Sometimes you want Netflix to provide comfort, a warm cuddly hug in the form of a movie or show, and other times you want it to give you an adrenaline rush.
When it’s the latter, you’ll want a good selection of thriller and suspense movies to browse through. That’s when you end up searching the best suspense movies on Netflix in Canada.
Netflix has a solid selection of picks from the genre, so we’ve handpicked the best movies on Netflix Canada out of the lot to save you some time scrolling aimlessly.
Streaming services like Netflix never fail to amaze the audiences by releasing critically acclaimed movies like Titular Island, Bird box, Dark truths. Few directors also did directorial debut in the list.
And before you dive into the whole list, you may also want to check out our list of best horror movies, because suspense and horror go hand in hand on your computer screen.
1. SHUTTER ISLAND (2010)
Director: Martin Scorsese
Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Ben Kingsley, Michelle Williams, Emily Mortimer, Patricia Clarkson, and Max von Sydow
IMDB Rating: 8.2/10
Martin Scorsese’s twisted thriller kept audiences at the edge of their seats throughout. The movie is based on the Dennis Lehane novel of the same name.
The film stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Mark Ruffalo as U.S Marshalls who arrive on an island to delve further into the disappearance of a patient at the psychiatric facility.
The film delights viewers with its revealing twists and turns all along and DiCaprio, a splendid actor, gives viewers a compelling performance.
This is also one of the best thriller movies to watch!
2. THE HATEFUL EIGHT (2015)
Director: Quentin Tarintino
Cast: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Rusell, Jennifer Jason Leigh
IMDB Rating: 7.8/10
Set in the American West just after the Civil War, Quentin Tarantino doesn’t disappoint viewers with this film.
The psychological thrillers horror movie follows a group of criminals and criminally brutal lawmen, pitted against each other in a snowbound Wyoming cabin.
The star-studded cast includes Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Bruce Dern, and Jennifer Jason Leigh.
3. NIGHTCRAWLER (2014)
Director: Dan Gilroy
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rean Russo, Bill Paxton
IMDB Rating: 7.7/10
This Netflix original film is a psychological thriller, where we see Jake Gyllenhall in a negative role, something we aren’t usually used to see.
Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, a hard-working guy willing to do almost anything it takes to make it in Los Angeles. Bloom comes across a cameraman filming car wreckage seen and later finds out that freelance videographers make a buck or more by selling such footage to the highest bidder.
Bloom decides to give it a shot and buys a camera. Soon the more involved Lou gets in these crime scenes, the more obsessive he gets, which leads to some increasingly questionable ethical choices and a rising sense of dread as to how his newfound career might play out.
Also one of the best thriller movies!
4. ZODIAC(2007)
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Mark Ruffalo, Chloe Sevigny, Robert Downey Jr., Anthony Edwards, Brian Cox, and John Carroll Lynch
IMDB Rating: 7.7/10
The Se7en and Gone Girl filmmaker brings his dark and dramatic cinematography to the film Zodiac.
The best thrillers movie story follows a cartoonist (Jake Gyllenhaal) teams up with an ace reporter (Robert Downey Jr.) to track down an elusive killer on a rampage within the city. Weaving together all the people working on the case trying to hunt down the infamous Northern California murderer, Zodiac is a complex and riveting investigation into obsession, compulsion, and the irresistible pull of an unsolved crime.
Director David Fincher, an elegant stylist, finds the right pace and style for a story about persistence in the face of evil.
5. THE GAME (1997)
Director: David Fincher
Cast: Micheal Douglas, Deborah Kara Unger, Sean Penn
IMDB Rating: 7.7/10
Another great movie by acclaimed director David Fincher, the story follows a banker whose brother delivers him a strange birthday present: a personalized, increasingly dangerous real-life game.
The Game is thrilling, mind-bending, and well-acted, with provocative messages about the illusion of control.
6. NOCTURNAL ANIMALS(2016)
Director/Writer: Tom Ford
Cast: Amy Adams, Jake Gyllenhaal, Michael Shannon, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Isla Fisher, Armie Hammer, Laura Linney, Andrea Riseborough, and Michael Sheen
IMDB Rating: 7.5/10
The film follows the story of an Art critic Gallery owner (Amy Adams) as she reads the new novel written by her first husband (Jake Gyllenhaal).
While she reads the novel, the events play out on the screen and these events have an odd semblance to the gallery owner’s real life, subtly allowing viewers to understand why her marriage ended in the first place. The movie is giving best thrillers goals.
