4 chilling Netflix thriller shows perfect for binging on a hot night

Credit: Lucas Gouveia/How-To Geek Published Sep 9, 2026, 2:30 PM EDT Derek Malcolm has been covering the worlds of tech and entertainment for more than two decades. Before coming to How-To Geek in 2025, Derek was a contributing editor and writer for the A/V and Home Theater section at Digital Trends, where he wrangled and wrote everything from what to watch on Netflix to reviews, explainers, and guides on the latest Bluetooth speakers, turntables, projectors, and other A/V gear. Based in Toronto, Derek graduated from Humber College's Journalism program in 1999, after which he started covering the worlds of music, movies, TV, and celebrity for publications such as TV Guide, Hello! magazine, and Inside Entertainment. He then got the bug for covering tech and gadgets in 2006, when he served as editor-in-chief of Canadian tech magazine Connected for more than a decade. An avid skier, when all the snow's gone Derek can be found at home spinning vinyl with his daughter or cheering on his favorite F1 team, McLaren. Sign in to your How-To Geek account There's still some heat left in this summer, and while an icy glass of lemonade is a great way to cool down, for a more thorough, deep chill that sends shivers into your bones, there's nothing better than a spine-tingling thriller TV show. Luckily, Netflix has these in spades. The four below have all ranked on the Netflix charts and have solid Rotten Tomatoes scores (some even have Emmy credentials), but every one offers a story told specifically to chill you. From sun-soaked obsession and Nordic murders to children gone feral and others gone missing, each of these thriller shows on Netflix can be binged in just a night or two. Ripley Andrew Scott's Tom Ripley is cold This isn't your father's Talented Mr. Ripley, with charming Matt Damon soaking up the sweet sun of the Italian coast. And that's a good thing, as Andrew Scott instead brings a more sinister, deadened thrill to Patricia Highsmith's iconic Tom Ripley in this Emmy-winning eight-episode Netflix limited series. It also helps that Ripley—adapted and directed by Schindler's List screenplay writer Steven Zaillian—is shot entirely in black and white. Scott plays the titular character, a small-time New York grifter who's sent to Italy to bring back Dickie Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn), the playboy son of a shipping magnate, who is living it up in Italy with his girlfriend Marge Sherwood (Dakota Fanning). But once Tom tastes the good life, he disposes of Dickie and takes his place. Scott and Fanning both earned Emmy nods for their performances, and the series has an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes. Ripley Release Date 2024 - 2024-00-00 Network Netflix Cast Andrew Scott, Dakota Fanning, Claudio Camilli, Francesco Formichetti, Andrea Fiorillo, Toni Pandolfo, Lorenzo Lazzarini, Giacomo Colavito, Bill Connington, Carola Abdalla Said, Johnny Flynn, Kenneth Lonergan, Simona Senzacqua, Bruno Crucitti, Pernell Walker, Steven Randazzo, Zac Jaffee, Liam Craig, Ann Cusack, Freddy Drabble, Antonio Friello, Francesca Romana Bergamo, Pasquale Esposito, Arcangelo Iannace, Vittorio Viviani Showrunner Steven Zaillian Directors Steven Zaillian Writers Steven Zaillian, Patricia Highsmith Main Genre Crime Creator(s) Steven Zaillian, Patricia Highsmith Producers Andrew Scott, Enzo Sisti Seasons 1 Streaming Service(s) Netflix Where To Watch Netflix Executive Producer(s) Benjamin Forkner, Charlie Corwin, Clayton Townsend, Garrett Basch, Guymon Casady, Philipp Keel, Sharon Levy, Steven Zaillian The Chestnut Man Grisly murders and the creepiest little figurines left behind If you like Danish or Nordic-noir series and movies, then the mind of writer Søren Sveistrup is definitely a place you might want to go—or steer clear of, depending on the faintness of your heart. The writer behind the original Danish series The Killing (later remade for AMC and later picked up by Netflix for season two), Sveistrup's The Chestnut Man is a 100%-rated six-part crime drama about a killer terrorizing Copenhagen, murdering mothers and leaving small figures made of chestnuts and matchsticks next to them. Detectives Naia Thulin (Danica Curcic) and Mark Hess (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) are on the case, which twists and turns back to the missing and presumed-dead daughter of a Danish politician. Scenes are often cold and colorless, befitting the chilling mood, but the ticking clock between murders makes for thrilling TV. A second six-part series, Hide and Seek, hit Netflix this past May. The Chestnut Man Release Date 2021 - 2026-00-00 Network Netflix Cast Mikkel Boe Følsgaard, Danica Ćurčić, Villje Katring-Rasmussen, David Dencik, Iben Dorner, Lars Ranthe, Esben Dalgaard Andersen, Louis Næss-Schmidt, Liva