It’s a New Year, and one of the best ways to get through the post-holiday blues and the lack of daylight is to take a deep dive into one of the best film genres out there. Crime movies cover a vast array of genres, but Netflix has pretty much any option you’re looking for. Here are just a few of the best crime movies on Netflix.
What are the best crime movies on Netflix?
These are just a few of our top picks. There are plenty of other great titles, plus a few more coming to Netflix towards the end of the month.
Watcher (2022)
First impulse said this was released only a few years ago, but with the start of 2026, that’s no longer true. Still, it’s been an overlooked film, but it should well be at the forefront of any crime enthusiast’s watchlist. This serial killer thriller is genuinely unsettling to watch.
A husband and wife move to Bucharest just as news breaks of a string of local murders. Soon, the wife begins to sense she’s being followed, though surveillance footage never quite confirms her fears. Things escalate when she becomes convinced a man in the apartment across from hers is watching her through the window. This one gives off strong Rear Window vibes while fully embracing its Eastern European atmosphere. Watcher premiered at Sundance in 2021, where it won the Grand Jury Prize.
The Talented Mr. Ripley (1999)
Anthony Minghella’s psychological thriller adapts Patricia Highsmith’s 1955 novel, the first in the Riley series. The film follows Tom Ripley (Matt Damon), a guy who is an absolute piece of work but also deeply charming. Yes, heavy narcissistic red flags here. He’s sent to Italy to convince a wealthy heir to return home, but instead becomes obsessed with the man’s lavish lifestyle. Then we get to see exactly what psychopathy looks like.
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013)
It’s sometimes just a lot of fun to watch a story about an absolutely terrible person, and this one is glorious in almost every way. Scorsese gave us a film that was iconic for its time and still holds up. You can see the Goodfellas influence clearly, but swap out the mob for white-collar money, even more cocaine, and a lot more yachts. Leonardo DiCaprio plays Jordan Belfort, a Wall Street executive sentenced to prison for fraud, but the film focuses on his outrageous rise to power and excess before the inevitable crash. Jonah Hill is also excellent in his supporting role.
The Irishman (2019)
Another Scorsese film on the list, The Irishman, separates itself from The Wolf of Wall Street as much as possible in both tone and style. The movie takes us to the 1950s, where truck driver Frank Sheeran (Robert De Niro) gets involved with the mob family, led by Russell Bufalino (Joe Pesci). He climbs the ranks and ends up working for the infamous Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino). The Irishman also brings together the legends of Scorsese’s mob films, including Robert De Niro, Al Pacino, Joe Pesci, and Harvey Keitel.
Knives Out: Wake Up the Dead Man (2025)
If you liked the first two Benoit Blanc movies, this should be right up your alley. And if you liked the first but couldn’t make it through the first ten minutes of the second, this one might still win you over. Josh O’Connor plays a priest sent to a parish under the leadership of a monsignor who is as divisive as he is powerful. When the monsignor turns up dead, suspicion quickly falls on the new priest, who has made no secret of his dislike for the man. Enter Benoit Blanc, who teams up with the young priest to unravel the mystery.
The Good Nurse (2022)
Like Watcher, we’re not quite sure why this one stayed relatively quiet in terms of audience buzz. In this true-crime drama, Jessica Chastain plays an ICU nurse who befriends a fellow nurse (Eddie Redmayne) who also happens to be a serial killer responsible for the deaths of hundreds of patients. While it’s very different from what we typically think of when we imagine a serial killer movie, The Good Nurse has everything you’d want from a crime film. Chastain’s character risks everything to help put this man behind bars and expose the institutional failures that allowed it all to happen in the first place.
Zodiac (2007)
You’ll find Zodiac on just about any best-of list dedicated to the crime genre. It’s absolutely worth a watch, a rewatch, and a few more rewatches. This slow-burning thriller follows a group of journalists and investigators as they attempt to track down the elusive Zodiac Killer. As more people are murdered, the killer taunts newspapers with cryptic clues. He always seems to stay one step ahead and just out of reach. The cast is stacked, with standout performances from Jake Gyllenhaal, Robert Downey Jr., and Mark Ruffalo. While we know the actors and David Fincher earn their laurels for this film, we also have to give a shoutout to the late great cinematographer Harris Savides.
Parasite (2019)
Maybe not the first movie people think of when they hear “crime film,” but Parasite is about as good as it gets. It also feels like a post-holiday gift that it’s available on Netflix. Bong Joon-ho’s psychological thriller follows the Kim family, who see an opportunity when their son starts working for the very wealthy Park family. What begins as an almost funny setup gets increasingly darker. The film absolutely cleaned up at the Oscars, winning Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, and Best International Feature.
The Illusionist (2006)
This one might push us into a sub–sub-genre, but it absolutely counts. It’s a mid-2000s standout that we still can’t help but love. Edward Norton plays a peasant boy who shares a deep childhood bond with a girl from a noble family, only for the two to be torn apart by class and circumstance. Years later, he resurfaces as a world-famous illusionist, while Sophie (Jessica Biel) has become trapped in the political machinery of an arranged marriage in late 19th-century Vienna.
We don’t want to give away any spoilers, but just know this story of forbidden romance turns darker when an important character is found dead. A determined detective is assigned to the case, trying to untangle the mystery.
The Devil All The Time (2020)
The Devil All The Time has more crimes than we can count in this article. It just seems to be the way of things for this gritty, Appalachian gothic. Antonio Campos’ adaptation of Donald Ray Pollack’s novel is a sprawling film that follows multiple, interconnected characters and storylines, all troubled by cycles of violence. We’ve got corrupt cops, predatory preachers, serial killers, and abusive parents, just to name a few of the figures you’ll see. The film is disturbing on multiple levels, and the performances are outstanding. The cast includes Tom Holland, Robert Pattinson, Bill Skarsgård, Riley Keough, Jason Clarke, and Sebastian Stan.
How we picked the best crime movies on Netflix
There are a lot of great picks for the best crime movies on Netflix, which feels different from previous years. We picked the films with the best critical and audience feedback, as well as a few personal favorites that might have been overlooked in recent years.
