Searching for the No 1 Thriller Movie in the World? Explore These Top Thrillers
So you’re looking for a thrill? Well, let’s be more specific. First off, you’re definitely in the mood for a thriller, right? Not a horror situation? While a thriller can be scary and horror can be thrilling, the difference between the two is right in the name. Horror films are predictably meant to horrify you with some evil that needs to be destroyed or at least escaped. Meanwhile, thrillers are unpredictable, which is part of what builds the tension that’s meant to — you guessed it — thrill you. Finding the No 1 Thriller Movie In The World is a subjective quest, as tastes vary, but exploring diverse options is key. This list curates some of the best thrillers available for streaming right now that could be strong contenders for your personal top spot.
Now that’s settled, let’s talk types of thrillers. There are lots: psychological, mystery, high-stakes operation (think action, crime, legal, political, spy, sci-fi save-the-world stuff). If they’re any good, all thrillers at some point become so heart-racing, so sweat-inducing, so completely captivating that you don’t dare pause them — even though you’ve really had to pee for the last seven minutes. Those are the thrillers worth your time — and worth making this list. So, because it wouldn’t be fair to hold you in suspense, here are some of the best thrillers you can stream right now. Finding the ultimate world no 1 thriller movie is a journey, and these films are great starting points. You might also be interested in delving into the realm of world no 1 suspense movie as the genres often overlap.
Bird Box
Thriller subgenre: Postapocalyptic
When someone tells you, “Don’t look,” fighting the urge becomes almost impossible. But in Bird Box, it’s a matter of life or death. Based on a 2014 novel with the same name, this 2018 film follows Malorie Hayes (Sandra Bullock) on a journey of survival. The world is overrun with off-camera entities that cause anyone who looks at them to commit suicide. We meet Malorie as she’s instructing two children (Vivien Lyra Blair and Julian Edwards) to float down a river blindfolded, but then quickly jump back five years to a pregnant Malorie and her visiting sister (Sarah Paulson). A news broadcast warns that unexplained mass suicides are spreading and things are, ahem, not looking good. As Malorie fights for her life, she encounters friends and enemies — including Tom (Trevante Rhodes), Olympia (Danielle Macdonald), Greg (BD Wong), Douglas (John Malkovich), Lucy (Rosa Salazar), and Felix (Machine Gun Kelly). And while none of them are supposed to open their eyes in the monsters’ presence, you won’t be able to look away from this gripping post-apocalyptic scenario. If you enjoy this subgenre, exploring the top 20 post apocalyptic movies might lead you to more intense experiences.
The Call
A woman holds an old corded phone, looking distressed, in a dimly lit room for the sci-fi mystery thriller The Call.
Thriller subgenre: Sci-fi mystery
Seo-yeon (Park Shin-hye) returns to her childhood home on her way to visit her sick and estranged mother. When she arrives at the house, she connects an old phone and begins to receive calls from a distressed woman named Yeong-sook (Jun Jong-seo). During their calls, Seo-yeon realizes Yeong-sook is living in the same house — but 20 years ago. The two women become friends, learning about each other’s lives over the phone while communicating across time. Then one day, Seo-yeon and Yeong-sook make a small choice that will forever change their lives in their respective timelines. But can they trust each other? This sci-fi mystery offers a unique premise that builds significant tension.
Carry-On
A man in a TSA uniform looks intensely at a suitcase on a conveyor belt in the action thriller Carry-On.
Thriller subgenre: Action
Get ready for the most stressful airport trip of your life. Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) spends his days as an unmotivated TSA agent at Los Angeles’ LAX airport. One good thing he’s got going for him? He and girlfriend Nora (Sofia Carson) are expecting their first child. So when Ethan arrives to work on Christmas Eve, he convinces his supervisor (Dean Norris) to put him on bag monitoring duty — angling for a promotion now that they’ve got a baby on the way. But soon after, an earbud comes through in a screening bin and a mysterious text instructs Ethan to insert it. Suddenly, he’s talking to a lethal mercenary known only as “Traveler” (Jason Bateman), who instructs Ethan to let a dangerous carry-on suitcase pass through. And if he doesn’t? Nora will be killed. This action-packed scenario creates immediate, high-stakes tension.
Don’t Move
A young woman struggles to move while lying on the ground in a forest in a scene from the horror thriller Don't Move.
