We are already two thirds of the way through 2025, and there have been quite a few impressive thriller shows released this year that are worth checking out. While excellent thriller shows from years past can be worth revisiting, there is undoubtedly something even more exciting about entering a completely new TV world.
More than that, the genre itself is open to a lot of variation. From immersive sci-fi thrillers, to erotic ones, to crime shows, the genre has something for everyone. There are also plenty of underrated thrillers that deserve more attention, but 2025’s best additions to the genre so far deserve all the attention they have gotten.
The Hunting Wives
Available To Stream On Netflix
The Hunting Wives season 1
One of the most unexpected streaming hits of 2025 so far is Netflix’s The Hunting Wives. Based on the book by May Cobb, The Hunting Wives is apologetically sexy, fun, and violent. The series melds together a murder mystery narrative and shockingly twisted erotic relationships, creating something completely unique.
While the erotic aspects of the show may not be every viewer’s cup of tea, they do set the show apart from other thrillers that have been released this year. As a result, The Hunting Wives was a smash hit upon its release in July, taking over Netflix’s streaming charts.
The Hunting Wives is led by Brittany Snow and Malin Akerman as two complex and certainly imperfect Texan housewives. The show has no shortage of raucous, raunchy moments, and the truth behind its central murder mystery points to the dark heart of their wealthy, powerful community, keeping audiences hooked.
The Better Sister
Available To Stream On Prime Video
Bobby Naderi as Matt Bowen, Jessica Biel as Chloe Taylor, and Maxwell Acee Donovan as Ethan Macintosh behind a police line in The Better Sister
The Better Sister is a more traditional thriller series with no supernatural elements, but it certainly has its fair share of shocking twists. The Better Sister follows sisters Chloe Taylor and Nicky Macintosh when they become involved in the investigation of Chloe’s husband’s murder, who just happens to also be Nicky’s ex-husband.
From the outset, The Better Sister sets up this incredibly complicated dynamic between the two sisters, which is crucial to the show as a whole. The series’ premise is messy, and the sisters have a lot to overcome in order to reconcile after Adam Macintosh’s death. Fortunately, this emotional backing balances well with the twisty murder case.
The Institute
Available To Stream On MGM+
Simone Miller as Kalisha and Joe Freeman as Luke in The Institute
MGM+’s supernatural horror thriller The Institute is based on Stephen King’s book of the same name, and it is just as intense as one would expect from its author. Luke Ellis is a teen boy with supernatural abilities who is taken to the mysterious Institute where he and other children are experimented on.
The series has drawn comparisons to El’s backstory in Stranger Things, but that doesn’t quite illustrate how impressive the show is. The Institute is far darker than Netflix’s series and its human villains are even more brutal. The thrilling series works because audiences can easily connect with and root for the children even when their predicament is at its worst.
The Institute does change King’s book in minor ways while largely remaining faithful to the source material, and so far that has worked to the series’ advantage. The show recently finished airing its first season, and excitingly, The Institute has already been renewed for season 2, giving thriller fans something to look forward to.
American Primeval
Available To Stream On Netflix
A woman rides beside a Native American man
Back in January 2025, American Primeval was Netflix’s first big thriller hit of the year, and it was an astonishing success. The Western genre has been rising in popularity in recent years, and American Primeval was exactly the series that Netflix needed. It is far more violent and thrilling than many of its genre counterparts.
American Primeval takes place in the Utah Territory in 1857, and it is a brutal story of settlers traveling West, combining real and fictional events. At just six episodes, American Primeval is a quick watch but one that will have even the most seasoned thriller fans shocked by the graphic and gripping events unfolding onscreen.
Murderbot
Available To Stream On Apple TV+
Image via Apple TV+
Apple TV+’s Murderbot premiered in mid-May, and by July it had already been renewed for a second season, highlighting just how impressive its first outing was. Like many other thriller shows, Murderbot blends genres. The series falls solidly into the sci-fi category and has action dispersed throughout, but ultimately it works as a thriller as well.
