With all of today’s streaming options, it can be difficult to choose what to watch each night, especially on Netflix. Fortunately, that is why we put together this list.
While Netflix’s library is vast and easy to get lost in, the streamer has a number of worthwhile psychological thrillers on its platform right now, including a “Knives Out” sequel that offers a very different cinematic experience than its parent films and a 2022 sci-fi horror thriller that leaves a lasting impression. The streamer’s other current offerings include a pair of Netflix original thrillers that are both equally worth your time and a frequently forgotten mid-2010s gem starring Tom Hardy that effortlessly holds your attention across all of its 85 minutes.
Here are the best psychological thrillers you can stream on Netflix right now.
“Wake Up Dead Man” (2025)
Writer-director Rian Johnson’s “Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery” goes to darker and more emotionally confrontational places than either of his previous “Knives Out” movies. A countryside murder-mystery about private investigator Benoit Blanc (Daniel Craig) traveling to a small church to interview its up-and-coming priest (Josh O’Connor) and investigate the seemingly inexplicable killing of its previous, emotionally abuse leader (Josh Brolin), “Wake Up Dead Man” unfolds at its own deliberately patient pace.
The portrait it paints along the way is one overflowing with both striking, gothic darkness and — as is typically the case with Johnson’s “Knives Out” movies — enough immensely entertaining, delightful twists to keep you on the edge of your seat the whole time.
“Nope” (2022)
2022’s “Nope” is both the most ambitious film that “Get Out” writer-director Jordan Peele has ever made and the best. A thought-provoking, awe-inspiring sci-fi horror Western, the film follows a pair of grief-stricken siblings (Daniel Kaluuya and Keke Palmer) as they team up to try to capture recorded evidence of an unidentified flying object lurking behind the clouds located over their remote desert California ranch. Punctuated by one unforgettable, uncanny image after another, “Nope” is a singular cinematic achievement.
Like Peele’s other films, it has big ideas on its mind at all times, and yet it never asks them in too pointed or obtuse a fashion — resulting in an endlessly compelling, imaginative sci-fi epic that lingers in your mind long after you finish watching it.
“Caught Stealing” (2025)
Director Darren Aronofsky’s divisive 2025 black comedy crime thriller “Caught Stealing” is blunter than the other films on this list, and that is both the point and appeal of it. Based on the novel of the same name by Charlie Huston, the film follows a former baseball prodigy-turned-alcoholic New York bartender (Austin Butler) who ends up caught in a violent urban nightmare involving corrupt cops and ruthless mobsters after he agrees to babysit his neighbor’s (Matt Smith) cat.
Featuring memorable supporting performances from Smith, Regina King, Zoë Kravitz, Liev Schreiber and Vincent D’Onofrio, “Caught Stealing” is a nightmarish ’90s throwback that hits with the purposefully breath-stealing blunt force of a hammer. Not all of its swings may connect as well creatively as you might hope, but the overall vision of the film is compellingly, audaciously brutal — often in ways that leave you reeling.
“Rebel Ridge” (2024)
A gripping slow burn thriller of masterful, stomach churning control, Netflix’s “Rebel Ridge” is one of the best pure genre thrillers of the past five years. Written and directed by “Green Room” filmmaker Jeremy Saulnier, this backroads American thriller follows a former Marine (Aaron Pierre) who ends up caught in a tense war of wills with the corrupt cops of a small Southern town (led by Don Johnson’s arrogant chief) after they unjustly seize via civil forfeiture the money he planned on using to secure bail for his cousin.
Anchored by a star-making lead turn from Pierre, “Rebel Ridge” is a film about going to war against the cruelty of the American justice system, regardless of the physical and psychological costs that come with waging such a battle.
“The Killer” (2023)
Part revenge drama, part procedural thriller, director David Fincher’s “The Killer” is a seemingly straightforward action movie that has so much more going on beneath its surface than it lets on. Based on a French graphic novel of the same name and adapted by “Se7en” screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker, “The Killer” follows a meticulous hitman (Michael Fassbender) as he is forced to violently cut off a number of loose ends after a job gone wrong. Divided ostensibly by its multiple, carefully plotted assassinations, “The Killer” is a darkly funny, technically astonishing thriller that could easily be enjoyed just for its many superficial, entertaining pleasures.
Anyone who chooses to engage with it more deeply than that, though, will discover a surprisingly personal film for Fincher, one about the morbidly funny realization that not even the most iconoclastic of artists are all that different from everyone else. We are all, in the end, just part of the same system — for better and for worse.
“Anatomy of a Fall” (2023)
A courtroom thriller made with compelling narrative ambiguity and thrilling artistic clarity, writer-director Justine Triet’s “Anatomy of a Fall” rightly garnered widespread critical acclaim and awards attention after it was released.
Featuring a titanic lead performance from “Project Hail Mary” star Sandra Hüller, the film follows a successful, bisexual author who finds herself, her career, her marriage and her entire identity on trial after her husband dies under mysterious circumstances. A thoughtful, riveting examination of both guilt and society’s tendency to quickly bestow it onto women, “Anatomy of a Fall” is a psychological thriller that knows how to keep your eyes glued to the screen.
“Locke” (2014)
2014’s “Locke” is a straightforward, contained psychological thriller that works far better than its gimmicky set-up and premise would lead you to believe. Written and directed by “Peaky Blinders” creator Steven Knight, this oft-forgotten British thriller follows a successful man (Tom Hardy) as he makes a series of life-changing, difficult phone calls over the course of a single night’s drive while facing a potentially irreversible choice.
Set entirely in its lead character’s car and featuring only Hardy as its sole onscreen performer, “Locke” is a frequently fascinating and gripping portrait of a man dealing in real time with the consequences of his own decisions. If you have not seen it, now is as good a time as any to strap in and enjoy the ride.
