Last updated March 2024
Want to dive into highly celebrated Best Thriller Tv Shows right away? We put together an expert list of 30 marvelous Best Thriller Tv Shows locked and loaded for your viewing experience. With through-the-roof ratings from IMDB critics and our own discerning users, these titles are as good as entertainment gets. Lend a hand by voting for the Best Thriller Tv Shows you think deserve even more acclaim. We value your help in highlighting the cream of the crop!
Breaking Bad (2008)
Plot Summary:
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 financial future at any cost as he enters the dangerous world of drugs and crime
Duration: 3030 min
IMDB Rating: 9.5/10
IMDB Votes: 21000000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: criminal, cancer, peril, life turned upside down, drug dealing, drug cartel, unlikely partners, drug lord, master criminal, family problems, life is a bitch, drug, ambition, meth lab, desperation, double life, success, anti hero, hidden identity, lifestyle change, cartel, methamphetamine, chemistry, drug dealer, outlaw
Chernobyl (2019)
Plot Summary:
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
Duration: 330 min
IMDB Rating: 9.3/10
IMDB Votes: 835000
Genere: Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA, UK
Plot tags: radiation, nuclear holocaust, radiation poisoning, nuclear power plant, nuclear reactor, save the day, nuclear explosion, salvation, scientist, nuclear radiation, nuclear threat, disaster, abandoned city, evacuation, accident, heroic mission, cold war, save the world, society, post nuclear, nuclear power, propaganda, government coverup, government official, nuclear
The Wire (2002)
Plot Summary:
Told from the points of view of both the Baltimore homicide and narcotics detectives and their targets, the series captures a universe in which the national war on drugs has become a permanent, self-sustaining bureaucracy, and distinctions between good and evil are routinely obliterated
Duration: 59 min
IMDB Rating: 9.3/10
IMDB Votes: 367000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: organized crime, corruption, police detective, police, urban ghetto life, life is a bitch, working undercover, fighting crime, drug dealing, surveillance, shooting, police investigation, gang, urban decay, drug lord, murder, cop, black, wiretap, team, politics, criminal, journalism, legal, dirty cop
Scam 1992: The Harshad Mehta Story (2020)
Plot Summary:
Set in 1980's & 90's Bombay, Scam 1992 follows the life of Harshad Mehta - a stockbroker who single-handedly took the stock market to dizzying heights & his catastrophic downfall. Being directed by National Award-winning filmmaker Hansal Mehta, the series is based on journalist Debashis Basu & Sucheta Dalal's book "The Scam"
Duration: 54 min
IMDB Rating: 9.3/10
IMDB Votes: 154000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: India
Plot tags: finance, insider trading, financial crisis, stock exchange, stock broker, newspaper office, embezzler, caper, financier, cons and scams, money, con artists, criminal, deception, con trick, fraud, historical figure, escapades, financial problem, historical character, motivation, wall street, corruption, mission, innovation
Sherlock (2010)
Plot Summary:
A modern update finds the famous sleuth and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London
Duration: 88 min
IMDB Rating: 9.1/10
IMDB Votes: 977000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK, USA
Plot tags: sherlock holmes, investigation, private detective, murder mystery, mastermind, genius, friendship, british, murder, mind game, riddles and clues, prodigy, danger, partner, talented, buddies, eccentricity, intelligence, expert, friendship between men, inspector, police detective, deduction, mysterious character, teamwork
Persona (2018)
Plot Summary:
After being diagnosed with Alzheimer's, a retired judicial officer decides to commit a murder that he had been planning for years
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 9.0/10
IMDB Votes: 45000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Turkey
Plot tags: serial killer, investigation, rape, secret, police, death, journalist, anti hero, danger, alzheimer's disease, family relations, muslim, murder mystery, sister, life lesson, nordic, cognitive science, killer, police officer, cat, suicide, corruption, blood, flashback, dead body
True Detective (2014)
Plot Summary:
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
Duration: 55 min
IMDB Rating: 8.9/10
IMDB Votes: 618000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: serial killer, police investigation, investigation, murder, murder mystery, police detective, murder investigation, murderer, drinking problem, partners against crime, insomnia, antisocial behavior, troubled, female nudity, graphic violence, uncover truth, haunted by the past, violence, partner, corrupt cop, mysterious man, buddy cop, sexual content, evidence, cruelty
Black Sun (2017)
Plot Summary:
A historical fiction drama and thriller set in the turbulent period of the late 1930s in the Balkans as a place where high politics, local interests, capital and crime all merge together
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.9/10
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: Serbia
Plot tags: secret society, conspiracy, police detective, law enforcement, secret movement, criminal, murder investigation, undercover, politician, partner, dishonesty, female nudity, political intrigue, political conspiracy, geopolitics, interwar period, female pubic hair, nudity, gangster, police, nude, female full frontal nudity, nudity (full frontal - brief), crime, crimes
Death Note (2006)
Plot Summary:
Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects—and he’s bored out of his mind. But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, a notebook dropped by a rogue Shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But will Light succeed in his noble goal, or will the Death Note turn him into the very thing he fights against?
