By The Update
Thrillers are good. Thrillers based on bestselling books? Even better. These Netflix hits didn’t just get plucked from bookstore shelves – they exploded onto your screen with brooding detectives, unreliable narrators, and more plot twists than a Reddit conspiracy thread. Here are the five most popular, buzziest, and most bingeable book-to-screen thrillers streaming right now (summer 2025 edition).
1. Dept Q
(2025, 9 episodes)
- Rotten Tomatoes: ~89% (critics)
- IMDb: ~7.6/10
- Critic buzz: Gritty, gothic, and soaked in psychological dread
- Why buzzed: Adaptation of Jussi Adler-Olsen’s Nordic noir series, reimagined in rainy Scotland. Critical darling and fan favorite
The Update Verdict:
Dark secrets, moodier detectives, and a camera lens coated in misery. Dept Q is what happens when you lock trauma and justice in a room and forget to turn on the lights. Add a brooding cop duo and you’ve got Netflix’s new crown jewel of cold cases.
2. Ripley
(2024, 8 episodes)
- Rotten Tomatoes: 93% (critics)
- IMDb: 8.0/10
- Award clout: Emmy winner; Best Lead Actor for Andrew Scott
- Why buzzed: Patricia Highsmith’s slippery antihero gets a pitch-black, prestige-TV makeover
The Update Verdict:
Ripley lies, cheats, murders – and somehow still gets invited to dinner. It’s Succession meets Dexter with a passport and a nicer wardrobe. Bonus: Andrew Scott’s cheekbones could cut glass and probably will by episode 5.
3. The Survivors
(2025, 6 episodes)
- Rotten Tomatoes: ~85% (early critic average)
- IMDb: 7.2/10
- Critic take: Slow-burn, beautifully shot, devastatingly emotional
- Why buzzed: Adapted from Jane Harper’s bestselling novel. Coastal mystery with buried trauma
The Update Verdict:
Tragedy ages like wine in this small-town Aussie mystery. Family drama, missing teens, and enough guilt to sink the shoreline. The Survivors is for viewers who like their thrillers with feelings, fog, and unresolved sibling tension.
4. Fool Me Once
(2024, 8 episodes)
- Rotten Tomatoes: ~75% (critics)
- IMDb: 7.1/10
- Why buzzed: Harlan Coben’s twisty-turny thriller meets high-gloss British production
- Fan reaction: Binge-worthy chaos with more red herrings than a fish market
The Update Verdict:
Husband dead? Shocker. Husband alive on nanny cam? Double shocker. Fool Me Once is basically Gone Girl if she shopped at Marks & Spencer and had a dashcam. Is it realistic? No. Is it fun? Absolutely. Trust no one – not even the baby monitor.
5. Caught
(2025, 6 episodes)
- Rotten Tomatoes: Limited reviews (early audience scores ~7.0/10)
- Language: Spanish (with English subs)
- Why buzzed: Another Harlan Coben adaptation – but this time with a Latin American twist
The Update Verdict:
A journalist, a predator, and a secret that unravels like a cheap sweater. Caught is moody, unpredictable, and way better than most “he said/she said” thrillers. Worth the subtitles – and the anxiety.
Thrillers, But Make It Literary
Whether it’s jet-setting murderers (Ripley), soaked-in-guilt detectives (Dept Q), or camera-loving husbands who won’t stay dead (Fool Me Once), Netflix is doing what it does best: turning books into screen gold. Just don’t expect happy endings. Or functional families.
