Entertainment

All The New Thriller Movies & TV Shows Streaming This Month

Netflix

Fall is officially here, but that doesn't mean you need to head into hibernation. With all the thrillers hitting streaming services in October 2019, there's something for everyone to cozy up to this season. Whether gripping dips into history like The 33's look at the Chilean mining collapse of 2010 or The Conspirator's analysis of the Lincoln assassination plot, supernatural psychological thrillers like the castaway-meets-monster film Sweetheart, or even an explosion-filled, sci-fi film from Michael Bay (the silly but entertaining The Island), there are plenty of nail biters available instantly to distract you from the days growing shorter. Look on the bright side: that just means there's even more evening time to watch something!

Though the focus is on psychological twists and turns, like with the reveals of the documentary Tell Me Who I Am, there's also plenty of straightforward, star-studded action with byzantine plots (each new Ocean's film practically requires a map to sort out everyone's conflicting loyalties). Harrison Ford and Liam Neeson even make their monthly appearance, in political terrorist-revenge thriller Patriot Games and quiet snowplower-turned-avenger tale Cold Pursuit, respectively.

So no need to nap through the season — all of these exciting options are available instantly.

by Danielle Burgos
Updated: 
Originally Published: 

'Nowhere Man' (Netflix)

This Chinese crime drama follows a triad member across a decade as different schemes inveigle him and endanger his loved ones.

'Sweetheart' (Apple TV)

Jenn survives a shipwreck and washes up on an island, only to discover there’s some sort of creature also there. When other survivors show up, Jenn’s attempts to convince them of danger are marred by a reveal of her past secrets and lies.

'The 33' (HBO)

A retelling of the 2010 Chilean coal-mining disaster, where a collapse trapped 33 men 2,000 feet away from safety.

'Murder In The Heartland' (1993) (Hulu)

Based on a 1957 yearlong murder spree, this miniseries investigates the murderer, 19 year old Charles Starkweather (Tim Roth), and his 14 year-old accomplice/girlfriend Caril Ann Fugate (Fairuza Balk), as their stories diverge at trial.

'Brotherhood' (Netflix)

Seu Jorge (The Life Aquatic, Pele) stars as an incarcerated gang leader in this miniseries. His sister, an honest lawyer, is pressured to inform on him by police, and the show follows her struggle and his rise in crime.

'The First 48 Presents: Homicide Squad Atlanta: Complete Season 1' (A&E)(Hulu)

This series takes you along for the ride shadowing homicide detectives in the Atlanta Police Department as they dig into the city’s lurid crimes.

'Lucky Day' (Apple TV)

Safecracker Red’s just gotten out of prison and heads home to his wife and daughter, but simultaneously, psychopathic killer Luc has just arrived in Paris. How the two tie together is revealed as the film progresses.

'Brigada Costa Del Sol' (Netflix)

Based loosely on the true story of the first law enforcement organization created to fight drug trafficking in 1970s Spain.

'The Hunted' (Hulu)

FBI agent Abby (Connie Nielsen) teams up with a wilderness tracker (Tommy Lee Jones) to hunt down a trained assassin (Benicio Del Toro), who may have been set up to fail by his own government.

'Tell Me Who I Am' (Netflix)

This harrowing documentary follows twin brothers Alex and Marcus. Alex lost his memory in a motorcycle accident at age 18, and Marcus helped him remember their shared childhood…while omitting dark secrets he’d tried hard to forget himself.

'Tresspassers' (Hulu)

What starts off as a couples’ weekend to work out issues in a lavish desert house with sex, booze, and drugs turns into terror after the arrival of a mysterious woman claiming to be a lost neighbor (Fairuza Balk).

'Little Woods' (Hulu)

After their mother dies, estranged sisters Ollie (Tessa Thompson) and Deb (Lily James) have just a few days to deal with her home’s foreclosure. Desperate, the two turn to drug smuggling across the Canadian border.

'Glass' (HBO)

M. Night Shyamalan’s capper ties together Unbreakable and Split into a story of superheroes and villains, and those who believe they do and don’t exist.

'Winter's Bone' (Hulu)

With eviction at hand if he doesn’t show up for court, teen Ree (Jennifer Lawrence) must find her missing father to protect her siblings, even if it means going against her town’s code of silence and digging into the meth production in its underbelly.

The Haunting (1999) (Hulu)

Unfortunately the original film of the same title isn’t available, so we’ll all have to settle for this CGI-heavy variant of the psychological thriller. Starring Lili Taylor, Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Owen Wilson as subjects in a sleep insomnia study led by Liam Neeson’s doctor, who’s really testing the suggestibility of fear.

