When it comes to thrillers on Netflix, April is apparently Denzel Washington month. Washington stars in three of our new picks for the best thrillers on Netflix, including Inside Man, Devil in a Blue Dress, and The Little Things. This is clearly a genre that plays to Washington’s strengths, as he’s been headlining thrillers for decades now.
The other new addition to our list this month is Body Double, a 40-year-old thriller that will hopefully be rediscovered now that it’s on Netflix. If you’re looking for even more thrills, then keep reading for all of the best thrillers on Netflix right now.
We’ve also rounded up the best thrillers on Amazon Prime Video and the best thrillers on Hulu if Netflix doesn’t have what you’re looking for.
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Inside Man2006
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The Little Things2021
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Body Double1984
Inside Man (2006) new
Is it really possible to pull off a perfect bank robbery? Dalton Russell (Clive Owen) boasts that he has in the opening minutes of Spike Lee’s Inside Man, and it’s hard to dispute that claim. Dalton’s plan really is ingenious, and it even hides the identity of the robbers from the hostages trapped in the bank with them.
Detective Keith Frazier (Gladiator 2‘s Denzel Washington) doesn’t know what he’s walking into as he tries to negotiate with the robbers. Meanwhile, the bank’s owner, Arthur Case (Christopher Plummer), is so scared that the robbers will discover his secret that he sends his fixer, Madeleine White (Jodie Foster), to handle the situation at any cost.
Devil in a Blue Dress (1995) new
Denzel Washington goes full noir in Devil in a Blue Dress, an underrated thriller from the 1990s. In 1948, Easy Rawlins (Washington) is feeling the financial heat and desperately needs any kind of job to save his home. Private investigator DeWitt Albright (Tom Sizemore) offers Easy a lifeline when he comes to him asking for help finding Daphne Monet (Jennifer Beals), a woman whose disappearance has already thrown Los Angeles’ mayoral race into turmoil.
Easy figures out pretty quickly why Albright hired him — because they’re not the only ones trying to catch up with Daphne. And whatever secrets Daphne is hiding, someone is willing to kill for them to protect themselves from the fallout.
The Little Things (2021) new
The Little Things is a more modern Denzel Washington thriller, and he brings his usual intensity to the part of Joe “Deke” Deacon. Years ago, Deacon was a LAPD homicide detective who couldn’t break the case of a serial killer in Los Angeles. Deacon’s inability to let that go proved to be very costly both personally and professionally.
In the present, the killer apparently begins going after new victims. This time, Deacon meets Detective Jim Baxter (Rami Malek), a man whose drive to close this case may be as deep as Deacon’s. Former Joker Jared Leto co-stars as Albert Sparma, the man who Deacon and Baxter are convinced is behind the murders. Sparma even loves taunting them about whether he’s the killer, and there’s very little they can do within the contraists of the law to stop him from killing again. But their mutual urge to take the law in their hands may come back to haunt them both.
Body Double (1984) new
Four decades ago, director Brian De Palma embraced his love of Alfred Hitchcock thrillers with Body Double, a film that harks back to the master of suspense himself. Craig Wasson stars as Jake Scully, a struggling actor who accepts a house-sitting job with an unexpected fringe benefit. At night, Jake can see a neighbor, Gloria Revelle (Deborah Shelton), dancing erotically in her own home.
Jake’s growing obsession with Gloria leads him to follow her and attempt to form a connection with her. And when Jake is too late to prevent another man from attacking Gloria, he may go completely over the edge.
Your Lucky Day (2023)
It’s the American dream to get rich without really trying. But the thriller Your Lucky Day is going to make Sterling (Angus Cloud) work for it. After hearing someone discover that he’s got a winning lottery ticket worth millions, Sterling kills the owner of the ticket and a cop who was at the scene. The big problem is that there are witnesses to Sterling’s crime: Amir (Mousa Hussein Kraish), Abraham (Elliot Knight), and his girlfriend, Ana-Marlene (Jessica Garza).
Sterling offers the survivors a share of his winnings if they help him cover up his murders. Unfortunately, it was never going to be that simple, and the money on the line is simply too enticing. There’s going to be more blood spilled before this story is over, but who will emerge with the lucky ticket?
Unthinkable (2010)
Unthinkable puts FBI Special Agent Helen Brody (Carrie-Anne Moss) in a very tough situation. A former Delta Force operator, Yusuf Atta Mohammed (Michael Sheen), has planted three nuclear devices around the country and is demanding that the U.S. completely pull out of the Middle East. Desperate times call for desperate measures, so H (Secret Invasion star Samuel L. Jackson) is summoned to employ some enhanced interrogation techniques on Yusuf.
H wastes no time moving right along to torture, which Yusuf anticipated. Although Brody is horrified by H’s actions, the clock is ticking to save lives and even H may not be brutal enough to make Yusuf break in time.
