Some movies are not comfort food. Some are the ones you brace for—punishingly realistic war epics that flatten you, thrillers that put your nerves through the shredder, true-crime documentaries that make you check your locks at night. You watch them once, feel all the feels, and then file the experience away for good.
That’s what this list is all about: eight extreme Netflix movies that only need a single viewing. Maybe it’s because they offer essential knowledge or perspectives (like my must-see top pick at the end of the list) or hard-to-swallow emotional truths, or maybe they’re gloriously unhinged and over-the-top. Either way, they’re all great single-serving watches. Queue them up accordingly.
6
Gerald’s Game
Stephen King’s unfilmable novel, filmed unflinchingly
Director Mike Flanagan did the impossible with 2017’s Gerald’s Game—he turned what many believed to be an unfilmable Stephen King novel into a notorious horror film, and a launching pad for an epic Netflix run. When a kinky little getaway weekend at a remote lake house goes incredibly wrong, Jessie (Carla Gugino) is left handcuffed to the bed after her husband, Gerald (Bruce Greenwood), dies of a heart attack.
Gugino’s largely solo performance is mesmerizing, but the infamous “degloving” escape scene is something you’ll only ever manage to sit through once.
Gerald’s Game
Release Date
September 29, 2017
Runtime
104 minutes
Director
Mike Flanagan
5
Fall
Vertigo, vultures, and a long way down
Fall is proof positive that a $3 million thriller can put you on the edge of your seat as much as any blockbuster, and it leaves Netflix on August 17, so consider this fair warning. OK, so it’s not a great movie, but my teenage daughter and I enjoyed every minute of this vertigo-inducing survival thriller—have never spoken of it again.
Quiz
8 Questions · Test Your Knowledge
Name that Netflix thriller
Trivia challenge
From twisted mysteries to edge-of-your-seat crime dramas — can you identify
these Netflix original thrillers from just a clue?
CrimeMysterySuspenseDramaOriginals
Begin
A seemingly perfect suburban mom discovers her neighbor is harboring a dark secret,
leading her down a rabbit hole of lies, manipulation, and murder in this 2018 Netflix limited series
based on a bestselling novel.
AThe Haunting of Hill HouseBBehind Her EyesCYouDDirty John
Correct! Dirty John is based on the true crime podcast of the same name
and stars Eric Bana and Connie Britton. It follows Debra Newell, whose romance with charming con man
John Meehan unravels into something terrifying.
Not quite — the answer is Dirty John. This chilling limited series is
based on a true story and a hit podcast, following a woman whose seemingly ideal new partner turns out
to be a dangerous deceiver with a criminal past.
Continue
A New York City bookstore clerk becomes obsessed with a woman he meets, going to
increasingly disturbing lengths to insert himself into her life — all while narrating his actions
with unsettling charm.
AMindhunterBOzarkCYouDThe Sinner
Correct! You stars Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, a soft-spoken bookstore
manager whose romantic obsessions quickly spiral into stalking and worse. The show’s genius lies in
making viewers almost sympathize with its deeply disturbing protagonist.
Not quite — the answer is You. Penn Badgley plays Joe Goldberg, a
charming but deeply dangerous man whose inner monologue pulls viewers into his warped worldview. The
show has run for multiple seasons and become one of Netflix’s biggest hits.
Continue
A financial advisor relocates his family to a lakeside Missouri town to launder
money for a drug cartel, making increasingly desperate decisions to keep his family alive in this
slow-burn crime drama.
ABloodlineBOzarkCNarcosDSafe
Correct! Ozark stars Jason Bateman and Laura Linney as Marty and Wendy
Byrde, a couple forced to flee Chicago and set up a money-laundering operation in the Missouri Ozarks.
The show ran for four seasons and won multiple Emmy Awards.
Not quite — the answer is Ozark. Jason Bateman both stars in and directs
much of this critically acclaimed series, which follows a family’s terrifying descent into the criminal
underworld after a money-laundering scheme goes wrong.
Continue
FBI agents travel across the country in the 1970s interviewing imprisoned serial
killers to understand the psychology of violence and build the foundations of modern criminal
profiling.
AManhuntBCriminal: UKCMindhunterDThe Killing
Correct! Mindhunter is directed by David Fincher and based on the real
memoir by FBI agent John Douglas. It features chilling conversations with fictionalized versions of real
killers like Ed Kemper and Dennis Rader, and is praised for its meticulous period detail.
Not quite — the answer is Mindhunter. This David Fincher-produced series
dramatizes the true origins of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit. Its interviews with serial killers are
so unsettling partly because many are based on real transcripts.
Continue
A woman wakes up with no memory of who she is or what she’s done, only to discover
she may be more dangerous than the people hunting her in this action-heavy 2020 Netflix original
film.
AThe Old GuardBKateCExtractionDTidelands
Correct! Kate stars Mary Elizabeth Winstead as a professional assassin
who is poisoned and given only 24 hours to live, during which she tears through Tokyo seeking revenge.
The film is packed with stylish action sequences and neon-lit visuals.
Not quite — the answer is Kate. Mary Elizabeth Winstead delivers a
fierce performance as a dying assassin on a revenge mission through Japan. The film leans into its
action-thriller roots with inventive fight choreography and a bold visual style.
Continue
A true crime docuseries that investigates the mysterious death of a woman on a
hiking trail, raising questions about whether local authorities ignored key evidence in their rush
to close the case.
AThe KeepersBMaking a MurdererCThe StaircaseDAmerican Murder: The Family Next Door
Correct! Making a Murderer follows Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan
Dassey, who were convicted of murdering Teresa Halbach. The series sparked a massive public debate about
wrongful convictions and police misconduct when it launched in 2015.
