If you’ve had enough royal drama from The Crown or need to unwind after Bridgerton, Netflix offers a slew of thrillers to choose from.
Despite a reputation for viciously axing its own material, the worldwide streamer nevertheless has hundreds of hidden treasures.
While the bulk of Netflix’s offerings, such as the Justin Timberlake-starring Reptile, draw millions of viewers, some are published with considerably less attention.
Many of these films and TV series, however, go on to achieve critical acclaim and devoted fan audiences – you simply have to look for them first.
Fortunately, we’ve done the legwork for you and discovered a trove of goodies you might have missed.
From a ‘great’ thriller starring a Hollywood superstar that was ‘under-marketed’ to a 2016 film that is already becoming a cult classic, these are the seven Netflix thrillers you may have missed.
A Nearly Normal Family
Viewers got captivated with the Swedish sitcom A Nearly Normal Family, with many admitting to binge-watching the entire season in a single sitting.
‘Y’all need to watch this!! Finished in a day,’ one fan raved on Reddit.
A Nearly Normal Family is based on M. T. Edvardsson’s novel and follows the Sandell family, including lawyer Ulrika (Lo Kauppi), priest Adam (Bjorn Bengtsson), and Stella, their teenage daughter.
Their lives are turned upside down when Stella (Alexandra Karlsson Tyrefors) is accused with the murder of her 15-year-old lover.
Stella’s and her parents’ life collapse throughout the course of the six-part series as their own secrets are uncovered, all while they strive to keep their picture-perfect family together and protect their daughter.
Meanwhile, viewers are left wondering if Stella is the true killer or if she has been falsely implicated.
Locked In
When the British thriller Locked In debuted on Netflix, it quickly became the streaming service’s most-watched film, with 17.8 million views in a single week, according to What’s On Netflix.
The plot revolves around a nurse who is investigating how one of her patients, who was hit by a car and is only able to communicate by blinking, wound up there.
Katherine (Famke Janssen) confesses a murder to her nurse Nicky (Anna Friel) through her blinks.
What follows is a sequence of flashbacks to Katherine’s life before the tragedy, and before she adopted Lina (Rose Williams), the daughter of her late closest friend.
Lina looks up to Katherine and quickly forms a bond with her chronically ill son, Jamie (Finn Cole), and they later marry.
Cracks begin to show as Jamie is the heir to his late father’s manor, where they all live, and relationships crumble.
As Lina forms a connection to Jamie’s doctor, Robert (Alex Hassell), Katherine’s life and family is plagued with tragedy which unravels throughout the 1h 37minute drama.
Viewers are raving about the ‘dark and atmospheric’ film, directed by Nour Wazzi, dubbing it a 10/10.
1899
While Netflix cancelled mystery thriller 1899 after just one season, infuriating audiences around the world, it’s evident why this fascinating story garnered such a following.
With an astonishing 21 jump scares in the first episode, the programme even broke the Guinness World Record for’most written jump scares in a single television episode’.
The series, starring Emily Beecham and Aneurin Barnard, follows a group of European migrants who embark from London on the Kerberos steamer to begin new lives in New York City.
Their journey, however, takes an unexpected turn when they come across another migrant ship floating on the open sea.
Raging about the cancellation, a fan on X, formerly known at Twitter, said: ‘I’m so confused, wasn’t 1899 one of the most watched shows Netflix released last year? there was a lot of talk in online spaces too. what the hell does a show have to reach to get another season at Netflix?’
Accused
Despite receiving a flawless 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the British home invasion thriller Accused appears to have evaded (forgive the pun) many viewers.
The film depicts a young Asian man, Harri (Chaneil Kular), who must survive the night after a mob of vigilantes falsely identify him as a terrorist who exploded a bomb on a London tube.
As it addresses xenophobia, racism, the power and hazards of social media and online witchhunts, and inner-city reality, the drama seems frighteningly close to home.
After discovering the film on Netflix, one wrote on X, formerly known as Twitter: ‘Ok we’re all talking about the wrong home invasion film that came out this weekend, because Philip Barrantini (boiling point) just dropped an absolute banger on Netflix called.’
‘“Accused” on Netflix is phenomenal. Tense af but made me cry because of the sad reality,’ another weighed in.
Spiderhead
Despite the presence of Hollywood legend Chris Hemsworth, 40, many viewers believed the thriller Spiderhead was under-marketed and went unnoticed.
‘I just watched #Spiderhead and I’m again angry that Netflix did nothing to market this movie. Although it won’t be for everyone, I really enjoyed it. It’s well directed, the soundtrack rules, and Chris Hemsworth absolutely BODIED this Easily my favorite performance of his,’ one X user fumed.
Based on George Saunders’ short tale Escape from Spiderhead, the dystopian thriller follows two convicts at a state-of-the-art jail as they build a connection while dealing with events from their past.
The prison is, however, overseen by a visionary who experiments on his captives using mind-altering medicines.
The Killer
David Fincher’s newest nail-biting thriller The Killer debuted on Netflix earlier this month, and viewers have already dubbed it the ‘greatest film of the year.’
Michael Fassbender plays the titular murderer, who becomes engaged in a worldwide search following a botched hit.
The cast also includes Tilda Swinton, Sophie Charlotte, Monique Ganderton, Arliss Howard, and Charles Parnell.
Fans, journalists, and Hollywood celebrities, including horror superstar Guillermo del Toro, have praised The Killer, which presently has an 86% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
On X, Guillermo wrote: ‘The Killer is a beautiful Bronson movie if penned by Sartre and filmed by Melville with the briskness of a Siegel. I simply love, love, love when Fincher swings with a mean genre beat. Nimble and clockwork precise and fun. The breeziest film I have seen in a long time. It’s great when you can see a film and a movie at the same time.’
Rebirth
Netflix promotes its 2016 film Rebirth, starring Fran Kranz from The Cabin in the Woods, as a ‘twisted’ psychological thriller.
The plot revolves on a white-collar suburban parent (Fran Kranz) who rekindles his acquaintance with a long-lost college mate Zack (Adam Goldberg), who has recently completed a self-actualization programme called Rebirth.
Zack persuades Kyle to join him on a weekend-long Rebirth retreat, handing over all of his personal belongings, which sets off a weird journey into a rabbit hole of psychodrama, seduction, and violence.
‘Rebirth – a Netflix original – starring Adam Goldberg is a really great original film. Highly recommended,’ one viewer raved on X.