Watch These Thriller TV Shows on Netflix, but Keep the Lights On

In “Squid Game”, Netflix’s biggest series launch ever, 456 participants are invited to play a series of children’s games for a chance to win a cash prize of 45.6 billion won. Sounds fun, until they all learn that the consequences of losing a game is death.

After Nick Brewer (Adrian Grenier) is abducted, a video of him, bloody and beaten, appears on the internet. In it, he’s holding a sign that says, “I abuse women,” followed by another that reads, “At 5 million views I die.” His sister (Zoe Kazan) and wife (Betty Gabriel) rush to find and save him, but along the way learn that there may be another side to Nick that they weren’t privy to.

This psychological thriller based on the book of the same name by Søren Sveistrup follows police in Copenhagen who discover a woman who was brutally murdered on a playground. One of her hands is missing, and next to her body lies a man made of chestnuts. It’s quickly put together that the crime could be connected to a missing-persons case from a year ago, so ambitious young detective Naia and her partner Mark work to solve both cases.

This thrilling TV shows follows a prosecutor in Warsaw, Poland, whose sister went missing 25 years ago after she walked into the woods at a summer camp. When the body of a homicide victim shows up, he thinks it could be a link to his sister’s disappearance.

When a mother is brutally stabbed at a playground, four detectives do everything they can to find out who did it – and why. They go down a dark hole of conspiracies to finally uncover what the murderer really wanted.

In this Finnish crime drama, a recently widowed detective discovers the body of a young woman on a construction site, which triggers a series of events that threaten to upheave the life she is still struggling to put back together.

Jonathan Groff stars in the true-crime series “Mindhunter” as Holden Ford, an agent who starts up a unit investigating serial killers. Most of the time, Ford simply talks to the murderers, but many of them act unpredictably, such as Charles Manson and Edmund Kemper.

CIA agent Eva Geller (Michelle Monaghan) investigates the international rise of a man (Mehdi Dehbi) whose followers claim he is the return of ‘Isa (Jesus) in “Messiah”. She looks into whether he is a divine leader or just a charismatic con artist.

Based on Jack London’s short story of the same name, this Spanish crime drama tells the story of a millionaire businessman who’s targeted by a crime syndicate and forced to make a difficult choice: transfer millions to an anonymous account or innocent people will be murdered.

Ozark stars Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde, an economic adviser who moves his family to the Ozarks to appease a drug cartel. Marty’s scheme doesn’t go as planned as he faces local criminals in the area.

Based on the novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” by Ken Kesey, this Ryan Murphy-produced drama stars Sarah Paulson as the titular Nurse Ratched, following the villain from the start of her nursing career in 1947 as she gradually transforms into the murderous monster we now know.

Before wowing us as “Killing Eve”‘s Villanelle, Jodie Comer appeared on the series “Doctor Foster” as a college student having an affair with the title character’s husband. Doctor Foster herself goes down a rabbit hole of twists and turns after uncovering her husband’s infidelity.

In “What/If”, Renée Zellweger plays Anne Montgomery, a venture capitalist who strikes a deal with a young start-up founder, Lisa (Jane Levy), and her husband, Sean (Blake Jenner). The deal is that Anne will give Lisa a bunch of money for one night with Sean. It gets hot and twisty from there!

Reminiscent of “The Twilight Zone”, “Black Mirror” is the buzziest sci-fi thriller series on Netflix, asking deep questions about how technology can shape our world in dystopian ways. Stories in the anthology series range from lovers who upload their consciousness into a cloud (“San Junipero”) to an insurance investigator with a memory radar (“Crocodile”). The series showcases performances from buzzy celebrity guest stars, including Jon Hamm, Miley Cyrus, and Jesse Plemmons.

Netflix’s “You” never fails to deliver the suspense even amid its witty quips and, uh, approximations of romance. Penn Badgley stars as Joe Goldberg, a psychopathic bookshop owner who has a side gig of murdering people.

“Sense8” is a sci-fi thriller from the renowned Wachowskis, who brought us “The Matrix”. In the series, eight individuals across the world form a cluster of people called a sensate. They soon discover they can emotionally and mentally connect with each other.

