Whether you love the darker side of humanity or just want to experience the story of a deeply flawed human being, there is something for every psychological thriller fan on Netflix. With some of its latest outings, such as Ripley and Baby Reindeer, the streamer has proved that there is no place better for the fans of psychological thriller shows than Netflix’s vast library of content. If you also want to experience heart-pounding thrills, suspenseful stories, and dark psychological drama, here are the best psychological thriller shows you can find on Netflix.
You
You is one of the most popular Netflix psychological thriller shows ever, and most of the credit for that goes to the writing behind its main character, Joe Goldberg. Created by Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, the Netflix series is based on a novel series of the same name by author Caroline Kepnes. You follows the story of Joe Goldberg, a young man with a dark and mysterious past who frequently falls in love with different women, but when they turn out to be different from what he thought of in his head. He goes to extreme lengths to change and mould them into the image he thinks would be best for them. You star Penn Badgley stars in the lead role, with Elizabeth Lail, Victoria Pedretti, Jenna Ortega, Shay Mitchell, Charlotte Ritchie, and Michaela McManus starring in supporting roles.
Behind Her Eyes
Behind Her Eyes is a British noir psychological thriller series created by Steve Lightfoot. Based on a 2017 novel of the same name by author Sarah Pinborough, the Netflix series follows the story of Louise, a single mother who unwittingly enters into the world of twisted mind games when she begins an affair with her married boss and befriends the wife. Behind Her Eyes stars Eve Hewson, Simona Brown, and Tom Bateman in the lead roles, with Robert Aramayo, Tyler Howitt, Nichola Burley, Georgie Glen, Aaron Anthony, Ashton McAuley, and Eva Birthistle starring in supporting roles.
Gypsy
Gypsy is a psychological thriller drama series created by Lisa Rubin. The Netflix series follows the story of Jean, a New York City-based clinical psychologist who is extremely unprofessional and disturbed as she gets too involved in patients’ personal lives to the point of manipulating them to go on a certain path in their lives. Gypsy stars Naomi Watts in the lead role with Sophie Cookson, Billy Crudup, Lucy Boynton, Poorna Jagannathan, Karl Glusman, Melanie Liburd, Maren Heary, Brenda Vaccaro, and Brooke Bloom starring in supporting roles.
Eric
Eric is a psychological thriller miniseries created by Abi Morgan. The Netflix series is set in 1980s New York City and follows the story of Vincent, a puppeteer whose nine-year-old son Edgar goes missing. Vincent’s volatile mental health and substance abuse issues alienate him from his family and friends, and he becomes convinced that he can reunite with his son if he creates a seven-foot-tall puppet named Eric. Eric stars Benedict Cumberbatch in the lead role with Ivan Morris Howe, Gaby Hoffmann, McKinley Belcher III, Roberta Colindrez, Jeff Hephner, Wade Allain-Marcus, Mark Gillis, and Dan Fogler starring in supporting roles.
Mindhunter
Mindhunter is a psychological crime thriller series created by Joe Penhall. Based on the 1995 true crime book titled Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit by authors John E. Douglas and Mark Olshaker, the Netflix series follows the story of FBI agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench as they attempt to understand the damaged psyches of some of the dangerous serial killers in history to create the modern serial-killer profiling as we know it. Mindhunter stars Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany in the lead roles, with Anna Torv, Cameron Britton, Sonny Valicenti, Hannah Gross, Joe Tuttle, Stacey Roca, Albert Jones, and Happy Anderson starring in supporting roles.
Baby Reindeer
Baby Reindeer is a psychological thriller and dark comedy series created by and starring Richard Gadd. Based on an autobiographical one-man show of the same name by Gadd, the Netflix series follows the story of an aspiring comedian, Donny Dunn, who is forced to confront his deeply buried trauma because of a female stalker who won’t leave him alone. Baby Reindeer stars Gadd in the lead role with Jessica Gunning, Nava Mau, Hugh Coles, Danny Kirrane, Nina Sosanya, Michael Wildman, Josh Finan, Thomas Coombes, Tom Goodman-Hill, and Shalom Brune-Franklin starring in supporting roles.
Ripley
Ripley is a neo-noir psychological thriller series created by Steve Zaillian. Based on the 1995 psychological thriller novel titled The Talented Mr Ripley by author Patricia Highsmith, the Netflix series is set in the 1950s, and it follows the story of Tom Ripley, a con man who is hired in New York by a wealthy man to convince his son, Dickie Greenleaf to return home from Italy. But when Ripley gets to Italy and meets Dickie, he becomes enamoured with his lavish lifestyle and wants it for himself. Ripley stars Andrew Scott in the lead role, with Dakota Fanning, Johnny Flynn, Eliot Sumner, Margherita Buy, and Maurizio Lombardi starring in supporting roles.