8 Greatest Prime Video Thriller Shows That Are 10/10, No Notes

Published Sep 6, 2026, 7:09 AM EDT

Lucas Kloberdanz-Dyck is a writer for Collider. He grew up creating lists, stories, and worlds, which led to his love of anime and video games. He attended Sheridan College where he earned an Honours Bachelor of Game Design. Lucas and his group won 1st place for technical innovation at LevelUp Toronto 2023, and he was also an intern for the Oakville Film Festival of Arts. 

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The beauty of TV and movies is that there is a genre for everyone, from those who prefer sidesplitting comedies to exhilarating action-packed stories. Luckily, there are plenty of streaming platforms to choose from, and Prime Video is one of the best, with staple series such as The Boys and The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power. However, some fans prefer a little more excitement, suspense, and tension, which means the thriller genre is perfect for them, and Prime Video is ripe with must-watch thrillers.

Everyone loves a good thriller to raise the heart rate and deliver unpredictable thrills, whether that be through action, mystery, tension, or comedy. Prime Video boasts a plethora of excellent, thrilling series, which is why this list highlights the best of them, all of which are 10/10. Each entry will be based on its writing, story, acting, fan opinion, critical acclaim, tension, thrilling moments, and overall quality. If readers have Prime Video and haven't seen these shows, they have just found their next watch list.

'The Terminal List' (2022–Present)

Image via Prime Video

The Terminal List was an unexpected delight, and quickly became a fan-favorite thriller series on Prime Video. Navy SEAL James Reece (Chris Pratt) returns home thinking the worst is behind him. Little does he know that the dark forces are following him home, threatening him and his family. As fans still wait for the second season, they can at least enjoy the prequel series, The Terminal List: Dark Wolf, which aired in July 2025.

The critics and fans have drastically different opinions on The Terminal List, as highlighted by the critics' score (41%) and fan score (94%) on Rotten Tomatoes. While not everyone could agree, it makes the list nonetheless, even if it takes the last spot. This isn't the most original show, but the action and thrilling aspects are more than enough to get any fan invested in this series. The Terminal List is brutal, epic, and cold-blooded, making for an instant thrilling ride.

'Cross' (2024–Present)

Image via Prime Video

Everyone enjoys a good crime thriller from time to time, meaning Cross should be next on everyone's watchlist, especially since the thrills don't stop, with the studio announcing a second season to premiere early 2026. Alex Cross (Aldis Hodge) is a forensic psychologist and homicide detective, pursuing America's most dangerous killers. However, nothing is predictable in this line of work, as he and his partner must protect themselves and their families.

Cross is burdened with more than a few clichés, but besides that, it is a 10/10 high-octane crime thriller that doesn't need any other feedback. This is a career-defining role for Hodge, who delivers a badass and charismatic performance, making every part of the show better. From its well-paced plot to twists and turns, to major moments, this is a superb thriller series that doesn't get the recognition it deserves. Cross Season 2 debuted earlier this year.

'The Devil's Hour' (2022–Present)

Image via Prime Video

Not every show on this list is a well-known masterpiece; others are overlooked 10/10 series, such as The Devil's Hour. This British drama series follows Lucy Chambers (Jessica Raine), a social worker who wakes up every night at 3:33 AM, which is known as the devil's hour. From her terrifying visions to her emotionless son, delusional mother, and haunted house, Lucy is inexplicably connected to a string of murders that she must help solve.

Thrillers come in many shapes and sizes, including action, comedy, drama, espionage, and supernatural. However, mystery thrillers embody the genre the best, enhancing the drama, tension, and suspense to make sure it raises the viewers' heart rate. The Devil's Hour is one of the most thrilling shows on Prime Video, using its unpredictable plot and gripping mystery to create an uneasy and captivating experience.

'Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan' (2018–2023)

Image via Prime Video

Prime Video loves its action thrillers, as evidenced by the multiple entries on this list, starting off with Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan. The Jack Ryan film franchise had its ups and downs, but decades later, the television series proved the series just needed a revamp. Former US Marine, now rookie CIA analyst, Jack Ryan (John Krasinski), is thrust into a new assignment where he uncovers a new type of terrorism that can sway the balance of peace.

