25 Best Mystery and Thriller Shows: There are different kinds of people watching mystery shows: one kind watches the episode, accepts what happened and moves on, while another kind pauses every two minutes to rethink if that makes sense, rewinds, and rewatches the bit.
If you belong to the second category, you are in the right place.
25 Best Mystery and Thriller Shows: Nothing Is Ever What It Seems
A genuinely good mystery and thriller show does not just end up giving you a solved crime. Rather, it makes you question the people you thought you understood, the version of events you were watching, and sometimes your own ability to spot an obvious clue.
Some shows go on a full psychological warfare while others play with timelines, unreliable narrators, alternate realities or even secrets buried so deep that even the characters do not know the whole truth.
If your idea of a relaxing evening is “one more episode” followed by four hours of binge-watching, here are 25 mystery and thriller shows that deserve a space on your watchlist.
Dark
If you have not watched Dark yet, you still have the chance to experience the absolute joy of drawing a family tree to regret.
The German sci-fi begins with children disappearing in a small German town, but this is not really a missing-person search story. The story quickly starts playing with time, family histories and the horrifying possibility of weird connections.
This is the show for people who enjoy being confused before being obsessed.
You can watch the show on Netflix.
Severance
A quick question: what would happen if you could separate your work and personal memories? Peace? Sounds like it! But perhaps it is not.
Severance follows employees at Lumon Industries who undergo a procedure that divides their work and personal consciousness. Mark Scout and his colleagues slowly began questioning what their company is actually doing. The aspect worth praising is that the series does not scream at you.
The series sits quietly in the corner while you realise and process that something is very wrong.
The series is available on Apple TV.
Mindhunter
Netflix’s Mindhunter is less about who did it and more about getting into the minds of people who already did.
The series follows Holden Ford and Bill Tench as they interview imprisoned serial killers to understand how these criminals think.
The show is unsettling because a lot happens through conversations with no jump scares. There are only uncomfortable conversations that make you realise how fascinating and frightening human psychology is.
Black Mirror
Not every episode of Black Mirror is a conventional setup, but if you want a show that makes you stare at the screen afterwards and whisper to yourself and question what you really watched, this is the exact lane.
The anthology series uses technology, social media, artificial intelligence, surveillance, and human behaviour, where the rules can change completely in different episodes.
Every episode of this Netflix series has its own nightmare.
The OA
Netflix’s The OA begins with an intriguing premise; it centres on a woman who disappeared for seven years but suddenly returns home.
The hook is that she is not the same person: she can see again, has a mysterious story, and gathers five strangers around her for a secret mission. It is set in part mystery, sci-fi, and psychological fever.
1899
A ship sailing towards New York; a mysterious vessel; and weird things. 1899 comes from the creators of Dark and follows a group of immigrants aboard a steamship whose journey takes a deeply unexpected turn. The show is built around secrets, realities, and the very feeling that everyone seems to be lying.
If mysteries where the answers create some five more follow-ups are your vibe, this Netflix series should definitely be on your watchlist.
Bodies
The Netflix limited series, Bodies, has four detectives and four timelines. That is what you should know before getting into the show.
There happen to be connections in murders occurring across different periods of London’s history. The show slowly reveals how the cases are connected.
This is a kind of show that rewards the people who pay attention because little details that appear to be random suddenly become important. Keeping track of dates is not optional here!
Behind Her Eyes
Netflix’s Behind Her Eyes should come with a warning not to Google the ending.
The show follows Louise, a single mother who becomes involved with her psychiatrist boss while also being friends with his wife, Adele. There are secrets; dreams become important; people are not necessarily what they appear to be; and then comes the ending.
The Sinner
The Sinner is an anthology crime thriller that asks why they did the crime instead of who did it. It follows detective Harry Ambrose as he investigates disturbing cases where the obvious explanations are rarely true.
There is psychology and history behind a crime. This Netflix series is dark, uncomfortable and wonderfully patient in revealing secrets.
Yellowjackets
This thriller show follows a girls’ soccer team that survives a plane crash, but years later, the survivors are still carrying secrets of what happened there.
Yellowjackets jumps between their teenage years in the wilderness and their adult lives, slowly revealing what happened after the crash. It mixes survival thriller, psychological drama, horror and mystery without fully committing to letting you feel comfortable.
