(Credits: Netflix)

Everybody hates a predictable thriller. But the thing about the genre is that it always walks a thin ice between “oh, I know where this is going” and “wait, I didn’t see it coming.” Likewise, Netflix is not exactly short on thrillers that make you want to throw your popcorn at the screen, nor does the library suffer a shortage of the type of titles that leave viewers’ jaws agape.

If you’re tired of Netflix thrillers that feel like you could have written the twists better, this list is exactly made for you.

This marathon will not make you feel like it was all a waste of time. Instead, it will make you wonder where the shows were hiding all this time.

So, in case you’re on the lookout for titles that will effortlessly blow your mind, check out the five most twisted thrillers on Netflix to watch right now.

The five most twisted thrillers to binge on Netflix:

The Replacement (Joe Ahearne, 2017)

Have you ever had those nightmares about someone else taking up your identity and getting a free pass, like no one really remembers you? Although not a Netflix original, The Replacement, currently streaming on the UK platform, preys on those nightmare-esque fears, turning them into a thriller worthy of raised eyebrows.

The three-part BBC thriller tells the story of a successful architect, Ellen Rooney, weeks away from her maternity leave. However, when she’s introduced to her maternity cover at work, Paula Reece, an equally talented architect returning to the industry after a long break, her life turns upside down as she suspects that the newcomer isn’t just trying to take over her professional life, but also her personal one. Whether those worries transform into reality is for you to find. But one thing about women’s instincts: they are mostly never out of place.

The Stranger (Daniel O’Hara and Hannah Quinn, 2020)

If Harlan Coben’s novel adaptations on Netflix have taught us a lesson, it’s that secrets can really shake up your life in more ways than one. And The Stranger is proof that secrets spare no one. The Netflix series picks up pace when the protagonist, Adam Price, is unexpectedly approached by an enigmatic young woman who tells a devastating secret about his wife.

While it may seem like the stranger would want something in return, she actually doesn’t and disappears into thin air, leaving Adam to battle his own demons. After a confrontation, so does his wife. Surprisingly, it turns out the stranger was not only going around spilling secrets to him, but to many other seemingly unconnected people within the community, ruining one life at a time.

Behind Her Eyes (Erik Richter Strand, 2021)

At the centre of Behind Her Eyes is a classic love triangle that takes your thoughts towards expected directions. But once you conclude, you’ll definitely be shocked by the plot twist that’s wilder than your wildest imagination. The psychological thriller revolves around a single mother and a secretary, who unknowingly start an affair with her new boss, David.

Although guilty, she can barely resist the fascination with him. But what complicates the situation more is when she accidentally befriends David’s wife outside of work. While a love triangle can never really go easy on the third party, add in some supernatural elements, and there you have the most surreal curveball on Netflix so far.

The Chestnut Man (Kasper Barfoed and Mikkel Syrup, 2021-Present)

The Chestnut Man brings the darkest twist to small-town mysteries, levelling up the game so high that it received almost unanimous critical acclaim. It starts with a series of murders plaguing Copenhagen, and worst of all? The twisted killer leaves a chestnut figurine at the crime scene each and every time, handmade from chestnuts and matchsticks.

Although the events take place in the present day, the secrets surrounding the victims date back years or more. While the calling card itself probes viewers to brainstorm, taking a chance definitely won’t disappoint. But don’t mistake this for a no-commitment ride because you’d want to make sure your antennas don’t go out of reach deep in the woods, where nothing is what it seems.

The Woods (Leszek Dawid and Bartosz Konopka, 2020)

Based on Harlan Coben’s 2007 novel, The Woods on Netflix unfolds in two timelines, two decades apart. The plot kicks off when a Warsaw prosecutor is brought in to identify the body of a homicide victim found with newspaper clippings about him, connecting him directly to the case, although unexpectedly.

But when the plot unravels, it reveals how the victim is actually connected to a case that left the prosecutor devastated during a 1994 summer camp when two people were killed and two others disappeared into thin air, including his sister.