A perfectly made thriller has all the capacity to hook you more than any other type of film. It may compete against a scary horror film or a funny romantic comedy, but when the thrills work, there’s nothing better for engaging the viewer and forcing them to watch until the end.
In the sea of thrillers and mystery movies available out there, some may get overlooked. However, considering it’s one of the most popular genres out there, the following films are sure to impress. If you have Netflix and you like thrillers, then these underrated films must be on your watchlist.
‘Calibre’ (2018)
In Calibre, two friends, Marcus and Vaughn, decide to go on a hunting trip in the Scottish Highlands. They’re not very welcome in town, but they don’t pay attention to the locals. The problem is that the next day, they accidentally shoot a boy and kill him, and they try to make a run out of town, but it doesn’t turn out to be easy. Calibre is one of the most underrated films in the entire Netflix catalog.
One Small Mistake
The 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes should be enough to convince you to see this sleeper hit that went unnoticed in 2018 but built up its cult status over the years. The fact that one small mistake is enough to send the characters deep down a violent path makes it all the more realistic and poignant in its approach.
‘I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore’ (2017)
I Don’t Feel at Home in This World Anymore follows Ruth, a nurse who finds someone has broken into her home and stolen some goods. When she attempts to find the thief alongside her neighbor Tony, they uncover a conspiracy that’s bigger than they thought. Melanie Lynskey and Elijah Wood play Ruth and Tony in probably their best roles to date.
A Near-Perfect Thriller
The film is directed by Jeremy Saulnier’s frequent collaborator, Macon Blair, and he has taken a lot of his friend’s resources and applied them to an outstanding comedy thriller that will leave you shaking when it gets serious. The scene in which Ruth and Tony face high-profile criminals will make you laugh until someone dies.
‘I Came By’ (2018)
Toby Nealey is a rebellious graffiti artist who spends his time breaking into the homes of London’s prominent elite, leaving the message “I CAME BY” on the walls as his signature calling card. When he targets a retired High Court Judge whom he believes is a hypocrite, Toby is shocked to discover a man imprisoned in the basement and must figure out how to free the victim without raising any suspicion on himself. Naturally, things take a terrifying and deadly turn for the headstrong artist.
A Gripping Crime Thriller with Hitchcockian Roots
Featuring a truly sinister performance by Downton Abbey star Hugh Bonneville, I Came By winningly evokes the uncertainty and suspense found in classic Alfred Hitchcock films and will have you on the edge of your seat as the tension epically builds throughout the first half, resulting in a jaw-dropping turn of events. It’s also refreshing to see Bonneville embrace his wicked side and go against type, with The Jewish Chronicle praising the actor’s “deliciously macabre delivery.”
‘Watcher’ (2022)
In Chloe Okuno’s spine-chilling directorial debut, Watcher, American Julia (Maika Monroe) and her Romanian boyfriend Francis (Karl Glusman) relocate to Bucharest for a job opportunity, with the young woman experiencing a major culture shock upon arrival. Julia becomes increasingly paranoid that she is being watched in their apartment after she learns that a serial killer known as “the Spider” is terrorizing the city and killing women, believing she may be the murderer’s next victim.
‘Watcher’ Boldly Tackles Paranoia & Anxiety
With Watcher, Okuno set out to stress “the importance of believing women when they think they are in danger” while also exploring how hypervigilance and paranoia can also be justified and rational, as depicted by the psychological trauma Julia experiences throughout the film. The character’s overwhelming isolation and suffocating sense of claustrophobia will have you holding your breath until the credits roll, and Watcher goes out with quite the bang in the frightening final act.
‘Don’t Move’ (2024)
Don’t Move is sure to get the audience’s adrenaline pumping as grieving mother Iris finds herself in a horrific situation after she crosses paths with a sadistic serial killer while contemplating taking her own life. When a stranger talks her out of suicide, Iris discovers his chilling ulterior motives as the man injects her with a paralyzing agent that will completely immobilize her once it takes full effect, forcing her to fight for survival.
A Pulse-Pounding Battle For Survival
Featuring Finn Wittrock and Kelsey Asbille as the proverbial hunter and its prey, Don’t Move may tout a familiar premise, but the powerful performances by its at-odds leads help elevate the thriller into more than just a simple cat-and-mouse game. Iris discovers just how badly she does want to live when she is faced with her own mortality as the clock keeps ticking, leading to an explosive showdown between the two that will leave viewers’ hearts racing.
