The best thrillers to watch on Netflix this December

A new month means a new batch of thrillers on Netflix, and a new breakdown from us about which ones are worth your time. And this month, that even includes a new release that’s perfectly timed for the holidays.

Every month, we handpick a few of the best thrillers on Netflix that fit the current season. Sometimes they pair well with an upcoming release. Other titles might be new additions to the platform.

This month, the choices include David Fincher’s funniest movie, a thriller that’s somehow still under the radar despite being out for a decade and starring one of the biggest actors on the planet, and a new addition to the Christmas thriller canon.

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Cast: Taron Egerton, Jason Bateman, Sofia Carson

Few thrillers are better than Christmas thrillers, and Carry-On is continuing proof of that. The movie follows a beleaguered, unmotivated TSA agent named Ethan (Taron Egerton), who’s unlucky enough to get chosen by a terrorist to let a bag through security. But the threat to the lives of hundreds of people is just enough to convince Ethan that maybe it’s time to start doing his job right, which sets him on a collision course with the terrorists, the cops, his bosses, and just about everyone else he meets at LAX on Christmas Eve. The whole movie is big, ridiculous, tense, and a whole lot of fun, which makes it a perfect thriller for the holidays. —Austen Goslin

Director: Paul Greengrass
Cast: Tom Hanks, Barkhad Abdi, Barkhad Abdirahman

The 2013 dramatization of the 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking is one of the most underappreciated thrillers of the past decade. Starring Tom Hanks, the film recounts the story of Richard Phillips, the captain of an unarmed container vessel that is taken hostage by Somali pirates. Hanks’ performance, per usual, is stellar and affecting, but it’s Barkhad Abdi’s Oscar-nominated portrayal of Abduwali Muse, the film’s antagonist, that steals the show. Captain Phillips is a tense human drama about a working-class man fighting, against dispiriting odds, to protect his crew and return home safely himself. —Toussaint Egan

Director: David Fincher
Cast: Michael Fassbender, Tilda Swinton, Charles Parnell

Human beings, by and large, are creatures of habit. Even Michael Fassbender’s character in The Killer, an anonymous assassin with a love of McGriddles and The Smiths, isn’t immune to the siren call of routine. After failing to execute a target in Paris, the film’s protagonist is forced to hunt down a pair of assassins hired to kill him — working backward to find the person who hired them and eliminate them too. “Anticipate, don’t improvise,” the Killer tells himself throughout the course of the film. “Trust no one. Never yield an advantage. Fight only the battle you’re paid to fight.” Over the course of the film’s two-hour run time, you’ll see Fassbender’s character push his interpretation of that mantra to its limits, all while seemingly unaware of the personal liberties he’s taking. Sometimes, new challenges call for new routines. —TE