The 5 best thrillers to watch on Netflix this November

We’re caught right between horror movie season and holiday movie season, so why not watch a great thriller this November? There are many great thrillers on Netflix, but Polygon’s curation team has selected five that they feel would be a good fit for November.

A November thriller is what you want. We’ve got movies here that fit the chilly weather, some new releases (including a new sequel to a great action thriller), and movies that just flat out rock.

These are some amazing November viewing ideas.

Synchronic

Image: Well Go USA Entertainment

Year: 2019
Run time: 1h 36m
Directors: Justin Benson, Aaron Moorhead
Cast: Anthony Mackie, Jamie Dornan

It’s already November! You ever feel like you’ve come unstuck in time, wavering from one moment to the next in a liminal state of prolonged exhaustion, bewilderment, and confusion? That’s certainly how Anthony Mackie’s character feels in the 2019 sci-fi horror thriller by co-directors Justin Benson and Aaron Moorhead (Something in the Dirt. Moon Knight). This film is about Steve Mackie (Jamie Dornan) and Dennis (Jamie Dornan), long-time pals and paramedics who meet while they are working in New Orleans. They encounter a new drug called “Reality Warping”. If you’re looking for an eerie movie that trips the light fantastic across time and space, SynchronicThe perfect option. —Toussaint Egan

Black Crab

Image: Johan Bergmark / Netflix

Year: 2022
Run time: 1h 56m
Director: Adam Berg
Cast: Noomi Rapace, Dar Salim, Jakob Oftebro

Why not dress up in something appropriate for the season as it gets colder? You could go for a Christmas movie, or you could go for this action thriller … on ice.

Swedish thriller action set in war-torn Sweden. Black Crab Caroline Edh (Noomirapace) is an ex-speed skater, who was drafted to serve as a soldier in the aftermath of her daughter’s abduction. She’s recruited on a secret mission using her special set of skills – skating across the ice-covered Stockholm Archipelago in secret under the cover of night in a covert operation, with the promise of reuniting with her daughter on the other hand.

Black Crab is nothing fancy – it’s a by-the-book thriller that knows what it is, and doesn’t spend too much time trying to explain the war itself (a great choice because it literally does not matter). Instead, it delivers on its gimmicky setup – Action Movie On Ice! And with a capable genre lead in Rapace leading the way, it’s a breezy 114 minutes of frozen fun. —Pete Volk

The State of Play

Universal Pictures

Year: 2009
Run time: 2h 8m
Director: Kevin Macdonald
Cast: Russell Crowe, Rachel McAdams, Ben Affleck

Director Kevin Macdonald’s 2009 political thriller stars Russell Crowe and Rachel McAdams as Cal McAffrey and Della Fyre, two investigative journalists from two very different generations who work together to uncover a conspiracy involving the death of an aide to Stephen Collins (Affleck), a U.S. Congressman and McAffrey’s close friend. It’s a cool, tense movie with two great leads. The film opens in Georgetown on a rainy evening. A young man is being stalked and assassinated by an unrelenting briefcase-toting criminal. If that’s not enough to get you in the mood for the holidays, I don’t know what will. —TE

The Lost Bullet Movies

Image by Netflix

Year: 2020 Lost BulletFor more information, see 2022 Lost Bullet 2
Run time: 1h 32m Lost BulletFor 1h 38m Lost Bullet 2
Director: Guillaume Pierret
Cast: Alban Lenoir

These movies, called the Lost Bullet, are fast-paced and explosive. They feature high-octane car chases as well as hard-thumping fistfights and lots of bullets. Two stellar crime thrillers by Guillaume Pierrot are made with a compelling former stuntman Alban Lenoir.

This is the first film, a simple crime thriller that follows a man who finds himself in an unfortunate situation and tries to get out of a criminal act. It’s a tense, fast-moving movie with a simple premise executed to perfection. While the plot is more complicated in the second film, there are still many moving parts. However, the action gets even better. —PV

The Stranger

Image by Netflix

Year: 2022
Run time: 1h 57m
Director: Thomas M. Wright
Cast: Joel Edgerton and Sean Harris

Thomas M. Wright’s latest crime thriller isn’t just one of the best thrillers on streaming this month, but also one of the best thrillers to watch this season. Don’t believe me? Get a load of those verdant forests and mountainscapes in the film’s opening, the spectral lighting of the bus ride Henry Teague meets the suspiciously affable Paul Emery on while en-route to West Australia. The film’s tautness and precariousness make it a tough movie. The StrangerThis film is stunningly shot and will make you long to visit Australia, even if it’s freezing outside. —TE