‘I Am Mother’ (2019)
Hilary Swank delivered a tour de force performance as a resilient woman attempting to survive in a post-apocalyptic world overrun by robots in I Am Mother, which focuses on a teenage girl simply named Daughter (Clara Rugaard) as she is raised by a robot named Mother (Rose Byrne) in a remote bunker following an extinction event. When a stranger (Swank) unexpectedly arrives with stunning revelations, Daughter begins to question her whole entire existence.
Swank’s Scene-Stealing Performance
Propelled by the convincing performances of its small-yet-mighty cast, I Am Mother is both a character-driven drama and spellbinding sci-fi thriller that brilliantly explores the concepts of motherhood, artificial intelligence, nature vs. nurture, and maternal figures. Swank’s profound and affecting portrayal earned the Oscar-winner an AACTA Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, and the underrated gem currently holds a solid 89% Rotten Tomatoes score.
‘Stowaway’ (2021)
Anna Kendrick appears as a medical researcher on an important mission to Mars in the engrossing and visually-stunning film Stowaway, a sci-fi thriller that chronicles a terrifying turn-of-events as Kendrick’s Zoe Levenson and her fellow crew members Marina (Toni Collette) and David (Daniel Dae Kim) discover an accidental stowaway aboard their spaceship. With dwindling resources, the group must figure out a way to survive the situation or risk them all perishing.
An Unfathomable Moral Dilemma
As the crew begins to ponder the grim solution of sacrificing the stowaway Michael (Shamier Anderson), Zoe fights to keep their humanity intact and instead pushes to keep all of them alive by attempting to do a dangerous spacewalk to retrieve crucial liquid oxygen. Stowaway will leave audiences squirming and on the edge of their seats as they witness Zoe and the others face an agonizing moral dilemma, with the well-acted thriller sure to leave you riveted from beginning to end.
‘The Good Nurse’ (2022)
Based on the true crime novel of the same name, The Good Nurse tells the harrowing story of the prolific serial killer Charles Cullen and the courageous fellow nurse who risked her life to expose Cullen’s heinous crimes against innocent patients over the course of 16 years. In 2003, single mother Amy Loughren (Jessica Chastain) begins working at a New Jersey hospital, where she quickly befriends Cullen (Eddie Redmayne) while working the night shift.
Chastain & Redmayne’s Enthralling Performances
It doesn’t take long before Amy starts to suspect that Cullen is responsible for a series of perplexing patient deaths, prompting her to team up with determined detectives to catch the notorious killer and end his murderous spree once and for all. Despite attracting 68.31 million viewing hours during its first week of release, The Good Nurse has largely faded into Netflix’s ever-growing film catalog but deserves a rewatch due to Chastain and Redmayne’s equally absorbing performances.
‘Mercy’ (2016)
In Mercy, four siblings gather in the farmhouse where their mother is dying. They have decided to come together, and although they seem estranged from each other, they have decided to have a cordial reunion. The problem is that masked strangers stand outside and have decided to attack them.
One of the Best Movie Twists in Recent Years
Not many people know about Mercy because Netflix didn’t do a very good job promoting it, and it mostly remains hidden in the algorithm. Nevertheless, it’s a fascinating exercise in genre storytelling with a narrative style that’ll keep you hooked until it delivers its unexpected and mindblowing twist ending. You won’t be prepared for what happens.
‘God’s Crooked Lines’ (2022)
Based on the Torcuato Luca de Tena novel of the same name, God’s Crooked Lines takes place in 1979 and focuses on private detective Alice Gould de Almenara as she checks herself into a psychiatric ward to investigate the homicide of a patient who died under mysterious circumstances. Feigning paranoia, Alice makes it her mission to get to the bottom of the crime, but subsequently finds herself questioning her own sanity as she becomes swept up in the chaos and mayhem around her.
A Thriller with Some Seriously Shocking Twists
Before turning on God’s Crooked Lines, you should know that the psychological flick is jam-packed full of unexpected twists and turns that will leave your mind as boggled as Alice’s, as the determined heroine is an unreliable narrator. Bárbara Lennie’s performance as Alice was singled out by critics, and she received a Goya Award nomination for Best Actress, with her portrayal of the character being favorably compared to Leonardo DiCaprio’s role in Martin Scorsese’s Shutter Island.