Fear (1996)
Fear has been described as Fatal Attraction for teens, but David McCall (Mark Wahlberg) is a much bigger monster than Glenn Close’s character ever was. David’s an older boy who successfully woos a teenager, Nicole Walker (Reese Witherspoon), much to the anger of her father, Steven Walker (William Petersen), and his second wife, Laura Walker (Amy Brenneman).
David isn’t just obsessive over Nicole, he’s also dangerous and delusional. There’s nothing David won’t do to make Nicole his, including rape and murder. By the time Nicole realizes how much trouble she’s in, it’s already too late.
Alone (2020)
Alone is an appropriate title for this movie, which follows Jessica (Jules Willcox), who is attempting to rebuild her life following the death of her husband. But before Jessica can start over, she’ll have to get past Sam (Marc Menchaca), a man whom she encounters multiple times while traveling through a remote area.
Jessica turns out to be right to be mistrustful of Sam, as he eventually drugs and kidnaps her. There’s no one coming to save Jessica, and if she wants to survive, she’ll have to either fight Sam or run for her life.
L.A. Confidential (1997)
In any other year, L.A. Confidential would have probably been the favorite to win Best Picture. But in 1997, it capsized against Titanic‘s run at the Academy Awards. Nevertheless, this modern noir remains a masterpiece, and it helped launch the careers of Russell Crowe and Guy Pearce. In 1953, the LAPD’s Edmund Exley (Pearce) takes advantage of a police scandal to further his career, which earns him the enmity of Officer Wendell “Bud” White (Crowe).
Separately, White, Exley, and Detective Sergeant Jack Vincennes (Kevin Spacey) stumble onto a larger case that has grave implications for both the LAPD and the criminal underworld. The secrets they discover are a valuable commodity, and their enemies are more than willing to kill to protect themselves.
Oldboy (2003)
There is an American remake of Oldboy by Spike Lee, but the South Korean original is the one that deserves all of the attention. Park Chan-wook directed and co-wrote this manga adaption, which follows the story of Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik), a businessman who is arrested for being drunk in public. But Dae-su’s problems really begin after being released by the cops when he is kidnapped and imprisoned in a sealed hotel room.
Dae-su soon learns that his wife has been murdered, and the police think he killed her. This also means that their four-year-old daughter will grow up without him. For the next 15 years, Dae-su remains trapped by his captors until he is mysteriously released. Now, Dae-su has to discover who did this to him and why. One of the best thrillers with a twist ever, Old Boy is just as shocking and enthralling as it was 20 years ago.
Leave the World Behind (2023)
Amanda Sandford (Julia Roberts) and her husband, Clay (Ethan Hawke), just wanted to take a vacation in Leave the World Behind. But their kids, Rose (Farrah Mackenzie)and Archie (Charlie Evans) were the first to notice that their smartphones can’t connect to the internet.
The vacation continues uninterrupted until G.H. Scott (Mahershala Ali) and his daughter, Ruth (Myha’la), show up at the rental house and claim that it’s theirs. From there, things start to get super weird, and both families are left to question what happened to the rest of the world while they were in the woods and whether they can trust each other.
The Killer (2023)
Michael Fassbender’s unnamed assassin talks to the audience throughout The Killer, and he tells viewers all about his life except who he is. Perhaps he truly has no identity outside of meticulously planning and long stretches of waiting for his opportunity to kill. Yet before our eyes, the Killer botches a hit and kills the wrong person.
If the Killer thought he could slink away without consequences then he’s sadly mistaken. For his failure, the Killer’s lawyer, Hodges (Charles Parnell), has him marked for death. Two other assassins, The Expert (Tilda Swinton) and The Brute (Sala Baker), are sent to hunt down the Killer…if the Killer doesn’t hunt them down first.
Locked In (2023)
Locked In apparently starts in the aftermath of an attempted murder, and only gets more twisted from there. Someone tried to kill Katherine (Famke Janssen), and they must have come pretty close to succeeding because she’s become trapped in her own body and left unable to move or properly communicate, with the exception of her eyes.
Suspicion immediately falls on Lina (Rose Williams), a young woman who is both Katherine’s adoptive daughter and her daughter-in-law. Nurse Mackenzie (Anna Friel) is determined to get to the bottom of this mystery, but she may be kicking the proverbial hornet’s nest by asking questions that shouldn’t be asked.
Fair Play (2023)
Netflix’s new thriller, Fair Play, follows a couple, Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) and Emily (Phoebe Dynevor), when their relationship is challenged by their mutual ambition. The pair keep their romance a secret from their co-workers at One Crest Capital. That only works for them until a promotion comes up, and Emily gets the job instead of Luke.