Thriller subgenre: Horror
“Don’t move.” Two words frequently uttered by threatening baddies to their victims, but Iris (Kelsey Asbille) has no choice. During an attack by a stranger (Finn Wittrock) in a park, she’s injected with a paralyzing agent. Though Iris manages to fight off her assailant and make a break for the woods, the drugs gradually take effect until she’s rendered completely immobile — at the mercy of whatever or whoever finds her. Grieving the death of her young son, Iris went to that park at her lowest point. Now, she’ll fight like hell to live. This intense situation blurs the lines between thriller and horror, trapping the protagonist in a terrifying predicament.
Fair Play
A couple in formal attire argue intensely in an office setting for the romantic thriller Fair Play.
Thriller subgenre: Romantic
An ambitious power couple fight their way up the corporate ladder, but can their relationship survive? Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) are a pair of newly engaged financial analysts whose relationship is forbidden by their mutual employer, cutthroat hedge fund One Crest Capital. When Emily gets an unexpected promotion that Luke expected for himself, power games between the two begin to tear their relationship apart. Only one person can come out on top, even if it ruins their future together. This romantic thriller delves into psychological warfare within a relationship under pressure.
Havoc
Tom Hardy as a detective looking rugged and determined in a crime-action thriller.
Thriller subgenre: Crime-action
If you’re looking for chaos, grit, and adrenaline, this crime thriller starring Tom Hardy dials the action all the way up. After a drug deal goes wrong, jaded homicide detective Walker (Hardy) is forced to navigate the city’s criminal underworld to track down a politician’s estranged son. In the process, he’s finally forced to confront the demons of his past that he’s kept buried for a very long time. The combination of crime procedural and high-octane action makes this a thrilling ride.
Hold the Dark
A man looks out at a snowy, desolate landscape in a remote setting for the action-adventure thriller Hold the Dark.
Thriller subgenre: Action-adventure
Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright) is a writer slash wolf expert who’s been called to investigate the disappearance of three small children in the fictional town of Keelut, Alaska. As you may have guessed from Core’s credentials, Medora Slone (Riley Keough) is convinced wolves are to blame for taking her 6-year-old son, Bailey. Meanwhile, Medora’s husband, Vernon (Alexander Skarsgård), is serving overseas in Iraq until an injury and a missing Bailey bring him home. The police, led by Chief Donald Marium (James Badge Dale), and native villagers, like Vernon’s friend, Cheeon (Julian Black Antelope), get involved in the search and form their own opinions as to what’s going on in their small community. As this grisly and suspense-filled tale unfolds, it becomes increasingly difficult to gauge who’s capable of the more savage behavior — animals or humans. This action-adventure thriller set in a harsh environment presents a compelling mystery.
Interceptor
Thriller subgenre: Action-drama
Nothing creates tension like nuclear weapons. Terrorists have stolen nukes from Russia and taken over one of the United States’ interceptor missile launch sites in Alaska. After she files a sexual misconduct report and becomes the subject of even more harassment from her military peers because of it, Army Captain JJ Collins (Elsa Pataky) is re-stationed to the middle of the Pacific Ocean at the only other US interceptor missile launch site. Working in the command center alongside Lt. Colonel Marshall (Rhys Muldoon), Beaver Baker (Aaron Glenane), and Corporal Rahul Shah (Mayen Mehta), Collins is there when the station is infiltrated by ex-military intelligence soldier Alexander Kessel (Luke Bracey) and his group of baddies. They bring a manifesto to stream online about the failures of the US and instructions for those other bad guys in Alaska to launch the seized warheads immediately. As her country’s last line of defense, Collins has other make-’em-up-as-she-goes plans. The high stakes and non-stop action make this a quintessential thriller. While focusing on modern conflicts, cinema also explores intense historical events, seen in features like the best first world war movies.
Leave the World Behind
A family looks out nervously from a house porch at strange events happening in the distance in the apocalyptic thriller Leave the World Behind.
Thriller subgenre: Apocalyptic
There’s no going back to normal in this apocalyptic thriller. Amanda Sandford (Julia Roberts) and her husband, Clay (Ethan Hawke), take their kids on a weekend family getaway to a gorgeous house on Long Island to escape the city buzz. But their vacation bliss is soon interrupted when the homeowner, G.H. Scott (Mahershala Ali), and his daughter, Ruth (Myha’la), arrive in the middle of the night seeking to hunker down in the midst of citywide blackouts in New York City. G.H. believes that the phenomenon might be a sign of something bigger, and the two families must learn to trust each other if they have any hope of surviving. This film offers a chilling take on societal collapse and human response under pressure. For more films exploring similar themes, check out end of world films on netflix.
The Occupant
A man looks intently from behind a slightly ajar door, watching a family in a different apartment, in the psychological thriller The Occupant.