Duration: 851 min
IMDB Rating: 8.9/10
IMDB Votes: 365000
Genere: Animation, Crime, Drama, Fantasy, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Plot tags: mind game, anti hero, secret identity, vigilante, police, rivals, battle of wits, supernatural, heart attack, law enforcement, supernatural ability, intelligence, serial killer, teenage life, fighting crime, outsmarting, artifact, student, arrogance, police detective, moral dilemma, fbi, mature, eternal love, darkness
Fargo (2014)
Plot Summary:
A close-knit anthology series dealing with stories involving malice, violence and murder based in and around Minnesota
Duration: 53 min
IMDB Rating: 8.9/10
IMDB Votes: 398000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: dark humor, psychopath, small town, police investigation, law enforcement, policewoman, cop, snow, killings, small town life, social relations, dishonesty, killer, female police officer, scheme, sheriff, police officer, winter, gory, shooting, blackmail, victim, crime gone awry, gangster, family relations
Dragon Ball Z (1989)
Plot Summary:
In the version that is shown on YTV in Canada, the story begins mid-way through the Dragon Ball Z series. Raditz, Goku's brother has traveled to Earth to find out why Goku has not yet destroyed the planet as he was supposed to do. But while as a baby, Goku was dropped (down a huge cliff) and forgot his real mission. Kakarot, Goku's real name battles his brother Raditzs along with former enemy Piccolo and friend Krillin. Meanwhile, Gohan; Goku's son reveals his hidden powers against Raditz and nearly kills Raditz. However Goku is killed in the end, but Raditz is eventually defeated by Piccolo. Before he dies, he tells them that two evil Saiyans even more powerful then he is, are on route to Earth. The remaining fighters, Krillin, Yamcha, Tien, and Chiaotzu begin their training to battle the evil Saiyans, while Piccolo takes off with Gohan to train him in using his new found power. Meanwhile, Goku has to make his way back on Snake Way to King Kai's where he trains himself in the secret
Duration: 24 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 143000
Genere: Animation, Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Japan, USA, Canada
Plot tags: superhuman powers, dragon ball, master warrior, martial arts, superhero, friendship, good versus evil, supernatural, invasion, space and aliens, heroic mission, alien, dragon ball z, time travel, lgbt, moving, disease, gay interest, young adult, badass, heroes, warrior, villain, sacrifice, transformation
BLUE EYE SAMURAI (2023)
Plot Summary:
Driven by a dream of revenge against those who made her an outcast in Edo-period Japan, a young warrior cuts a bloody path toward her destiny
Duration: 377 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 32000
Genere: Animation, Action, Adventure, Drama, History, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: samurai, revenge, edo period, sword, master, fight, violence, female nudity, warrior, male nudity, blood, female full frontal nudity
Not Me (2021)
Plot Summary:
When his twin Black is was viciously attacked and subsequently left hospitalised, White is was unable to endure the harm done to his brother in silence. Knowing from his brother's mouth that it was one of Black's closest friends who betrayed him, White will disguises himself as Black to root out the traitor. Was it Sean who's so calm, serious and hard to read? Cheerful and friendly Graham? Or might it have been hot-blooded Yok who likes to fight?