“How to Get Away With Murder” follows law professor Annalise Keating (Viola Davis) and her hapless students as they navigate legal cases and their own shady secrets. Each thrilling season unravels a new mystery, with plenty of steamy moments and dramatic monologues to boot.

The British police thriller features Richard Madden as a war veteran named David Budd. David is tasked with protecting Home Secretary Julia Montague, whose sensibilities often clash with his own.

“Breaking Bad” is just one of those staple TV thrillers. The gritty and violent drama follows Bryan Cranston as its antihero, Walter White, a chemistry teacher with stage-3 lung cancer selling crystal meth to secure money for his family.

Like “AHS”, “The Sinner” is another anthology thriller series. Each season, it rotates through a cast of A-listers, who include Jessica Biel, Tracy Letts, and Chris Messina. The constant in the series is Bill Pullman as Harry Ambrose, a police detective. The first season features Biel as a troubled woman who stabs a man to death.

Starring KJ Apa, “Riverdale” features hot teens solving murder mysteries among other things in their quaint little town, so it’s a win-win for everyone. It’ll give you the perfect cocktail of steamy, emotional, and suspenseful in one sitting.

When Matilda Gray’s mom commits suicide, her life is turned upside down. She finds mysterious newspaper clippings about a young girl who vanished in Wales and does all she can to find out if her mother’s death and the disappearance are related.

This three-season show follows the rise and fall of notorious drug lord Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzmán. From where he got his start to how he lived a life of crime, this series will keep you on your toes.

“Collateral” has everything you could want in a show: crime, drama, and mystery! It stars Carey Mulligan and follows London detectives as they investigate the murder of a random pizza delivery man. What they don’t know is this murder will lead to a series of strange connections and circumstances that link to the greater British society.

In this Netflix crime drama, three working-class teens displaced by an earthquake are enrolled in the most exclusive school in Spain, and the clash between the classes erupts into a battle that eventually turns fatal. Think “Gossip Girl” set in Spain (but perhaps even more dramatic, if that’s possible).

This insanely popular sci-fi series follows an adolescent crew living in 1980s Indiana as they discover supernatural forces, secret government threats, and a young girl with telekinetic powers. It’s a crazy trip, but – just like with “Black Mirror” – if you suffer from paranoia, you might just find yourself searching for the Demogorgon around every corner.

Netflix’s first Icelandic original series tells the story of an Oslo detective with a dark past, who must return to his native Iceland to help an ambitious detective investigate a series of murders. The longer these two investigate the case, the more likely it seems that these crimes were committed by the same person.

A prisoner in a futuristic world is given the chance to live again as a free man, but first he has to solve a controversial murder. Oh, and he’s just been brought back to life after 250 years. Joel Kinnaman stars in this adaptation of the Richard K. Morgan novel.

This psychological horror series (and Netflix’s first Dutch original series) revolves around a secret student society in Amsterdam and two friends who join it before finding out the club is far more menacing than it initially seemed. We guarantee you’ve never seen a college hazing experience like this one.

This underrated Australian crime drama follows two polar opposites, Lola and Chelsea, who must go on the run together after witnessing a murder.

This NBC hit stars James Spader as a notorious criminal assisting an FBI agent to catch other notorious criminals.

Inspired by Norse mythology, this Norwegian coming-of-age series takes place in the fictitious town of Edda. As the town struggles with industrial pollution and melting glaciers, it becomes clear that only a teenager gifted with the embodiment of Thor can save the people of Edda.

Created by Martin Zimmerman, who also created “Ozark” and “Narcos”, this Argentine thriller revolves around the attempts of a woman to expose and dissolve the organised crime that exists within a soccer club. You don’t have to be a soccer fan to appreciate this gritty drama.

Things get intense in these two seasons (26 episodes total) of this Netflix original when the black sheep of the Rayburn family returns home to cause some trouble.