Thriller subgenre: Psychological
The lengths people will go to for a nice apartment these days … in the case of Javier Muñoz (Javier Gutiérrez), they’re downright terrifying. Once a big-shot advertising exec, now unemployed, Javier can’t even get an unpaid internship. He’s forced to leave his stunning rich-person abode with wife Marga (Ruth Díaz) and son Dani (Cristian Muñoz) and downsize to a cramped rental unit in a poorer part of Barcelona. Marga tries to soften the blow with the observation, “They’re four walls, Javier. That’s it.” But Javier can’t seem to let his old place (or the lifestyle and social status that came with it) go. After he discovers a spare set of keys in his car, he returns to the apartment, steals some cornflakes, goes to the bathroom, and sees photos of the family living there now — businessman Tomás (Mario Casas) with his wife, Lara (Bruna Cusí), and their daughter, Mónica (Iris Vallés). Javier becomes obsessed with the new occupants, and what starts as stalking quickly turns to scheming. He’ll do anything — anything — to get “his” home back. A masterclass in psychological manipulation and obsession.
Parasite
The two families, one wealthy and one poor, are shown in separate frames in the dark comedy social commentary thriller Parasite.
Thriller subgenre: Dark comedy, social commentary
Director Bong Joon-ho raised a mirror to the world with his four-time Oscar-winning film, Parasite, which made history in 2020 as the first non-English-language film to win Best Picture. The darkly funny thriller tackles issues of class disparity, wealth, and greed as it centers on the Kims, a poor family of four living in Seoul who struggle to survive until, one day, their son deceptively secures a job working for the wealthy Parks. From there, each of the Kims manipulates their way into becoming employed by the Parks — but their plans rapidly take a turn. This acclaimed film masterfully blends genres, delivering a deeply unsettling and thought-provoking experience.
The Platform
Prison inmates are fed on a descending platform in the dystopian thriller The Platform, with a large hole in the center of the image.
Thriller subgenre: Sci-fi, social commentary
This is a movie about a very scary buffet. One day, Goreng (Iván Massagué) wakes up in a Vertical Self-Management Center, colloquially known as “The Pit,” which is basically a huge tower with lots and lots of floors. His cellmate, Trimagasi (Zorion Eguileor), explains that food is delivered to the inhabitants of each floor via a platform from the top floor down to the bottom floor, pausing for a fixed period of time on each level so folks can eat. But here’s the rub — people on the lower levels can only eat what’s left over from those above them. And anyone caught stowing food? They’re killed. Every month, people are randomly assigned a new level. Even if you’re not paying attention to the capitalism critiques or the case for fair distribution of wealth, this tale of survival is gripping enough to keep your interest. We just suggest you don’t watch it while eating. This sci-fi thriller uses a stark concept to explore human nature under extreme conditions.
Reptile
Benicio Del Toro as a detective looking weary and thoughtful in the crime thriller Reptile.
Thriller subgenre: Crime
In this twisty thriller, hardened detective Tom Nichols (Benicio Del Toro) is thrown into a murder investigation after a young real estate agent is found dead at one of her listings. The young woman’s boyfriend, Will Grady (Justin Timberlake), who’s the head of his family’s real estate empire, is completely devastated by her death, but something is amiss — and Nichols’ investigation into the case leads him to a web of corruption that begins to unravel his whole life. Come for the mystery, stay for Alicia Silverstone’s performance as Tom’s wife, Judy, who is, in some ways, his most trusted partner. This crime thriller offers a slow-burn mystery with plenty of twists and turns.
Rebel Ridge
A man with determined expression, possibly a former Marine, stands in a tense situation in the crime-action thriller Rebel Ridge.
Thriller subgenre: Crime-action
While cycling into the small town of Shelby Springs to bail his cousin out of jail, former Marine Terry Richmond (Aaron Pierre) is rammed by a police car. The officers behind the wheel unjustly confiscate his bail money, plus extra funds Terry had slotted for a new business venture to help his cousin turn his life around. After arriving in town, meeting aspiring lawyer Summer McBride (AnnaSophia Robb), and attempting to report the robbery, Terry soon realizes the entire force is corrupt — all the way up to Police Chief Burnne (Don Johnson). But this time, they’ve messed with the wrong Marine. This crime-action thriller pits a determined protagonist against a corrupt system.
