7 Apple TV Thriller Shows Where Every Episode Is a Masterpiece
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Apple TV is definitely a standout streaming platform, one that has established itself as a home for some of TV's most compelling thrillers. There exist tons of greats in the exciting genre on the platform, with chapter after chapter of masterful work that goes beyond dramatic cliffhangers and shocking revelations. From stories rife with psychological tension and unforgettable characters to shocking twists and heart-pounding suspense, Apple TV delivers quality entertainment with every episode.
Shows like Losing Alice, which transforms the seemingly glamorous world of filmmaking into a disturbing psychological struggle, and Silo, which creates an entirely different kind of uncertainty as it traps its characters inside a vast underground bunker, may approach suspense from two very different directions, but they are both exceptional Apple TV-produced series that are standouts in the thriller genre. Compiled on this list are peak thriller gems on the Apple TV platform that hosts nothing but masterpieces of captivating storytelling every episode.
'Dark Matter' (2024–Present)
Dark Matter is a recent addition to the sci-fi thriller genre, and it is a complete banger of a series. The show follows physics professor Jason Dessen (Joel Edgerton), who is abruptly abducted by an alternate version of himself and thrown into a version of his life where different choices made years earlier have led to a completely different life. Trapped in a world not his own, Jason grows desperate to find his way back to his wife and son, navigating dangerous alternate realities while being presented with lives he could have lived and the consequences of choices he never made.
Dark Matter is a pretty great Apple TV series; most call it the best the streaming service has to offer. It's a number one standout that uses a familiar sci-fi trope, but executes it uniquely enough that it's able to completely captivate. In actuality, very few science fiction dramas explore the consequences of personal decisions as imaginatively as Dark Matter. It's a truly thrilling combination of high-concept puzzle mechanics and emotional immediacy, making every one of its episodes an enthralling watch. Despite the series being an ongoing one, what Dark Matter has delivered so far is peak sci-fi masterpieces that stand as a pretty strong example of Apple TV's ambitious genre storytelling.
'Severance' (2022–Present)
This Apple TV psychological thriller is a captivating puzzle that defiantly leaves its audience wanting for more at the end of each masterful episode. Severance centers around Lumon Industries employee Mark Scout (Adam Scott), who has undergone the severance procedure, which surgically divides his memories so that his work self knows absolutely nothing about life outside the office and his outside self knows nothing about what happens during the workday. Things take a turn when evidence from outside begins crossing boundaries that are supposed to be absolute.
Severance easily earns its place on this list due to its careful pacing and constant sense of uncertainty it wields that ensures every one of its episodes feels significant. The series is an extraordinarily thrilling good time, a true masterclass in suspense. From the production design that ensures its characters remain totally blind to the world outside their offices to the editing between the lives of the "innies" and "outies" in the series, Severance does a fantastic job of creating an atmosphere that is consistently filled with unease, mystery, and psychological tension. With absolutely brilliant performances, remarkably controlled storytelling, and unpredictable twists, the Apple TV psychological thriller stands as one of the streaming platform's finest—offering audiences episode after episode of excellence that is honestly nothing short of masterful.
'Slow Horses' (2022–Present)
Slow Horses wields a sharp blend of tense investigation, quick British wit, and unpredictable betrayals, ensuring each one of its episodes is captivatingly entertaining and actually goes beyond the conventional spy watch. The series focuses on MI5 agent River Cartwright (Jack Lowden), who is exiled to Slough House after a disastrous career error, where disgraced, failed, or inconvenient intelligence officers are expected to perform tedious work under the often offensive Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman).
Slow Horses isn't a traditional espionage thriller, where it revolves around skilled heroes carrying out seemingly impossible missions; instead, the series dives deep into the messiness of the real truth about intelligence work. It's a true masterpiece in its own right with a stunning level of high-quality consistency in each chapter. With a steady rhythm, Slow Horses delivers constant entertainment that is intricate without becoming emotionally remote, and genuinely funny without ever deflating the story’s danger. The show far surpasses most series on the Apple TV platform, and stands strong as a reminder that the streaming service offers audiences true thriller-filled brilliance.
'Silo' (2023–Present)
This dystopian thriller creates a rather overwhelming sense of mystery through its setting alone. Apple TV's Silo follows Juliette Nichols (Rebecca Ferguson), an engineer who lives among approximately 10,000 people in a gigantic underground silo where, for generations, the residents have been taught that the outside world is deadly and that strict rules are necessary for human survival. When strange things begin to occur, and suspicious deaths follow, Juliette is drawn away from the mechanical levels and thrust into an investigation about the history of the silo itself.
Silo is a true masterclass in world-building. Every answer about the haunting bunker leads to more follow-up questions that effortlessly keep the show's chilling mystery alive. Silo is truly peak science fiction, thrilling TV excellence that proves the Apple streaming platform stands among the best in its production of awesome thrillers. The series so rarely gives information without making the cost of learning it part of the intriguing drama, ensuring every installment feels cumulative rather than simply episodic. With its exploration of humanity's willingness to accept restriction in exchange for safety, Silo stands as a clear example of imaginative and surprisingly relevant TV, marking it as a genuine dystopian masterpiece.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which British Mystery Series Should You Live In? Midsomer · Broadchurch · Luther · Vera
Answer eight quick questions and we will tell you which one you belong in. Four of the biggest British detective shows ever made, four completely different tones, and four very different ideas of what a detective is for.
🏡Midsomer(Midsomer Murders)
🌊Broadchurch(Broadchurch)
🌚Luther(Luther)
🧥Vera(Vera)
01
Where would you most want to live? Pick the one that sounds most like you.
02
How do you feel about your neighbours? Be honest.
03
How would your friends describe you? Pick the closest answer.
