18 Best Thriller TV Shows on Apple TV

There’s nothing better than hanging on the edge of your seat watching a TV series unfold. Twists and turns that lead to an unexpected ending is the essence of the thriller genre, and many streaming services provide ample shows that give you that sense of excitement.

Apple TV is just one of several platforms that have a plethora of selections if you’re looking to add a bit more thrill to your life. If you’re looking for the best thriller TV shows on Apple TV, read more to find out the best selection.

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18. The Mosquito Coast (2021)

The thriller drama television series premiered in 2021 and was developed by Neil Cross and Tom Bissell. The show is based off the 1981 novel by Paul Theroux sharing the same name. The series follows an idealistic inventor, disgusted with the corruption of the industrial world, so he uproots his family to Latin America.

However, when the U.S. government tries to catch them, the family takes a dangerous journey through Mexico to flee the government and find safety. The series is a thrilling adventure that will have you on the edge of your seat waiting for what might happen next.

17. Echo 3 (2022)

This action thriller was created by Mark Boal and stars Michiel Huisman, Luke Evans and Jessican Ann Collins. It’s a Black Ops thriller and tale of international intrigue set in Columbia. It’s based on the Israeli award-winning series, When Heroes Fly, created by Omri Givon.

The story follows Amber Chesborough, an American scientist in Columbia researching psychedelics to treat addiction. However, when she is kidnapped by militants, her brother, Bambi, and her husband, Prince, attempt to rescue her.

The men have a complicated relationship due to them being US Army Delta Force operators with a history together. They must work together to find Amber, making it for a thrilling drama that’s chalk full of action and a perfect option for those needing a thriller.

16. Tehran (2020)

Tehran is an Israeli spy thriller created by Moshe Zonder. It currently has two seasons and was recently announced that it will have a third one coming soon. Tehran received the award for best drama series during the International Emmy Awards in 2021, making it a great choice for a thriller on Apple TV.

The show follows an Iranian-Jewish Mossad agent on her first mission in Iran’s capital, Tehran, the place of her birth. her undercover mission is to disable a nuclear reactor. Her objective is to neutralize Iranian air defenses so that the Israeli Air Force can bomb the nuclear plant and prevent Iran from obtaining an atomic bomb. It’s an exciting and thrilling television show that is perfect for those that want to branch out and expand on more shows.

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15. Servant (2019)

This psychological horror thriller will definitely give you the excitement you’re looking for, while also creeping you out. Created by Tony Basgallop, the series follows a wealthy Philadelphia couple, Dorothy and Sean Turner, who have experienced a fractur in their marriage after the death of their thirteen-week-old son, Jericho.

As the couple undergo transitory object therapy using a lifelike reborn doll, Dorothy finds the doll helpful to prevent her from going through psychotic breakdowns. Six weeks after the death, the couple hire a nanny, Leanna Grayson, to take care of the doll, which then opens their home to increasingly unusual occurrences.

14. Slow Horses (2022)

This spy drama thriller is a great addition to your watchlist. Based on the Slough House series by Mick Herron, the show follows Slough House, an administrative purgatory for M15 service rejects who have fumbled something in their job but have not been fired, yet.

Whether that’s leaving a file on a train, or exposing their identity, or have become too drunk to be reliable, the Slough House holds them with the tag “slow horse” on their file. They spend their time paper-pushing tasks, along with occasional mental abuse from their miserable boss, Jackson Lamb, who expects them all to quit out of boredom or frustration. However, when the Slow Horses somehow get involved investigating schemes endangering Britian, their lives start to pick up a bit more, setting them on a thrilling adventure.

13. Severance (2022)

Severance is a sci-fi psychological thriller that was created by Dan Erickson and directed by Ben Stiller and Aoife McArdle. It stars popular names like Adam Scott, Zach Cherry, Britt Lower, and much more. The story follows a biotechnology corporation Lumon Industries who uses a mindwipe medical procedure called “severance” to separate the consciousness of their employees between their lives at work and outside of it.

Due to the separation, each person has begun to experience two diverse personalities, with “innies” being in the workplace, and “outies” being the outside of it. One employee, Mark (Adam Scott), gradually uncovers a web of conspiracy at Lumon and their mysterious project that the employees are unknowingly working on.

12. Suspicion (2022)

A British thriller television show, Suspicion is based on the Israeli series, False Flag, and is set in London and New York City. Unfortunately, the series was cancelled after one season, but you can still watch the first on Apple TV.

The show follows five people whose lives turn upside down after being identified by London police as suspects in the kidnapping and disappearance of Leonardo, the son of American media mogul Katherine Newman.

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11. Truth be Told (2019)

This crime drama thriller was created by Nichelle Tramble Spellman and based on Kathleen Barber’s 2017 novel Are you Sleeping. The series has three seasons, spanning from 2019 to 2023, with the show cancelling after the third series.