Spiderhead
Thriller subgenre: Psychological sci-fi
Speaking of drugs, Spiderhead tells the story of inmates Jeff (Miles Teller) and Lizzy (Jurnee Smollett), looking to reduce their sentences by volunteering as test subjects for various mood- and mind-altering chemicals in a fancy-schmancy penitentiary. The prisoners have their own rooms and are free to roam without guard supervision, as long as they show up for their daily test runs of the drugs. These are administered by the likable Steve Abnesti (Chris Hemsworth) and his dutiful assistant, Mark (Mark Paguio). But oh ho ho, nothing is ever as it seems in places like this, and Jeff and Lizzy soon realize something much more sinister than a “love drug” is being developed here. Based on a dystopian short story by George Saunders, once published inThe New Yorker, you’ll be addicted from start to finish. This psychological sci-fi film offers a unique premise and explores ethical boundaries.
STRAW
A woman, possibly a struggling single mother, looks concerned in a scene from the drama social commentary thriller STRAW.
Thriller subgenre: Drama, social commentary
Tyler Perry’s dramatic thriller, Straw follows Janiyah (Taraji P. Henson), a struggling single mother who is trying her best to make ends meet for herself and her daughter in the face of immense and mounting pressure. As she navigates a series of events that leave her simply trying to stay afloat, Janiyah becomes the suspect of a crime she never intended to commit, with her life now in the hands of the people around her. This drama uses thriller elements to highlight social issues and personal struggle.
Under Paris
A large shark fin cuts through the water in the Seine River in Paris, with the Eiffel Tower in the background, in the action-horror thriller Under Paris.
Thriller subgenre: Action-horror
In this French creature feature, a giant shark nicknamed Lilith shows up in the Seine just before the city of Paris is set to host a river’s worth of triathlon swimmers. The mayor (Anne Marivin) refuses to cancel the event, so police, environmentalists, and marine researcher Sophia Assalas (Bérénice Bejo) must team up to find and destroy the deadly Lilith. Turns out the scientist and the shark have history — and for Sophia, it’s not just a matter of international security. It’s personal. This action-horror film delivers creature-feature thrills with a unique urban setting.
Watcher
A young woman looks nervously out a window of her apartment in a foreign city in the psychological thriller Watcher.
Thriller subgenre: Psychological
Julia (Maika Monroe) and her husband Francis (Karl Glusman) have recently relocated from New York City to Bucharest after he was transferred for work. While Francis spends most of his time away from home working long hours, Julia tries to settle into her new life, which becomes increasingly difficult when she notices a mysterious man watching her from the building across the street. After learning that a serial killer is targeting young women, Julia’s paranoia intensifies as she worries she could be next. Watcher carefully plays on the anxiety and isolation of moving to a new place, which will leave you on the edge of your seat wondering who to trust. This psychological thriller expertly builds atmosphere and suspense.
The Weekend Away
Two women, one looking worried and the other missing, in a split image representing a crime thriller set in a vacation spot.
Thriller subgenre: Crime
Best friends Beth (Leighton Meester) and Kate (Christina Wolfe) are on what starts as a made-for-Instagram girls trip to Croatia, complete with a gorgeous Airbnb, glamorous vacation attire, delicious food, and views so breathtakingly idyllic they’ll have you pausing the movie to google flights to Europe. The vacation is a much needed catch-up for the ladies. Beth just had a baby and is in a sort of rough patch with husband Rob (Luke Norris), while Kate’s in the aftermath of a bad breakup herself. But events take a turn when Beth awakens after a drunken night on the town to discover that Kate is missing. And there’s blood on the floor. Yikes. Now Beth has to put together what happened — miles from home with no one but Zain (Ziad Bakri) the taxi driver to help. Making matters worse? The police have identified their No. 1 suspect in Kate’s disappearance, and it’s Beth. This crime thriller delivers a tense mystery in a seemingly idyllic setting.
Woman of the Hour
Thriller subgenre: Crime
In 1970s Los Angeles, Sheryl Bradshaw (Anna Kendrick) is looking for her big break but isn’t finding much luck, so she reluctantly agrees to appear on an episode of the blind-dating television show The Dating Game. During the taping, she meets Bachelor #3, Rodney Alcala (Daniel Zovatto) a serial killer in the midst of a years-long murder spree who later became known as the Dating Game Killer. Based on a true story, Woman of the Hour doesn’t just follow what happens once Sheryl crosses Alcala’s path — it also zeroes in on the victims whose lives he cut short. “I’m not really interested in the real Rodney,” Kendrick, who also directed the film, told Tudum. “I was more interested in trying to depict the kind of experience that we are more likely to have.” This crime thriller based on real events offers a chilling look at a notorious case.
Conclusion
From psychological deep dives to high-stakes action and crime mysteries, the world of thrillers is vast and varied. While the title of No 1 Thriller Movie In The World remains a personal choice, this list provides a starting point for anyone seeking heart-pounding suspense and unpredictable plots. Dive into these films and discover your own favorite thrilling experience.
