7 Thriller Shows Without a Single Flaw

Excellent thriller shows keep viewers on the edges of their seats from start to finish. These shows draw viewers in with an unsettling atmosphere and the promise of eventual answers to questions that are set up from the beginning. The stakes are very high, and more often than not, many beloved characters will die before the show has come to an end. Still, fans are compelled to keep watching to see where the plot goes, and what will happen to their favorite characters.

From mind-bending sci-fi and fantasy thrillers, to dark comedy thrillers that balance between suspense and humor, there are only a handful of truly flawless thriller shows. These shows never once dip in quality, and they stay focused on their main themes and storylines on the path towards ultimately delivering a phenomenal payoff to their biggest mysteries. These are thriller shows without a single flaw.

‘Midnight Mass’ (2021)

Midnight Mass is a horror thriller miniseries that follows Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford), a man who has just been released from prison after four years. Riley is still dealing with debilitating guilt after killing a teenage girl in a drunk driving accident, and he’s concerned about sticking to his sobriety now that he’s out of prison. He is also returning to Crockett Island, the tiny island where he grew up, for the first time in a very long time.

At the same time that Riley comes back to Crockett Island, a new priest named Father Paul (Hamish Linklater) comes to town and takes over in the absence of the town’s elderly priest who’s been gone since falling ill. Father Paul eagerly jumps into his new role by performing impossible miracles that win the townspeople over. He’s hiding some major secrets, though, and Riley’s outside perspective allows him to pick up on what nobody else will. Midnight Mass is a suspenseful and gripping series from start to finish, all culminating in an absolutely gut-wrenching and unforgettable ending.

‘Based on a True Story’ (2023–2024)

Based on a True Story is a dark comedy thriller that follows Ava (Kaley Cuoco) and Nathan Bartlett (Chris Messina), an ordinary married couple that is expecting their first child. Neither one of them is content with their stilted professional lives and mundane personal lives. To cope, Nathan daydreams of his past as a successful tennis pro, and Ava obsesses over her favorite true-crime podcast. When Nathan and Ava learn that their plumber, Matt (Tom Bateman), is secretly a notorious serial killer called The Westside Ripper, Ava suggests holding off on turning him in.

Instead, Ava and Nathan decide to use the situation to their advantage. They blackmail Matt into starting a podcast with them where he anonymously comes on as The Westside Ripper each week and talks about his kills. In doing so, Ava and Nathan become complicit in Matt’s murders, even though they have the condition that he can’t kill anyone else. Based on a True Story is a brilliant true-crime satire, and it’s also laugh-out-loud funny and truly riveting.

‘Paradise’ (2025–Present)

Paradise is a post-apocalyptic political thriller that follows Agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), the lead Secret Service agent to the President of the United States, Cal Bradford (James Marsden). For the past three years, a select community of people have been living in a massive underground bunker in the wake of a doomsday event that destroyed the world. When Cal is murdered, Xavier is desperate to find out the truth, even if that means disrupting the bunker’s community and unraveling a web of secrets and lies.

What makes Xavier’s investigation all the more difficult, is that those in charge of the bunker are determined to hide the fact that Cal was murdered. Thus, Xavier has to go against orders to investigate Cal’s murder, risking the life of himself and his kids in the process. Paradise is an intense roller coaster ride from the very beginning, setting up a number of long-running mysteries that slowly get revealed over time.

‘Barry’ (2018–2023)

Barry is a darkly comedic thriller series about a former marine named Barry Berkman (Bill Hader), who now works as a hitman under the instructions of a family friend. When he follows his latest target to an acting class in Los Angeles, Barry unexpectedly falls in love with acting. After that job, he starts returning to acting class and building a community for the first time. He admires his acting teacher (Henry Winkler) and is enamored with his classmate (Sarah Goldberg), but he’s risking a lot just by being there.

As Barry becomes more involved with the acting class, he has to juggle this new life with his job as a hitman, as he works to keep his two very different worlds separate. Barry is a wildly clever thriller series that is full of tension throughout. There are the high stakes of Barry’s job, of course, as well as Barry’s constant fear that his job will be exposed to the new people in his life. The show is also absolutely hilarious, and it expertly balances its dark sense of humor with the constant feeling of suspense.

‘School Spirits’ (2023–Present)

School Spirits is a paranormal thriller series about a teenage girl named Maddie Nears (Peyton List), who has suddenly and mysteriously gone missing. Maddie’s spirit is trapped in her high school alongside the ghosts of all the students and faculty members who have died there, and she’s pretty sure that she’s dead as well, but she can’t remember anything. Desperate for answers, Maddie investigates her death with the help of the other ghosts — as well as her best friend, Simon Elroy (Kristian Ventura), the only living person who can see or hear her.

School Spirits is brilliantly written, and each season dives deeper into the lore of Maddie’s school, town, and personal backstory. The show’s attention to detail is outstanding, and it hints at long-running mysteries early on, then slowly builds up to the eventual reveals with each episode. Between the threats to Maddie from the living world, and the threats to all of the ghosts from the spirit world, School Spirits is an intense and thrilling horror series that keeps viewers gripped throughout.

‘Severance’ (2022–Present)

Severance may only have two seasons under its belt so far, but they are both absolutely extraordinary. The sci-fi thriller follows Mark Scout (Adam Scott), a grieving widower who previously underwent a procedure to split his brain in half. Mark’s outside self only knows a life at home, while his work self has never known a life outside of the office. This procedure is a requirement for all employees who work on the severed floor of Lumon Industries, in order to keep the details of their work confidential.

Severance is a brilliant and riveting mystery box series that is constantly throwing viewers for a loop with shocking twists. Even in the quieter moments, Severance fills its viewers with constant dread as it slowly builds up to its more explosive moments. The viewers are in the unique position of getting to see both the severed floor and the outside world, so they know more than most of the characters. This only deepens the intensity of each scene, as viewers are left to watch each storyline unfold and hope that it all can somehow work out for the characters.

‘The Leftovers’ (2014–2017)

The Leftovers is a post-apocalyptic thriller that takes place three years after a mysterious event that made 2% of the world’s population suddenly disappear. In the aftermath, everyone has had different long-lasting reactions to the grief and lack of answers. Kevin Garvey (Justin Theroux) is the police chief of a small town in New York, and he struggles to keep tensions at bay as a cult called the Guilty Remnant tries to forcibly stop people from moving on from the Departure.

Each season of The Leftovers is drastically different, but equally phenomenal. It starts out as a quiet and grounded drama that finds its conflict in human cruelty and post-Departure tension. Then, the series starts to lean more into its speculative elements, leading both Kevin and the viewers to question what’s real and what isn’t. Every episode of The Leftovers is breathtaking, and its series finale is one of the best of all time.