Independent Thrillers on Netflix
Last updated January 22, 2025
King of New York
1990 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsAbel Ferrara's stylish direction accentuates this gritty action film about a New York drug lord who's just out of prison and determined to rule the streets again with a vengeance. But he also wants to use part of his drug-trade money to do good.
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Drive
2011 | NR | 3.7 out of 5 StarsA Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver is lured from his isolated life by a lovely neighbor and her young son. His newfound peace is shattered, however, when her violent husband is released from prison.
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Brotherhood
2010 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsA college student's final night of pledging a fraternity takes an ominous turn when he's ordered to hold up a convenience store as part of his initiation. He complies, but everything goes wrong.
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Street Thief
2006 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsIn this fascinating A&E IndieFilm, professional thief Kaspar Carr divulges his trade secrets when it comes to cracking safes, holding up stores, tapping phones and walking away with thousands of dollars in priceless merchandise. An inventive blend of fact and fiction, Street Thief is hardly a documentary, as its protagonist and story line are made up -- but the information it reveals about the criminal mind is shockingly true.
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Broken Embraces
2009 | NR | 3.6 out of 5 StarsAging filmmaker Mateo Blanco -- aka screenwriter Harry Caine -- tells his assistant about life before the accident that left him blind, when he became embroiled in a torrid and complicated affair with aspiring actress Lena.
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Pi
1998 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsDarren Aronofsky's jarring black-and-white brain-bender is a haunting examination of one man's numerical obsession. The story follows a fragile number theorist who's on the trail of a 216-digit number that could unlock the secrets of the universe.
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Manhattan Murder Mystery
1993 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsWhen an elderly neighbor in good health unexpectedly dies, New Yorker Carol Lipton is convinced that the death was no accident and ropes a few of her friends into investigating, despite protests from her skeptical husband.
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Stolen
2009 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsAs this indie thriller unfolds through flashbacks, the mummified, half-century-old remains of a boy found in a box at a construction site yield key clues to the disappearance of the investigating detective's son eight years earlier.
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The Escapist
2008 | NR | 3.5 out of 5 StarsWhen Frank Perry, a con serving a life sentence, learns that his estranged daughter has fallen terminally ill, he enlists a hapless group of inmates to help him escape the maximum-security facility so he can reconcile with her before it's too late.
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Following
1998 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsChristopher Nolan (Memento, The Dark Knight) writes and directs this odd, claustrophobic neo-noir film about a seedy young Brit (Jeremy Theobald) who's obsessed with following people -- albeit harmlessly at first. After meeting a like-minded bloke (Alex Haw), the twosome graduate to breaking and entering -- but meet their match in a tough blonde dame (Lucy Russell) who may have dubious plans of her own.
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A Lonely Place to Die
2011 | NR | 3.4 out of 5 StarsFive mountaineering friends on vacation in the Scottish Highlands stumble upon a tiny chamber in the woods, in which a young Serbian girl is trapped. But when they free her and try to take her to safety, they become the kidnappers' next targets.
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House Hunting
2013 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsUpon entering a deserted farmhouse, two families discover that every attempt to leave takes them right back in. Stuck in purgatory, they are haunted by the home's former owner, who declares only one clan will be able to call the house their home.
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The Bothersome Man
2006 | NR | 3.3 out of 5 StarsMysteriously deposited in a perfectly serene but colorless city where every need is met, Andreas soon realizes that not even a new lover can change the sterile banality drowning him. Is this placid life a dream come true or an inescapable hell?
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The Reef
2010 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsWhen their yacht capsizes in the shark-infested waters of the Great Barrier Reef, five friends grow increasingly wary of the fact that their ship is sinking. But swimming to safety with a great white among them could be even more treacherous.
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One False Move
1991 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsOn a quest for cocaine and cash, two ex-cons and their lady cohort commit a series of killings in Los Angeles. They end up hiding out in Arkansas, unaware that awaiting them are two Los Angeles cops who've set a trap with help from a hayseed sheriff.
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Elevator
2011 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsNine people are stuck on an elevator; one has a ticking bomb, and the other eight -- all sophisticated Wall Street partygoers -- must think of a way to survive. Soon enough, facades crumble and the unthinkable becomes the only reasonable solution.
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Take Shelter
2011 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsMichael Shannon stars in this thriller as a small-town family man who, determined to protect his wife and deaf daughter from impending disaster, builds an impenetrable storm shelter in the safety of his own backyard.
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Triage
2009 | NR | 3.2 out of 5 StarsColin Farrell stars in this psychological drama about a photojournalist who returns home from a harrowing news assignment without the colleague who'd accompanied him. Now, his girlfriend (Paz Vega) will not rest until she finds out what took place.
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Red White & Blue
2010 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsWhen aloof bed-hopper Erica (Amanda Fuller) takes a job at a hardware store in Austin, she crosses paths with Frankie (Marc Senter), a struggling musician, and Nate (Noah Taylor), a mysterious stranger with an ominous past. But their lives don't intersect in the way you might expect. British writer-director Simon Rumley steers this intense psychological revenge thriller that packs a surprising plot twist.
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Blood Pressure
2012 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsDiscontent with her family life and career, a woman begins receiving letters from a secret admirer. Intrigued by this mystery figure, she agrees to continue accepting the correspondence, which contains increasingly strange messages and instructions.
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Storage
2009 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsAfter his father's murder, grieving teen Jimmy (Matt Scully) goes to live with his uncle, who runs an underground storage facility. As he wanders through the mazelike corridors, Jimmy begins to suspect that one of the renters is hiding evidence of a vicious crime. Aided by his new friend Zia (Saskia Burmeister), Jimmy investigates, but as his search takes him further into the man's twisted life, he learns that he may be in too deep.
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Mister Foe
2007 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsIn a darkly twisted plot, teenage voyeur Hallam Foe spies on his stepmother through binoculars, finding himself irresistibly attracted to her even as he becomes convinced that she murdered his mother.
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Kiss of the Damned
2012 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsStyled after the glossy vampire flicks of the 1960s, this thriller finds undead Djuna giving in to her lust for screenwriter Paulo. Enter Djuna's sister Mimi, whose own hunger for Paulo's blood turns the local vampire community on its pointed ear.
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The Quiet
2005 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsAfter losing her father, deaf and mute teen Dot moves in with her dysfunctional godparents and their daughter. Soon each is entrusting Dot with shameful secrets they assume will stay private. But little do they know that Dot has a secret of her own.
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Brake
2012 | NR | 3.1 out of 5 StarsSecret Service agent Jeremy Reins awakens in the trunk of a car driven by terrorists who are hunting for the president's secret bunker. For Reins, escaping means more than just his own survival: The nation's future hangs in the balance.
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