Duration: 45 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 12000
Genere: Action, Crime, Romance, Thriller
Country: Thailand
Plot tags: fight, brother brother relationship, life is a bitch, betrayal by friend, traitor, betrayal, family problems, gay, impersonation, fight for justice, hidden identity, social inequality, friendship, love, revenge, gang, violence, gay love, politics, graffiti, transsexual, gay relationship, homosexual love, twin brother, male protagonist
Twin Peaks (1990)
Plot Summary:
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 the heart of the surrounding woodland and his very own soul
Duration: 1505 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 211000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: serial killer, small town, surrealism, murder, nightmare, supernatural, investigation, secret, hallucination, mysterious death, mysterious villain, small town life, double life, under the surface, murder investigation, mysterious place, hotel, who done it, evil spirit, parapsychology, small town sheriff, death, another dimension, riddles and clues, coffee
Alchemy of Souls (2022)
Plot Summary:
A powerful sorceress in a blind woman's body encounters a man from a prestigious family, who wants her help to change his destiny
Duration: 80 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 15000
Genere: Action, Drama, Fantasy, Romance, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Plot tags: martial arts, soul transference, magical power, sword and sorcery, destiny, secret, chinese mythology, female assassin, strong female lead, royalty, assassin, heroes, body swapping, asian, hidden identity, secret organization, nobility, elite, power struggle, body swap, love, supernatural, master warrior, wizard, zombie
The Last of Us (2023)
Plot Summary:
Joel and Ellie, a pair connected through the harshness of the world they live in, are forced to endure brutal circumstances and ruthless killers on a trek across post-pandemic America
Duration: 50 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 475000
Genere: Action, Adventure, Drama, Horror, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Canada, USA
Plot tags: post apocalypse, epidemic, infection, apocalypse, survival, pandemic, end of the world, survivor, violence, zombie violence, survival horror, danger, death, monster, vestiges of humanity, gunfight, murder, virus, supernatural, young girl, infected, characters in danger, blood, chase, evil
Narcos (2015)
Plot Summary:
The true story of Colombia's infamously violent and powerful drug cartels
Duration: 49 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 458000
Genere: Biography, Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA, Colombia
Plot tags: drug cartel, gangster, drug dealer, cartel, drug dealing, rise to the top, drug lord, illegal drugs, cia agent, dea, master criminal, ambition, hitman, criminal heroes, drug, organized crime, smuggling, politics, mafia, terrorism, cocaine, kidnapping, cold war, president, hidden money
Steins;Gate (2011)
Plot Summary:
The self-proclaimed mad scientist Rintarou Okabe rents out a room in a rickety old building in Akihabara, where he indulges himself in his hobby of inventing prospective "future gadgets" with fellow lab members: Mayuri Shiina, his air-headed childhood friend, and Hashida Itaru, a perverted hacker nicknamed "Daru." The three pass the time by tinkering with their most promising contraption yet, a machine dubbed the "Phone Microwave," which performs the strange function of morphing bananas into piles of green gel. Though miraculous in itself, the phenomenon doesn't provide anything concrete in Okabe's search for a scientific breakthrough; that is, until the lab members are spurred into action by a string of mysterious happenings before stumbling upon an unexpected success—the Phone Microwave can send emails to the past, altering the flow of history
Duration: 24 min
IMDB Rating: 8.8/10
IMDB Votes: 71000
Genere: Animation, Comedy, Drama, Mystery, Romance, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Japan
Plot tags: time travel, time machine, time loop, changing the past or future, experiment, student, youth, memory loss, father daughter relationship, parallel world, scientist, sent to the past, hopes, inventions and discoveries, good versus evil, young woman, research, secret organization, imaginary, characters in danger, science, peril, mature, rescue attempt, changing the future
Dark (2017)
Plot Summary:
A missing child causes four families to help each other for answers. What they could not imagine is that this mystery would be connected to innumerable other secrets of the small town
Duration: 1455 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 429000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: Germany, USA
Plot tags: time travel, investigation, time loop, time machine, mysterious past, cave, time portal, missing child, repeated event, changing the future, disappearance, alternate dimension, deja vu, small town, loss of father, mysterious disappearance, butterfly effect, corpse, time traveler, family crisis, family relations, conspiracy, nuclear waste, apocalypse, school
Oz (1997)
Plot Summary:
The daily lives of prisoners in Emerald City, an experimental unit of the Oswald Maximum Security Prison where ingroups - Muslims, Latinos, Italians, Aryans - stick close to their mutual friends and terrorizes their mutual enemies
Duration: 55 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 105000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: prison life, prison, gay, life is a bitch, confined, violence spree, rape, homosexual rape, rapist, strong sexual content, gang violence, racism, prison rape, survival, power struggle, punishment, african american, solitary, lgbt, ku klux klan, neo nazism, electric chair, danger, warden, peril
The Shield (2002)
Plot Summary:
The story of an inner-city Los Angeles police precinct where some of the cops aren't above breaking the rules or working against their associates to both keep the streets safe and their self-interests intact
Duration: 47 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 86000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: law enforcement, police corruption, police detective, corrupt cop, dirty cop, cop, police brutality, cruelty, dishonesty, murder, tough law enforcer, peril, victim, machismo, corrupt law enforcer, crime investigation, police, racism, honest law enforcer, police protagonist, investigator, officer, policewoman, robbery, partner
Invincible (2021)
Plot Summary:
Adaptation of the American Comic Book of the same name by Robert Kirkman
Duration: 50 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 182000