Murderbot is based on The Murderbot Diaries series by Martha Wells, and it centers on a cyborg that gains sentience and autonomy and begins calling itself Murderbot. As the series progresses, Murderbot must attempt to hide its autonomy and make decisions over whether to obey commands within its team’s mission.
Murderbot certainly has plenty of action to make it thrilling, but the show also works well as an exploration of humanity and what makes something alive. Alexander Skarsgård fits perfectly into the lead role of a cyborg questioning its own sentience and determining whether and how to form connections with the surrounding humans.
Dept. Q
Available To Stream On Netflix
DCI Carl Morck (Matthew Goode) looking mysterious in Dept. Q Season 1
Image via Netflix
Another Netflix thriller released in 2025 to positive reviews in Dept. Q, which is a masterfully paced dark British crime thriller. The UK has long done crime thrillers well, and now Netflix is bringing that to a global audience. The series is marked by its bleak tone, occasional sarcastic wit, and, of course, its disturbing crime.
Dept. Q follows Matthew Goode’s Carl Morck, an unsociable Edinburgh detective who is tasked with setting up the police department’s cold case division after having been injured and traumatized by a previous case. Despite his poor attitude, Morck comes to bond with his new teammates while working on a harrowing cold case.
Morck and his team are arguably the best part of the series, but their case is enthralling as well. Dept. Q‘s characters fight against time to save a missing woman, keeping viewers waiting raptly for new clues. Luckily, there is no shortage of cold cases for Morck to investigate, and Dept. Q will return for season 2.
Untamed
Available To Stream On Netflix
Eric Bana shaking hands in Untamed
Setting a murder mystery thriller series in the wilds of Yosemite was a winning combination for Netflix when Untamed was released in July. The series’ plot is intricately tied to the vast, deadly landscape, as an investigator for the National Parks Service is tasked with solving the gruesome death of a young woman.
The crime and its investigation are wild, and as the name rightly suggests, untamed. The murder mystery itself unravels at a satisfying pace and there are enough twists to keep audiences guessing. As Netflix’s most watched show of summer 2025, Untamed has earned its place as one of the best thrillers of the year.
Dexter: Resurrection
Available To Stream On Paramount+
Unlike the other best thriller shows of 2025, Dexter: Resurrection marks the return of some familiar characters. The show itself is new, though, so it is worth including in this list. Likewise, while Dexter has had several other reboots prior to Resurrection, the 2025 series is easily the best.
Dexter: Resurrection sees its titular character return, once again, to his killer ways, this time in New York City. As always, Dexter is a morbidly fun character to watch, and what makes the series work is its balance between a return to what made the original series great and the addition of new elements that can still surprise audiences.
Alien: Earth
Available To Stream On Hulu/Disney+
Patrick Brown/FX
Perhaps one of the most anticipated shows of 2025 for sci-fi thriller fans, Alien: Earth has lived up to expectations. Halfway through the season, the series has been able to take the beloved franchise in a fresh direction thanks to its new setting and fleshed-out characters.
The TV format allows Alien: Earth to really dive into the moral and ethical implications of the creation of its child-hybrid characters. As for the thriller elements, audiences will be more than satisfied with the new aliens and incredible, gory kills that the series has implemented so far.
Adolescence
Available To Stream On Netflix
Eddie and Jamie sitting in a room in Adolescence
Netflix has released several great thrillers in 2025 so far, but by far the most impressive and universally acclaimed is the four-episode miniseries Adolescence. Centering on a murder investigation and the family drawn into it, Adolescence is heartbreaking, shocking, and gripping all at once.
The series highlights the growing trend of violence among students, particularly male students influenced by misogynistic messaging on social media and in real life. When 13-year-old Jamie becomes the number one suspect in the death of his classmate, his entire family’s lives are thrown into chaos.
Adolescence isn’t thrilling because of fast pacing or overt violence, it is thrilling because of how perfectly it builds tension and fear in its audiences. It forces audiences to sit with the discomfort that its characters are facing and doesn’t shy away from disturbing realities, making it the most impressive thriller released in 2025 so far.
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