Krasinski proves he is an action star in Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan, expanding outside of comedies and horrors to deliver a truly remarkable and thrilling performance. Not many shows set such a high bar of excellence when it comes to quality espionage drama and thrills, but Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan is non-stop tension. It masterfully blends drama with suspenseful fights and intriguing mystery to create a must-watch thriller on Prime Video.

Collider Exclusive · Action Hero Quiz Which Action Hero Would Be
Your Perfect Partner? Rambo · James Bond · Indiana Jones · John McClane · Ethan Hunt

Five legends. Five completely different ways of getting out alive — with style, with muscle, with charm, with luck, or with a plan so intricate it probably shouldn't work. Ten questions will reveal which action hero was built to have your back.

🎖️Rambo

🍸James Bond

🏺Indiana Jones

🔧John McClane

🎭Ethan Hunt

FIND YOUR PARTNER →

01

You're dropped into a dangerous situation with no warning. What do you need most from a partner? The first few seconds tell you everything about who belongs beside you.

ASomeone who already has three contingency plans running and is calmly working through all of them. BSomeone who reads the terrain instinctively and knows exactly how to use it against the enemy. CSomeone who keeps their nerve and their sense of humour when everything is falling apart. DSomeone who knows the history of wherever we are and what we're walking into. ESomeone with the right contact, the right cover identity, and the right exit already arranged.

NEXT QUESTION →

02

You have to get somewhere dangerous, fast. How do you travel? How you get there is half the mission.

AOn foot through terrain no one else would attempt — I move where vehicles can't follow. BOn a motorcycle, a cargo plane, or anything else that gets me there before I think too hard about it. CIn something that belongs to someone else — borrowed, stolen, or improvised under fire. DFirst class, with a cover identity and a gadget that does something I won't explain until it's needed. EBy whatever means are available — I've driven, flown, and once arrived by camel. The destination matters, not the method.

NEXT QUESTION →

03

You're pinned down and outnumbered. What does your ideal partner do? This is when you find out what someone is really made of.

ADisappears into the environment, flanks them silently, and ends it before I've reloaded. BCracks a one-liner, grabs a fire extinguisher or a chair, and improvises something that somehow works. CProduces a gadget specifically designed for this exact scenario and uses it with infuriating precision. DPulls out a whip, a pistol, and an archaeological insight that somehow gets us out alive. ENeutralises the threat with maximum efficiency and minimum words — they were already three moves ahead.

NEXT QUESTION →

04

The mission is paused. You have one evening to decompress. What does your partner suggest? Who someone is when the pressure drops is who they actually are.

AA bar with terrible lighting, cold beer, and absolutely no questions about feelings. BThe finest restaurant in the city, a bottle of something expensive, and a conversation that is equal parts brilliant and exhausting. CA local dig site, a museum after hours, or a long story about why that particular artefact matters to human civilisation. DPizza. Bad TV. Falling asleep halfway through a movie neither of you were watching anyway. EA debrief that turns into three hours of contingency planning that somehow becomes the most fun you've had all week.

NEXT QUESTION →

05

How do you prefer your partner to communicate mid-mission? Good communication is the difference between partners and a liability.

APrecise and minimal — tell me what I need to know and nothing else. Every word has a cost. BDeadpan and dry — keeping it light keeps me sharp, even when everything is on fire. CEnthusiastic and slightly chaotic — but always with useful information buried somewhere in the noise. DCalm and controlled through an earpiece, with a plan that covers every variable I haven't thought of yet. EBarely at all — silence is a language and they speak it fluently.

NEXT QUESTION →

06

Your enemy is powerful, well-resourced, and has the upper hand. How should your partner approach them? The approach to the enemy defines the partnership.

AInfiltrate their inner circle, learn everything, and dismantle them from inside out before they know we're there. BStudy the historical pattern — every villain of this type has a weakness written somewhere in the past. CGet them talking. The more they monologue, the more time I have to figure out how to beat them. DGo through them. Directly. With as much force as the terrain allows. EFind the one thing they haven't accounted for — there's always one thing — and make sure we're holding it.

