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Everyone loves a good thriller. A hard-boiled mystery, a chilling crime procedural or an atmospheric neo-noir — there are so many movies to choose from, and they’re all accessible on streaming.
Watch With Us loves every kind of suspense flick, and we can always find what we’re looking for on platforms like Netflix, Prime Video and HBO Max.
This February, we’ve ranked the five best thrillers you can watch right now on streaming.
Our picks include Saltburn starring Barry Keoghan and Jacob Elordi, and M. Night Shyamalan‘s Trap, about a loving father who is secretly a serial killer.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 56 percent
Teenager Riley (Ariel Donoghue) has a great relationship with her dad Cooper (Josh Hartnett), and she’s excited to spend some quality time with him at the concert for her favorite pop musician (Saleka Night Shyamalan). However, Riley has no idea that underneath his goofy smile and dad jokes, Cooper is a serial killer called The Butcher, and he’s being hunted by the FBI. While at the venue, Cooper becomes aware that the authorities tracked his attendance and plan to trap him there, getting him in cuffs once and for all. But Cooper is crafty, and he stays one step ahead of the police while giving his daughter a day she’ll never forget.
Wild and over-the-top like any M. Night Shyamalan movie, Trap might not be quite what it is without Harnett’s singularly psychotic and scenery-chewing performance. If you can excuse some plot holes, inconsistencies and threads that straight up just don’t make sense, Trap is a fantastic time at the movies. The dark humor and atmospheric tension are perfectly cultivated around what is effectively a one-man show for Harnett’s talents.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 58 percent
Disillusioned Los Angeleno Sam (Andrew Garfield) floats through his life without direction, majorly behind on his rent payments, spending most of his time playing video games or hanging out with his hipster friends. When he meets his beautiful new neighbor, Sarah (Riley Keough), Sam suddenly gets a jolt of adrenaline that wakes him from sleepwalking. But the day after he meets her, Sarah goes missing, and Sam is desperate to get her back. He suddenly finds himself trying to untangle a knotty web involving missing moguls, underground bunkers and codes hidden on cereal boxes. It all leads to a massive conspiracy at the heart of Los Angeles.
Under the Silver Lake was treated unfairly by its distributor, ultimately getting pushed back twice until it was shown in a few theaters in April 2019 and then immediately dumped on streaming. Since then, the film has steadily gained a cult following who defend its status as a modern noir masterpiece. With its languid pace, eerie atmosphere and bizarre narrative, Under the Silver Lake is heavily indebted to its film noir inspirations but is its own unique and unforgettable experience.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 59 percent
While descending through the circles of Hell, Jack (Matt Dillon) explains to Virgil (Bruno Ganz) his mortal life as a failed architect and successful serial killer for the past twelve years. Jack waxes poetic about five of his most elaborate kills, which he attempts to justify to Virgil as necessary works of art that have given his life meaning. His victims include an abrasive woman who irritates him (Uma Thurman), a simple-minded girlfriend he abuses (Keough), a mother (Sofie Gråbøl) with two young sons and an unfortunate homeowner named Claire who happens to open her door for him (Siobhan Fallon Hogan).
Divisive and discomforting, The House That Jack Built is macabre, gruesome and darkly funny, led by a performance from Dillon that is somehow charismatic in just how disturbing it is. None other than master provocateur Lars von Trier could have crafted a wild film such as this, and while The House That Jack Built demands you look at it, you might find it impossible to turn away. In addition to being bitingly funny, stylish and compelling, it offers a stimulating exploration of art and violence.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 72 percent
Scholarship student Oliver (Keoghan) has difficulty fitting in with his posh peers at Oxford University, but finds surprising companionship with Felix (Elordi), a wealthy student who sympathizes with Oliver and his difficult upbringing. In an ultimate act of kindness, Felix invites Oliver to stay with him at his family’s massive country estate over the summer holiday, which Oliver readily accepts. But soon after Oliver arrives at the mansion — known as Saltburn — horrifying events begin to happen to Felix’s family, and we come to learn Oliver’s summer plans don’t just involve relaxation.
Sumptuously directed by Wuthering Heights‘ auteur Emerald Fennell, whose production design and cinematography make the visuals an aesthetic delight, Saltburn is Call Me by Your Name by way of The Talented Mr. Ripley. Elordi, Keoghan and Rosamund Pike are the true standouts of the film, but Richard E. Grant, Archie Madekwe and Carey Mulligan are also terrific in some high camp performances. The movie mixes laugh-out-loud humor with outrageous scenes of provocation, and it succeeds more as a fun, pulpy thriller than the satire it’s trying to be.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 84 percent
Contract mafia hitman Ghost Dog (Forest Whitaker) carries out his hits with ghostly precision, a result of adhering tightly to the ancient code of the samurai. Ghost Dog commits his life to serving a mobster named Louie (John Tormey), who saved his life many years ago. When Louie instructs Ghost Dog to kill Handsome Frank (Richard Portnow), who’s been sleeping with the daughter of local mob boss Vargo (Henry Silva), Vargo sends for Ghost Dog to be killed to avoid being implicated in Frank’s murder.
Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai is a gripping blend of samurai philosophy, gangster movies and hip-hop culture, anchored by a profoundly moving performance from Whitaker as a man who is isolated, lonely and out of touch with reality. Carried by a memorable soundtrack produced by RZA, Jim Jarmusch‘s unique direction helps to craft a hypnotic pace and stylish atmosphere, as the film deftly explores themes pertaining to loyalty and personal codes of ethics and morality.
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