3 chilling Paramount+ thrillers to watch this week (July 21-26)
There’s a reason Paramount+‘s fast-paced new movie Wardriver sits at the top of the streamer’s Top 10 rankings—it’s a thriller, and people love them. In fact, according to FlixPatrol, most of the biggest streaming services currently have thrillers among their top five because they offer mystery, crank up the tension, and dare you to look away lest you miss something.
And while Paramount+ staples like the Mission: Impossible saga get watched on repeat, allow me to offer a few other suggestions for a weekday adrenaline-pumper, with my number one pick a David Fincher classic about one of America’s most notorious serial killers.
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Minority Report
Spielberg and Cruise hunt a murder that hasn’t happened yet
Before Tom Cruise and Steven Spielberg had their much-publicized falling out around the time of their second and last movie together, War of the Worlds, they collaborated on what is one of the best and most influential sci-fi thrillers ever made—Minority Report. The iconic 2002 film, an adaptation of Philip K. Dick’s 1956 short story of the same name, is still one of the best screen adaptations of Dick’s work, alongside Blade Runner and Total Recall.
In 2054, where psychics known as “precogs” can look into the future and see murders before they’re committed, law enforcement officers who are part of a unit known as PreCrime can use the information to apprehend perpetrators, often before they even know they’re about to kill. Heading up the PreCrime unit is John Anderton (Cruise), who’s very good at his job and believes in the system, until the precogs finger him as a future killer. This triggers a high-stakes manhunt, led by agent Danny Witwer (Colin Farrell), as Anderton races to clear his name and uncover the conspiracy behind the accusation.
Minority Report is not only a classic mold-breaking sci-fi thriller, but nerds will tip their hats to the film’s prediction of gesture-controlled screens and eyeball-scanning tech. The film has a solid 89% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
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The Talented Mr. Ripley
Identity theft was never so sinister
With Matt Damon leading the cast of what is quickly becoming the movie event of 2026 in Christopher Nolan’s massive The Odyssey, why not set aside a couple of hours this week to pay homage to one of the actor’s most sinister roles in the psychological thriller The Talented Mr. Ripley.
Nominated for five Oscars, Anthony Minghella’s 1999 adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel is a gorgeously chilling movie about stolen identity—shot across some of the most beautiful corners of Italy, as if the scenery were there to soften the evil unfolding within it. Damon plays Tom Ripley, a young New York go-getter who’s sent to a beautiful Italian coastal town to retrieve Dickie Greenleaf (Jude Law), the pampered, work-dodging son of a shipping magnate. But once Tom tastes Dickie’s frivolous, sun-drenched lifestyle and glamorous circle of friends (including Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett), bringing him home is driven from Tom’s mind—and something far darker takes its place.
Quiz
Name that Netflix thriller
Trivia challenge
From twisted mysteries to edge-of-your-seat suspense — can you identify
these Netflix thrillers from a single clue?
MysterySuspenseCrimePlot TwistsCharacters
In which Netflix thriller does a woman discover that her seemingly perfect husband
has been living a secret double life, complete with a second family in another city?
Correct! The Stranger (2020) is based on Harlan Coben’s novel and
follows Adam Price after a mysterious woman reveals his wife has been hiding a shocking secret. The show
is a British production and was a massive hit for Netflix upon release.
Not quite. The answer is The Stranger, a 2020 Netflix adaptation of
Harlan Coben’s novel. It follows Adam Price as a chance encounter with a mysterious woman unravels
devastating secrets about his wife and his entire life.
Which Netflix thriller follows a brilliant but obsessive stalker named Joe Goldberg
who works in a bookstore and uses social media to insert himself into his targets’ lives?
Correct! You stars Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, a charming yet deeply
disturbed man whose inner monologue narrates his dangerous obsessions. The show originally aired on
Lifetime before Netflix picked it up and turned it into a global phenomenon.
Not quite. The answer is You, starring Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg. The
show’s genius lies in its unreliable first-person narration, which forces viewers to uncomfortably
sympathize with a serial stalker and killer.
In Bird Box, the characters must keep their eyes covered to avoid a mysterious
force. Which actress plays the lead character Malorie?
Correct! Sandra Bullock delivers a gripping performance as Malorie in
the 2018 Netflix post-apocalyptic thriller Bird Box. The film was so popular it reportedly became one of
Netflix’s most-watched original films within its first week of release.
Not quite. Sandra Bullock plays Malorie in Bird Box (2018). The film was
based on Josh Malerman’s novel and spawned the infamous ‘Bird Box Challenge’ on social media, which
Netflix had to publicly discourage people from attempting.
