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Last Updated: April 11th
“Thriller” is kind of a catch-all term for movies that bleed into multiple genres. It can describe films rich with drama, action, crime, and quite possibly horror. That’s why its Netflix category is such a hodgepodge of entries, varying in tone, subject matter, and quality. A good thriller, though, is going to be suspenseful for any number of reasons. An unstoppable killer. An unsolvable mystery. A gripping world that draws viewers into it. A sympathetic character fighting for survival. Something that can keep an audience on the edge of its seats. And based on that, here are the 15 best thrillers on Netflix right now.
Related: The Best Horror Movies On Netflix Right Now
15. The Girl With All The Gifts (2016)
Run Time: 111 min | IMDb: 6.6/10
Despite a cast that includes Gemma Arterton, Paddy Considine, and Glenn Close, this unusual, post-apocalyptic film got a bit overlooked during its brief theatrical release. It’s best enjoyed without knowing too much of the plot. Suffice it to say that Melanie (Sennia Nanua), the girl of the title, isn’t quite what she seems, and there’s a reason that she, and others her age, are kept in a secure military facility. But the best trick of the film, thanks in large part to Nanua’s winning performance, is the way its innovations go beyond just putting twists on a familiar genre and, instead, making us question where our sympathies ought to lie.
14. The Platform (2019)
Run Time: 94 min | IMDb: 7/10
This Spanish-language sci-fi flick is all kinds of f*cked up, but in the best way. The film is set in a large, tower-style “Vertical Self-Management Center” where the residents, who are periodically switched at random between floors, are fed by a platform, initially filled with food, that gradually descends through the levels. Conflicts arise when inmates at the top begin eating all the food, leaving the people lower down to fight for survival.
13. Under The Skin (2007)
Run Time: 108 min | IMDb: 6.3/10
Scarlett Johansson stars in this sci-fi thriller about an other-worldly woman with a dark agenda. The film sees Johansson using her sex appeal to lure unsuspecting men to their watery doom while beginning to contemplate her own existence with every new partner she seduces. It’s a subtle reverse of rape culture, with themes of race and immigration mixed in, but if all of that goes over your head, you’ll at least enjoy seeing Johansson off a bunch of frat bros and rapists.
12. Enemy (2019)
Run Time: 91 min | IMDb: 6.9/10
Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this complete mindf*ck from director Denis Villeneuve about a man who goes in search in his doppelganger after spotting him in a movie and uncovering sinister secrets about himself in the process. Gyllenhaal plays both Adam, a quiet professor, and Anthony, an outspoken actor, who eventually meet and disrupt each other’s lives, but whether both men exist or whether they’re just figments of the same man’s consciousness is up to you to figure out.
11. It Comes At Night (2017)
Run Time: 86 min | IMDb: 7.4/10
Writer/director Trey Edward Shults followed up his unnerving family portrait in 2015’s Krisha with a look at another family under the most desperate of circumstances. After an unknown illness has wiped out most of civilization, a number of threats — both seen and unseen — come for a family held up in their home out in the wilderness. It’s a subtle, dream-like tale that stars Joel Edgerton and Christopher Abbot as two patriarchs intent on keeping their families safe, no matter the cost.
10. The Interview (1998)
Run Time: 104 min | IMDb: 7.3/10
What starts out like a Kafka story turns into a tense match between a seemingly innocent man (Hugo Weaving) and a menacing detective with his own demons (Tony Martin). The former is snatched up and interrogated by the authorities for reasons that are slowly revealed to him, and as the hours drag by, both men become more and more desperate. Weaving knocks it out of the park, keeping the detectives and audience guessing as his true demeanor is constantly put in question. Martin is no slouch either as he does his best to expose Weaving’s character for the monster that he sees, even if it costs him his job and sanity. The writing is taut and the environment is claustrophobic, which propels the mysteries behind the two lead characters.
9. Blue Ruin (2013)
Run Time: 90 min | IMDb: 7.1/10
Macon Blair stars in this crime thriller about a man who returns to his hometown to carry out an act of vengeance and discovers he’s in over his head. Blair plays Dwight Evans, a vagabond who learns his parents’ murderer is being released from prison and returns home to kill him. He succeeds but ends up starting a blood feud with the guy’s family that doesn’t end how you expect.
