5 Netflix Thriller Shows Where Every Episode Is a Masterpiece
Dyah (pronounced Dee-yah) is a Senior Author at Collider, responsible for both writing and transcription duties. She joined the website in 2022 as a Resource Writer before stepping into her current role in April 2023. As a Senior Author, she writes Features and Lists covering TV, music, and movies, making her a true Jill of all trades. In addition to her writing, Dyah also serves as an interview transcriber, primarily for events such as San Diego Comic-Con, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the Sundance Film Festival.
Dyah graduated from Satya Wacana Christian University in October 2019 with a Bachelor's degree in English Literature, concentrating on Creative Writing. On March 2026, Dyah graduated with Master's degree in English Literature Studies, with a thesis on intersectionality in postcolonial-feminist studies in Asian literary works.
Born and raised between Indonesia and Singapore, Dyah is no stranger to different cultures. She now resides in the small town of Kendal with her husband and four cats, where she spends her free time cooking or cycling.
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The best thriller shows aren't necessarily the ones with the most plot twists, but the ones that continue to linger in audiences' minds even after they stop watching. Netflix is a powerhouse of original shows, and thrillers happen to be one of the platform's fortes. Whether it's an action thriller or a crime thriller, Netflix's assortment of shows has not only been the talk of fans but has also earned prestigious awards, including Emmys and SAG Awards.
The secret ingredient to any good thriller is how it ultimately resonates on a personal level. Suspense can only do so much to pique audience intrigue, but sending out a message that goes beyond the show is what keeps audiences hooked for the long run. From a thriller that reflects on the manosphere's influence on young boys to a Korean thriller that became a global mega-hit, these are Netflix thriller shows where every episode is a masterpiece.
'Adolescence' (2025)
The internet has given toxic masculinity a platform, and Adolescence shows just how ugly things can get when young boys start buying into it. Netflix's four-part miniseries explores the consequences through Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper), a 13-year-old boy arrested for killing his classmate, Katie Leonard (Emilia Holliday). What starts out as a one-time murder case soon reveals a much bigger problem, as investigators uncover the role that Jamie's rejection and the online bullying surrounding it may have played in the crime. Filmed in one continuous take per episode, Adolescence puts viewers right in the middle of the chaos, from the police raid on Jamie's home to the suffocating interrogations that follow.
Rather than treating Jamie's actions as an isolated case, the show examines how online communities can shape the way boys view women, handle rejection, and define their own masculinity. Its message isn't that the internet is turning every young boy into a potential criminal. Instead, Adolescence asks viewers to take a closer look at the ideas being fed to kids online before those ideas become deeply ingrained. Influencers like Andrew Tate have pushed the manosphere into the mainstream, selling impressionable followers a warped idea of masculinity that often comes with misogyny.
'Baby Reindeer' (2024)
Sometimes, a small act of kindness can lead to a situation you never saw coming. That's the case for Donny Dunn (Richard Gadd), a struggling comedian working at a pub in Baby Reindeer. When Martha (Jessica Gunning), a lonely customer, comes in looking miserable, Donny tries to cheer her up. But his gesture soon turns into a nightmare when Martha develops an unhealthy attachment to him. She starts visiting the pub every day, then takes her obsession beyond its doors, leaving Donny struggling to deal with a woman who refuses to give him space. What initially seems like an awkward encounter becomes an alarming situation that takes over his everyday life.
Rather than following an oversimplified story about a stalker and their victim, Baby Reindeer drills into the reasons Donny struggles to put an end to Martha's behavior. He knows something needs to change, but getting help also means facing the sexual assault he experienced in the past. His experience shows that recognizing a problem and knowing how to deal with it are two very different things. Martha, meanwhile, isn't portrayed as a straightforward villain, even as her actions become increasingly disturbing. The series doesn't excuse her behavior, but it also shows that there's more to her than her obsession with Donny.
'Agent Kim Reactivated' (2026–Present)
If there's one thing Agent Kim Reactivated knows how to do, it's turn an ordinary-looking dad into an absolute menace. Based on the popular webtoon Manager Kim, the K-thriller follows Kim Do-hyeon (So Ji-sub), a quiet bank employee whose life falls apart when his teenage daughter, Min-ji (Seo Su-min), is presumed dead after a bullying incident. The people responsible, including the daughter of a powerful construction tycoon, think they can get away with covering everything up. What they don't know is that Kim used to be North Korea's top spy. After leaving that life behind years ago, he's now ready to bring back his old skills.
Although there's a very obvious John Wick element to it, Agent Kim Reactivated throws audiences off course with its North and South Korean conflict storyline. There are repercussions to reactivating your old spy life, especially when you're a North Korean spy on South Korean soil. The action gets especially wild around the show's midpoint, with Kim taking on armed enemies ranging from corporate thugs to authorities from both Koreas, pulling off brutal hand-to-hand fights, and using just about anything he can get his hands on as a weapon. From rainy shootouts at a shipping port to tense standoffs in the dark, Agent Kim Reactivated rarely lets up.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Netflix Character Would Be Your Best Friend? Dustin · Emily · Wednesday · Gi-hun
Some friends drag you out of the house. Some sit with you on the worst night of your life. Netflix has written both, plus the one who tells you the truth you have been avoiding all week. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually do friendship, and find out which of them was always going to end up in your corner.
🧢Dustin(Stranger Things)
🗼Emily(Emily in Paris)
🕷️Wednesday(Wednesday)
🟢Gi-hun(Squid Game)
01
How do you usually end up making a new friend? The origin story says a lot about the friendship that follows it.
02
What is a perfect Saturday with your best friend? Friendship is mostly built out of very ordinary hours.
