While TV thrillers often rely on suspense and danger to keep viewers hooked, the best also create steamy relationships that complicate the plot, much like Netflix's new series Vladimir. Adding an intense layer of obsession and desire to the formula of the standard thriller, Vladimir is an eight-episode miniseries that has recently come to the streaming platform, leaving many looking for shows just like it.
As her marriage and professional life converge and become unstable in equal measure, M's attraction toward Vladimir spirals into a complicated mix of obsession, desire, and fantasy. Driving some questionable decisions that push the series into the thriller genre quickly, Vladimir explores blurred moral boundaries and the thrill of seduction, turning a seemingly ordinary setting into a fantasy of dark academia and sprawling psychological drama.
The premise of Vladimir sits squarely in the camp of a steamy thriller, putting it in a league of its own. While many thrillers find themselves focused on creating feelings of fear and danger, Vladimir builds suspense through personal relationships and the unpredictable consequences of attraction. The chemistry between Weisz and Woodall creates a charged dynamic that is just as important as any of the characters on their own.
Driving the narrative forward, Vladimir uses the attraction between its characters to propel things forward just as much as any mystery or crime could otherwise. When the elements of a thriller and the power of attraction works together, the results can be addictive. Steamy thrillers thrive on tension, how far the characters might go in pursuit of what they want or feel they need.
That combination of emotional intensity and suspense creates a gripping story that some other series have been able to capture, as well.
10 You
A five-season series from Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble, You is based on a series of books by Caroline Kepnes. Starring Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, the show follows an obsessive serial killer who falls in love and develops extreme attachments to his future victims. The series moved from its original home, Lifetime, to Netflix ahead of its second season and continued its run on the streaming platform.
Starring Badgley alongside an array of revolving cast members like Shay Mitchell, Victoria Pedretti, Jenna Ortega, Saffron Burrows, Lukas Gage, and Anna Camp, You's intensity was a major part of it's success. The dark themes of the show lured viewers in with their inherent eroticism, then kept them hooked.
Release Date 2018 - 2025-00-00
Showrunner Sera Gamble, Greg Berlanti
Directors Marcos Siega, Lee Toland Krieger, Cherie Nowlan, DeMane Davis, Kellie Cyrus, Marta Cunningham, Martha Mitchell, Victoria Mahoney, Erin Feeley
Writers Justin W. Lo
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Penn Badgley
Joe Goldberg
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Elizabeth Lail
Guinevere Beck
9 Big Little Lies
An HBO series based on the novel by bestselling author Liane Moriarty, Big Little Lies was brought to life by David E. Kelley. The series, starring Nicole Kidman, Reese Witherspoon, Laura Dern, Shailene Woodley, and Zoe Kravitz as a group of mothers in Monterey, California, followed a group affluent families within a kindergarten class being investigated for homicide.
The series received critical acclaim, especially for its first season which remained a faithful adaptation to the book. Though it's not as steamy as some of the other thrillers on this list, Big Little Lies weaves together stories of sex and violence to create a larger frame of the modern family.
Release Date 2017 - 2026-00-00
Network HBO
Showrunner David E. Kelley
Directors Jean-Marc Vallee, Andrea Arnold
Writers T. Rafael Cimino
8 Dirty John
MovieStillsDB2018's Dirty John is an anthology series that twisted romance and crime into a compact thriller. The Bravo series, which starred Connie Britton in its first season and Amanda Peet in its second, followed two romances that went from innocent to horrifying quickly. The Dirty John podcast, following the life and exploits of John Meehan, was used as inspiration moving through the series.
While the reception of the series was mixed, the show's ability to pull in viewers was never in question. The performances from both Britton and Peet were praised for their nuance, as their ability to bring complex stories to life was never more on display than in Dirty John.
Release Date 2018 - 2020-00-00
Network USA Network, Bravo
Directors Jeffrey Reiner, Maggie Kiley, Kat Candler, Shannon Kohli
Writers Alexandra Cunningham, Kevin J. Hynes, Christopher Goffard, Lex Edness, Diana Son, Evan Wright, Sinead Daly, Stacy A. Littlejohn, Juliet Lashinsky-Revene, Aaron Carew
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Amanda Peet
Betty Broderick
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Connie Britton
Debra Newell
7 The Couple Next Door
A British psychological thriller, The Couple Next Door is another anthology series that takes a look at an average-looking, everyday couple that winds up to be anything but ordinary. In the first season of the series, Evie Greenwood (Eleanor Tomlinson) and her husband Pete Thomas (Alfred Enoch) strike up a friendship with their new neighbors, but an affair leads to unforeseen consequences.
