Every week, I comb through the latest arrivals on Netflix to pick out the best recently added thriller movies, and this week there's a strong crop of options for any subscribers craving tension, twists and compelling stories.
My picks include one of Denzel Washington's most popular thrillers, made in collaboration with director Spike Lee. Or you can stream a tense hostage-situation thriller that's based on a true story. Or for something more ambitious, there's a dramatic option set across two timelines, one in modern-day New York City and the other in 14th-century Italy.
These are the latest thriller movies on Netflix, so add them to your weekly watchlist if you want to spice up your streaming with engrossing flicks.
‘Inside Man’ (2006)
One of the five collaborations between director Spike Lee and actor Denzel Washington, “Inside Man” is a gripping crime thriller that centers on an audacious bank robbery. And now’s a great time to watch, as my colleague Malcolm McMillan is currently watching every Washington movie as part of his “Denzel Watchathon” series, so add “Inside Man” to your watchlist this week and share in the celebration of one of Hollywood’s finest actors.
In “Inside Man,” Washington plays Detective Keith Frazier, who must trade wits with a criminal mastermind, Dalton Russell (Clive Owen), who believes he’s constructed the perfect heist. After entering a New York City bank, Dalton and his crew take hostages, and Frazier is called to negotiate terms. But when the bank’s owner deploys a fixer, Madeline White (Jodie Foster), to retrieve a valuable item from one of the building's deposit boxes, it becomes increasingly difficult to determine who is truly in control.
Watch "Inside Man" on Netflix now
‘Dead Man’s Wire’ (2025)
“Dead Man’s Wire” offers a gripping narrative, and it only gets more intriguing when you learn that it’s actually based on a shocking true story. Knowing that the events depicted on screen really happened greatly adds to the tension. However, its biggest selling point is Bill Skarsgård’s lead performance. The Swedish actor fully commits to the role of a man driven to the extreme when he feels taken advantage of by his mortgage broker.
Set in 1977, Tony Kiritsis (Skarsgård) walks into the offices of his mortgage company and takes the CEO’s son (Dacre Montgomery) hostage. Strapping a dead man’s device around Richard’s neck, if Kiritsis is harmed, the shotgun pointed at his hostage's chest will fire. What follows is a tense standoff as police try to talk Kiritsis down. But Kiritsis believes he’s morally justified in his actions and becomes increasingly unpredictable as the situation unfolds.
Watch "Dead Man's Wire" on Netflix now
‘In the Hand of Dante’ (2026)
A crime drama with thriller elements, “In the Hand of Dante” might not be a critical darling (it only scored 43% on Rotten Tomatoes), but I’m giving it a nod here because of its ambitious ideas and the fact that it offers not one, but two, roles for the excellent Oscar Isaac. It’s based on Nick Tosches novel of the same name and also stars Gal Gadot, Gerard Butler, John Malkovich, Martin Scorsese, Al Pacino and Jason Momoa. That’s quite the cast list.
In a meta twist, Tosches is a character in the movie, played by Isaac. He’s an author living in New York, recruited by the mafia to confirm the authenticity (and then steal) the Italian poet Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy, written in the poet's own hand. This violent modern-day story is intertwined with scenes set in the 14th century. In these, Isaac plays the poet Dante himself. The NYC set portion is presented in black and white, with the historical sequences filmed in full color.
Watch "In The Hand of Dante" on Netflix starting June 24