Inspired by the December 2012 investigation by the Delhi Police into the horrific gang rape of a young woman, this Indian drama follows a female investigator and the challenges she faces while attempting to bring the perpetrators to justice. This one definitely isn’t easy to watch, but we promise it’s worth it.

Based on “The Bard of Blood”, Bilal Siddiqi’s 2015 espionage novel, this Indian spy thriller revolves around an excommunicated RAW (India’s foreign intelligence agency) agent who must face his demons and return to Balochistan after he is recruited to rescue four captured RAW agents. If you want a series that’s going to keep you on the edge of your seat, then this thriller is for you.

Starring Uma Thurman and Tony Goldwyn, this supernatural drama revolves around a young heart attack survivor who finds herself taking on the characteristics of her teenage heart donor – some of which are pretty disquieting, to say the least. It’s the best paranormal series we’ve seen since “The Haunting of Hill House”, and it’s got a beautiful young cast that gives us major “13 Reasons Why” vibes. Super scandalous and genuinely terrifying – what more could you want in a show?

Set in Korea’s medieval Joseon period, this South Korean drama follows a crown prince who is forced to investigate a mysterious plague spreading across his country and making the infected immune to death and hungry for flesh. It sounds weird, but trust us – it’s cool.

What happens with 10 strangers wake up on a deserted island with no memory of how they got there or even who they are? They have to work together to survive – which is difficult when the island has no intention of letting you leave.

Michael C. Hall stars in this mystery series as Tom, a harried British surgeon and widow who’s struggling to create a sense of normalcy for his two daughters as they all cope with the death of their mother. When his oldest daughter, Jenny (Coronation Street’s Amy James-Kelly), disappears from a wild party held in their gated community, a distressed Tom goes on a mission to find her. Naturally his quest to discover Jenny’s whereabouts involves unearthing a few secrets that the people closest to him would’ve preferred stay under wraps, forever changing the lives of everyone in the neighbourhood.

Set in the distant future, this Brazilian dystopian series revolves around two communities: the impoverished Inland, and the three percent of the population who are lucky enough to live in a virtual paradise known as the Offshore. Michele Santana may be new to the Offshore and have no family of her own, but her strong sense of justice compels her to make the Inland a better place – even if that means resisting the Process, which can only spell trouble.

In this Danish postapocalyptic series, two siblings, Simone and Rasmus, navigate the world alongside a ragtag team of survivors five years after a virus spread by rainfall wiped out almost all of Scandinavia. The show is perfect for fans of “The Walking Dead”.

Inspired by a real-life political scandal, this Italian crime drama (which serves as a prequel to the 2015 film “Suburra” and the novel of the same name, by Giancarlo De Cataldo and Carlo Bonini) follows a battle between organised crime, corrupt politicians, and the Vatican over Rome’s underground crime scene. It seems too wild to be real, but you just have to see it to believe it.

“The OA” centres on Prairie Johnson (Brit Marling), a small-town blind girl who went missing seven years ago. Now, she has resurfaced with her sight intact and calls herself The OA. Despite her adoptive parents and the FBI urging her to open up about her disappearance, The OA only shares her story with a select group of trusted locals. In addition to her troubling history and current secrets, The OA reveals that there are other people in jeopardy of suffering her same fate. Together, they go on a mysterious journey to discover the shocking truth behind it all.

“Narcos” follows the lives of the drug kingpins involved in the surge of the cocaine trade in the ’80s, particularly putting the spotlight on the exploits of Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura) in its earlier seasons. The third season takes a look at what happened after Escobar’s fall.

In this Argentine crime drama, an ex-cop is sent by a judge to infiltrate the dangerous San Onofre prison and get information on the gang responsible for the kidnapping of the judge’s daughter. In the prison, Miguel finds himself surrounded by the country’s most dangerous felons, and he must hide his true identity – or risk losing his life.

What happens when the first lady of Mexico, a woman of honor and ideals, starts to lose faith in her president husband? That’s exactly what happens in this Spanish-language crime drama, which follows Emilia Urquiza as she attempts to improve the conditions of her country and uncover some dark truths – even if it means going behind her husband’s back.