7. UNCUT GEMS (2019)
Directors: Josh Safdie and Benny Safdie
Cast: Adam Sandler, Kevin Garnett, Julia Fox, Lakeith Stanfield, Idina Menzel, and Eric Bogosian
IMDB Rating: 7.4/10
The film was released in 2019 and was a rollercoaster wild ride with the central characters making bad decisions after bad decisions.
The film stars Adam Sandler as a Jewish jeweler and gambling addict in New York City’s Diamon District who has to track down an expensive gem he purchased in order to pay off her debts.
The film covers the nail-biting journey down to the minute, as the stakes grow more serious with each passing hour. Sandler gives one of the best performances of his career here, but be forewarned, this one is intense.
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8. EL CAMINO: A BREAKING BAD MOVIE (2019)
Director: Vince Gilligan
Cast: Aaron Paul, Jonathan Bank, Matt Jones
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
El Camino did not disappoint breaking bad fans, packed with suspense and high-quality action filmmaking, Aaron Paul as Jesse Pinkman carried the film tremendously well, he has given his career best performance.
As a fan, you will be treated to cameos and amusing references. The film picks up in the aftermath of the 2013 Breaking Bad finale, where we saw Jesse (Paul) driving away from the firefight that left Bryan Cranston (Walter White) dead.
9. LAYER CAKE (2004)
Director: Matthew Vaughn
Cast: Daniel Craig, Colm Meaney, Kenneth Cranham, George Harris, Sienna Miller, and Michael Gambon
IMDB Rating: 7.3/10
The British crime thriller, body horror meets psychological thriller meets occult drama meets classical music. Layer Cake placed Daniel Craig on the main stage. The story follows a man who wants to leave the drug business but finds it much harder than he thought.
10. STATE OF PLAY (2009)
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Cast: Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck, Jason Bateman, Robin Wright Penn, Jeff Daniels, and Helen Mirren
IMDB Rating: 7.1/10
2009’s State of Play is set in Washington D.C, and it follows a veteran reporter (Russel Crowe) who has a hunch that the seemingly presumed suicide of a woman is far from exactly what it seems to be.
Russell Crowe has reason to believe that the dead woman is the same woman who is having an affair with a congressman (Ben Affleck).
The film is based on a British miniseries of the same name but holds up quite well all its own as a journalistic crime thriller.
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11. THE KILLING OF A SACRED DEER (2017)
Director: Yorgos Lanthimos
Cast: Colin Farrell, Nicole Kidman, Barry Keoghan, and Bill Camp
IMDB Rating: 7.0/10
The killing of a Sacred Deer features Colin Farrell as a cardiac surgeon who befriends a young man(Barry Keoghan), who then warns him that his entire family will slowly die.
Lanthimos imparts his signature creepy dialogue delivery that just amps up the thrill factor. The actors do a splendid job with their stellar performances.
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12. THE PLATFORM (2019)
Director: Galder Gaztelu-Urrutia
Cast: Iván Massagué, Antonia San Juan, Zorion Eguileor, Emilio Buale, Alexandra Masangkay
IMDB Rating: 7.0/10
A fabulous high-concept thriller with a stellar cast, The Platform is set within the confines of an impossibly tall building where residents either feast or famine depending on which floor they’re on.
Every day, a massive table is stuffed with a banquet of food and slowly dropped through the building, one floor to the next, with the folks on top thriving in gluttony while those far below them starve to death.
But there’s a catch: every once in a while, the inhabitants are gassed, reshuffled, and they never know which floor they’re going to wake up on next.
If you have a secret obsession of brilliant action movie that will take you to the post apocalyptic world on the same time.
13. FREAKS (2018)
Writers/Directors: Zach Lipovsky, Adam B. Stein
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Bruce Dern, Grace Park, Amanda Crew, Lexy Kolker
IMDB Rating: 6.7/10
The film “Freaks”, follows the story of a seven-year-old young daughter Chloe, who has spent her entire life completely isolated from the real world inside her home with her father, Henry (Emile Hirsch.
He’s always told her that the outside world is a dangerous place, but the older Chloe gets, the more tempted she becomes to venture out, which she finally does one day.
One of the best thrillers on Netflix.
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14. THE GUEST(2014)
Director: Adam Wingard
Cast: Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe, Brendan Meyer, Sheila Kelley, Leland Orser, Ethan Embry, and Lance Reddick
IMDB Rating: 6.7/10
The movie, “The Guest” is a bit of everything- horror, action, thriller and dark comedy. Dan Stevens gives a chilling performance as a man who claims to be a combat veteran and friend of a fallen soldier who mingles himself into the said soldier’s family. You will laugh out loud funny while watching this movie because it has horror, suspense, and fun all together.