Genere: Animation, Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: teen superhero, superhero, teenager, super villain, heroes, gore, violence, blood, invulnerability, superpower, warrior, courage, heroism, vengeance, society, secret identity, villain, combat, revenge, escapades, rivalry, extraterrestrial, mission, race against time, monster
Black Mirror (2011)
Plot Summary:
A contemporary British re-working of The Twilight Zone with stories that tap into the collective unease about our modern world. Over the last ten years, technology has transformed almost every aspect of our lives before we've had time to stop and question it. In every home; on every desk; in every palm - a plasma screen; a monitor; a smartphone - a black mirror of our 21st Century existence
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 622000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: UK
Plot tags: technology, dystopia, twists and turns, human nature, satire, alternate reality, society, social decay, computers and web, media satire, dystopian future, media, dark humor, distopia, technology gone awry, gadget, media coverage, mind control, storytelling, chaos, loneliness, serial killer, social satire, cyberpunk, dehumanization
Severance (2022)
Plot Summary:
Mark leads a team of office workers whose memories have been surgically divided between their work and personal lives. When a mysterious colleague appears outside of work, it begins a journey to discover the truth about their jobs
Duration: 55 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 181000
Genere: Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: office, memory, distopia, alternate world, office politics, secret identity, conspiracy, mind control, private vs public, office worker, psycho, surgery, coworker, dark secret, surgical operation, coworker relationship, personal safety, satire, apocalypse, robot, post apocalypse, hunting, writers, human experiment, disaster
Dexter (2006)
Plot Summary:
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 slipped through the cracks of justice
Duration: 5076 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 753000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: serial killer, crime investigation, right and wrong, hidden identity, double life, gory, vigilantism, anti hero, serial murder, loner, police station, dark humor, murder, dark secret, corpse, killings, expert, forensics, secret life, psycho, murder investigation, police detective, blood splatter, law enforcement, police department
Line of Duty (2012)
Plot Summary:
Steve Arnott is a young officer who’s fallen foul of his superiors for refusing to help in the cover-up of an operation that ended in the shooting of an innocent father. He seems ideal to join AC-12, an anti-corruption police unit, just as it starts to investigate Detective Chief Inspector Tony Gates, the regional force’s Officer of the Year
Duration: 60 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 68000
Genere: Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: UK
Plot tags: police corruption, honest law enforcer, corruption, female police detective, dirty cop, police detective, police, british police, policewoman, twists and turns, law enforcement, law enforcer, police procedural, secret, evidence, corrupt law enforcer, right and wrong, interrogation, police officer, officer, dishonesty, squad, investigation, internal affairs, murder mystery
Monster (2004)
Plot Summary:
Kenzou Tenma, a Japanese brain surgeon in Germany, finds his life in utter turmoil after getting involved with a psychopath that was once a former patient
Duration: 24 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 41000
Genere: Animation, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller
Country: Japan
Plot tags: moral dilemma, false accusation, mastermind, doctor, hospital, murder, protagonist as suspect, life is a bitch, choice, manipulation, guilt, society, police detective, nihilism, orphanage, murderer, boy, investigator, mature, human experiment, mental disorder, psychology, bad guy, sexual content, mind game
Mouse (2021)
Plot Summary:
A psychopath’s ruthless serial murders have left the entire nation gripped with fear and chaos. A honest and justice-seeking rookie police officer and a veteran detective with tragic past, face against the killer. After the encounter with the psychopath, their lives totally change
Duration: 80 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 10000
Genere: Action, Crime, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: South Korea
Plot tags: investigation, serial killer, murder, serial murder, murder mystery, psycho killer, psychopath, murder investigation, police officer, homicide detective, killings, homicidal maniac, criminal, crime investigation, dna, killing spree, secret, police investigation, fighting crime, crime solving, police partner, teamwork, unsolved crime, partner, cold case
The Bureau (2015)
Plot Summary:
Within the DGSE (General Directorate for External Security), a department called the Office Of Legends (BDL) forms and remote pilot the most important agents of the French intelligence services: Clandestine. Immersion in hostile country, their mission is to identify individuals who may be recruited as sources of information. Operating "under caption", that is to say in a fabricated identity from scratch, they live for many years in a permanent duplicity. Our hero just returned from a clandestine mission six years in Damascus. But contrary to what is required by safety rules, he does not abandon his legend and the identity under which he lived in Syria, thus putting in danger the whole system
Duration: 52 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 14000
Genere: Drama, Thriller
Country: France
Plot tags: spy, espionage, undercover agent, terrorism, secret service, investigation, danger, national security, characters in danger, twists and turns, secret identity, mission, obsession, cia, military, mentally unstable, pow, paranoia, uncover truth, middle east conflict, intelligence, parents, reconnaissance, female nudity, hostage
Stranger Things (2016)
Plot Summary:
When a young boy vanishes, a small town uncovers a mystery involving secret experiments, terrifying supernatural forces, and one strange little girl
Duration: 51 min
IMDB Rating: 8.7/10
IMDB Votes: 13000000
Genere: Drama, Fantasy, Horror, Mystery, Sci-Fi, Thriller
Country: USA
Plot tags: supernatural, monster, telekinesis, small town, parallel universe, experiment, parallel world, friendship, supernatural power, super powers, government conspiracy, missing person, boy, parents and children, group of friends, fear, middle school, teenage boy, investigation, missing child, alternate dimension, paranormal phenomena, teenager, single mother, secret experiment