'Dark Crimes' (Netflix)

Jim Carrey stars as a writer whose latest novel contains a murder identical to one currently under investigation, making an open-and-shut case seem far more suspect.

'Fractured' (Netflix)

After he and their daughter Peri are injured on a Thanksgiving road trip, Ray (Sam Worthington) and his wife Joanne (Lily Rabe) take her to an ER, where Ray passes out from exhaustion. On waking and asking where his family is, he’s told he came to the hospital alone. Unsure whether he’s suffering from head trauma or if something’s truly amiss, Ray begins searching the hospital.

'Three Peaks' (Apple TV)

Boyfriend Aaron attempts to win over his girlfriend Lea’s young son, while son Tristan wants his parents to reconcile. When the three head to a mountain retreat to cement their bond and Tristan disappears, neither are sure what to think.

'The Killer Next Door' (Hulu)

In this Lifetime classic, after her husband’s death, a woman moves to the country to start a new life near her sister-in-law, only to learn the sister-in-law has plans of her own.

Lifetime

'The Peacemaker' (Hulu)

When nuclear weapons go missing, specialist Dr. Kelley (Nicole Kidman) believes a terrorist attack is imminent. With the help of Thomas Devoe (George Clooney), they try to track down who stole the weapons before disaster strikes.

'Tunnel: Season 1' (Netflix)

A serial killer nicknamed the Truth Terrorist (who must’ve been a model UN fanatic in school) leaves the upper half of a French politician and lower half of a British sex worker at the exact midpoint of the Channel tunnel, making British and French detectives Karl Roebuck and Elise Wasserman team up to figure out their real motives.

'Blow' (Netflix)

The real-life story of American cocaine smuggler George Jung (played by Johnny Depp), who worked with members of the notorious Medellin Cartel (including Pablo Escobar) to become their top U.S cocaine importer.

'The Conspirator' (Hulu)

Robert Redford directs this historical drama about the conspiracy to assassinate Lincoln and his cabinet members, focusing on the only female plotter Mary Surratt (Robin Wright) accused and tried for murder.

'Get Shorty' (Hulu)

Gene Hackman, Rene Russo, John Travolta and David Paymer clash in this comedy thriller about a leather jacket, insurance fraud, Hollywood scripts, and drug cartels.

'Cold Pursuit' (2019) (HBO)

Liam Neeson’s at it again, this time as snowplow-driver-turned-vicious-vigilante Nels Coxman, who's trying to find out who killed his son.

'Love Crimes' (1992) (Hulu)

Assistant DA Dana Greenaway (Sean Young) goes undercover as a repressed teacher to seduce and lure a serial sexual predator (Patrick Bergin) who pretends to be a photographer.

'Fled' (Hulu)

Piper (Laurence Fishburne) and hacker Dodge (Stephen Baldwin) are chained to each other on prison work detail. When gunfire breaks out and the two are targeted, they must work together to survive.

'El Camino: A Breaking Bad Movie' (Netflix)

This Breaking Bad epilogue follows what happens to Jesse Pinkman (Aaron Paul) after the events of the TV series’ finale.

'The Island' (Netflix)

Fans of MST3K will better recognize this turkey as Michael Bay’s high-budget ripoff of Parts: The Clonus Horror. This time Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson play the unwitting compound dwellers hoping to win the lottery to live on Earth’s lone uncontaminated island, only to slowly realize there’s more to the situation than meets the eye.

'Unforgotten: Season 3' (Amazon Prime)

Continuing the previous seasons’ overarching goal of solving a 39-year-old cold case, DCI Cassie Stuart and DS Sunil Khan are still on the case, though Cassie’s determined to fix her past mistakes, no matter the cost to her present.

'Set Up' (2011) (Hulu)

Friends Sonny (50 Cent), Dave (Brett Granstaff), and Vincent (Ryan Phillipe) plan a heist, but when Vincent betrays the other two, Sonny seeks help from the town’s most notorious mob boss (Bruce Willis) to get the loot and revenge.

'Face/Off' (Hulu)

A detective (John Travolta) hunting down a flamboyant criminal mastermind (Nicholas Cage) puts him in a permanent (or IS it?) coma but fails to find the location of the massive bomb he hid in the heart of the city. The only solution? To become him. In this ludicrous John Woo delight, the enemies literally trade faces and personalities to track each other down.