15. THE DA VINCI CODE (2006)
Director: Ron Howard
Cast: Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou, Ian McKellen, Alfred Molina, Paul Bettany, and Jean Reno
IMDB Rating: 6.6/10
The enormous popularity of Dan Brown’s novel, “The Da Vinci Code” owed much to the success of the film released in the year 2006.
The film is a religious thriller in which Tom Hanks play the role of a professor of religious symbology.
He becomes the prime suspect in a murder and in working to clear his name, he uncovers a massive conspiracy that goes back centuries.
16. Oxygen
Director: Alexandre Aja
Cast: Mélanie Laurent, Mathieu Amalric, Malik Zidi
IMDB Rating: 6.5/10
The film follows a woman (Melanie Laurent) who wakes up in a cryogenic pod with no memory of who she is, how she got there or what to do with her rapidly declining supply of Oxygen.
The film happens to be one the most pulse-pounding, skin-crawling intense movies of the 21st Century by acclaimed director Alexandre Aja.
All in all, the film is an adrenaline rushing experience one should not miss.
17. GERALD’S GAME (2017)
Director: Mike Flanagan
Cast: Carla Gugino, Bruce Greenwood, Kate Siegel, Henry Thomas
IMDB Rating: 6.5/10
Gerald’s Game has to be hands down the quasiest adaptation of the Stephen King novel of the same name.
The film follows the story of a woman, left handcuffed to the bed in a remote cabin after her husband dies of a heart attack.
Mike Flanagan’s 2017 adaptation is relentlessly gripping as it keeps viewers glued to every moment of how she survives the traumatic ordeal.
18. BERLIN SYNDROME (2017)
Director: Cate Shortland
Cast: Teresa Palmer, Max Riemelt,
IMDB Rating: 6.3/10
Berlin Syndrome, directed by Cate Shortland is a taut thriller with spectacular twists and turns. The story follows Clare Havel (Teresa Palmer), a young Australian photojournalist on vacation in Berlin.
She’s living the best version of her life, taking in the sights, falling in love with a new city and maybe a love interest is also on the horizon in the form of a mysterious handsome man Andi (Max Riemelt).
Their passionate romance ensues and one thing leads to the other, and Clare lands at his place for a night filled with romance and passion.
Things turn ugly when she wakes up in the morning and realizes that she’s been locked in his apartment, with no intention of letting her out again.
19. I Care A lot (2020)
Director: J Blakeson
Cast: Rosamund Pike, Peter Dinklage, Eiza Gonzalez
IMDB Rating: 6.3/10
Somewhere between terrifying and hilarious lies, I Care a Lot: the thriller starring Rosamund Pike as a legal caregiver who manipulates the judicial system to scam elderly people out of everything they own.
Things are going great until she nabs someone with ties that bind a little more tightly than she’s used to.
The movie will literally have you asking if you’re more comfortable with human trafficking or elder abuse, which is really a no-win situation. And yet, the film is so damn good.
20. IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON (2019)
Writer/Director: Jim Mickle
Cast: Boyd Holbrook, Cleopatra Coleman, Michael C. Hall, Rachel Keller
IMDB Rating: 6.2/10
A relatively not so famous movie, In the Shadow of the Moon, demands the viewers attention with his twisted storyline.
The sci-fi crime thriller mixes up time travel, obsessive detective work and a dash of politics.
The story follows a police officer who stumbles upon a horrendous series of crimes and winds up locked in the cat-and-mouse game that will change the future for him.
21. THE PERFECTION (2018)
Director: Richard Shephard
Cast: Marie Maskell, Allison Williams, Christina Jastrzembska
IMDB Rating: 6.2/10
The story revolves around two cellists, Charlotte (Allison Williams) and Lizzie (Logan Browning) who used to be students at a prestigious, family-run Boston conservatory.
One of them, Charlotte, left school abruptly, as a teenager but she turns up at a music summit randomly a decade later, after a mysterious stay in a mental hospital. She falls for Lizzie, a prodigy who took her place and spotlight after she left, and soon things begin to rapidly unravel.
They soon learn that the conservatory’s director, Anton (Steven Weber) has used the school as a front for his horrific rapes of students.
Towards the film’s climax, Lizzie and Charlotte pay a visit to their old music teacher, a special visit to punish him for the atrocities he inflicted upon many.
22. 1922 (2017)
Director: Zak Hilditch
Cast: Thomas Jane, Molly Parker, Dylan Schmid
IMDB Rating: 6.2/10
1922 follows a farmer to Nebraska, where he sets on the path to writing a confession for murder from his past. The Netflix film is adapted from a Stephen King novel.
