Exercise is important, but hear me out: If cardio is all about raising the heart rate, can’t we accomplish the same thing by strapping in for a good thriller? I know an exciting horror film or psychological thriller always gets my blood pumping!
I’m no doctor, but if I were, I’d prescribe a dose of these thrillers on Netflix to cure what ails you. Take at least two … but don’t call me in the morning. I won’t pick up.
I’m Thinking of Ending Things
Leave it to Charlie Kaufman to helm a film so unsettling that audiences are left wondering what they just watched. Kaufman, the writer behind Adaptation, Being John Malkovich, and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, adapted I’m Thinking of Ending Things from the novel by Iain Reid. He also directed the film, which stars Jessie Buckley as Lucy, a young woman visiting her boyfriend Jake’s (Jesse Plemons) parents for the first time. They’ve only been dating for seven weeks, and as the title implies, she isn’t sure the relationship will last.
After traveling to a remote farmhouse and meeting Jake’s mother (Toni Collette) and father (David Thewlis), things go sideways. It’s difficult to tell what is real and what’s not as actors seemingly jump from young to old, and the characters’ muddled conversation seem inconsistent and vague. Plagued by visions of a janitor, the couple eventually wind up at a high school to face unconscionable truths in a dramatic conclusion that will make you look at the title of the movie with new eyes.
His House
On the surface, His House feels like a story about refugees struggling to assimilate to a new culture, but it’s much deeper than that. Remi Weekes wrote and directed this film, which is based on a story by Felicity Evans and Toby Venables. In it, we meet Rial (Wunmi Mosaku) and Bol (Sope Dirisu), who are fleeing violence in their native South Sudan. During a traumatic passage across the English channel from France, their daughter Nyagak (Malaika Abigaba) is swept overboard. The grieving couple is then stuck in rundown council housing as they try to fit into London culture.
Bol and Rian are plagued by more than just their neighbors’ obvious racism when an apeth, or “night witch,” begins to haunt them. They learn the apeth demands repayment of a debt, but what debt? The answer brings viewers back to Africa to see what Bol did to deserve the wrath of the angry spirit, and forces Rian to make one of the worst choices imaginable.
Fair Play
Here’s a cautionary tale for anyone who’s ever been tempted to strike up a workplace romance. Fair Play is touted as an “erotic psychological thriller,” and it definitely delivers on all aspects of that description. It stars Phoebe Dynevor (the erstwhile Daphne in Bridgerton) as Emily Meyers, a driven young analyst at a high-stakes Manhattan hedge fund. Emily has been carrying on a secret affair with fellow analyst Luke Edmunds (Alden Ehrenreich), and they’re planning to get married when changes at work expose serious personality flaws in both of them.
Emily excels at work while Luke flounders, leading to increasingly erratic behavior on both counts. After an explosive and violent sex scene, Emily changes the narrative and finally grabs the power she’d been reluctant to claim.
Bird Box
This post-apocalyptic thriller falls in the same category as many of M. Night Shyamalan’s movies, in that the “villain” is an unknowable entity that we never see. In Bird Box, Sandra Bullock plays Malorie Hayes, a woman who is pregnant when a mysterious force sweeps across the globe, killing millions. This entity causes most people to take their own lives when they see it; other people go crazy after seeing it and try to force others to look, too.
While hiding out with other survivors, Malorie and another woman go into labor. Both babies are born healthy, but the other mother dies after looking at the entities. Malorie rescues both infants and flees. Five years later, they receive word of a safe community at a former school for the blind, and Malorie and the kids must blindfold themselves and take a terrifying voyage down the river in search of community.
Missing
Missing is the follow up to 2018’s Searching, and both films follow a pattern of exploring parent-child relationships and true crime as it relates to modern technology. Storm Reid plays June Allen, a teenager who’s partying it up while her single mom Grace (Nia Long) gallivants off to South America with her boyfriend, Kevin (Ken Leung).
When Grace and Kevin fail to appear at the airport and the cops are of no help, June must launch an investigation that spans several continents to track down her missing mother and discover the truth.
Ma
How long do you hold a grudge? For Sue Ellen (Octavia Spencer), the answer is forever.
In Ma, Sue Ellen is a misfit who still lives in the same small Ohio town where she grew up (and was traumatized). A teenager named Maggie (Diana Silvers) moves into town and immediately makes friends with the locals. These friends ask Sue Ellen to buy them booze, opening the door for a strange relationship that puts all of their lives in serious danger. Sue Ellen allows the teens to party in her home, but there’s a cost … a big one.
Good Time
Robert Pattinson pivoted hard post-Twilight, becoming one of our most compelling working actors. Good Time was a big part of Pattinson’s evolution. Directed by Josh and Benny Safdie and featuring a pulse-pounding score by Oneohtrix Point Never, Good Time follows Connie (Pattinson), a small-time crook whose failed bank robbery results in the apprehension of his mentally challenged brother Nicky (Benny Safdie). If you know someone who won’t shut up about how hot Pattinson is, show them Good Time and clock how long it takes for them to get the ick.
Oldboy
Oldboy helped introduce American audiences to South Korean filmmaker Park Chan-wook and has become a bona fide classic since its release in 2003. The second installment in Director Park’s Vengeance Trilogy (bookended by Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance and Lady Vengeance) centers on Oh Dae-su (the great Choi Min-sik), a man mysteriously imprisoned in a room that resembles a hotel room with only a TV as his friend for 15 years. When he’s finally released, Oh Dae-su embarks on a mission to discover who imprisoned him and why. None of the answers will make you feel good, but the path to get there is absolutely thrilling.
I Came By
Sometimes the most “progressive” people are hiding the deepest, darkest secrets. In I Came By, a crime thriller written, co-produced, and directed by Babak Anvari, we meet a respectable judge with a terrifying hidden life. Hugh Bonneville steps away from lovable paternal roles like Robert Crawley in Downton Abbey and Mr. Henry Brown in the Paddington movies to play Sir Hector Blake, a retired High Court Judge.
Toby Nealey (George MacKay) is a young graffiti artist who gets a kick out of sneaking into rich people’s houses and spray painting “I came by” on the wall. He breaks into the judge’s home and finds a lot more than he bargained for, but no one believes him. Things go from bad to worse, reminding viewers to never judge anyone by their appearance. Ever.
If you like this one, be sure to check out Under the Shadow, also directed by Babak Anvari, which is also available on Netflix.
Uncut Gems
If you thought Good Time was intense, wait until you see Uncut Gems. Josh and Benny Safdie’s follow-up stars Adam Sandler as Howie, a jeweller working in New York’s diamond district who places a major bet on a basketball game and proceeds to spend the film’s runtime navigating stress coming at him from every angle: his job, his family, his gamble. Watching Uncut Gems feels like being immersed in a panic attack—a high compliment for a thriller.
All of these fine films are currently streaming on Netflix! Once you’ve finished these 10, why not revisit some old favorites? The original 1960 Psycho, Reservoir Dogs, Scarface, and Jaws are also available on Netflix.
(featured image: Netflix / A24 / Show East / Sony Pictures)
