11 Must-Watch Thrillers on Netflix Right Now (May 2025)

Yahoo

7 hours ago

Thrillers were once one of the most active genres on Netflix, but there's been a noticeable lack of new offerings in this category for a while.
Fortunately for Netflix, the streamer's lean selection allows subscribers to revisit some of the older thrillers like The Hateful Eight, which hit theaters almost a decade ago.
The Netflix original thriller, The Devil All of the Time, also had some sizzle when it debuted in 2020 with a ridiculously stacked cast including Tom Holland, Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Robert Pattinson, Eliza Scanlen and Mia Wasikowska.
You can find these films and more among the Watch With Us team's picks for the must-see thrillers on Netflix right now.
Need more recommendations? Then check out the Great New Movies on Netflix, Max, Hulu, Amazon Prime Video and More, the Best Movies on Amazon Prime Video Right Now, the Best Movies on Hulu Right Now and 4 Underrated Movies on Netflix in May 2025.For his eighth film, writer and director Quentin Tarantino came up with a Western thriller he called The Hateful Eight. Kurt Russell plays John "the Hangman" Ruth, a man who's hard to like, but few could argue with his reputation as a bounty hunter. His latest bounty, "Crazy" Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh), is chained to his arm as they travel by stagecoach. As a snowstorm builds, Ruth reluctantly allows a fellow bounty hunter, Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson), and Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins) to join them.When the group arrives at Minnie's Haberdashery, Ruth can't shake the feeling that something is off as he's surrounded by strangers, including Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), Bob (Chris Mannix) and a Confederate general, Sanford "Sandy" Smithers (Bruce Dern). Ruth isn't sure he can trust this group, or even the two men he rode into town with. But with the snowstorm in full roar, there's nowhere else to go.
The Hateful Eight is streaming on Netflix.
Donald Ray Pollock, the author of The Devil All the Time, got to narrate the Netflix adaptation of his novel, which weaves through the lives of multiple characters who share unexpected connections. In the late '50s, Arvin Russell (Tom Holland) is a disturbed young man who has very strong feelings for his childhood friend, Lenora Laferty (Eliza Scanlen). And he's increasingly angry over the way Reverend Preston Teagardin (Robert Pattinson) grooms Lenora for a sexual relationship.
Arvin is also aware of the sins of his late father, Willard Russell (Bill Skarsgård), which stay with his son as an adult. What Arvin isn't aware of is that his path is also going to cross with Carl (Jason Clarke) and Sandy Henderson (Riley Keough), a dangerous couple that might like to see him dead.The Devil All the Time is streaming on Netflix.
The late Euphoria star Angus Cloud had one of his final roles in Your Lucky Day as Sterling, a young man who is badly in need of some luck. Sterling thinks his luck has changed when he overhears a lottery winner, Mr. Laird (Spencer Garrett), bragging about his good fortune. When Sterling demands the ticket at gunpoint, chaos ensues in the convenience store, leaving two gunshot victims and three witnesses: Ana Marlene (Jessica Garza), her boyfriend, Abraham (Elliot Knight), and the store clerk, Amir (Mousa Hussein Kraish).
Sterling offers to split the prize money with the witnesses if they help him cover up his crimes. But there are several flaws in Sterling's plan, not the least of which is that he's underestimated what other people are willing to do to get that ticket for themselves. By the time this story concludes, there may not be anyone left to enjoy their fortune.
Your Lucky Day is streaming on Netflix.
For his directorial debut, screenwriter Oren Uziel unravels the story of Shimmer Lake in reverse by revealing that Andy Sikes (Rainn Wilson) is hiding out from his brother, Sheriff Zeke Sikes (Benjamin Walker), after participating in a bank robbery. And before Uziel shows the audience what happened to set up this situation, he teases a mystery that will unfold during the rest of the film.
Andy and his friends, Chris Morrow (Mark Rendall) and Ed Burton (Wyatt Russell), thought they pulled off the heist of their lifetimes. However, this trio may be their own worst enemies, especially when they start turning on each other. They collectively have enough money to do almost anything, but greed may be their downfall.
Shimmer Lake is streaming on Netflix.