Which Netflix thriller is set in the fictional German town of Winden and involves
time travel through a cave system spanning multiple generations of intertwined families?
Correct! Dark is a German-language Netflix original that premiered in
2017 and ran for three seasons. It’s widely regarded as one of the most complex and intellectually
rewarding thriller series ever made, weaving together time travel, fate, and family trauma.
Not quite. The answer is Dark, Netflix’s acclaimed German-language
thriller. The show’s intricate plot spans multiple time periods and requires serious attention — many
fans keep detailed family trees just to follow all the connections between characters.
In Ozark, Marty Byrde is a financial advisor who is forced to launder money for a
Mexican drug cartel. Which actor plays Marty?
Correct! Jason Bateman plays Marty Byrde in Ozark, a role that earned
him Emmy nominations for both acting and directing. Bateman is also an executive producer on the show,
which ran for four seasons and concluded in 2022.
Not quite. Jason Bateman plays Marty Byrde in Ozark. Known before this
for comedic roles, Bateman’s dramatic turn in Ozark surprised many critics and audiences — he even
directed several episodes and received Emmy recognition for his work both in front of and behind the
camera.
Behind Her Eyes is a psychological thriller famous for its shocking finale. What
supernatural concept drives the story’s climactic twist?
Correct! Behind Her Eyes (2021) culminates in a reveal involving astral
projection, where a character has used out-of-body experiences to swap souls with another person. The
twist divided audiences but became one of the most talked-about endings in recent Netflix history.
Not quite. The shocking twist in Behind Her Eyes involves astral
projection and soul swapping. The show lulls viewers into thinking it’s a straightforward thriller about
an affair before pulling the rug out completely in its final episode — a move that went massively viral
online.
Which Netflix thriller is based on true events and follows a con artist who posed as
a German heiress named Anna Delvey to scam New York’s elite social circles?
Correct! Inventing Anna (2022) was created by Shonda Rhimes and
dramatizes the real story of Anna Sorokin, who used the alias Anna Delvey to defraud banks and
socialites out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Julia Garner plays the lead role.
Not quite. The answer is Inventing Anna, the Shonda Rhimes-created
series about real-life con artist Anna Sorokin. Sorokin, who used the name Anna Delvey, was convicted of
fraud in 2019 and reportedly watched the show about herself while in immigration detention.
In the Netflix thriller Squid Game, what is the prize money (in South Korean won)
offered to the winner of the deadly competition?
Correct! The prize in Squid Game is 45.6 billion South Korean won, which
equates to roughly $38 million USD. The specific amount accumulates as each player dies — adding
approximately 100 million won per death — giving the horrifying competition a chilling economic logic.
Not quite. The prize money in Squid Game is 45.6 billion South Korean
won. The figure isn’t arbitrary — it grows with each contestant’s death, with 100 million won added per
person, making the mounting total a constant and grim reminder of lives lost in the competition.
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Highsmith’s character has been adapted many times since, from 1960 French classic Purple Noon to Netflix’s 2024 series starring Fleabag‘s Andrew Scott, but Damon’s deranged con man remains the definitive big-screen Ripley.
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Zodiac
David Fincher’s slow-burn chase for an uncatchable real-life killer
Widely considered one of director David Fincher’s (Mindhunter, Fight Club) best movies, Zodiac trades the religion-driven flash of his film Se7en for a meticulous, creeping dread—made all the more haunting because it’s all true.
Based on San Francisco Chronicle political cartoonist Robert Graysmith’s non-fiction books Zodiac (1986) and Zodiac Unmasked (2002), Fincher’s critically acclaimed film tells the true story of the serial killer who famously taunted police with his handwritten ciphers and letters while terrorizing the San Francisco Bay Area in the late 1960s and ’70s.
Jake Gyllenhaal plays the out-of-his-league but determined Graysmith, whose puzzle-solving fixartion morphs into full obsession as he chases a suspect the cops can’t quite pinpoint. Robert Downey Jr. is cynical crime reporter Paul Avery, and Mark Ruffalo is homicide detective Dave Toschi, both run ragged while on the hunt for Zodiac, who was never caught. The 2007 film lives up to Fincher’s superb library of work and has a 90% critics’ rating on RT.
Bring on the goosebumps
Whichever of these acclaimed thrillers you start with, you’ll surely be second-guessing someone’s motives by the end credits. But if, for some reason, none of these movies is doing it for you, How-To Geek’s streaming section has an endless array of movie recommendations for you to help you find something great to watch.
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