Not quite — the answer is Making a Murderer. This landmark Netflix
docuseries ignited a national conversation about the justice system when it suggested Steven Avery may
have been framed by the very law enforcement he was suing at the time of his arrest.
Continue
In this Spanish-language thriller, a group of students and professors are taken
hostage inside the Royal Mint of Spain by a criminal mastermind known only by a city name, who
orchestrates the heist from a remote location.
ACable GirlsBEliteCMoney HeistDThe Pier
Correct! Money Heist, known in Spanish as La Casa de Papel, became one
of the most-watched non-English series in Netflix history. It follows a genius criminal called The
Professor as he guides a team of robbers — each named after a city — through an elaborate heist.
Not quite — the answer is Money Heist (La Casa de Papel). This Spanish
phenomenon ran for five seasons and turned characters like The Professor and Tokyo into global icons.
It’s one of the most successful non-English language shows ever made.
Continue
A wealthy family’s patriarch dies under mysterious circumstances, and as each
sibling fights for control of the family business, long-buried secrets begin to surface in this 2018
psychological thriller series set in Florida.
ABloodlineBOuter BanksCThe Haunting of Bly ManorDOn My Block
Correct! Bloodline is set in the Florida Keys and stars Kyle Chandler,
Ben Mendelsohn, and Linda Cardellini as members of the Rayburn family. Ben Mendelsohn’s performance as
the troubled black sheep Danny earned widespread critical acclaim.
Not quite — the answer is Bloodline. This brooding family thriller uses
a non-linear narrative to build dread across three seasons. Ben Mendelsohn is particularly magnetic as
the volatile Danny Rayburn, whose return home sets a tragic chain of events in motion.
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The premise is pretty basic—climbers Becky (Grace Caroline Currey) and Hunter (Virginia Gardner) scale a 2,000-foot TV tower in the desert and get stranded at the top when the ladder collapses beneath them. It’s nauseating, the vultures start circling, and it has a wild twist-ending that will stick with you so you don’t need a repeat viewing.
Fall
Release Date
August 12, 2022
Runtime
107 minutes
Director
Scott Mann
4
The Irishman
Scorsese’s mob epic demands one full evening, and that’s it
Martin Scorsese’s longest film ever (at 209 minutes) is “extreme” by commitment alone, but it’s also the film that lured Joe Pesci out of retirement, so it’s got to be worth it just for that, right? But The Irishman doesn’t stop at Pesci with its deep well of gangster-movie royalty.
The 10-time Oscar-nominated movie is led by Robert De Niro, who stars as hitman Frank Sheeran as he recounts his decades of service to mob boss Russell Bufalino (Pesci), Teamsters leader Jimmy Hoffa (Al Pacino), and Philly crime boss Angelo Bruno (Harvey Keitel). The Irishman is a haunting examination of misplaced loyalty as Frank, old and alone by the film’s end, contemplates whether it was all worth it.
The Irishman
Release Date
November 27, 2019
Runtime
210 minutes
Director
Martin Scorsese
3
Maternal Instinct
A heinous true-crime gut punch with lasting effect
It’s no surprise that documentaries have a way of hitting much harder than scripted fiction—but nothing could prepare me for the gut punch of Maternal Instinct. The newest and queasiest entry on this list, this true-crime documentary opens with police pulling over a woman who claims to have just given birth in her car, but the baby, and the blood, are not hers.
Maternal Instinct tells the story of Texas woman Taylor Parker, whose elaborate fake pregnancy scheme to entrap her boyfriend unravels into a story of murder so heinous it led to Parker’s death sentence. It’s gripping but responsible filmmaking you’ll absolutely never queue up again.
Maternal Instinct
Release Date
November 17, 2017
Runtime
84 minutes
Director
George Erschbamer
2
Marriage Story
A divorce drama that cuts deep
You don’t need guns or gore or demons to make an extreme movie that’s tough to watch—sometimes all it takes is a reprehensible divorce lawyer. Noah Baumbach mined his own difficult divorce for the 2019 drama Marriage Story, and you can feel it in every beat. Charlie (Adam Driver) and Nicole (Scarlett Johansson) are an unhappy married couple calling it quits, which, like so many in real life, starts out amicably until their shark lawyers—one played brilliantly by Laura Dern—start weaponizing every tiny flaw for their respective gains.
If you like movies that make you squirm, limber up for the final epic apartment fight scene where things said cannot be unsaid and the cuts are deep.
Marriage Story
Release Date
December 6, 2019
Runtime
136 minutes
Director
Noah Baumbach
1
All Quiet on the Western Front
The definitive anti-war epic only needs one viewing
War is pointless; we all know this. Several reminders of this poignant fact exist on celluloid, but All Quiet on the Western Front is one of the most visceral, and it’s a jagged pill well worth taking while it streams on Netflix. Edward Berger’s German-language take on the 1929 novel it’s based on was a beast at the Oscars.
It follows fresh-faced German soldier Paul Bäumer (Felix Kammerer) whose search for WWI glory is instead met with mud, machine guns, and pointless slaughter as the Allies pummel the Germans to their end. The epic film is essential anti-war viewing, and you’ll only need to do it once.
One viewing is all you need
Whether it’s harrowing, heartbreaking, makes you think, or just so ridiculous you have to see it, these six Netflix movies will earn a spot in your brain after just one watch. And when you’re ready for a palate cleanser, beeline it to How-To Geek’s streaming section for more.
Subscription with ads
Yes, $8/month
Simultaneous streams
Two or four
Live TV
No
Price
Starting at $8/month