Although Luke initially takes the news well, he soon becomes obsessed with the idea that Emily’s success came at his own expense. This puts a lot of intense pressure on their relationship, especially when Emily discovers that Luke may be fired. And if Emily isn’t careful, she may lose more than just her romance.
Reptile (2023)
The brutal murder of Summer Elswick (Matilda Lutz) is the beginning of the mystery in Reptile, a thriller starring Benicio del Toro as Detective Tom Nichols (del Toro), the man in charge of the murder investigation. Summer’s body was found by her boyfriend, Will Grady (Justin Timberlake), but there are suspicious details that may draw suspicion to all of the men in Summer’s life.
Nichols is able to share some of the details with his wife, Judy (Alicia Silverstone), who acts as a sounding board for him. Regardless, the unfolding case forces Nichols to more closely examine his own life as well. However, he may not like what he finds.
River Wild (2023)
Nearly three decades ago, Meryl Streep and Kevin Bacon headlined a white-water thriller called The River Wild. And while River Wild isn’t quite a remake, it’s not really a sequel either. Leighton Meester stars as Joey, a woman who has trust issues with her brother, Gray (Taran Killam). Much to Joey’s chagrin, Gary invites one of their childhood friends, Trevor (Adam Brody), on a white-water trip with two other people.
When one of their party is attacked, Joey realizes that the only option to save them is by braving the waters to get help. But there may be a killer among the group, and Joey isn’t sure who she can trust.
The Mule (2018)
Chances are good that The Mule may be one of Clint Eastwood’s final films, and it doesn’t start out as a thriller. Eastwood’s character, Earl Stone, is facing financial ruin until he receives an unexpected offer to be a drug mule for a cartel. And for a while, Earl’s life is charmed. He’s got all of the money he could ever want, and he’s a legend among the cartel.
The arrival of Gustavo (Clifton Collins Jr.), the new head of the cartel, is a wake-up call for Earl and that’s where the film becomes a thriller. Suddenly, Earl realizes that taking the cartel’s money has left him in an impossible situation, especially since DEA Agent Colin Bates (Bradley Cooper) is closing in on him. Now, there are no easy ways out for Earl and he stands to lose everything that matters to him.
Run Rabbit Run (2023)
Sarah Snook (Succession) headlines Run Rabbit Run, a thriller that takes some horrific turns. Sarah (Snook) is a single mother with a contentious relationship with her ex-husband, Peter (Damon Herriman). But Sarah’s real problem is with her daughter, Mia (Lily LaTorre). Inexplicably, Mia has taken on a new persona and declared that she is someone named Alice.
While Sarah doesn’t believe her daughter at first, the evidence mounts that Mia’s behavior somehow is tied to a dark episode in Sarah’s past. Something unnatural is happening with Mia, and Sarah may pay the price for keeping her secrets for so many years.
God's Crooked Lines (2022)
You might want to watch God’s Crooked Lines with subtitles, otherwise, you may miss some critical details in this Spanish thriller. Bárbara Lennie stars as Alice Gould, a woman who has herself institutionalized by her husband, Heliodoro (David Selvas), in the late ‘70s and she finds herself under the care of Doctor Teodoro Ruipérez (Federico Aguado). However, Alice has her own hidden agenda as she tries to solve a murder while feigning mental illness.
Some of the creeps that Alice encounters, including the Gnome (Luis Sacristán), the Elephant Man (Francisco Javier Pastor), and the twins Romulo and Remo (both played by Samuel Soler). The scary part is that the staff at the institute pick apart Alice’s story and raise questions about whether she is an investigator or if she is simply paranoid and delusional.
Missing (2023)
Could you solve a mystery from the safety of your computer? That’s the challenge facing Grace Allen (Storm Reid) in Missing when her mother, Grace Allen (Nia Long), and her new boyfriend, Kevin (Ken Leung), disappear during their vacation to Columbia. While scrambling for answers, Grace finds evidence that Kevin may have hidden some suspicious details about his past.
With Grace stuck in the U.S., she has to turn to a man named Javier (Joaquim de Almeida) to act as her proxy in Columbia. But there’s only so much Grace can do before she has to head into danger herself.
The Pale Blue Eye (2022)
Given its extremely short stay in theaters in late 2022, you probably missed seeing The Pale Blue Eye when it was on the big screen. But the cast is too good for this movie to simply disappear among the other streaming thrillers. Christian Bale headlines the film as Augustus Landor, a former detective who has fallen on hard times following the death of his wife.
When Leroy Fry (Steven Maier), a cadet at West Point, is found ritualistically murdered, Landor is coaxed out of retirement to solve the mystery. But Landor can’t do it alone, which is why he turns to one of Fry’s classmates to act as his partner on the case: Cadet Edgar Allan Poe (Harry Melling).