The story follows Oakland journalist Poppy Parnell who restarts her true crime podcast that made her famous and reopens the 1999 murder case of Stanford professor Chuck Buhrman after new evidence suggests Warren Cave, the man she helped put behind bars, was wrongly convicted.

10. The Changeling (2023)

This horror fantasy was created by Kelly Marcel and is based on the Victor LaValle novel that shares the same name. It premiered September 2023, and currently has six episodes as of now with one season.

Set in an alternate New York City, The Changeling follows a husband and father whose son has been abducted and wife has gone missing. He realizes there is a completely different part of NYC, and this is where the fantasy element appears. With new episodes every Friday for its first season, this show has stars such as LaKeith Stanfield, Clark Backo, and Adina Porter. 

9. The Crowded Room (2023)

This psychological thriller is one of Apple TV’s miniseries that is one of the best thrillers TV series that you can find right now. Created by Akiva Goldsman, the show was inspired by the 1981 non-fiction novel, The Minds of Billy Milligan by Daniel Keyes.

The summer of 1979 – Manhattan. A young man (Tom Holland) is arrested for a shocking crime, and now an unlikely investigator (Amanda Seyfried) must figure out the mystery before the true killer strikes again. The Crowded Room blew up the internet with its twists and turns, alongside Holland’s acting skills, making this a powerhouse of a show with ten total episodes in the season.

8. Drops of God (2023)

Drops of God begins with death as the main character’s father passes away, leaving the largest wine collection in the world behind.

But the daughter (Fleur Geffrier) must compete with the father’s prodigy (Tomohisa Yamashita) to see who will end up with the prize. With a competition at the heart of this eight-episode season, there is sure to be plot twists in the race to the finish. 

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7. Hijack (2023)

This thriller mini-series has seven parts and was created by George Kay. Starring Idris Elba as a corporate negotiator, Hijack is about flight KA29 going from Dubai to London and getting hijacked along the way.

Sam Nelson (Elba) tries to use his skills to save the passengers on this seven-hour harrowing journey. It’s packed with action and tense moments that will have you sitting on the edge of your seat waiting for what happens next.

6. Shining Girls (2022)

Based on the 2013 novel sharing the same name by Lauren Beukes, the series premiered on Apple TV in 2022. Years after a brutal attack, old newspaper archivist Kirby Mazrachi (Elisabeth Moss) has been living in a constantly shifting reality that’s about to take a dangerous turn.

When a recent murder gets linked to her past assault, she joins a veteran reporter to figure out her past – and her present. Shining Girls has one season comprising eight episodes sure to keep you on your toes. 

5. Black Bird (2022)

Inspired by actual events, Black Bird centers on a football star (Taron Egerton) sentenced to ten years in a minimum-security prison. But he can get freedom if he instead moves into a maximum-security prison and befriends Larry Hall (Paul Walter Hauser) who’s suspected of killing several women, before his appeal to get out of prison goes through. With six episodes in the season, you’ll be hanging on to every minute to see what happens next. 

4. Calls (2021)

Calls takes a completely different route on its way to becoming a thriller TV show. Using only the voices of several strangers calling each other and the visuals being the bandwidths of the calls, you must listen carefully and pay attention to what is really going on under the surface.

With stars such as Lily Collins, Nick Jones, Pedro Pascal, and many more, nine episodes will fly by until you reach the climactic ending. 

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3. Losing Alice (2021)

“How far will you go to get the life you desire?” In Losing Alice, a neo-noir movie starring Ayelet Zurer as Alice there is a fine line between success and failure. Alice is a middle-aged film director that has felt adrift since raising her family.

Then she meets Sophie (Lihi Kornowski), a femme-fatal screenwriter, and so begins an obsessive spiral spread over eight episodes, pushing both characters to the brink. 

2. Dr. Brain (2021)

After suffering a horrible personal tragedy, genius brain scientist Sewon (Lee Sun-kyun) conducts “brain syncs” with the dead to use their memories in order to find out what happened to his family.

But the memories become hallucinations and throw Sewon into a whirlwind of danger over six episodes in Dr. Brain – both real and imagined. 

1. Defending Jacob (2020) Best Thriller TV Shows on Apple TV

Based on William Landay’s bestselling novel of the same name, an Assistant DA’s (Chris Evans) world breaks apart when his son (Jacob Barber) is accused of murdering his classmate. The family is thrown into the world of reporters and prisons, all the while trying to figure out what really happened that day in the park. There are eight episodes in Defending Jacob. 

Apple TV has a large selection of movies and TV shows, especially ones in the thriller genre. If you enjoyed our list of the best thriller TV shows on Apple TV, then check out their service and find even more nail-biting intense movies. 

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