NEXT QUESTION →

07

Things go badly wrong and you're captured. What do you trust your partner to do? Who someone is when you need them most is the only thing that matters.

ACome in alone, quietly, and get me out before anyone knows they were there. BHave already been working on the extraction since the moment I disappeared — the plan is already running. CCome in loud, come in fast, and worry about the collateral damage later — I'd do the same for them. DUse every resource, every contact, and bend every rule until I'm out — they don't leave people behind. ECharm their way in somehow, bluff through the hard part, and still manage to look good doing it.

NEXT QUESTION →

08

What does your ideal partner bring to the table that you couldn't replace? A great partner fills the gap you didn't know you had.

ATechnology that shouldn't exist yet and the training to use it under any conditions. BSurvival instinct so refined it borders on supernatural — and the scars to prove it's been tested. CKnowledge of history, language, and culture that makes them invaluable in places where force is useless. DThe ability to walk into any room in the world and immediately become the most trusted person in it. EStubbornness that refuses to accept a situation is hopeless — and the improvisational skill to back it up.

NEXT QUESTION →

09

Every partnership has a cost. Which of these can you live with? No one comes without baggage. The question is whether you can carry it together.

AA partner who never fully switches off — always watching exits, always calculating threats, even at dinner. BA partner who gets the job done brilliantly but has the emotional availability of a locked filing cabinet. CA partner who makes everything ten times more complicated than it needs to be — but who always comes through. DA partner who gets personally attached to every relic, ruin, and artefact we encounter, which slows everything down. EA partner who was not built for this and knows it — but shows up anyway, every time, without being asked.

NEXT QUESTION →

10

It's the final moment. Everything is on the line. What do you need from your partner right now? The last question is the most honest one.

AOne line. Absolutely dry. Delivered like the world isn't ending. Then we move. BNothing said at all — just a look that means we both already know what has to happen. CA plan I don't fully understand that somehow accounts for everything, delivered in thirty seconds flat. DA piece of historical context that reframes the entire situation and tells us exactly what to do next. ESomeone who steps forward instead of back — because that's who they've always been.

REVEAL MY PARTNER →

Your Partner Has Been Assigned Your Perfect Partner Is…

Your answers have pointed to one action hero above all others. This is the person built to have your back — for better or considerably, spectacularly worse.

Rambo

Your partner doesn't talk much, doesn't need to, and will have assessed every threat in your immediate environment before you've finished your first sentence. John Rambo is not a man of plans or politics — he is a force of nature shaped by survival, loyalty, and a capacity for endurance that goes beyond anything training can produce. He will not leave you behind. He has never left anyone behind who deserved to come home. What you get with Rambo is the most capable, most quietly ferocious partner imaginable — one who has been through things that would have broken anyone else, and who chose to keep going anyway. You'll never need to ask if he has your back. You'll just know.

James Bond

Your partner will arrive perfectly dressed, perfectly briefed, and with a cover story so convincing it'll take you a moment to remember what's actually true. James Bond is the most professionally dangerous person in any room he enters — and the most disarmingly charming, which is the point. He operates in a world of layers, where nothing is what it appears and every advantage is used without apology. You'll never be bored. You'll occasionally be furious. But when it matters — when the mission is genuinely on the line and the margin for error has collapsed to nothing — Bond is exactly the partner you want. He has survived things that have no business being survivable. He does it with style. That is not nothing.

Indiana Jones

Your partner will know the history, the language, the cultural context, and exactly why the thing everyone else is ignoring is actually the most important thing in the room. Indiana Jones is brilliant, reckless, and occasionally impossible — but he is also one of the most resourceful, most genuinely knowledgeable partners you could find yourself beside. He approaches every situation with a scholar's eye and a brawler's instinct, which is an unusual combination and a remarkably effective one. He hates snakes and gets personally attached to objects of historical significance, both of which will slow you down at least once. It doesn't matter. What Indy brings is irreplaceable — and the adventures you'll have together will be the kind people write books about. Assuming you survive them.