Training Day director Antoine Fuqua and True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto teamed up for The Guilty, a remake of a 2018 Dutch thriller. The vast majority of the movie centers on LAPD officer Joe Baylor (Jake Gyllenhaal) in a single location as the story plays out through his phone calls.Baylor is stuck on duty answering 911 calls pending a disciplinary hearing when he receives an alarming call from Emily Lighton (Riley Keough). Emily tells Baylor that she's been abducted, but he has limited resources to find her kidnapper, and most of his fellow officers aren't going to help him. Baylor's partner, Sergeant Bill Miller (Ethan Hawke), reluctantly does some of the legwork, but what he finds at Emily's home is disturbing. And time is running out to locate Emily before another tragedy occurs. The Guilty is streaming on Netflix.
Maika Monroe has made a name for herself as a scream queen in movies like It Follows, and she's certainly got a lot of reasons to scream in Watcher. Julia already felt like a stranger in a strange land when she moved to Bucharest with her husband, Francis (Karl Glusman). But she can't escape the sensation that she's always being watched. Torchwood's Burn Gorman gives a creepy performance as Daniel Weber, the man Julia believes is stalking her. Daniel claims that Julia is the one harassing him, which the police find more convincing than her story. There is a serial killer on the loose, and even Julia has to wonder if she's letting her fear rule her actions. She'll get her answer — it just may not be the one she's looking for.Watcher is streaming on Netflix.
Director David Fincher never discloses the true name of the title character in The Killer, but Michael Fassbender conveys just how diligent and prepared he is for everything except failure. When the Killer misses his contract, the resources of the high-class criminal underworld are turned against him.There's nowhere the Killer can run where he won't be found, so he resolves to track down his would-be murderers first. That may involve burning some bridges and leaving a few more bodies behind, but it's nothing he hasn't done many times before.The Killer is streaming on Netflix.
The Good Nurse is loosely based on a true story about Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain), a single mother who works at a hospital alongside a new colleague, Charles Cullen (Eddie Redmayne). Amy finds Charles trustworthy, especially after he agrees to help her keep a secret about her health.However, Amy starts to suspect her friend when several patients in their hospital die under suspicious circumstances. Since Amy already blew off the police investigating the case, she'll have to endanger her own life while looking for evidence that Charles is a serial killer.The Good Nurse is streaming on Netflix.
Gerald's Game is a different kind of horror thriller than Stephen King usually writes, and director Mike Flanagan draws out a lot of tension for a story where the main character is handcuffed to a bed for almost its entire duration.Jessie Burlingame (Carla Gugino) only agreed to be bound at the request of her husband, Gerald (Bruce Greenwood). But when Gerald suddenly expires, it leaves Jessie trapped on the bed with little hope for escape. As Jessie's reality breaks down, she sees a monster she calls Moonlight Man (Carel Struycken), who may have come for her husband's soul— and her's as well.Gerald's Game is streaming on Netflix.
Amanda (Julia Roberts) and Clay Sandford (Ethan Hawke) may have picked the wrong time to go on vacation in Leave the World Behind. Or perhaps they picked the most opportune time without realizing it. The Sandfords and their children rent a cabin in the woods, but even in their isolation, they recognize some troubling events around them. Shortly thereafter, the owner of the cabin, G.H. Scott (Mahershala Ali), arrives with his daughter, Ruth (Myha'la), to take shelter as technology seemingly fails everywhere. What started as a family excursion may turn into a trip that the Sandfords may not come home from. It might even turn out to be the end of the world. Leave the World Behind is streaming on Netflix.
Runaway Jury casts John Cusack and Rachel Weisz as a pair of lovers with an audacious plan. In a high-stakes wrongful death trial with a gun manufacturer over its culpability, Marlee (Weisz) contacts the defense and the plaintiff with an offer to sway the jury to either side. And she can do it because Nick (Cusack) is her man on the inside.Rankin Fitch (Gene Hackman) is enraged by the attempted blackmail because he has already spent the time and effort stacking the jury in his favor. He's not going to let himself get extorted without a fight. And unlike the plaintiff's lawyer, Wendell Rohr (Dustin Hoffman), Fitch fights dirty, and he doesn't mind getting some proverbial blood on his hands. Runaway Jury is streaming on Netflix.