictability of thrillers contributes to the tension that is designed to — you guessed it — excite you.
Now that we have that cleared, let’s discuss thriller genres. There are several, including high-stakes, psychological, mysterious, and action (think: crime, legal, political, spy, and sci-fi save-the-world things). All thrillers, if they’re any good, eventually get so thrilling, so sweaty, so totally engrossing that you dare not stop watching them, even after you’ve actually had to use the restroom for the last seven minutes. These are the thrillers that merit both inclusion on this list and your time. Without further ado, enjoy these 13 of the greatest thrillers available for streaming now. (Warning, bladders.)
A Bird Box
Sub Genre of thriller: post-apocalyptic
When someone instructs you not to look, it’s nearly hard to resist the impulse. It’s life or death in Bird Box, though. This 2018 movie centres on the survival story of Sandra Bullock’s character Malorie Hayes, which is based on the same-titled novel published in 2014. There are a ton of off-camera things in the world that make people want to kill themselves by staring at them.
We first see Malorie teaching two kids, Vivien Lyra Blair and Julian Edwards, how to float down a river while wearing blindfolds. However, we cut swiftly to five years earlier, when Malorie was pregnant and her sister Sarah Paulson was visiting.
A news program alerts viewers to the growing number of inexplicable mass suicides and the unfavorable state of affairs. Malorie meets both allies and adversaries in her struggle for survival, such as Olympia (Danielle Macdonald), Felix (Machine Gun Kelly), Douglas (John Malkovich), Lucy (Rosa Salazar), Greg (BD Wong), and Tom (Trevante Rhodes). You won’t be able to turn away, even though none of them are supposed to open their eyes when the monsters are around.
Forgotten
Subgenre of thrillers: psychological
Remember the Squid Game? South Korean thrillers are unmatched, and Forgotten is no different. In the opening scene of our story, Jin-seok (Kang Ha-neul) awakens from a bad dream while travelling to a new house with his parents and elder brother Yoo-seok (Kim Moo-yeol).
Jin had more nightmares at the new house, and he can hear weird noises coming from a chamber he isn’t permitted to approach. Then, one wet night, he witnesses Yoo being taken hostage by a group of guys in a black van; nevertheless, 19 days later, Yoo returns with no memory of the incident. Jin soon starts to see his brother acting strangely, hobbling around, and leaving in the middle of the night.
However, Yoo argues that Jin must have been hallucinating since he neglected to take his medication when Jin confronts him about it. As you can see, Jin is taking mental health medicine, and we are beginning to question his credibility as a storyteller at this point. Nevertheless, every turn this tale takes leaves you stunned, making this movie something that won’t soon be… well, you know.
fractured
Subgenre of thrillers: psychological
Sam Worthington plays Ray Monroe, and Lily Rabe plays Joanne. While driving home, Ray Monroe and Joanne get into a fight, and Peri (Lucy Capri) stops them to ask for a toilet break and fresh batteries for her music player. The family makes a stop at a gas station, and Peri goes over to an abandoned work site with a big uncovered hole while her parents are preoccupied.
A stray dog appears out of nowhere and makes threats to attack. Ray has located his daughter by now, but Peri tumbles backward into the pit as he tries to scare the dog away with a rock. Ray also tumbles in and smashes his head while attempting to seize Peri.
Upon awakening, he chooses to drive Peri to a hospital a few miles away for an examination. After determining that Peri requires a CAT scan, Dr. Berthram (Stephen Tobolowsky) orders the mother and daughter downstairs for the operation, asking Ray to wait in the waiting area, where he promptly nods out. Not only has his family not returned, but the hospital no longer has any record of them when Ray awakens. Not at all. At all.
Hold the Dark Away
Subgenre of thrillers: Action Adventure
A novelist turned wolf expert named Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright) has been brought in to look into the disappearance of three young children in the made-up hamlet of Keelut, Alaska. Given Core’s background, it should come as no surprise that Medora Slone (Riley Keough) believes wolves are to blame for stealing her 6-year-old son, Bailey.In the meantime, Vernon (Alexander Skarsgård), Medora’s spouse, is serving in Iraq until he returns home due to an injury and a lost Bailey.
Native villagers, including Vernon’s buddy Cheeon (Julian Black Antelope), and the police, under the command of Chief Donald Marium (James Badge Dale), become engaged in the hunt and start to build their own theories about what’s going on in their little town. It gets harder to determine if animals or humans are capable of greater terrible conduct as this gory story progresses.
Interceptor
Sub Genre of thriller: Action drama
Nuclear weapons are the ultimate source of stress. Terrorists have taken control of an American interceptor missile launch station in Alaska and stolen nuclear weapons from Russia.Army Captain JJ Collins (Elsa Pataky), after filing a complaint on sexual misbehaviour, is sent to the only other US interceptor missile launch location in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, where she faces more abuse from her fellow military personnel.
