40 Thriller TV Shows That You Won’t Regret Watching
Block off your calendar and embrace the art of the cliffhanger.
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There’s something about watching a truly great thriller series that’s simply unmatched. From the first few scenes, you know you’re already hooked—and that you’re absolutely going to see this story through to its end. Of course, there are plenty of categories to choose from within the TV thriller genre itself. Offering everything from gripping mysteries and true crime-inspired sagas to eerie zombie tales, there’s plenty of suspense to go around. And despite the fact that all thrillers are unnerving in their own unique way, each and every one will keep you on the edge of your seat until the credits roll. If you also happen to catch yourself glancing over your shoulder suspiciously as it plays, well, don’t say we didn’t warn you.
The good news is, there is a thriller for any mood. Whether you’re craving an action-packed spy thriller like Slow Horses or The Day of the Jackal, a dystopian drama like Paradise or The Last of Us, or a psychological rollercoaster in the form of Severance or Disclaimer, there’s a TV series with so many cliffhangers, you’re sure to keep you pressing “next episode” until all of your (very valid) questions are answered. Are you going to be stressed out along the way? Yes, the entire time. That’s just how you know it’s a show worth watching. Here are 40 of the best thriller TV shows that will give you anxiety in the best way possible.
Slow Horses
If you’re late to watching Slow Horses, now is the perfect time to join the Slough House party ahead of season 5. Apple TV+’s beloved British spy thriller follows a motley crew of failed MI5 agents who are relegated to work at an administrative outpost under the far-from-watchful eye of cranky alcoholic head honcho, Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman). Determined to prove their value to the agency—and to get out of Slough House purgatory—the so-called “slow horses” often try to make themselves useful, and high-stakes espionage drama ensues. Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas, Rosalind Eleazar, Saskia Reeves, and Christopher Chung are among the cast.
Paradise
There’s a reason why you’ve probably already heard about Paradise on Hulu, and that’s because the first season’s penultimate episode is already being hailed as one of the best hours of TV in recent memory. Because this political thriller is all about plot twists, we don’t want to spoil too much; just know that it’s from the mind of This Is Us creator Dan Fogelman and stars Sterling K. Brown as a secret service agent, James Marsden as the president of the United States, and Julianne Nicholson as the resident Big Bad. Put your phone on Do Not Disturb and enjoy.
Surface
In this Apple TV+ psychological thriller, Gugu Mbatha-Raw portrays Sophie, a British woman living in San Francisco who, after an alleged suicide attempt, has no memory of her past. As she tries to untangle the mysterious webs of her pre-amnesia life, Sophie—and the audience—discovers that nothing is actually as it seems. Who can she trust? Let’s just say that the show is currently airing its second season, and we’re still not really sure who or what to believe. Oliver Jackson-Cohen stars as Sophie’s venture-capitalist, picture-perfect husband, James.
The Day of the Jackal
Eddie Redmayne is downright chilling in Peacock’s unmissable thriller The Day of the Jackal. Not only is his wildly cold character, the titular Jackal, a world-class sniper, but he also happens to be a true master of disguise. He’s made a career out of putting his two best skills—killing and shapeshifting—to use, taking on high-risk jobs as a globe-trotting assassin. But when one high-profile hit gets the attention of a determined British intelligence officer named Bianca (Lashana Lynch), the Jackal suddenly finds himself on the other end of a deadly cat-and-mouse game, and it’s one that threatens to ruin the lives of all involved.
Lioness
If you’re searching for an international spy thriller that you can binge in one weekend, Lioness is your answer. Both seasons of the Paramount+ series have plenty of ass-kicking courtesy of Zoe Saldaña, who stars as CIA senior case officer Joe. Heading up the agency’s titular anti-terrorism program that enlists undercover female operatives—a.k.a., Lionesses—in the field, Joe is as tough as they get. Balancing her dangerous work with her family life, though, isn’t exactly a walk in the park. It’s as fun to watch the fight scenes as it is to see Saldaña share the screen with Nicole Kidman, who plays her character’s CIA boss, and Dave Annable, who portrays her husband.