The Snowman (2017)
It’s very appropriate that Michael Fassbender’s character in The Snowman is a detective named Harry Hole, because his life is in a deep hole when the story opens. Harry has broken up with the woman he loves, Rakel Fauke (Charlotte Gainsbourg), while struggling with his sobriety. Unfortunately for Harry, a serial killer has already started sending him enigmatic messages.
Harry’s new partner, Katrine Bratt (Silo‘s Rebecca Ferguson), is convinced that the killer is somehow linked to a case that was once investigated by Gert Rafto (Val Kilmer), an alcoholic former detective who was very much like Harry himself. But as the mystery intensifies, Harry realizes that Katrine has a personal connection that fuels her obsession with the case.
47 Meters Down: Uncaged (2019)
A sequel to 47 Meters Down (2017), 47 Meters Down: Uncaged brings a whole new cast of characters to the mix, but keeps the threat of shark bite death alive. When four teenagers dive down to the remains of a sunken Mayan city, what begins as a life-changing discovery quickly becomes a harrowing fight for survival when the group discovers that the ancient place is a magnet for man-eating sharks.
While not straying too far from classic “shark movie” tropes, Uncaged instead ups the ante in the shocks department, delivering plenty of bone-chilling sequences that will have us all thinking twice about taking a plunge into any body of water.
All Quiet on the Western Front (2022)
I Came By (2022)
Circle (2015)
The Good Nurse (2022)
Adapted from the true-crime novel of the same name, The Good Nurse stars Jessica Chastain as Amy Loughren, a single mother and ICU nurse. When a series of untimely patient deaths start cropping up around the hospital, Amy begins to suspect that new hire Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne) is the man responsible. Both Chastain and Redmayne are the kind of talents we expect greatness from, and truly, both actors go out of their way to foster a sort of surreal pathos for their characters, especially the latter. It’s a solid thriller and a tragic and haunting reminder that we don’t have to dig into fiction to tell some of the most grueling stories imaginable.
Lou (2022)
If you’re in the mood for something a little more on the action-heavy side, director Anna Foerster’s Lou will likely satiate. It stars Allison Janney as the titular protagonist, a reclusive woman living on Orcas Island, Washington. When a wicked storm threatens the Pacific Northwest, a single mother named Hannah (Jurnee Smollet) begs Lou for help when her young daughter is kidnapped by a vicious ex-pat (Logan Marshall-Green). But as the two women set off on their rescue mission, Hannah soon learns that there’s far more to Lou than meets the eye. A grim gut-punch of an action-thriller, Lou is a big win for the genre.
The Stranger (2022)
Inheritance (2020)
A Walk Among the Tombstones (2014)
Munich: The Edge of War (2022)
The Platform (2019)
Have you ever seen or heard of famed French-Canadian Denis Villeneuve’s short film Next Floor? If not, here’s a quick summary: A baroquely-costumed set of aristocrats gorge on a handsome feast, with their increasingly accrued weight plummeting them (and their table, chairs, and food) through the floor, where they resume said gorging. Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia’s The Platform plays with some of the same narrative bits, albeit in the form of a more realized social commentary.
The story follows the imprisoned residents of a Vertical Self-Management Center, a dystopian vessel that delivers food to its captives by way of an elevator system. In order of randomized hierarchy, those at the top get the most food, while those at the bottom get the scraps. Inevitably, this leads to an uprising of horrific proportions. The Platform is a satirical production that grapples with Darwinism in some bizarre and all-consuming ways. One thing is for sure: It’s a flick you don’t want to miss.
Spiderhead (2022)
Interceptor (2022)
In director Matt Reilly’s Interceptor, Elsa Pataky stars as Captain JJ Collins, the spearhead of an isolated nuclear missile facility smack-dab in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. When the weapons hub falls under attack from enemy forces led by a former U.S. intelligence operative (Luke Bracey), Collins must use her military background and quick ingenuity to thwart the evildoers before they overrun the base. Interceptor is a decent example of a Netflix-backed action-thriller, driven by a kinetic pace that hits all the beats but misses here and there. A refreshing change of pace is seeing a woman in a role that would normally be helmed by Bruce Willis, and Pataky tackles her heroine character with muscle and grace.
Operation Mincemeat (2022)
Triple Frontier (2019)
Lost Bullet (2020)
The Devil All the Time (2020)
Windfall (2022)
The Weekend Away (2022)
Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile (2019)
Stowaway (2021)
Fever Dream (2021)
Extraction (2020)
The Ice Road (2021)
Forgotten (2017)
Coming Home in the Dark (2021)
Sentinelle (2021)
Army of Thieves (2021)
The Guilty (2021)
In the Shadow of the Moon (2019)
Creep (2014)
Gunpowder Milkshake (2021)
The Vault (2021)
Hold the Dark (2018)
The Call (2020)
Red Dot (2021)
Velvet Buzzsaw (2019)
Calibre (2018)
El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie (2019)
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