The best crime thriller (at least, in our humble opinion) are the ones that don’t make it easy to decide who you’re rooting for. And if you've been pouring over Furious too – Elizabeth Meriwether’s new series starring Emmy Rossum and Lola Petticrew – you'll know that it fits the bill to a tee.
The series follows rookie FBI agent Alice Black (Rossum), who becomes consumed by the hunt for Catherine Grace (Petticrew), a calculating female serial killer whose victims appear to have more in common than first meets the eye. But as the investigation deepens, the show becomes less interested in a straightforward game of cops and killers. Instead, it finds itself steeped in the murky territory between vengeance and justice.
It’s dark, pretty uncomfortable and extremely bingeable. And if you’ve already made your way through the available episodes – and need another psychologically twisted crime series to fill the gap before the newly announced second season – these are the shows we’d recommend watching next.
Killing Eve
Where to stream: ABC iview
This is probably the most obvious place to start. An intelligence agent becomes increasingly obsessed with the female assassin she’s supposed to be tracking, while the fascination very quickly proves to be mutual. It’s more playful and stylish than Furious, but that central cat-and-mouse relationship – and the increasingly blurred distinction between hunter and hunted – feels very familiar.
The Fall
Where to stream: 9Now, Amazon Prime Video, and BINGE
Gillian Anderson – reigning queen of the crime thriller genre – plays Stella Gibson, a detective brought to Belfast to investigate a series of murders, while Jamie Dornan plays the man she’s looking for. Unlike a traditional whodunnit, The Fall lets us know the killer’s identity almost immediately. The tension instead comes from watching these two characters circle closer and closer to one another.
Mare of Easttown
Where to stream: HBO Max
Kate Winslet! If that isn't enough to get you to watch, then we don't know what is. She plays this detective investigating the murder of a young woman in a small Pennsylvania town, while simultaneously attempting to keep her own increasingly complicated life from falling apart. It’s not exactly a cookie-cutter killer-versus-investigator dynamic and more about what happens when a case starts bleeding into life.
Sharp Objects
Where to stream: HBO Max
You might remember the hype of when this one was released. If it’s the darker psychological undercurrent of Furious that appealed to you, Sharp Objects should be next on the list. Amy Adams plays a journalist who returns to her hometown to investigate the murders of two young girls.
Unbelievable
Where to stream: Netflix
Based on a true story, Unbelievable follows two female detectives investigating a string of sexual assaults after a young woman is accused of lying about being raped. It’s considerably more grounded than Furious, but shares its interest in the women working inside systems that repeatedly fail the people they’re supposed to protect. Toni Collette and Merritt Wever are also exceptional together – no surprise.
The Bridge
Where to stream: SBS On Demand
A body is discovered directly on the border between Denmark and Sweden, forcing detectives from both countries to work together to solve the case. It's a Scandinavian crime series, with a much colder and more procedural vibe than Furious, but similarly good at using a murder investigation to poke at much bigger questions around morality.
The Sinner
Where to stream: Netflix
Talk about binge-able! The Sinner essentially flips the usual murder mystery on its head. In each season, we generally know who committed the crime – the question is why. Each season centres on a different case, with Bill Pullman’s Detective Harry Ambrose digging into the psychology behind seemingly inexplicable acts of violence.
Mindhunter
Where to stream: Netflix
Perhaps one of the genres most underrated, but universal favourites. Most crime thriller fans are still mourning its cancellation. Set during the early days of criminal profiling at the FBI, Mindhunter follows agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench as they interview imprisoned serial killers in an attempt to understand how they think. David Fincher is involved, so naturally everything is deeply unsettling and almost unbearably tense. But also you get to witness the glory of Jonathan Groff and Bill Tench's dynamic.
Deadloch
Where to stream: Prime Video
Stay with us on this one. The Australian series follows two very different female detectives attempting to solve a murder in a Tasmanian town, mixing genuinely compelling crime storytelling with extremely black comedy. It’s much funnier than Furious, but underneath the chaos are similar conversations about gender, violence and who gets to control the narrative around both.
The Undoing
Where to stream: HBO Max
Nicole Kidman plays a successful New York therapist whose extremely comfortable life begins to collapse following a violent death and the disappearance of her husband. It’s glossy, wealthy and full of people who may or may not be telling the truth.
Black Bird
Where to stream: Apple TV+
After being sentenced to prison, Jimmy Keene is offered an unusual deal: enter a maximum-security facility, befriend suspected serial killer Larry Hall and get him to confess to the location of his victims. You've got a cast of Taron Egerton and Paul Walter Hauser, but it’s the increasingly claustrophobic relationship between their characters that makes it so difficult to stop watching.
Still in the mood for something dark? We've just rounded up a curated list of our favourite thriller books to keep you up at night. In the mood for true crime? We've also compiled a list of the must-see true crime documentaries to watch.