Mare of Easttown
Mare of Easttown is about understanding the people left behind while also solving a murder.
Kate Winslet plays Mare Sheehan, a detective investigating the murder of a teenage girl in a small Pennsylvania community where everyone knows everyone. The mystery is gripping, and the emotional weight lingers.
Sharp Objects
Sharp Objects is the one if you like slow and deeply uncomfortable mysteries. Amy Adams as Camile Preaker is a journalist who returns to her hometown to investigate the murders of two young girls.
Returning home, she has to confront her family, her past and a town that seems to have secrets more than people. It is not a detective case premise, but everybody needs a therapy premise.
True Detective
True Detective is an anthology, so every season tells a different story, but if you are starting for the “mystery”, Season 1 is the entry point.
Two detectives investigate a disturbing series of crimes in Louisiana, and the investigation stretches over years, changing the ones involved as much as it changes the scene.
The Undoing
A wealthy New York family; a glamorous life; a murder, and suddenly everything that looked perfect starts falling apart.
This six-episode psychological mystery has a story following Grace Fraser after a violent death throws her beautiful world into chaos.
Big Little Lies
Big Little Lies begins with a death and spends much of the first season slowly revealing relationships, resentments and secrets that led there. It is a mystery wrapped inside a very glossy story about women, friendship, marriage and the things people refuse to say out loud.
The show tells us not to let the gorgeous houses, expensive clothes and Monterey scenery fool you.
Sherlock
Sometimes you do not exactly need a complex mythology, but just Sherlock Holmes to walk into the room and stare at someone to figure out their entire life and that is what Sherlock brings to the table.
This is a classic detective series with clever cases, a fast-paced and packed premise, and big reveals. It is basically the comfort TV for the people who love it in a more stressful kind of way.
From
From is a horror-mystery series that traps the characters in the town where escaping is not seemingly possible, and survival is complex.
The show keeps adding questions over questions, so if you enjoy biting your nails while watching your series, this is your deal.
The Devil’s Hour
The Devil’s Hour begins like a psychological thriller but expands into a much stranger context. It is atmospheric, unsettling and very good at making you reconsider if you thought you understood something, even a few episodes earlier.
Presumed Innocent
Presumed Innocent is the kind of courtroom mystery where every little revelation changes the way you look at characters and keeps asking whether you actually know the people closest to you.
Paatal Lok
Indian thrillers understand the assignment, especially in the subject of thrillers when it comes to morally complicated mysteries: Paatal Lok is one of the best examples.
The show looks at a seemingly straightforward murder attempt that sends Inspector Hathi Ram Chaudhary down a rabbit hole involving a lot: criminals, politicians, cast, and people who are much more complicated than the first impression. The deeper the investigation, the more difficult the case becomes.
Kohhra
Kohhra centres around the death of an NRI groom who is found dead in rural Punjab days after his marriage. The series does not seem interested in giving a glamorous murder mystery and thriller show: it is muddy, intimate, and deeply rooted in the lives of people who surround the crime.
Asur
Arshad Warsi on the lead, Asur, is a Hindi crime thriller show that follows investigations attempting to stop a killer whose crimes are connected to a disturbing ideological framework.
The series is filled with symbolism and psychological games. It is available to watch on JioHotstar.
Gyaarah Gyaarah
Gyaarah Gyaarah takes the police procedural and adds a sci-fi twist to it: investigators separated by eleven years are now somehow connected while solving cases across time.
Things get messy when changing the past becomes a part of the investigation.
Breathe
Breathe has a compelling hook with a series of unrelated deaths beginning to reveal a disturbing pattern, putting the crime branch officer on the trail of a suspect nobody expects.
R.Madhavan’s performance gives a particular edge to the series.
Akhri Sach
Akhri Sach translates to “last truth”, with the series following an Indian family mystery. It follows an investigator trying to understand the deaths of many members of a family, with the case revealing layers of secrets and unsettling relations.
What Should You Watch First?
Your watchlist should have all 25 shows, but which one comes first depends entirely on your palette.
Dark can be your number one if you want a big brain-melter, or Severance for something clever; switching to Paatal Lok or Kohhra if you want Indian crime is a good option. If you want a sci-fi with mystery, 1899, The OA, and Gyaarah Gyaarah should be at the top.
Whatever your first preference is, all 25 mystery and thriller shows should be on your watchlist, for sure.
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