8. Bird Box (2018)
Run Time: 124 min | IMDb: 6.7/10
Sandra Bullock’s apocalyptic sci-fi saga has spawned more than just a ridiculous internet challenge, it’s also renewed our love for monster-driven thrillers. Sure, we never actually see the otherworldly beings that cause people to commit suicide if they open their eyes, but the danger they pose and the fear they instill is still viscerally real. Bullock plays a mother trying to protect her two young children and survive amidst a group of strangers with their own agendas and issues. The supporting cast in this one — Trevante Rhodes, John Malkovich, Sarah Paulson, and Tom Hollander — are fantastic which distracts from some of the more questionable story choices.
7. Drive (2011)
Run Time: 100 min | IMDb: 7.8/10
A stone-faced Ryan Gosling steers us through the criminal underworld created by director Nicolas Winding Refn in this high-speed thriller. Gosling plays a near-silent stunt driver who moonlights as a getaway man. When he gets involved with his next-door neighbor and her young son, his carefully cultivated life is thrown into chaos, forcing him to align with criminals and take on risky jobs to protect the pair and keep a firm grip on the wheel.
6. Green Room (2015)
Run Time: 95 min | IMDb: 7/10
When a punk rock group accidentally witnesses the aftermath of a murder, they are forced to fight for their lives by the owner of a Nazi bar (Patrick Stewart) and his team. It’s an extremely brutal and violent story, much like the first two features from director Jeremy Saulnier (Blue Ruin and Murder Party), but this one is made even tenser by its claustrophobic cat-and-cornered-mouse nature. Once the impending danger kicks in, it doesn’t let up until the very end, driven heavily by Stewart playing against type as a harsh, unforgiving, violent character.
5. The Invitation (2016)
Run Time: 100 min | IMDb: 6.7/10
After back-to-back big studio bombs, Karyn Kusama returned to her scrappy indie roots with this contained, brilliantly suspenseful study of the darkness that can arise when people don’t allow themselves to feel. The Invitation isn’t a perfect film, but Kusama does a lot with the scant resources she had to play with here, and you have to appreciate her willingness to tackle grief so directly in a genre that tends to have little time for genuine human emotion.
4. The Invisible Guest (2016)
Run Time: 106 min | IMDb: 8.1/10
This Spanish crime thriller follows a successful businessman framed for the murder of his married lover. A seemingly straightforward plot, until a car accident, a dead body, fake witnesses, and a family out for revenge is thrown into the mix. Mario Casas stars as the man in question, a young husband and father with a bright future who takes part in a terrible crime and is forced to pay for it in the most twisted of ways. You won’t figure this thing out until the end, we guarantee it.
3. The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Run Time: 139 min | IMDb: 7.4/10
Matt Damon, Gwyneth Paltrow, and Jude Law star in this mind-bending thriller about a con-man who weasels his way into an inheritance through deception, manipulation, and, of course, murder. Damon plays the young criminal, Tom Ripley, a forger and impersonator struggling to make it in ’50s era New York. He nabs a job from a wealthy shipping magnate, retrieving the man’s son from Italy in exchange for a cash reward. While there, he befriends the heir (Law) and his fiance (Paltrow), imitating his mannerisms, wearing his clothes, and running in his elite circles before his con is discovered, and he’s forced to take drastic measures to secure the future he wants for himself.
2. Burning (2018)
Run Time: 148 min | IMDb: 7.6/10
Walking Dead alum Steven Yeun stars this psychological thriller from South Korean filmmaker Lee Chang-dong. Yeun plays Ben, a rich millennial with a mysterious job who connects with a woman named Shin Hae-mi on a trip to Africa. The two journey back home together where Ben meets Shin’s friend/lover Lee Jong-su. The three hang-out regularly, with Lee growing more jealous of Ben’s wealth and privilege while he’s forced to manage his father’s farm when his dad goes to prison. But it’s when Shin disappears, and Lee suspects Ben’s involvement, that things really go off the rails.
