Best Thriller TV shows

This page is updated regularly. Subscribe, so you don't miss new recommendations. The list of "Best Thriller TV shows" contains films with the following parameters. Style: serious, suspenseful, detective, thrilling, psychological and exciting. Plot: serial killer, investigation, murder, anti hero, criminal, psychopath, murder mystery, police, pop culture and supernatural. Genre: Drama, Thriller and Crime. Country: USA, UK and Canada.
Best Thriller TV shows
Best Thriller TV shows
TOP TV Shows: True Detective (2014), The Killing (2011), Dexter (2006), Hannibal (2013), Breaking Bad (2008), Mindhunter (2017), The Fall (2013), Sharp Objects (2018), Sherlock (2010), Lie to Me (2009), Bates Motel (2013), Chernobyl (2019), The Walking Dead (2010), How to Get Away with Murder (2014), The Chestnut Man (2021), Defending Jacob (2020), The Mentalist (2008), Twin Peaks (1990), Lost (2004), Luther (2010).

List of Best TV Shows

Watch Trailers From This List to Choose a Movie
 8.9
 647K
True Detective (2014)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 55 min.
TV show
Story: An American anthology police detective series utilizing multiple timelines in which investigations seem to unearth personal and professional secrets of those involved, both within or outside the law.
Style: neo noir, serious, atmospheric, anthology, gloomy ...
Audience: teens
Plot: serial killer, investigation, police investigation, murder, murder mystery, police detective, murder investigation, murderer, drinking problem, partners against crime, female nudity, troubled ...
Time: 2010s, year 2014, 2000s, 20th century, 80s ...
Place: louisiana, usa, california
Is relevant ?
 8.3
 122K
The Killing (2011)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA, Canada
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story: The Killing is an American crime drama television series based upon the Danish television series Forbrydelsen. Set in Seattle, Washington, the series follows the various murder investigations by homicide detectives Sarah Linden and Stephen Holder.
Style: psychological, gloomy, neo noir, tense, serious ...
Plot: police detective, murder investigation, murder mystery, multiple suspects, murder, police investigation, female detective, crime investigation, female protagonist, murderer, who done it, strong female character ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: seattle, usa, washington d.c.
Is relevant ?
 8.7
 760K
Dexter (2006)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 55 min.
TV show
Story: Dexter is an American television drama series. The series centers on Dexter Morgan, a blood spatter pattern analyst for 'Miami Metro Police Department' who also leads a secret life as a serial killer, hunting down criminals who have ...
Style: captivating, clever, serious, stylized, tense ...
Audience: teens
Plot: serial killer, crime investigation, right and wrong, hidden identity, double life, gory, vigilantism, anti hero, serial murder, loner, police station, dark humor ...
Time: 2000s, 2010s, y2k, year 2006, 21st century
Place: miami, usa, florida
Is relevant ?
 8.5
 274K
Hannibal (2013)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 1680 min.
TV show
Story: Both a gift and a curse, Graham has the extraordinary ability to think like his prey—he sees what they see, feels what they feel. But while Graham is pursuing an especially troubling, cannibalistic murderer, Special Agent Jack Crawford teams him ...
Style: psychological, scary, suspenseful, tense, serious ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: serial killer, cannibal, psychopath, mind game, cannibalism, death, murder, psychiatrist, mental patient, graphic violence, fbi, mental health ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: usa
Is relevant ?
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 9.5
 2.1M
Breaking Bad (2008)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story: When Walter White, a New Mexico chemistry teacher, is diagnosed with Stage III cancer and given a prognosis of only two years left to live, he becomes filled with a sense of fearlessness and an unrelenting desire to secure his family's ...
Style: serious, captivating, tense, psychological, rough ...
Audience: teens
Plot: criminal, cancer, peril, life turned upside down, drug dealing, drug cartel, unlikely partners, drug lord, master criminal, family problems, life is a bitch, drug ...
Time: y2k, year 2008, 2000s, 2010s, 21st century
Place: new mexico, albuquerque new mexico, usa
Is relevant ?
 8.6
 331K
Mindhunter (2017)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story: An agent in the FBI's Elite Serial Crime Unit develops profiling techniques as he pursues notorious serial killers and rapists.
Style: psychological thriller, detective, psychological, thought provoking, crime drama ...
Plot: serial killer, psychopath, psychology, fbi, police, serial murder, murderer, criminal psychologist, police investigation, killings, fbi agent, murder ...
Time: 70s, 2010s, 80s
Is relevant ?