Forsberg, Ali Kazim, Sofie Gråbøl, Katinka Lærke Petersen, Thomas Hwan, Morten Brovn Jørgensen, Anders Hove, Marie Lydie Melono Nokouda, Arian Kashef, Elliott Crosset Hove, Simone Lykke, Kasper Leisner, Celine Mortensen, Jens Jørn Spottag, Kristian Høgh Jeppesen, Sofus Søndergaard Mikkelsen, Nicolai Dahl Hamilton Directors Kasper Barfoed, Mikkel Serup Writers Dorthe Warnø Høgh, Christoffer Örnfelt, Søren Sveistrup, Mikkel Serup, David Sandreuter Main Genre Crime Producers Morten Kjems Juhl, Stine Meldgaard Madsen Seasons 2 Executive Producer(s) Mikkel Serup, Meta Louise Foldager Sørensen, Søren Sveistrup Lord of the Flies William Golding's lost boys get twisted in this Emmy hopeful Who better to tackle William Golding's iconic 1954 tale of boys gone feral than Jack Thorne, the co-creator of another chilling story of corrupted youth, Netflix's Emmy-winning Adolescence. The four-part limited series Lord of the Flies, however, is on a whole other level. Filmed on location on a real jungle island in Malaysia, it tells the intense story of a group of young British kids in the 1950s who are left stranded on a tropical island after their plane crashes, killing all the adults on board. The psychological thriller gets more and more unsettling as the boys devolve from a pseudo-civilized democracy—with the clever Piggy (David McKenna) and righteous Ralph (Winston Sawyers) leading things—into a cult of barbaric hunters led by the increasingly unhinged Jack (Lox Pratt). Once the conch loses its authority, all hell breaks loose, making for some compelling TV. Lord of the Flies is up for two Emmy Awards this month, and it currently sits at 91% on Rotten Tomatoes. It also proves that TV adaptations can sometimes do the books justice. Lord of the Flies Release Date 2026 - 2026-00-00 Network BBC One Cast Winston Sawyers, David McKenna, Lox Pratt, Ike Talbut, Thomas Connor, Cassius Flemyng, Noah Flemyng, Cornelius Brandreth, Harrison Metcalfe, Rafael de Belligny, Felix Tandon, Beau Thompson, Kai Wilson, Freddie Lee-Grey, Tom Page-Turner, Gus Turner, Daniel Mays, Tom Goodman-Hill, Blake Williams, Fred Jones Directors Marc Munden Writers Jack Thorne Main Genre Drama Creator(s) Jack Thorne, Marc Munden Producers Callum Devrell-Cameron Seasons 1 Executive Producer(s) Amanda Duthie, Cailah Scobie, Jack Thorne, Jamie Campbell Bower, Joel Wilson, Marc Munden, Nawfal Faizullah I Will Find You Harlan Coben has a beeline to your spine in this thriller Thriller writer Harlan Coben's novels have made a cozy home for themselves on Netflix—Run Away, Missing You, and Fool Me Once are among those that have been adapted—but the latest to climb the charts of the Big Red N is this year's eight-episode series I Will Find You, which was on the streamer's Top 10 for weeks after its release in June. The crime thriller follows David Burroughs (Avatar's Sam Worthington), a man serving a life sentence for the murder of his young son Matthew that he swears he didn't commit. But when David's former sister-in-law, Rachel (Severance's excellent Britt Lower), sends him a photo of what looks like his Matthew, still alive, David breaks out of prison to find him and get to the bottom of a conspiracy that runs deep. Worthington and Lower drive all the action in this nail-biter, with a tour de force performance from none other than This Is Us star Milo Ventimiglia. Release Date 2026 - 2026-00-00 Network Netflix Showrunner Robert Hull Directors Adam Davidson, Brad Anderson, Maggie Kiley, Maja Vrvilo Writers Heather Mitchell, Bryan Wynbrandt, Robert Hull, Steven Lilien Cast Sam Worthington, Britt Lower, Chi McBride, Logan Browning, Erin Richards, Jonathan Tucker, Milo Ventimiglia, Kate Vernon, Peter Outerbridge, Aaron Ashmore, Greg Bryk, Vas Saranga, Madeleine Stowe, Nicola Correia Damude, Hugh Thompson, Darrin Baker, Jefferson Brown, Ashton Cressman, Gregory Waters, Rainn Lawrence, Billy MacLellan, Tara Rosling, Tom Morton, Danielle Graham, Christopher Redman Main Genre Drama Creator(s) Robert Hull Producers Zoe Cheng, Desmond Paes Seasons 1 Executive Producer(s) Brad Anderson, Bryan Wynbrandt, Harlan Coben, John Weber, Robert Hull, Steven Lilien Beat the heat with an ice-cold thriller I personally can't wait for the cooler climes of the fall and winter (ski season, baby!), but until I can cool down outside, at least I can bundle up in my living room with the thrill of a good chiller. Or, wait, the chill of a good thriller? Whatever. Any of these four will do the trick, and they won't cost you more than a night or two to get through. When you're done, though, check How-To Geek's streaming section, as we sort everything worth watching so you don't have to. Subscription with ads Yes, $8/month Simultaneous streams Two or four Live TV No Price Starting at $8/month Stream licensed and original programming with a monthly Netflix subscription.