04
How do you solve a problem at work? One answer only.
05
Pick a coat. No wrong answers here.
06
How do you take bad news? Pick the closest answer.
07
What is your relationship with the rules? Think about work, not parking.
08
What matters most to you in a case? Last one. This is the one that decides it.
Previously, On ITV Your Series Is…
Britain makes more detective television than any country has any business making, and somehow almost all of it is good. Here is the one you belong in, what it says about you, and the case for it being the best of the four.
Midsomer Murders
You want the tea, the gossip and the vicar behaving oddly. Midsomer is a county where the scenery is beautiful, the fete is on Saturday and the murder rate is roughly that of a small war, and absolutely nobody involved thinks this is strange.
- You are sociable, curious and the first to notice that somebody has changed their routine.
- It has been running since 1997 and sells to well over two hundred territories worldwide.
- John Nettles handed over to Neil Dudgeon in 2011 and the show did not miss a step.
- Your flaw is that the line between caring about people and enjoying the gossip is thinner than you admit.
Broadchurch
You feel other people's grief as if it were handed to you personally. Broadchurch is less a whodunnit than a study of what a small town does to itself when it finds out that the answer was always going to be somebody everybody already knew.
- You are the one people tell the truth to, and you carry all of it afterwards.
- Olivia Colman won the BAFTA for Best Actress for the first series and David Tennant has never been better.
- Chris Chibnall wrote it before taking over Doctor Who, and took Jodie Whittaker with him.
- Your risk is absorbing so much of other people's pain that nobody notices yours.
Luther
You go through things rather than around them. John Luther is the best detective in London and a liability to everybody who works with him, and the show is completely honest that those two facts are the same fact.
- You are the one people call when the normal approach has already failed.
- Idris Elba won a Golden Globe for it in 2012 and it made him a film star more or less overnight.
- Luther: The Fallen Sun arrived on Netflix in 2023 and took the character properly cinematic.
- Your weakness is that doing the right thing your way still leaves a mess for somebody else.
Vera
You say the thing and you do not dress it up. Vera Stanhope turns up in a hat and a mac, is rude to almost everybody, and is the only person in the room prepared to ask the question that the family has been waiting years for somebody to ask.
- You have no patience for performance, and the people who like you really like you.
- Brenda Blethyn played her for fourteen series before stepping away, and ITV ended the show rather than recast.
- Ann Cleeves wrote the novels, and also wrote the books behind Shetland, which is the same trick in a colder place.
- Your flaw is that blunt and kind can be the same thing, but only if people already know you.
'Bad Sisters' (2022–2024)
Bad Sisters is one of Apple TV's most distinctive thrillers because of its intriguing combination of dark comedy and murder mystery, while it delves deep into a complicated exploration of family loyalty. The series centers on sisters, Eva Garvey (Sharon Horgan), Ursula Flynn (Eva Birthistle), Bibi Garvey (Sarah Greene), Becka Garvey (Eve Hewson), and Grace Williams (Anne-Marie Duff), who are bound by the fierce loyalty that they have for each other and are increasingly united in their hatred for Grace's controlling husband. When he dies, the story gradually reveals how many reasons the sisters have to want him gone.
With a rather unusual structure and sharp dialogue, Bad Sisters creates a truly unpredictable viewing experience, one where tension and humor are constantly in the same scene. It's a captivatingly refreshing take on traditional crime thrillers, and its ability to mesh genuine emotional stakes with outrageous circumstances makes it all the more compelling. But, in actuality, Bad Sisters' brilliance truly comes from how the series excels at making sisterhood the actual suspense mechanism. The show's constant balance of grief, menace, farce, and affection makes it a masterpiece of thriller television, where every installment feels just as captivating as the last.
'Losing Alice' (2020)
This psychological thriller is a constantly overlooked gem that deserves far more acknowledgment for being one of the greats in its genre. The Apple TV thriller, Losing Alice, focuses on once-prominent Israeli filmmaker Alice Ginor (Ayelet Zurer), who feels that aging, career, and family life have left her artistically stranded. After a chance meeting on a train with ambitious young screenwriter Sophie Marciano (Lihi Kornowski), things begin to change.
Losing Alice is a frequently overlooked international thriller that deserves its flowers for its ability to make professional envy genuinely dangerous. The show's filmmaking process is far from a simple, glamorous setting, instead becoming the foundation for a deeply unsettling exploration of obsession, ambition, jealousy, and the surprising lengths people are willing to go to achieve their desires. Losing Alice may not rely on shocking twists throughout its story, but its unpredictable storytelling, amazing performances, and willingness to explore the darker side of artistic ambition in each well-crafted episode make it a great addition to this list.
'See' (2019–2022)
See may be one of the most underrated thrillers the Apple TV streaming platform has to offer. The post-apocalyptic dystopian drama follows the powerful warrior and devoted father Baba Voss (Jason Momoa), whose family becomes the target of dangerous forces after the birth of children capable of sight.
See is quite the ambitious action thriller. It imagines a future where humanity has survived for generations, all without sight. The show's unusual premise and elaborate action sequences make it a rather exciting blend of survival thriller and dystopian science fiction. See's combination of family drama, fascinating world-building, political conflict, and spectacular battles makes for a captivating adventure tale, one where every chapter delivers emotional depth, rushing excitement, and thrilling suspense that defiantly feels like a masterpiece in its own right.
See
- Release Date
- 2019 - 2022-00-00
- Showrunner
- Steven Knight
- Directors
- Steven Knight
- Writers
- Steven Knight
- Main Genre
- Sci-Fi
- Seasons
- 3
- Creator(s)
- Steven Knight
- Story By
- Steven Knight
- Streaming Service(s)
- AppleTV+
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