 8.1
 118K
The Fall (2013)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story: When the Police Service of Northern Ireland are unable to close a case after 28 days, Detective Superintendent Stella Gibson of the Metropolitan Police Service is called in to review the case. Under her new leadership, the local detectives must ...
Style: psychological thriller, psychological, captivating, serious, tense ...
Plot: serial killer, female detective, police detective, police investigation, policewoman, forensics, victim, crime investigation, violence against women, police, cop, female protagonist ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: ireland, europe, northern ireland, united kingdom, belfast
Is relevant ?
 8.0
 117K
Sharp Objects (2018)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 421 min.
TV show
Story: Reporter Camille Preaker confronts the psychological demons from her past when she returns to her hometown to investigate the murders of two young girls.
Style: psychological, suspense, bleak, southern gothic, suspenseful ...
Plot: murder investigation, murder, small town, self mutilation, mother daughter relationship, haunted by the past, hometown, journalist, reporter, serial killer, alcoholic, self harm ...
Time: 2010s
Place: syria, missouri
Is relevant ?
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 9.1
 990K
Sherlock (2010)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 88 min.
TV show
Story: A modern update finds the famous sleuth and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London.
Style: clever, detective, witty, captivating, serious ...
Audience: teens
Plot: sherlock holmes, investigation, private detective, murder mystery, genius, mastermind, friendship, british, murder, mind game, riddles and clues, prodigy ...
Time: 2000s, 2010s, 21st century
Place: london, england, scotland yard, afghanistan, britain ...
Is relevant ?
 8.0
 127K
Lie to Me (2009)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min.
TV show
Story: The world's leading deception researcher, Dr. Cal Lightman, studies facial expression, body language and tone of voice to determine when a person is lying and why, which helps law enforcement and government agencies uncover the truth. But his ...
Style: clever, psychological, serious, detective, suspenseful ...
Audience: teens
Plot: investigation, psychology, team, talented, expert, crime investigation, outsmarting, deception, lie, riddles and clues, human nature, sign language ...
Time: 21st century
Place: usa, washington d.c.
Is relevant ?
 8.1
 116K
Bates Motel (2013)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story: A "contemporary prequel" to the 1960 film Psycho, depicting the life of Norman Bates and his mother Norma prior to the events portrayed in Hitchcock's film, albeit in a different fictional town and in a modern setting. The series ...
Style: atmospheric, suspenseful, tense, psychological, serious ...
Audience: teens
Plot: serial killer, motel, mental disorder, obsession, dysfunctional family, hotel, family problems, insanity, murder, small town, half brother, incestuous desire ...
Time: 2010s, 20th century
Place: oregon, usa, hawaii
Is relevant ?
 9.3
 854K
Chernobyl (2019)
Genre: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Duration: 330 min.
TV show
Story: A dramatization of the true story of one of the worst man-made catastrophes in history, the catastrophic nuclear accident at Chernobyl. A tale of the brave men and women who sacrificed to save Europe from unimaginable disaster.
Style: dark, atmospheric, rough, realistic, thought provoking ...
Plot: radiation, nuclear holocaust, radiation poisoning, nuclear power plant, nuclear reactor, disaster, save the day, nuclear explosion, salvation, scientist, nuclear radiation, nuclear threat ...
Time: year 1986, 2010s, 80s, 20th century
Place: chernobyl, ussr, soviet union, ukraine, moscow russia ...
Is relevant ?
The Walking Dead (2010)
Genre: Drama, Horror, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min.
TV show
Story: Sheriff's deputy Rick Grimes awakens from a coma to find a post-apocalyptic world dominated by flesh-eating zombies. He sets out to find his family and encounters many other survivors along the way.
Style: suspenseful, tense, captivating, scary, apocalyptic ...
Audience: teens, boys' night, teen drama, adult
Plot: zombie, survival, virus, post apocalypse, apocalypse, supernatural, pandemic, walking dead, zombie apocalypse, plague, undead, fear ...
Time: future, 2000s, 2010s, 21st century
Place: usa, america, atlanta georgia, georgia
Is relevant ?
How to Get Away with Murder (2014)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min.
TV show
Story: A sexy, suspense-driven legal thriller about a group of ambitious law students and their brilliant, mysterious criminal defense professor. They become entangled in a murder plot and will shake the entire university and change the course of their ...
Style: serious, realistic, suspenseful, captivating, thrilling ...
Audience: teens
Plot: murder mystery, legal, hotshot lawyer, lawyer, murder, law student, defense attorney, court case, college, lgbt, teachers and students, courtroom ...
Time: 2010s, 21st century
Place: usa, philadelphia, idaho, chicago
Is relevant ?
The Chestnut Man (2021)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Denmark
Duration: 50 min.