03
You call them at two in the morning. What happens? This is the real test of a friendship, and everybody knows it.
04
What do you want from them when you are clearly wrong? The best friendships are the ones that survive being corrected.
05
What do your friends actually value about you? The friend you attract says something about the friend you are.
06
You have a falling out. How does it go? How a friendship repairs itself matters more than how it breaks.
07
What do you actually need a best friend for? Everybody is missing something. The right friend fills that gap.
08
Ten years from now, what keeps the two of you close? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who you get.
The Group Chat Has Spoken Your Best Friend Is…
Four Netflix characters, four completely different ways of showing up for somebody. This is the one who fits how you actually do friendship, and what having them in your life would be like.
Dustin Henderson
You do not do friendship at half volume, and neither does he. What you want is somebody who says yes to the plan before you have finished describing the plan.
- Dustin is the friend the entire show runs on: loyal past the point of sense, enthusiastic about everything, and incapable of leaving anybody behind.
- You have the same instinct. Your friendships are loud, specific and slightly ridiculous, and they last for decades because of it.
- He is also the one person who would take your strangest interest completely seriously, which is far rarer than it sounds.
- You would have a group chat. It would never once be quiet.
Emily Cooper
You are the friend who makes things happen, and so is she. Together you would be mildly exhausting to everyone around you and completely delighted with yourselves.
- Emily treats an ordinary Tuesday as something that could be turned into an occasion, which is either the best or the worst quality in a friend depending on your energy levels.
- You share her refusal to sit still. Neither of you has ever accepted a night in when something was happening somewhere else.
- She is far more loyal than people give her credit for. She defends her friends loudly, publicly, and occasionally before checking the facts.
- She would post the photo without asking. You would forgive her, because it is a very good photo.
Wednesday Addams
You have no patience for pleasant lies, and she has no ability to tell them. What looks like coldness from the outside is the most reliable friendship on this list.
- Wednesday never says a kind thing she does not mean, which makes the rare ones count for an enormous amount.
- You would rather be told the truth than be made comfortable. She is constitutionally incapable of offering you anything else.
- Underneath all of it she is ferociously protective. She simply refuses to make a performance out of caring.
- Do not expect a birthday message. Do expect her to ruin anyone who wrongs you.
Seong Gi-hun
You look after whoever is having the worst day. So does he. It is the least strategic way to move through the world and the best possible quality in a friend.
- Gi-hun is not the strongest player in Squid Game, or the cleverest. He is the one who keeps choosing to protect somebody else, over and over, at genuine cost to himself.
- You have the same instinct. You notice who is struggling and you stay with them, long after anybody would blame you for leaving.
- He is a flawed friend, and that is part of why it lands. He lets people down, then comes back and tries again, which is more than most manage.
- He would give you his last chance and never once mention that he had done it.
'His & Hers' (2025)
A murder mystery is already messy, but His & Hers takes things up a notch by putting an estranged couple on opposite sides of the same investigation. Based on Alice Feeney's novel, the thriller follows Anna Andrews (Tessa Thompson), a reporter who returns to work after a year away when a woman is murdered in her hometown of Dahlonega, Georgia. The victim, Rachel Hopkins (Jamie Tisdale), was one of Anna's high school friends, making the case personal from the start. Things get even more complicated when Anna discovers that her estranged husband, Jack Harper (Jon Bernthal), is the detective in charge.
Thompson and Bernthal make a great pair as two people who clearly have plenty of unresolved issues. Their cold-shouldered exchanges are hard to ignore, especially as their personal problems start getting in the way of the investigation. Anna isn't afraid to bend the rules to get what she wants, while Jack has his own reasons for keeping certain details under wraps. But there's more to their past than either is willing to admit, giving their constant clashes a little more weight. With its murder mystery, marital woes, and secrets piling up in every episode, the series keeps viewers guessing about both the killer's identity and whether Anna and Jack have anything to do with Rachel's death.
'Squid Game' (2021–2025)
Squid Game takes childhood games and turns them into a complete nightmare. The hit Korean thriller follows 456 people struggling with debt who are offered a shot at winning around $31 million. However, unlike your light-hearted game show, losing any of the games here means getting killed. Contestants quickly learn that playing fair isn't always the best way to get ahead. As the competition gets tougher, friendships fall apart, alliances are formed, and some players are willing to do just about anything for the prize money. With unexpected betrayals and shocking deaths, the series makes every game a life-or-death situation.
But Squid Game is about more than people fighting over a giant pile of cash. Most of the contestants aren't there because they're greedy; they're desperate to escape debt and get their lives back on track. The show also brings traditional Korean children's games to a global audience, giving viewers a glimpse of the country's culture all while giving them distorted twists. Meanwhile, the wealthy people behind the competition sit back and watch others struggle for their amusement. It's a pretty bleak picture of a world where money can make people turn against one another, especially when they're left with few other options.
Squid Game
7 10
- Release Date
- 2021 - 2025
- Network
- Netflix
- Showrunner
- Hwang Dong-hyuk
- Directors
- Hwang Dong-hyuk
-
Seong Gi-hun / 'No. 456'
-
Wi Ha-jun
Detective Hwang Jun-ho
Hundreds of cash-strapped players accept a strange invitation to compete in children's games. Inside, a tempting prize awaits with deadly high stakes: a survival game that has a whopping 45.6 billion-won prize at stake.
- Writers
- Hwang Dong-hyuk
- Main Genre
- Mystery
- Seasons
- 3
- Producers
- Han Heung-seok
- Creator(s)
- Hwang Dong-hyuk
- Streaming Service(s)
- Netflix
- Executive Producer(s)
- Hwang Dong-hyuk
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