'Through The Black Spruce' (Apple TV)

When a Cree woman disappears after starting a modeling career in Toronto, her twin sister leaves their family home to find out what happened and uncovers secrets that put her own life in danger.

'Lord Of War' (IMDB TV)

Nicholas Cage stars as an arms dealer trying to stay one step ahead of INTERPOL.

'The Riot Act' (Apple TV)

At the turn of the century, a secretive actress witnesses a murder at the town’s opera house. Secrets are revealed and revenge is plotted as the town’s dark and ghostly past is revealed.

'Kiss Of Death' (1995) (HBO)

Trying to stay out of trouble, ex-con Jimmy Kilmartin (David Caruso) gets roped into car theft by his desperate cousin Ronnie, who’s threatened by asthmatic sociopath Little Junior (Nic Cage). To keep his wife safe he takes a jail rap, but after Ronnie gets her killed, Jimmy decides to turn state’s evidence.

'Dead Heat' (Hulu)

After a heart attack forces Boston cop Pally (Keifer Sutherland) into retirement, he becomes entangled in horse betting and mob schemes.

'Killing Zoe' (Amazon Prime)

A safe-cracker (Eric Stoltz) spends a night with call girl Zoe (Julie Delpy) in Paris before his latest bank gig. Only the date for the job has been moved to tomorrow, Zoe’s one of the tellers, and everything goes south.

'Exit Wounds' (Netflix)

Steven Seagal and DMX face off as a rule breaking cop and streetwise drug dealer working in Detroit’s roughest district. Bonus Tom Arnold as a yappy AM talkshow host and Michael Jai White as a more reasonable cop.

'Brooklyn's Finest' (Hulu)

Three police officers participate in a massive drug operation at different levels. His life a mess, Officer Dugan (Richard Gere) is a week from retirement and put in charge of taking rookies through rough neighborhoods. Tango (Don Cheadle) works so deep undercover that he’s starting to believe he is what he’s pretending. Sal (Ethan Hawke) plays a young cop in a dark, tight spot who makes a terrible decision.

'Kill Chain' (Amazon Prime)

This circular tale of hotel-owning mercenary Araña (Nicholas Cage) winds from his attempted assassination through the tale of how he got his nickname, looping in characters like the Lady In Red, Very Bad Woman, Sniper, and others in this tangled web.

'Along Came A Spider' (Netflix)

Morgan Freeman picks up the role of detective Alex Cross in this sequel to 1997’s Kiss The Girls (alas, not streaming), searching for a senator’s daughter kidnapped by a man obsessed with committing a new Crime Of The Century.

'Greta' (HBO)

Chloe Grace Moretz and Isabelle Huppert star in this bananas thriller about a young woman lured in by a mother figure whose hiding some dark secrets.

'The Kitchen' (Apple TV)

After their husbands end up in prison, Irish Mob wives Kathy (Melissa McCarthy), Ruby (Tiffany Haddish), and Claire (Elisabeth Moss) aren’t able to live off the scraps new mob boss Little Jackie throws them, so they go into the business themselves.

'Shutter Island' (IMDB TV)

Leonardo DiCaprio stars as an investigator sent to find a missing patient at an isolated mental institution, but he discovers something far stranger in this Martin Scorsese film.

'Karma' (1986) (Apple TV)

Breaking out of a reform prison, a terrorist swears revenge on Vishwa, the jailer who guarded him, killing his grandchildren. With the police telling Vishwa there’s nothing they can do, Vishwa takes the law into his own hands.

'Boyz N The Hood' (Hulu)

Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as Tre, a young man sent to live with his stern father (Laurence Fishburne). But as his friends Doughboy (Ice Cube) and Ricky (Morris Chestnut) get pulled into gang culture, the situation becomes increasingly tense.

'Patriot Games' (Amazon Prime)

Harrison Ford stars as CIA agent Jack Ryan (yep, that guy). Foiling a London terrorist attack, Jack kills one of the IRA members, leading the dead man’s brother (Sean Bean) to swear revenge and track him down.

'93 Days' (Amazon Prime, Netflix)

Based on the actual 2014 Nigerian Ebola outbreak, this film combines the thrill of a hospital procedural drama with body horror as a Lagos hospital staff (including Danny Glover) struggle to contain the deadly virus.

‘Ocean's Twelve' & 'Thirteen’ (Netflix)

More heists, more stars, and more plot twists than you can rakishly waggle an eyebrow at in these sequels that get the new Rat Pack of Clooney, Pitt, Damon, Andy Garcia, Don Cheadle, and Bernie Mac back together for one seemingly last job each time.

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