Disclaimer
In this slow-burn psychological thriller from Apple TV+, Cate Blanchett plays Catherine Ravenscroft, an esteemed documentary journalist whose life in London comes crashing down when she learns that she’s the subject of a new novel. The book exposes a long-held secret tied to an Italian vacation 20 years prior, and it’s one that could ruin everything Catherine has built. With non-linear timelines, differing points of view, and the promise of an unreliable narrator throughout its seven episodes, the details remain murky until the miniseries’ bitter end. Kevin Kline, Sacha Baron Cohen, and Louis Partridge star in the present-day timeline, while Leila George portrays the younger version of Blanchett’s character in flashbacks.
Stranger Things
For a dose of nostalgia, it’s never too late to get in on the Stranger Things hype. Set in the fictional 1980s town of Hawkins, Indiana, the Netflix series delightfully blends the sci-fi, horror, and mystery genres, delving into the abduction of a local boy named Will Byers (Noah Schnapp) and the efforts of his best friends (Finn Wolfhard, Gaten Matarazzo, and Caleb McLaughlin) to save him. Think of it as an investigative drama and a supernatural saga rolled into one, with everything from alternate dimensions and secret government experiments to psychokinesis and otherworldly monsters. Winona Ryder, David Harbour, and Millie Bobby Brown are among the ever-expanding cast.
Dope Thief
A pair of lifelong friends decide to pose as DEA agents to rob stash houses—what could possibly go wrong, you ask? In this Apple TV+ crime thriller, the answer is plenty. The show follows Ray (Brian Tyree Henry), a recovering addict and former dealer who teams up with his pal Manny (Wagner Moura) for what’s meant to be a low-stakes grift. Soon, they find themselves under the surveillance of the actual DEA—and facing life-or-death consequences in the eight-episode miniseries, which is airing now.
Happy Face
Annaleigh Ashford takes on the role of Melissa Reed—a character inspired by the real-life daughter of the “Happy Face” serial killer, Keith Hunter Jesperson—in this Paramount+ true crime series. Adapted from Melissa Jesperson-Moore’s 2018 podcast and her 2009 autobiography, Shattered Silence, the show examines the ripple effects of true crime as Ashford’s character confronts the heinous acts committed by her father, portrayed by Dennis Quaid. Consider this one to be appointment viewing, as new episodes drop weekly until May.
Servant
Servant is not for the faint of heart. Falling on the horror end of the spectrum, the AppleTV+ series also delivers on the psychological thriller front as it follows Dorothy (Lauren Ambrose) and Sean Turner (Toby Kebbell), a couple grieving the tragic death of their infant son. After undergoing transitory object therapy, Dorothy believes that a lifelike doll is her real child—and hires a mysterious (and quite creepy) nanny, Leanne (Nell Tiger Free), to care for him. It’s an M. Night Shyamalan show, so you know that things only get stranger from there. Rupert Grint also stars as Dorothy’s brother in the four-season series.
You
Based on Caroline Kepnes’s book series of the same name, You follows Joe Goldberg, a bookstore manager with a deeply sinister—and disturbingly obsessive—side. In each of the show’s four seasons, Joe (Penn Badgley) sets his sights on a new love interest to stalk, only to become so deeply enmeshed in her life that he ultimately has no choice but to take deadly action in order to keep his secrets at bay. The fifth and final season of the Netflix psychological thriller is currently filming, so there’s time to catch up before Joe officially says one last, “Goodbye, You.”
Severance
Upon first glance, you might not think that Severance is a thriller. Boy, would you be wrong. Apple TV+’s sci-fi series is all kinds of creepy, with Mark (Adam Scott) leading a group of office workers who have willingly undergone a procedure that separates their professional and personal memories, so they have no idea what their biotech work at the mysterious Lumon Industries actually entails. John Turturro, Britt Lower, Zach Cherry, and Christopher Walken play fellow “severed” employees, while Patricia Arquette stars as their ruthless manager. A third season is currently underway.
Yellowjackets
Plane crashes, teen angst, cannibalism, supernatural forces—Yellowjackets has it all. The Showtime series takes place in two separate timelines: One tracks the aftermath of a deadly 1996 plane crash, which occurred en route to a high school girls’ soccer tournament; the other explores the survivors’ lives 25 years later when, long after rescue, they’re still reckoning with the trauma of their time in the Canadian wilderness. Melanie Lynskey, Tawny Cypress, Christina Ricci, Juliette Lewis, and Lauren Ambrose portray the haunted adult characters, while Sophie Nélisse, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Ella Purnell, Courtney Eaton, Sophie Thatcher, Samantha Hanratty, and Liv Hewson star as the teens whose lives changed forever during those unspeakable 19 months in the woods. Season 3 is airing now.
