Apple TV+’s library has a number of thriller shows that are known for their originality and gripping plots.
Isn’t it satisfying to watch an exciting show that keeps you on the edge of your seat? It is safe to say that Apple TV has been satisfying its subscribers by delivering thrillers that keep them glued to their screens for hours.
Furthermore, Apple TV+ has a variety of thrillers. You can choose from action, comedy, crime, horror, and more depending on your mood
We have put together a list of the best Apple TV+ shows and ranked them to make it easy for you to pick the one that you should binge-watch. Let’s take a look at our list of the 10 best thriller shows on Apple TV+:
Editor’s note: This article was last updated in March 2024
10. The Mosquito Coast (2021 – 2023)
Cast: Justin Theroux, Melissa George, Logan Polish, Gabriel Bateman, Ian Hart, Ariyon Bakare, Natalia Cordova-Buckley, Daniel Raymont
Seasons: 2
Based on Paul Theroux’s novel of the same name, The Mosquito Coast follows a genius inventor, Allie Fox. Allie is an idealist who moves to Latin America when he grows disillusioned with commercialization in his country.
Allie and his family are not safe, as they are being hunted by the US government. As they encounter danger at every step, Allie has to find a safe place for his children and his wife. Allie must come to terms with the choices he has made, as there is no going back now.
Apart from the question of why Allie and his family are fleeing from the US government, the show makes use of beautiful visuals, thrilling action scenes, and several twists and turns to keep the audience entertained.
9. Losing Alice (2020)
Cast: Ayelet Zurer, Lihi Kornowski
Season: 1
Sigal Avin’s Losing Alice is an Israeli psychological thriller. It follows an esteemed filmmaker named Alice Ginor, who has three daughters and is constantly tired of her life and not moving ahead in her career as well.
Alice gets a chance to experience something new when she meets Sophie, a young screenwriter. Sophie draws her in, and before she knows it, Alice finds herself obsessed with Sophie as she steps into Sophie’s dangerous world.
Losing Alice is a show with an intriguing plot that is aided by Ayelet Zurer and Lihi Kornowski’s strong performances. The show reveals a new twist in almost every episode, and in the end, it becomes difficult to understand who is more destructive for whom.
8. Dr. Brain (2021 – Present)
Cast: Lee Sun-kyun, Lee Yoo-young, Park Hee-soon
Season: 1
What happens when a brilliant scientist tries to use science to solve a mystery? In Dr. Brain, Sewon is a scientist who tries to do just that. When he loses his family in an accident, he decides to investigate and find out what happened to them.
Sewon conducts brain syncs that allow him to access the memories of the dead to find clues that he needs to solve the mystery, but for it to be successful, he must find a way to differentiate between his own memories and those of the dead.
Created by Kim Jee-woon, Dr. Brain is Apple TV+’s first Korean-language show. It is a sci-fi thriller based on the Korean webtoon of the same name. The show is not without its flaws, but overall, the plot offers a gripping mystery.
7. Echo 3 (2022 – Present)
Cast: Michiel Huisman, Luke Evans, Jessica Ann Collins
Season: 1
Based on the Israeli series When Heroes Fly and inspired by Amir Gutfreund’s novel of the same name, Echo 3 is an action thriller series. Set in Colombia, the show follows two Delta Force teammates.
When an American scientist, Amber Chesborough, researching in Colombia is kidnapped by militants, her brother, Bambi, and her husband, Prince, come looking for her.
The two men are US Army Delta Force operators, but since they share a complicated relationship, saving Amber in the middle of a guerilla war turns out to be a difficult task. Additionally, they realize that they do not know everything about Amber.
Echo 3 is created by Mark Boal, and it does not disappoint. It places the heroes in an unfamiliar and dangerous territory, which provides the setting for thrilling action scenes as well as depicts the political instability in South America.
6. Shining Girls (2022 – Present)
Cast: Elisabeth Moss, Wagner Moura, Jamie Bell
Season: 1
Shining Girls follows a woman named Kirby Mazrachi. She was attacked and left to die years ago by her assailant, who was never caught. After that, her life was never the same, as the attack left her traumatized.
When Kirby comes to know about a murder that bears similarity to what happened to her, she seeks help from a journalist, Dan Velazquez, to uncover the mystery behind her attack, as she knows that she must face her past to move on from it and recover.