John McClane

Your partner was not supposed to be here. He does not have the right equipment, the right information, or anything approaching the right odds. He has a sarcastic remark and an absolute refusal to accept that the situation is as bad as it looks. John McClane is the greatest accidental hero in the history of action cinema — a man whose superpower is stubbornness, whose contingency plan is improvisation, and whose capacity to absorb punishment and keep moving would be alarming if it weren't so useful. He will complain the entire time. He will make it significantly more chaotic than it needed to be. And he will absolutely, unconditionally, without question come through when it counts. Yippee-ki-yay.

Ethan Hunt

Your partner has already run seventeen scenarios by the time you've finished reading the briefing, and the plan he's settled on involves at least two things that should be physically impossible. Ethan Hunt operates at the absolute edge of human capability — technically, physically, and intellectually — and he brings the same relentless precision to protecting his partners that he brings to dismantling organisations that shouldn't exist. He is not easy to know and he will never fully tell you everything. But he will carry the weight of the mission so completely, so absolutely, that your job is simply to trust him — and the remarkable thing is that trusting him always turns out to be the right call. The mission will be impossible. He will complete it anyway.

↻ RETAKE THE QUIZ

'Mr. & Mrs. Smith' (2024–Present)

Image via Prime Video

Everyone remembers the classic action romance comedy starring Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt, but fast-forward a couple of decades, and Prime Video rebooted the franchise starring Donald Glover and Maya Erskine. Two strangers have given up their identities to join a top-secret assassination organization, and now must live as married assassins who go on missions together. However, the hard part isn't the life-threatening missions.

Mr. & Mrs. Smith took a fun movie and concept and made it one of the best modern thrillers on Prime Video, but unfortunately, the chance for a second season is looking increasingly unlikely. Regardless, the first season has enough drama and excitement. Glover and Erskine's chemistry is to die for, masterfully creating comedic, dramatic, emotional, and action-packed performances that enhance the thrilling aspect of the incredible series.

'Reacher' (2022–Present)

Alan Ritchson has quickly become a household name thanks to his increased spotlight in action films and series. While he is in the running for many superhero roles, it isn't likely that anything will top his performance in Reacher. Ritchson stars as the titular Jack Reacher, a retired police officer who finds himself in the middle of a dark conspiracy involving businessmen, politicians, and dirty cops after he is arrested for a murder he didn't commit.

Reacher is Ritchson's best work by far, as he embodies the overwhelming hulking presence of the character with grace, nuance, and excitement. The action is brutal and satisfying, using its relentless fight scenes and exhilarating moments to create a binge-worthy thriller masterpiece. However, Reacher isn't just about the action; the suspense and storytelling are also phenomenal, making this a staple of Prime Video. It is no "reach" to say that this is the best action thriller on Prime Video.

'The Night Manager' (2016–Present)

Image via Prime Video

2016 saw the release of one of Prime Video's best thriller series ever, The Night Manager, which unfortunately didn't make it past one season. However, nearly a decade later, Prime Video brought the series back for both a second and third season; Season 2 debuted earlier this year. It follows Jonathan Pine (Tom Hiddleston), a night manager at a luxury hotel, who must infiltrate an arms dealer.

There are plenty of highlights from The Night Manager, including its captivating premise and engrossing plot, but the performances from every actor are the best part. Hiddleston, in particular, is in his bag, helping this tightly paced espionage thriller hit every corner. The Night Manager is a hidden gem on Prime Video, and well worth it for any curious fans.

'Bosch' (2014–2021)

Image via Prime Video

Prime Video has a few thriller staples, including Reacher and The Night Manager, but Bosch is by far the best and most iconic, and fans can tell that simply based on the number of spin-offs. The titular detective, Harry Bosch (Titus Welliver), was a former special forces officer, but now faces challenges every day in his endless pursuit of truth.

With seven seasons of pure perfection and multiple spin-offs, fans have plenty of Bosch to go around, but by the end, they wish there were more. This show is a mastery of mystery and suspense, two key defining aspects of thrillers that Bosch perfects. Fans can't get enough of the crime-fueled masterpieces with plenty of unpredictable moments, plot twists, and magnificent acting. Bosch is the defining face of Prime Video and crime thrillers.

Bosch

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  Harry Bosch

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  Jerry Edgar

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