Dexter
Dexter Morgan is, arguably, one of the most iconic TV characters of the past 20 years. Played by Michael C. Hall, the titular character is a blood-spatter analyst at the Miami Metro Police Department by day, vigilante serial killer by night. As he hunts down murderers who have gotten away with their crimes, Dexter presents himself as a shockingly normal guy to the world—but viewers are privy to his Dark Passenger-coded internal monologue, as well as visions of his late adoptive father, a cop who helped him hone his unique set of…skills. Following an original eight-season run on Showtime, Hall returned for an equally compelling reboot, Dexter: New Blood, in 2021. And there’s more to come; a prequel to the series, Dexter: Original Sin, premiered in 2024.
The Last of Us
With the post-apocalyptic cultural phenomenon that is The Last of Us, appointment TV viewing returned with a vengeance (if you watched in real time, you had to avoid spoilers like the show’s zombie plague). Based on the popular video game of the same name, the series follows an unlikely duo—grieving father Joel (Pedro Pascal) and orphaned teen Ellie (Bella Ramsey)—as they navigate a dystopian world ravaged by a fungal infection that turns its hosts into zombies. It’ll tug at your heartstrings as much as it’ll gross you out, which is all to say that if you didn’t catch the HBO drama’s first season in 2023, it’s certainly worth binging ahead of season 2.
Hijack
Hijack is the kind of nail-biting, pulse-pounding thriller that will keep you guessing—and stressing—until the very end. Idris Elba stars as Sam Nelson, a seasoned corporate negotiator who’s aboard a flight from Dubai to London that, as the Apple TV+ show’s title suggests, is hijacked by terrorists. Putting his professional skills to work, Sam attempts to broker peace between the passengers and their captors over the seven-hour trip, which unfolds in real time over the course of seven episodes. Word to the wise: Don’t watch this one right before heading to the airport.
Squid Game
Squid Game is not for the faint of heart. The series follows Seong Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a gambling addict who’s invited to enter a mysterious contest—with a huge cash prize—that involves participating in a series of classic Korean children’s games. If it sounds too simple, that’s because it is. The catch: Losing a game results in death, which means that all 456 desperate players are actually risking their lives to get out of debt. Psychological and physical warfare ensues, and it’s all jaw-droppingly sadistic. Season 2 premiered in 2024, and the third and final season will debut this summer.
Homeland
A high-stakes political spy thriller that ran for eight seasons on Showtime, Homeland never failed to put its CIA officer anti-heroine, Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), through the ringer. From early plotlines where Carrie suspects that a rescued prisoner-of-war has returned as an al-Qaeda operative to her later stints working in the Middle East and, eventually, Berlin, the series is rife with dangerous terrorists, covert operations, and corrupt politicians—all of which Carrie must navigate while struggling to manage her bipolar disorder.
Eric
If you’re looking to get lost in another world for a bit, Eric has got you covered. Set in a very gritty 1980s New York City, the Netflix limited series centers on Vincent Anderson (Benedict Cumberbatch), an addict and puppeteer whose 9-year-old son, Edgar (Ivan Morris Howe), goes missing one day on his way to school. Convinced that the only way to get Edgar back is by bringing his drawings of a seven-foot-tall monster puppet named Eric to life on TV, Vincent sets out to do just that—and his mental health and marriage (to Cassie, played by Gaby Hoffman) both continue to devolve as he loses his grip on reality.
The Patient
The Patient gives new meaning to the term “psychological thriller.” The limited series from FX on Hulu delivered 10 truly unhinged episodes in which a serial killer named Sam Fortner (Domhnall Gleeson) holds a therapist, Alan Strauss (Steve Carell), hostage. Sam wants Alan to help him curb his homicidal tendencies—but in order to do so, Alan needs to figure out how to get inside of Sam’s mind in a way that also allows him to survive his time in captivity. It’s equal parts disturbing and riveting.
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