Collins is working in the command centre with Lt. Colonel Marshall (Rhys Muldoon), Beaver Baker (Aaron Glenane), and Corporal Rahul Shah (Mayen Mehta) when Alexander Kessel (Luke Bracey), an ex-military intelligence soldier, and his gang of villains infiltrate the station.
They carry a manifesto that details the US government’s shortcomings and gives the other bad guys in Alaska orders to detonate the weapons they have taken right now.Collins, the final line of defence for her nation, has additional make-it-up-as-you-go strategies. If you can’t stand to see people become excited, Pataky’s real-life spouse Chris Hemsworth makes an appearance.
Luther: The Sun Has Fallen
Subgenre of thrillers: crime
The DCI of Idris Elba You’ll be on the edge of your seat as John Luther returns with his iconic tweed coat and pursues down a vicious serial murderer. In this adaptation of the critically acclaimed series Luther, which was created by Neil Cross and directed by Jamie Payne, Luther is imprisoned for breaking the law for years, but he manages to escape in order to investigate an unsolved murder case.
Thus starts a bizarre game of cat and mouse between the investigator and the cyber-murderer who is teasing him (a wonderfully eerie Andy Serkis). The Fallen Sun features new stars, such as Cynthia Erivo’s DCI Odette Raine, and some well-known actors, such as Dermot Crowley as Luther’s former boss and friend, Detective Superintendent Martin Schenk. It also features action-packed scenes that are guaranteed to take even the most seasoned crime-thriller fans by surprise.
Rebirth
Subgenre of thrillers: Psychodramatic
As a parent, husband, and social media manager at a bank to Mary (Kat Foster), Kyle (Fran Kranz) appears dissatisfied with his routine existence. Kyle is so fascinated when his old college buddy Zack (Adam Goldberg) turns up talking passionately about his experience with Rebirth, the self-actualization program he recently finished.
And how fortunate we are! A weekend retreat called Rebirth is approaching. Zack brings up the manifesto that he and Kyle penned while in college, whereby they vowed to “don’t be boring,” “keep it real,” and “f*ck the man.” All it takes is to persuade Kyle to surrender his keys, wallet, and phone to the Rebirthers, who at one point engage in a collective chorus of “We are not a cult!” This film will leave you wondering about what will happen next and whether you accidentally took mushrooms. It is at parts amusing and sarcastic, and at other times spooky and unsettling.
Spiderhead
Subgenre of thrillers: psychological science fiction
Speaking of drugs, Spiderhead depicts the tale of two prisoners, Jeff (Miles Teller) and Lizzy (Jurnee Smollett), who want to get out of jail by agreeing to be test subjects for a variety of medications that affect mood and consciousness in a posh prison.
As long as they show up for their daily drug tests, the convicts, who have private quarters, are allowed to go about alone. The endearing Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth) and his obedient helper Mark (Mark Paguio) are in charge of them. But, as Jeff and Lizzy quickly discover, nothing is ever as it appears in locations like this, and something far more evil than a “love drug” is being researched here. Adapted from a dark short tale by George Saunders.
The Occupant
Subgenre of thrillers: psychological
The extent individuals would go to these days in order to have a good apartment are really horrifying, at least in the case of Javier Muñoz (Javier Gutiérrez). Javier, formerly a successful advertising executive, is currently jobless and unable to secure an unpaid internship. He is compelled to move from his magnificent mansion with wife Marga (Ruth Díaz) and son Dani (Cristian Muñoz) and downsize to a small apartment in a less affluent area of Barcelona.
Marga says, “They’re four walls, Javier,” in an attempt to lessen the blow. That concludes it. However, Javier finds it difficult to give up his former home and the way of life and social standing that went along with it. Returning to the flat after finding an extra set of keys in his car, he robs some cornflakes, uses the toilet, and finds pictures of the family currently residing there: businessman Tomás (Mario Casas), his wife Lara (Bruna Cusí), and their daughter Mónica (Iris Vallés). Javier develops an obsession with the new tenants, and his initial stalking soon develops into a cunning plan. He will stop at nothing to regain “his” house.
The EMT / Paramedic
Subgenre of thrillers: psychological
Paramedic Ángel Hernández (Mario Casas) must have taken the Hippocratic Oath with two fingers crossed behind his back, even though it reads unequivocally, “do no harm.” He truly takes from the individuals under his care while they are incapacitated and sells their things for money. He is callous and maybe even sadistic.
Furthermore, Ángel doesn’t treat his lover Vane (Déborah François) any better, despite his name. Despite Ángel’s possessive and domineering behaviour, the two are trying for a child. After an ambulance driven by Ángel’s coworker Ricardo (Guillermo Pfening) has an accident and paralyzes Ángel from the waist down, the paramedic becomes a patient. His relationship with Vane is further strained by his new infirmity, and he installed spyware on her phone because he believes she is cheating on him. Vane decides to permanently leave Ángel after realizing what he’s done. But we can all imagine how that’s going at this time.
