Christmas can be a time to enjoy wholesome movies together with the family. But if you’re looking for something to get your blood pumping on Christmas that isn’t sentimental or sweet, then Netflix has all of the thrillers you need to make it through to New Year’s Eve.
Three of our picks for the five great Netflix thrillers to watch on Christmas share a snowy setting, but only one of them is explicitly a Christmas-related film. Regardless, all five movies are exciting to watch, especially when the twists in the stories arrive and make the viewer question what they’ve seen before.
Need more recommendations? We also have guides for the 10 best TV shows to watch on Christmas, the 10 best movies to watch on Christmas, the best Christmas movies on Netflix, the best Christmas movies on Disney+, the best Christmas movies on Hulu, the best Christmas movies on Amazon Prime Video, the best Christmas movies on Max, and the best Christmas movies on Hallmark Channel.
The Snowman (2017)
The Killer‘s Michael Fassbender headlines The Snowman as Norwegian Police investigator Harry Hole, a man whose personal life is collapsing in a perfect storm of heartbreak and alcoholism. But his life is about to get a lot worse as a serial killer begins sending him taunting messages with enigmatic clues.
Katrine Bratt (Silo‘s Rebecca Ferguson) — a new recruit to the police — has her own reasons for chasing the killer that are personal to her. However, this murderer enjoys the game and revels in his increasingly brutal murders as Harry and Katrine try to catch him.
Watch The Snowman on Netflix.
Till Death (2021)
Megan Fox’s latest film, Subservience, is one currently one of the most popular movies on Netflix. However, Fox’s 2021 thriller, Till Death, is even better. Emma Davenport (Fox) discovers the hard way that her husband, Mark (Eoin Macken), knows all about her affair with his colleague, Tom (Aml Ameen). That’s why Mark arranges for Emma to be handcuffed to him before taking his own life in a remote lake house.
Mark apparently also made sure there was nothing sharp in the lake house that Emma could use to free herself. That becomes an even more immediate problem when a man arrives who gives Emma reasons to fear for her life. Now, she not only needs to get free, but she also has to survive a murderer’s wrath.
Watch Till Death on Netflix.
Carry-On (2024)
TSA agent Ethan Kopek (Taron Egerton) picked the wrong day to angle for a promotion in Carry-On. On Christmas Eve, Ethan convinces his superior to assign him to a security check lane on one of the busiest days of the year. No sooner does that happen than Ethan is blackmailed by the Traveler (Jason Bateman), who wants him to wave a dangerous piece of luggage past the security scan without alerting his fellow TSA agents
Whoever the Traveler is, he already has a good deal of info about Ethan. He also employs a hit man who has been sent to kill Ethan’s girlfriend, Nora Parisi (Sofia Carson), if he doesn’t go along with the terrorist plot. Up to this point in his life, Ethan’s been timid with his choices. But if he wants to live through the night and save his girlfriend, Ethan has to make some bold moves … and fast.
Watch Carry-On on Netflix.
Collateral (2004)
Magnolia’s Tom Cruise gives an arresting turn as a hit man in Michael Mann’s Collateral. Jamie Foxx’s Max Durocher a cab driver in Los Angeles, and Vincent (Cruise) seems like a good client to ferry around town all night. But after Vincent’s first stop, Max realizes that Vincent is a contract killer and he’s not likely to let Max live through the night given what he knows.
Max finds it extremely difficult to get away from Vincent, and he also feels an obligation to save Vincent’s victims if he can. In this battle of wits, Vincent may have superior fire power, but he’s also underestimated Max’s resolve. Netflix subscribers only have until December 31 to watch this movie before it heads off into the streaming sunset.
Watch Collateral on Netflix.
The Hateful Eight (2015)
Quentin Tarantino’s The Hateful Eight is a Western, but it’s also a thriller that creates amazing tension by placing its characters in the same room with each other. Just over 12 years after the Civil War, bounty hunter Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) finds himself sharing a carriage ride with another bounty hunter, John “The Hangman” Ruth (Kurt Russell); Ruth’s prisoner, “Crazy” Daisy Domergue (Jennifer Jason Leigh); and Chris Mannix (Fallout‘s Walton Goggins), the man who is supposedly the new sheriff of Red Rock.
In the middle of a deadly winter storm, this unlikely group of companions takes shelter at a haberdashery. Warren doesn’t really trust Mannix, but he’s got bigger things to worry about. Few of the people waiting for them at the haberdashery are who they sayb they are, and this winter journey may turn into a one-way trip for everyone involved.
Watch The Hateful Eight on Netflix.