Based on Lauren Beukes’ novel, Shining Girls is a thriller that depicts the impact of trauma on the human psyche through the story of a woman whose reality keeps changing. Elisabeth Moss’ brilliant performance in the show earned high praise, as it is one of the reasons behind Shining Girls’ success.
5. Tehran (2020 – Present)
Cast: Niv Sultan, Shaun Toub, Shervin Alenabi, Menashe Noy, Liraz Charhi, Shila Ommi, Darius Homayoun, Glenn Close
Seasons: 2
Known for its exciting twists and turns, Tehran is an Israeli spy thriller that became the first-ever Israeli show to win the International Emmy Award for best drama series in 2021.
It follows a Mossad hacker-agent, Tamar Rabinyan, a Jewish woman who was born in Iran and is sent to her birthplace, Tehran, on her first mission. She has to destroy Iran’s nuclear reactor.
However, it all goes wrong, and Tamar must find a way out of the city while fleeing from the head of investigations of the Revolutionary Guards of Iran, who is looking for her and is determined to find her.
As she spends more and more time in Tehran, Tamar gets in touch with her roots. The line between her work and personal life gets blurred, and the mission becomes complicated with every day she spends in Tehran.
4. Calls (2021)
Cast: Nick Jonas, Lily Collins, Pedro Pascal, Rosario Dawson, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Aubrey Plaza
Seasons: 1
Calls tells the story of a group of strangers through a series of phone conversations that are connected to each other. The lives of these people turn upside down as an apocalyptic event approaches.
These are short stories that are told through real-life audio sources, and the show only uses minimal abstract visuals to allow the audience to employ their imagination while listening to these conversations.
Based on Timothée Hochet’s French television series of the same name, Calls depends on the incredible voice performances by the actors to introduce mysteries that will get the audience completely invested.
3. Servant (2019 – 2023)
Cast: Lauren Ambrose, Toby Kebbell, Nell Tiger Free, Rupert Grint
Seasons: 4
Servant follows a Philadelphia couple, Dorothy and Sean, who lose their weeks-old son, Jericho, and due to that, their marriage starts falling apart. They then undergo transitory object therapy using a reborn doll, which Dorothy believes is Jericho.
The couple also hires an eighteen-year-old nanny, Leanne Grayson, to take care of the reborn doll. With Leanne’s arrival, they start experiencing unusual things, which makes Sean suspicious. Is it Leanne or some other sinister force that has entered their lives?
Servant’s plot takes the audience to a dark world that is equal parts thrilling and horrifying. The brilliant performances by the cast as well as the mystery depicted in the show create an unsettling atmosphere that earned it praise from the audience as well as the critics.
2. Slow Horses (2022 – Present)
Cast: Gary Oldman, Jack Lowden, Kristin Scott Thomas
Seasons: 2
Slow Horses is a spy thriller with spies that are nothing like James Bond. These are MI5 service rejects who have messed up their jobs, but, fortunately or unfortunately, they were not fired. Instead, they have been relegated to mind-numbing administrative work.
If that was not enough, they must suffer at the hands of their rude boss, Jackson Lamb, who seems to be drunk most of the time. However, this team of failures somehow finds itself investigating the plots that threaten their country.
Based on the Slough House series by Mick Herron, Slow Horses is a show that is known for being a unique and entertaining espionage drama. The show’s writing makes it adequately thrilling, but not without a little humor on the side.
1. Severance (2022 – Present)
Cast: Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, Patricia Arquette
Season: 1
What if at the end of a workday, you do not just leave behind the office but also your consciousness? In Severance, Lumon Industries is a biotechnology company that separates the work consciousness of their employees from the one outside work.
This is done by employing a procedure called severance. As the two consciousnesses live different lives, the personalities of the innies, the workplace consciousness, and the outies, the consciousness outside the workplace, are also very different.
When a severed employee named Mark starts asking questions, he discovers that employees like him are being kept in the dark about their work. As the plot progresses, a dark conspiracy at Lumon comes to light.
Severance is one of the most acclaimed series of 2022. Apart from Adam Scott’s performance, the series was praised for its visuals, cinematography, and direction. It has a lot to offer to sci-fi fans as well as to fans of psychological thrillers.
Also Read: 50 best Apple TV+ shows – Ranked (Updated April 2023)