23. LEVEL 16(2018)
Director/Writer: Danishka Esterhazy
Cast: Katie Douglas, Celina Martin, Peter Outerbridge, Sara Canning
IMDB Rating: 6.1/10
Level 16 follows a group of teenage girls at The Vestalis Academy, a boarding school where they are taught the so-called virtues of femininity: obedience, cleanliness, patience and humility.
As the regressive ideology is drilled into their minds day-in and day-out, the young woman soon begins to suspect something sinister is at play discreetly.
Level 16 gives viewers all the hallmarks of a dystopian thriller and reinvents them along the way into a modern day smart and slick indie thriller.
24. RUST CREEK(2018)
Director: Jen McGowan
Cast: Hermione Corfield, Jay Paulson, Sean O’Bryan, Micah Hauptman, Daniel R. Hill
IMDB Rating: 5.9/10
Rust Creek is a straight-up, no-nonsense survival thriller. The story follows Sawyer, a young woman who is on the road for a job interview, only to get lost in the woods and look for her way out as she gets attacked by a pair of people.
She soon finds her way out, only to wind up captive to an unexpected, less familiar character, a drug dealer who happens to be cousins and business partner with her addailants, Lowell (Jay Paulson).
He ultimately means her no harm and the two strike a unique bond while they both try to survive together.
25. PREMONITION (2007)
Director: Mennan Yapo
Cast: Sandra Bullock, Julian McMahon, Amber Valleta
IMDB Rating: 5.9/10
Premonition stars Sandra Bullock as a woman who has seemingly lost her mind right in the middle of life altering events occurring in her life.
A psychological thriller, the film follows her ordeal as someone grappling to keep a grip on the events unfolding around her, her husband dying amid their marriage falling apart.
26. WHAT KEEPS YOU ALIVE (2018)
Director/Writer: Colin Minihan
Cast: Hannah Emily Anderson and Brittany Allen
IMDB Rating: 5.7/10
What Keeps You Alive is a survival thriller that drills into your deepest fears. The film follows Jackie(Hannah Emily Anderson) and Jules (Brittany Allen) who are celebrating their wedding anniversary at Jackie’s family cabin.
A chance encounter with Jackie’s childhood friend raises some questions about her wife’s dark past and soon after, Jules is trying to escape from the same woman she vowed to have and hold.
27. VELVET BUZZSAW(2019)
Director/Writer: Dan Gilroy
Cast: Jake Gyllenhaal, Rene Russo, Zawe Ashton, Tom Sturridge, Toni Collette, Natalia Dyer, Daveed Diggs, Billy Magnussen, and John Malkovich
IMDB Rating: 5.7/10
If you’re a fan of Nightcrawler, you will love Velvet Buzzsaw writer/director Dan Gilroy.
The movie is set in the art world and revolves around a piece of art by a mysterious and deceased artist Once its put on display, people begin to die in a grisly manner.
The film has traces of dark humour to it, while Jake Gyllenhaal puts up a vibrant performance.
28. THE WOMAN IN THE WINDOW (2021)
Director: Joe Wright
Cast: Amy Adams, Gary Oldman, Anthony Mackie
IMDB Rating: 5.7/10
The Woman in the Window is a psychological thriller that is extremely intoxicating to watch.
Watching Amy Adams navigate the fallout after witnessing a murder is intoxicating, especially as you decide whether or not she’s a reliable witness.
29. ANTEBELLUM (2020)
Director: Gerard Bush, Christopher Renz
Cast: Janelle Monae, Eric Lange, Jena Malone
IMDB Rating: 5.7/10
The psychological suspense thriller follows successful author Veronica Henley, who finds herself trapped in a horrifying reality.
She must uncover the mind-bending mystery before it’s too late.
30. STOWAWAY (2021)
Director: Joe Penna
Cast: Anna Kendrick, Daniel Dae Kim, Shamier Anderson
IMDB Rating: 5.6/10
Stowaway follows the story of a three-person crew on a mission to Mars. Soon an unplanned passenger jeopardizes the lives of everyone on board.
CONCLUSION:
Netflix is host to a virtual library of potentially the best suspense titles that you can enjoy, within the comfort of your home. From suspenseful political stories to thrilling action movies, Netflix has something for everyone like Netflix Cam by director daniel Goldhaber and screenwriter Isa Mazzei, Raid director.
Many people are also fan of the movies in which the handsome stranger Robert pattinson stars.
Every movie is unique in its own way but Thrillers have the best elements of every genre. A little bit of fear, speed and action, and dashes of comedy and drama make it all come together.
Your attention and full focus is needed for the complete movie experience to really get all that adrenaline pumping.
So put your phone away while you dive into our list of the best suspense movies on Netflix in Canada.
Chris Mack