TV show
Story: A young woman is found brutally murdered in a Copenhagen playground. Above her hangs a small doll made of chestnuts. Adapted from the acclaimed novel.
Style: brutal, enigmatic, tense, psychological, detective ...
Plot: serial killer, murder, murderer, investigation, murder mystery, murder investigation, forest, police, serial murder, missing person, crime solving, female detective ...
Is relevant ?
Defending Jacob (2020)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 402 min.
TV show
Story: A family’s lives are irreparably disrupted when the 14-year-old son is accused of murdering a fellow classmate.
Style: suspense, detective, serious, captivating, social ...
Plot: murder investigation, police investigation, husband wife relationship, father son relationship, bullying, false accusation of murder, parents and children, investigation, murder, mysterious villain, family relations, boy ...
Time: 2020s, 2010s
Place: massachusetts
Is relevant ?
 8.2
 199K
The Mentalist (2008)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 43 min.
TV show
Story: Patrick Jane, a former celebrity psychic medium, uses his razor sharp skills of observation and expertise at "reading" people to solve serious crimes with the California Bureau of Investigation.
Style: exciting, intellectual, serious, suspenseful, suspense ...
Audience: teens, adult
Plot: serial killer, investigation, partners against crime, fighting crime, police, murder, police investigation, law enforcement, danger, talented, justice, outsmarting ...
Time: future, 2000s, 2010s, 21st century
Place: california, usa
Is relevant ?
 8.8
 214K
Twin Peaks (1990)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 1505 min.
TV show
Story: The body of Laura Palmer is washed up on a beach near the small Washington state town of Twin Peaks. FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper is called in to investigate her strange demise only to uncover a web of mystery that ultimately leads him deep into ...
Style: atmospheric, psychological, mind bending, enigmatic, neo noir ...
Audience: chick flick, teen drama
Plot: serial killer, small town, surrealism, murder, nightmare, supernatural, investigation, secret, hallucination, mysterious death, mysterious villain, small town life ...
Time: 20th century, 80s, 90s, year 1990, year 1989
Place: washington state, hawaii, washington d.c., usa
Is relevant ?
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captivating movies
34092
exciting movies
14059
psychopath movies
4760
tense movies
16020
 8.3
 591K
Lost (2004)
Genre: Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 5445 min.
TV show
Story: Stripped of everything, the survivors of a horrific plane crash must work together to stay alive. But the island holds many secrets.
Style: exciting, atmospheric, psychological, enigmatic, mind bending ...
Audience: teens
Plot: survival, island, stranded, desert island, stranded on an island, human nature, lost, mysterious place, death, air disaster, destiny, plane crash ...
Time: y2k, 70s, 2000s, 21st century
Place: fictional island, hawaii, pacific ocean
Is relevant ?
 8.4
 153K
Luther (2010)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story: A dark psychological crime drama starring Idris Elba as Luther, a man struggling with his own terrible demons, who might be as dangerous as the depraved murderers he hunts.
Style: detective, psychological thriller, atmospheric, tense, rough ...
Audience: boys' night
Plot: uncover truth, murder, talented, police detective, police investigation, psychopath, police, forensics, crime investigation, law enforcement, tough law enforcer, cop ...
Time: 2000s, 2010s, 21st century
Place: london, england, united kingdom, europe
Is relevant ?
 7.7
 23K
Prodigal Son (2019)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 44 min.
TV show
Story: The son of a notorious serial killer becomes an acclaimed criminal psychologist who uses his unique insight into how killers think to help the NYPD.
Style: psychological, psychological thriller, suspense, disturbing, detective ...
Audience: boys' night, chick flick
Plot: serial killer, haunted by the past, psychological trauma, expert, murder investigation, maniac, police, criminal psychologist, repressed memory, profiler, childhood trauma, homicidal maniac ...
Time: 2020s, 2010s, 21st century
Place: new york
Is relevant ?
 8.9
 417K
Fargo (2014)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 53 min.
TV show
Story: A close-knit anthology series dealing with stories involving malice, violence and murder based in and around Minnesota.
Style: neo noir, atmospheric, captivating, detective, clever ...
Plot: dark humor, psychopath, small town, law enforcement, police investigation, cop, snow, killings, small town life, social relations, scheme, policewoman ...
Time: 2010s, year 1979, year 2014, future, year 2006 ...
Place: minnesota, north dakota, east germany, usa
Is relevant ?
 8.6
 247K
The X-Files (1993)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 45 min.
TV show
Story: The exploits of FBI Special Agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully who investigate X-Files: marginalized, unsolved cases involving paranormal phenomena. Mulder believes in the existence of aliens and the paranormal while Scully, a skeptic, is assigned to ...