In the second season, Annabel Scholey stars as Charlotte Roberts, married to her husband Jacob (Sam Palladio). Their lives are turned upside down by a new neighbor, Mia (Aggy K. Adams). The series is lauded as a highly bingeable show, despite not being the best in quality.
Release Date 2023 - 2025-00-00
Showrunner David Allison
Directors Dries Vos
Writers David Allison
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Eleanor Tomlinson
Pete Thomas
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6 Killing Eve
A British series starring Sandra Oh as Eve Polastri and Jodie Comer as Villanelle, Killing Eve is the ultimate game of cat and mouse. The series watches as Eve and Villanelle circle each other over the course of four seasons, growing closer as they find new ways to get under the other's skin.
While Killing Eve is not a traditional steamy thriller, it does have an intense undercurrent of sexual tension that weaves its way throughout the show. With Oh and Comer giving incredible performances throughout the series, Killing Eve is an intense psychological thriller with a sexual edge.
Release Date 2018 - 2022-00-00
Showrunner Phoebe Waller-Bridge
Directors Lisa Brühlmann
Writers Phoebe Waller-Bridge
5 Fatal Attraction
An adaptation of the film of the same name, Fatal Attraction witnesses an affair between Dan Gallagher (Joshua Jackson) and Alex Forret (Lizzy Caplan) picked apart when Alex won't allow it to end. The series, which deviates from the film in many ways, uses the same premise and works within the same elements of an erotic thriller to weave through the story.
Release Date 2023 - 2023-00-00
Showrunner Alexandra Cunningham
Directors Silver Tree
4 Sex/Life
An erotic drama inspired by the novel 44 Chapters About 4 Men by BB Easton, Sex/Life was a two-season series on Netflix. Starring Sarah Shahi, the series follows Billie Connelly, a housewife and mother of two who is suffering from a mid-life crisis. In anguish and seeking a faster-paced life, she impulsively dives back into her past with her destructive ex, Brad Simon (Adam Demos).
Release Date 2021 - 2023-00-00
3 56 Days
A recently released series on Prime Video, 56 Days is based on Catherine Ryan Howard's novel of the same name. Starring Dove Cameron as Ciara Wyse and Avan Jogia as Oliver Kennedy, the series follows the pair as they start an intense relationship that the police fear has ended in murder after a body is found in the couple's apartment just months later.
Release Date 2026 - 2026-00-00
Network Prime Video
Directors Alethea Jones
Writers Lisa Zwerling, Karyn Usher, Catherine Ryan Howard
Cast
2 Tell Me Lies
The recently ended series Tell Me Lies is the perfect steamy thriller, with revolving timeline and an intense mystery weaving through the series. Based on the novel by Carola Lovering, the series follows Lucy Albright (Grace Van Pataten) through a years-long tumultuous relationship with Stephen DeMarco (Jackson White). Chronicling her college years and beyond, the series is known for its twists and turns.
Release Date 2022 - 2026-00-00
Network Hulu
Showrunner Meaghan Oppenheimer
Directors Isabel Sandoval, Jonathan Levine
Writers Meaghan Oppenheimer, Carola Lovering, Allison P. Davis, Bill Kennedy
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Grace Van Patten
Lucy Albright
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Jackson White
Stephen DeMarco
1 The Affair
A Showtime series starring Dominic West and Ruth Wilson, The Affair explores the effects of an affair on two married couples. Noah Solloway (West) and his wife, Helen Butler (Maura Tierney), find themselves embroiled in his affair with Alison Bailey (Wilson), who's married to Cole Lockhart (Joshua Jackson). The Affair shows its events from several perspectives, complete with memory bias, to allow for vast differences in the narrative.
While the series' later seasons aren't as highly regarded as its earlier seasons, The Affair is an intense drama that's steeped in sexuality and psychological thrills.
Release Date 2014 - 2019-00-00
Directors Jeffrey Reiner, John Dahl
English (US) ·