In Netflix’s first original Belgian series, passengers and crew members on an overnight flight out of Brussels find themselves facing an unexpected challenge: the sun has suddenly turned deadly. With the threat of cosmic disaster looming, they must band together in order to survive.

After her marriage falls apart, a former detective returns to work to track down the Grove Park Killer.

Jack Morton joins a magic secret society named the Hermetic Order. With his knew knowledge, he aims to avenge the death of his mother but runs into a battle between dark magic users and werewolves.

A group of people trapped inside an apartment building must fight to survive while being attacked by humans who have turned into zombie-like monsters.

Alex, framed for his sister’s murder, seeks revenge to find who his sister’s killer really is.

A dedicated gamer and his friends become trapped in a parallel universe and are forced to compete in a number of deadly games in order to survive and make it back home.

It’s also worth watching the spinoff series, “Narcos: Mexico”, which features Diego Luna as drug lord Félix Gallardo. As the title suggests, this series is more focused on Mexico, not Colombia.

Paul Bettany stars in “Manhunt: Unabomber” as Ted Kaczynski, aka the Unabomber. The series fictionalises how the FBI tracked down Kaczynski as the public grew increasingly anxious, placing a heavy emphasis on forensic linguist Jim Fitzgerald’s role in the investigation.

This Finnish mystery series revolves around legendary detective Kari Sorjonen, who moves his family to a town near the border of Russia after his wife miraculously survives a battle with brain cancer. Though he hopes to spend more time with his family there, he and his new partner, Lena Jaakkola, find themselves faced with some incredibly dark murder cases.

Astrid is haunted by the disappearance of her sister. Visions encourage her to investigate the truth, leading to an even darker discovery.

Netflix’s first African original series stars “Quantico”‘s Pearl Thusi as the titular Queen Sono, a kickass South African field operative still reeling from the mysterious death of her mother, who was an anti-apartheid revolutionary leader and freedom fighter. Queen proves that you can take on terrorism and look incredible while doing it (even while battling your own inner demons).

Written by Álex Pina, who’s also the producer of “Money Heist”, this drama series follows the investigation into the death of a legendary DJ, who goes missing one Summer in Ibiza and whose body is discovered there 20 years later. Laura Haddock stars as the DJ’s sister, who travels to Ibiza and attempts to figure out what really happened to her brother.

Based on the Harlan Coben novel of the same name, this mystery thriller revolves around a family man with a seemingly perfect life and the conspiracy that shatters his illusion, forcing him on a quest for the truth.

This eerie Brazilian series is set in the near future, revolving around a society under constant Big Brother-like surveillance. Despite the Omniscient system’s drones, a murder is somehow committed without the killer being monitored, and the deceased’s daughter – a tech intern named Nina – decides to risk everything in order to figure out how the murderer got away.

This Spanish heist show originally debuted in late 2017, telling the story of eight thieves who lock themselves in the Royal Mint of Spain – along with a group of hostages – as a criminal mastermind named the Professor attempts to get the police to cooperate with his master plan. Through it’s not based on a true story, the series is set after Spain’s 2008 financial crisis, and it acts as a sort of allegorical tale of rebellion against capitalism and the government.

This French-Belgian thriller follows the head of the county police, Laurène Weiss (whose town’s murder rate is six times the national average), and how she brings justice to her city.

Kristen Bell stars in this psychological thriller series that follows the story of heartbroken and divorced Anna as she spends her days drinking and taking pills until she meets her new handsome neighbour. Things start to look up until she witnesses a murder.

Arguably a classic crime drama, “Criminal Minds” follows an elite team of FBI profilers as they analyse and approach cases from within the minds of dangerous and psychopathic criminals.

This Spanish thriller tells the story of a man who has recently been released from prison following an accidental killing and is ready to move on with his life and newfound freedom. Just as he finds love again, a phone call brings back everything he has tried so hard to escape.

A young archivist takes on the task of restoring damaged videotapes of a failed documentary but ends up stumbling upon a mystery involving the missing director and the mysterious cult that she was attempting to document.