Style: captivating, psychological, mind bending, atmospheric, detective ...
Audience: boys' night, kids, teens
Plot: ufo, supernatural, investigation, fbi, conspiracy, paranormal investigation, alien, top secret, paranormal activity, alien contact, space and aliens, female fbi agent ...
Time: 2010s, 90s, future, jurassic, 20th century ...
Place: washington d.c., usa, arizona, phoenix arizona
Is relevant ?
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 8.3
 575K
Prison Break (2005)
Genre: Action, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Duration: 44 min.
TV show
Story: Due to a political conspiracy, an innocent man is sent to death row and his only hope is his brother, who makes it his mission to deliberately get himself sent to the same prison in order to break the both of them out, from the inside out.
Style: exciting, tense, suspenseful, serious, realistic ...
Audience: boys' night, teens
Plot: prison, fugitives, escape, prison life, conspiracy, determination, confined, fbi, scheme, brother, self sacrifice, siblings relations ...
Time: 2010s, 2000s, 21st century
Place: chicago, california, texas, usa
Is relevant ?
 8.3
 116K
Orphan Black (2013)
Genre: Drama, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada
Duration: 44 min.
TV show
Story: A streetwise hustler is pulled into a compelling conspiracy after witnessing the suicide of a girl who looks just like her.
Style: serious, suspenseful, mind bending, exciting, detective ...
Audience: teens
Plot: lesbian, strong female character, female protagonist, shooting, family relations, uncover truth, lesbianism, danger, heroine, suicide, supernatural, killings ...
Time: future, 2010s, 21st century
Place: toronto ontario canada, new york
Is relevant ?
 7.4
 105K
The Undoing (2020)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 337 min.
TV show
Story: Grace and Jonathan Fraser are living the only lives they ever wanted. Overnight a chasm opens in their lives: a violent death and a chain of terrible revelations. Left behind in the wake of a spreading and very public disaster, Grace must dismantle ...
Style: suspense, psychological thriller, disturbing, detective, thrilling ...
Plot: adultery, murder investigation, murder, life turned upside down, lie, mysterious disappearance, affair, family relations, father son relationship, lawyer, murder mystery, family drama ...
Time: 2020s, year 2019
Place: manhattan new york city, new york
Is relevant ?
Behind Her Eyes (2021)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 298 min.
TV show
Story: A single mother enters a world of twisted mind games when she begins an affair with her psychiatrist boss while secretly befriending his mysterious wife.
Style: enigmatic, captivating, twist ending, mystical, suspense ...
Plot: lucid dream, friendship, body swapping, mental disorder, psychopath, sociopath, mental illness, twists and turns, soul transference, supernatural, secret, employer employee relationship ...
Is relevant ?
 8.1
 67K
Slow Horses (2022)
Genre: Drama, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
TV show
Story: This quick-witted spy drama follows a dysfunctional team of MI5 agents—and their obnoxious boss, the notorious Jackson Lamb—as they navigate the espionage world’s smoke and mirrors to defend England from sinister forces.
Style: disturbing, tense, funny, captivating, crime thriller ...
Plot: reconnaissance, team, crime investigation, agent, cia agent, misfit, secret agent, prospector, investigation, espionage, british intelligence, unlikely hero ...
Time: future, 2020s
Place: london, england, united kingdom, britain
Is relevant ?
 8.5
 64K
Happy Valley (2014)
Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: UK
Duration: 1059 min.
TV show
Story: Happy Valley is a dark, funny, multi-layered thriller revolving around the personal and professional life of Catherine, a dedicated, experienced, hard-working copper. She is also a bereaved mother who looks after her orphaned grandchild.
Style: serious, tense, detective, realistic, suspenseful ...
Plot: policewoman, police investigation, police, police protagonist, investigator, kidnapping, investigation, british police, whodunit, law enforcement, criminal, police station ...
Time: 2010s, 2020s, 21st century
Place: yorkshire, england, northern england
Is relevant ?
 8.1
 98K
11.22.63 (2016)
Genre: Drama, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Duration: 60 min.
TV show
Story: An English teacher travels back in time to prevent the Kennedy assassination, but discovers he is attached to the life he has made in a bygone era.
Style: stylized, exciting, period piece, tense, light ...
Plot: time travel, assassination, stephen king, time, time traveler, changing the past or future, altering history, kennedy assassination, murder, love, conspiracy theory, danger ...
Time: 60s, future, 20th century, year 1963, 2010s ...
Place: usa, dallas texas
Is relevant ?
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