The best thrillers to watch on Netflix in October

Netflix is ​​kicking off the fall season with a series of great additions in October, including quite a few thrillers. Along with the long-awaited sequel to Netflix’s knotty thriller The platformthe streamer also added quite a few older thrillers, including some of the greats from the 2000s and a few that go back even further than that.

Every month we select a number of thrillers on Netflix that match the current season. Sometimes they fit well with an upcoming release. Other titles may be new additions to the platform.

While Netflix isn’t exactly known for its classic film selection, this month features a few gems from Alfred Hitchcock, including The Birds And Marniewho this time didn’t even make our recommendations. As for what made our list, we have a Michael Mann movie starring Tom Cruise as a hitman, Anthony Hopkins returning to the role of Hannibal Lecter, and of course we couldn’t completely leave out Hitchcock.

Director: Michael Mann
Form: Tom Cruise, Jamie Foxx, Mark Ruffalo

If you’ve ever wanted to see Tom Cruise transform into a surgically skilled assassin with a sadistic penchant for manipulation, this is it. Security the movie for you. Michael Mann’s 2004 film is without a doubt one of the best thrillers of the early aughts: a bleak and stylish neo-noir journey into a vision of Los Angeles that feels almost like a period piece in this day and age.

When Max (Jamie Foxx), a disgruntled taxi driver, is offered $600 to act as the personal driver of a man in a suit named Vincent (Cruise), he initially takes the opportunity as a blessing. However, it doesn’t take long for Max to realize what his passenger has in mind tonight. Security is exciting, propulsive and expertly crafted. In other words, it’s quite a ride. —Toussaint Egan

Director: Alfred Hitchcock
Form: Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles

Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 film is often cited as not only one of the best horror thrillers of its time, but also one of the best films of all time. The reason for this is clear to anyone who has watched it: it really is That damn good. What ostensibly begins as a white-collar crime thriller involving a real estate secretary and $40,000 quickly veers into slasher territory before settling into a psychological thriller as taut and terrifying as a garrote.

Anthony Perkins delivers the performance of a lifetime as Norman Bates, the meek and menacing owner of a modest motel that is secretly home to a host of horrors. That includes Vera Miles, who plays a determined young woman searching for the whereabouts of her missing sister. You simply cannot overestimate its magnitude Psycho‘s influence on American horror films; it is nothing less than an inescapable ‘before and after’ moment. It is undisputedly Alfred Hitchcock’s magnum opus, and a damn good thriller to boot. If you haven’t watched it yet, you should. And even if you’ve watched it, I guarantee you’ll be late for another check-in. —AT

Director: Brett Ratner
Form: Anthony Hopkins, Edward Norton, Ralph Fiennes

Red Dragon is Anthony Hopkins’ third outing as the infamous fictional serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and as usual, the cinematic legend delivers a fantastic performance that would make this entry worth watching all on its own.

A precursor of The silence of the lambs, Red Dragon follows retired FBI agent and serial killer profiler Will Graham (Edward Norton), who is called in to help investigate the mysterious murders of two families. But to find out what this new killer (Ralph Fiennes) is about, Will must team up with Dr. Lecter, who nearly killed the profiler during Lecter’s arrest several years earlier. Naturally, this partnership leads to an endless maze of mind games and only a few helpful tips as Will races to save whoever this killer’s next victim may be.

Although it is perhaps a much lesser film than both Silence of the Lambs And Hannibal, Red Dragon is still a hugely entertaining thriller, with just enough of that secret Hopkins sauce to always keep things interesting and fantastic performances from both Norton and Fiennes to keep the film going between visits to Hannibal’s surprisingly comfortable accommodations. —Austen Goslin