Thrillers do a lot of heavy lifting. From detective stories and noir, to crime dramas and mysteries, the genre can even include a little horror sometimes. Full of twists, turns and outright fake-outs, these movies are all in service of keeping you, the audience, thrilled.
Because there are so many great thriller movies, curating a succinct list of 30 films available to stream or rent right now was tough! We could’ve listed every Alfred Hitchcock film, for example. But you deserve a little variety, so we were up to the challenge. Keep scrolling and get ready to sit on the edge of your seat.
‘Gaslight’ (1944)
The origin story for the phrase “to gaslight” someone: A newly married woman returns with her enigmatic husband to the home where her aunt was murdered only to find herself slowly losing her mind. Or is she?
Rent it on YouTube
‘The Third Man’ (1949)
A novelist visits post-World War II Vienna and ends up investigating the mysterious death of one of his old friends.
Stream it on Tubi
‘The Night of the Hunter’ (1955)
A preacher with the words “love” and “hate” tattooed on his fists marries a widow, and begins terrorizing his stepchildren, urging them to reveal where their father hid money from a robbery.
Stream it on Tubi
‘North by Northwest’ (1959)
An ad executive is mistaken for a government agent by foreign spies, who force him to go on the run. Along the way, he falls for a woman who might have her own agenda.
Stream it on Tubi
‘The Manchurian Candidate’ (1962)
During the Korean War, an American POW is brainwashed into becoming a secret assassin in a conspiracy of Communists. The film was remade in 2004 with the era updated to reflect the Gulf War.
Stream the original on Tubi and the remake on Max
‘Cape Fear’ (1962)
A vengeful criminal is released from prison and stalks the family of the lawyer who put him away. The film was remade in 1991 by Martin Scorsese.
Rent the original and the remake on YouTube
‘Play Misty for Me’ (1971)
A radio DJ’s life becomes a nightmare after a one-night stand with a fan who just won’t give up.
Stream it on Netflix
‘Deliverance’ (1972)
A group of friends heads out into the wilderness for a camping vacation but stumbles on a vicious bunch of banjo-playing locals and an unforgiving Mother Nature.
Stream it on YouTube
‘The Conversation’ (1974)
A surveillance expert thinks twice about spying on a couple — but then finds his paranoia is actually justified.
Stream it on Netflix
‘Marathon Man’ (1976)
After his brother is murdered, a student is pursued by government agents looking for a Nazi war criminal who is trying to retrieve smuggled diamonds. This one will make you think twice about your next dentist appointment.
Stream it on Google Play
‘Blood Simple’ (1984)
This Coen brothers’ debut focuses on the owner of a small-town Texas bar who learns one of his workers is sleeping with his wife. Once he decides to have them both killed, things go from bad to worse.
Stream it on Max
‘Fatal Attraction’ (1987)
A married man has a torrid one-night stand with a woman who refuses to be ignored and tossed aside in this 1987 film that will make you want to check the lock on your rabbit hutch. There was also a single-season series adapted in 2023.
Stream the original and the TV series on Paramount+
‘Dead Calm’ (1989)
A grieving couple on a sailing trip take in a stranger who claims to have escaped from an abandoned ship. But he may not be telling the truth.
Stream it on YouTube
‘Presumed Innocent’ (1990)
A Chicago prosecutor is accused of the murder of a colleague and slowly discovers he has more connection to her death than he realized.
Stream it on YouTube
‘The Silence of the Lambs’ (1991)
An FBI rookie cadet interviews an incarcerated serial killer hoping to gain insight into another serial killer, who skins his victims.
Stream it on MGM+
‘Basic Instinct’ (1992)
A troubled police detective investigates a murder that has ties to a seductive novelist. Ice picks are involved.
Stream it on Paramount+
‘The Fugitive’ (1993)
After a doctor is accused of murdering his wife, an unexpected escape en route to prison gives him a chance to get away and try to prove his innocence.
Stream it on YouTube
‘The Last Seduction’ (1994)
A woman steals the money her husband obtained by selling drugs and escapes to a small town where she convinces a second man to join her next big plan.
Stream it on Peacock
‘Heat’ (1995)
Pro thieves feel the squeeze from Los Angeles cops when they accidentally leave an important clue at the scene of their latest crime.
Stream it on Hulu
‘Seven’ (1995)
A rookie detective and a veteran on the cusp of retirement hunt a serial killer who incorporates the seven deadly sins into his kills.
Stream it on Max
‘Funny Games’ (1997)
A family is taken hostage in their vacation cabin by two men and forced to play “games” that amuse their kidnappers. Be aware: This movie does not play fair. Austrian director Michael Haneke remade his own film shot for shot in English in 2007.
Rent the original and the remake on YouTube
‘The Talented Mr. Ripley’ (1999)
A father hires a grifter to convince his wayward son to return home, but the grifter has other plans: to take over the wayward son’s life. “Ripley,” the episodic adaptation, premieres April 4.
Stream the film on Paramount+ and the series on Netflix
‘Memento’ (2000)
A man suffering from short-term memory loss tattoos clues to his wife’s murder on his body while trying to track down her killer. Christopher Nolan’s film unfolds out of order, so be prepared for a mind-bender.
Stream it on Tubi
‘The Machinist’ (2004)
An industrial worker who hasn’t slept in a year starts hallucinating and causes an injury, so he tries to find out if he’s going insane or being gaslit.
Stream it on Paramount+
‘Collateral’ (2004)
A contract killer commandeers a cab driver to make the rounds from hit to hit during a single night in Los Angeles.
Stream it on Paramount+
‘Black Swan’ (2010)
An unstable ballerina is pushed to a breakdown by her director and a fellow ballerina, all while preparing for the top role in an upcoming ballet.
Stream it on YouTube
‘Gerald’s Game’ (2017)
At a remote lake house, a couple plays a few adult games. Things go south when he suddenly suffers a heart attack and she is left handcuffed to the bed … possibly forever.
Stream it on Netflix
‘Searching’ (2018)
A father searches for his missing teenage daughter using clues on her laptop in this film told entirely in-screen. A similar film from 2023, “Missing,” focuses on a daughter trying to locate her missing mother using the same stylistic conceit.
Rent “Searching” on YouTube and stream “Missing” on Netflix
‘Us’ (2019)
A woman and her family are attacked by their doppelgangers, and uncover a mystery that stretches all the way back to her childhood.
Stream it on Hulu
‘Knock at the Cabin’ (2023)
A couple and their daughter are on vacation at a cabin when four strangers take them hostage and demand they choose who from their brood should die to avoid an apocalypse.
Stream it on YouTube