1. Good Time (2017)
Run Time: 101 min | IMDb: 7.3/10
This gritty crime drama hailing from the Safdie brothers transforms star Robert Pattinson into a bleach-blonde sh*t-stirrer from Queens desperate to break his developmentally disabled brother out of prison. Pattinson plays Connie, a street hustler and bank robber with grand plans to break out of his urban hood while Benny Safdie plays his brother Nick, who gets roped into his schemes. When Nick is sent to Ryker’s Island for a job gone wrong, Connie goes on a downward spiral to get him back. Pattinson’s manic energy carries this thing and there’s plenty of police run-ins, shootouts, and heists (however botched) to keep the adrenaline pumping.
Recent Changes Through April 2020:
Removed: Zodiac, The Perfection
Added: The Platform, The Girl With All The Gifts
Blended scotch — and by that, we mean “good blended scotch” — is a unique, engaging whisky to get into. It’s basically the opposite of single malt. Whereas those whiskies are made with a single malt (barley) from a single distillery, blended scotch is a blend of multiple grain-based or malted barley-based whiskies from multiple distilleries across Scotland. Sometimes blended scotch is a mix of three or four whiskies from three or four distilleries. Sometimes it’s a blend of 20, 30, or even 40 whiskies from a wide range of sources. There’s endless room for variation and the art is in the blending itself.
Stocking up on some blended scotch during the quarantine doldrums has some advantages. First, you’re most-likely home, with time to study and savor a good dram. Second, you’ll get a chance to dive into a style of whisky that exists outside of the mega-popular American bourbons or ryes, thereby widening your whiskey worldview. Third, these expressions offer a gateway to the ecosystem of Scotch whisky — each bottle is dialed and blended to create a flavor profile that can broaden your palate while also being deeply enjoyable in its own right.
The ten bottles below are excellent entry points into the world of blended scotch. They’re also fairly affordable, easily mixable, and available for delivery right now.
Sir Edward’s Blended Scotch Whisky
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $12.98
The Whisky:
Sir Edward’s is largely made for the export market. Which means, ironically, you won’t find it much in Scotland. Regardless, the expression is a blend of both grain and malted barley whisky that’s then finished in St. Edward’s own oak. There’s no age statement, no fuss, no muss. This is just good, standard mixing whisky for your highball.
Tasting Notes:
The grains from the field shine through first with a slight crusty bread edge and a hint of orange marmalade. A note of banana leads towards mild cinnamon on the palate and an echo of licorice. The spice turns peppery as the banana wanes on the short-yet-sharp finish.
Teacher’s Highland Cream Blended Scotch Whisky
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $18.99
The Whisky:
This blend is widely-considered one of the best at this price point. Legendary whisky reviewer Jim Murray awarded this dram 90 points (out of 100) in his Whisky Bible. The touchstone whisky in this blend is a peat smoked single malt from The Ardmore Distillery up in the Highlands. That whisky is supported by 30 more whiskies in the blend.
Tasting Notes:
Clear notes of spring fruit mingle with a manageable nose of peaty smoke next to toffee. The malt really is the star of the show with a fresh bread base topped with fresh butter and even fresher honey notes. A slight spiciness comes into play as the smoke whispers its way through the warm finish.
Duncan Taylor Scottish Glory Blended Scotch Whiskey
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $19.99
The Whisky:
Scottish Glory is a blend from blender and bottler Duncan Taylor from Speyside. The whisky is dailed-in to be served on the rocks or in a highball with some quality bubbly water, allowing it to open up. This particular expression is a blend of at least three-year-old whiskies sourced from Speyside.
Tasting Notes:
Summer florals mix with caramel apples, light hints of spice, and a sense of wet malts. That malt carries on through the palate and brings about a grain-sugar sweetness. That sweetness, in turn, starts to lean towards honey as more florals deliver a dry finish.
Cutty Sark Blended Scotch Whisky
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $20.99
The Whisky:
This blend from Speyside (primarily) was named after the famed tea clipper from the poem Tam o’ Shanter. The blend has had a stronghold on the American market for decades and was the cornerstone of the old-school “scotch on the rocks” in bars from sea to shining sea.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a welcome grassiness at play here alongside an orchard fruit essence and a hint of florals. Malts underpin a note of creamy vanilla with a touch of citrus rinds. The malt sweetness carries through to a warming, subtle end.
