From David Fincher to Adam Berg: 5 Netflix thrillers to watch this week

We have previously curated various lists of thrillers that are available for streaming on Netflix. They all amassed massive popularity due to their gripping narratives, incredible cinematography and captivating performances.

They include the likes of Shutter Island, Nightcrawler, I’m Thinking Of Ending Things, as well as newer classics like Gerald’s Game and Hush. Yes, they might be scary, but they are riveting and somehow embedded in realism which heightens the overall suspense and tension.

Netflix has always had an expansive collection of thriller titles. besides such popular names, they have also had some other less-popular, underrated titles from the indie realm, as listed here. In 2022, the streamer added quite a few interesting films to its mix that are ambitious and nearly well-executed.

If you are looking for films to binge on, here are five Netflix thrillers to watch this week:  

5 Netflix thrillers to watch this week 

5. The Weekend Away (Kim Farrant, 2022)

Based on Sarah Alderson’s eponymous novel and a subsequent screenplay, the thriller focuses on a series of events that plague a pair of best friends during their weekend getaway to Croatia. While on the luxuriant trip, one of the women mysteriously disappear and the authorities begin suspecting the other; the latter must get to the bottom of this and decode the mystery. 

Starring Leighton Meester and Christina Wolfe in lead roles, the film abounds in mystery, violence, infidelity and betrayal. Meester delivers a brilliant performance as the initially-obvious-and-vulnerable-friend-turned-scorned-wife whose initial predicament is a quintessential trope in films like this, namely The Girl on the Train. 

4. Black Crab (Adam Berg, 2022) 

Currently one of the most popular Netflix Originals, Black Crab sees Noomi Rapace make her fourth Original appearance. After Prometheus and The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, Rapace makes a brilliant comeback in this Swedish Netflix Original that boasts incredible locations and brilliant cinematography. 

Set in a dystopian post-apocalyptic world, of relentless winters and wars, a team of six soldiers are sent on a daunting mission across a frozen sea to deliver an important package that could potentially put an end to the war. This gritty and intense journey has several timeline changes and is a well-paced little gem from Berg. 

3. Rust Creek (Jen McGowan, 2019)

The film is based on Jullie Lipson and Stu Pollard’s original story; Pollard even helps produce the film. Starring Hermoine Corfield in the lead, the film records a brilliant and strong performance from her amidst high-strung tension and horror. The film is a love child between many other similar American thrillers, namely Wrong Turn, I Spit On Your Grave etc. 

An anxious college student heads out towards Washington D.C. for a job interview when she stumbles upon a deranged brother duo. Afraid she is aware of their misdeeds, they pursue her and almost push her to the brink of death. With violence, blood, gore and tension galore, it is a simplistic yet gripping thriller.  

2. Windfall (Charlie McDowell, 2022) 

Netflix finds a bizarre way to conduct couples therapy. A darkly hilarious home invasion leads a stifled wife to reexamine the emotionally abusive relationship she has with her arrogant and egotistical husband. The negotiator who holds them captive is clueless about the hostage situation leading to a series of unexpected events. 

Shot in a sprawling property, Windfall stars Lily Collins, Jesse Plemons and Jason Segel in idiosyncratic roles. While all seems perfect in the beginning, ugly truths begin to surface, bringing in conversations about social capital, socio-economic differences and more. The drastic explosion at the end of this slow-burn and ambitious Hitchcockian thriller adds to the bleak yet polarising ending. 

1. Gone Girl (Davod Fincher, 2014)

Adapted from Gillian Flynn’s eponymous novel, the film is as scathing as the book. While author Nick Dunne and his wife, Amy have a seemingly perfect marriage, things are quite ugly beneath the surface. When Amy disappears on their fifth wedding anniversary, Nick is tainted as a monster under constant media scrutiny. However, a newly-resurfaced Amy comes up with a story that even shocks the FBI to its core. 

One of the most widely celebrated thrillers of all time, Flynn’s brilliant characters find visual poetry in Fincher’s deft hands who rightfully casts Ben Affleck and Rosamund Pike as Nick and Amy. This was Pike’s breakthrough role and won her various accolades. The chilling atmospheric horror of the film is elevated by Amy’s cunning nature, the dark side of marriages and the ominous background score.