Shieldaig Blended Scotch Whisky “The Classic” Aged 12 Years
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $21.99
The Whisky:
This award-winning Highland blend comes from the independent blender and bottler Ian MacLeod. The bottle is a blend of both grain and malt whisky from undisclosed distilleries around the Highlands.
Tasting Notes:
There’s a chew to this whiskey, with a matrix of fresh honey, sharp spice, and rich vanilla. Billows of peat ring through the dram as oak and dried tobacco linger alongside those spices and honey. Finally, the oaky spice and smoky peat fade into a satisfying final note.
Dewar’s White Label Blended Scotch Whisky
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $24.99
The Whisky:
This very popular scotch has been a casual whisky-drinker’s favorite for a long time now. The expression is a blend of over 40 grain and single malts from across Scotland. This really is Scotland in a bottle, if you dig on that sort of thing.
Tasting Notes:
Wildflowers and honey lead the way with a hint of fresh vanilla pods. There’s an echo of oak that edges into smokiness but never overpowers the florals, honey, and vanilla baseline. Finally, the smoke, wildflowers, and honey come together on a slightly dry and short finish.
Johnnie Walker Red Label
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $25.99
The Whisky:
You can’t discount the massive popularity of this expression. This bottle represents ten percent of all whisk(e)y sold worldwide. Johnnie Walker Red is specifically designed to be a mixing whiskey for highballs (or scotch and sodas if you will). If you want a sipping whisky from Johnnie Walker, you need to go Black Label and above. This bottle is a blend of 40 different single malts from the heaviest hitters in the game.
Tasting Notes:
The nose here is tart apples covered in rich toffee, the hint of vanilla, and a note of dried herbs. That apple carries through to the palate as a crusty bread comes into play with spices leaning into pepper and hints of vanilla popping off. There’s a hint of florals near the end while the fruity sweetness tries to temper a slightly hot finish.
John Barr Reserve Blend
ABV: 43%
Average Price: $25.99
The Whisky:
Interestingly, John Barr came to prominence when Johnnie Red was pulled from shelves in the U.K. back in the 1970s. Today, the whisky is a smoky blend of 40 malted barley and grain whiskies from both the Highlands and Speyside that have been aged up to 15 years.
Tasting Notes:
Fresh loaves of sourdough bread meet milk chocolate and stewed apple upfront. The dram then leans into a fatty hazelnut counterpointed by a sense of dried stone fruits and powdered ginger. Finally, a rush of wood and caramel sweetness arrives, bringing about a finish that lingers gently on the senses.
Grant’s Family Reserve
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $26.59
The Whisky:
This blend utilizes expressions from Dufftown and Speyside. The ripple here is that the whisky is aged in three different barrels: virgin oak, new American oak, and ex-bourbon barrels. So you might find this expression re-labeled “Triple Wood” is some markets. But know — it’s the exact same bottle as this.
Tasting Notes:
Orange zest, Christmas spices, and a whisper of a smoky campfire lead the way. There’s a clear sense of butterscotch followed by dried grass, cinnamon, and sweet caramel malts. Those malts bring about an almost buttery feel as the sweetness and spice end the sip on a high note.
The Famous Grouse Bourbon Cask Blended Scotch Whiskey
ABV: 40%
Average Price: $26.99
The Whisky:
This expression from The Famous Grouse launched its “Cask Series” in 2018. While the final whisky isn’t finished in ex-bourbon barrels, the majority of the blend is from American oak and ex-bourbon barrel-aged whiskies. That majority share in the blend helps this sip lean into those flavor profiles.
Tasting Notes:
Classic bourbon hints of caramel, vanilla, and oak shine through immediately. The caramel fades into more classic scotch honey as the vanilla becomes creamy to the point of feeling like ice cream cut with lemon zest. The oakiness and a whisper of spice come in late to help the sweet finish on the way to a quick finish.