10 thrillers on Tubi you can stream for free right now
10 thrillers on Tubi you can stream for free right now
Declan GallagherWed, May 13, 2026 at 10:00 PM UTC
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Jeon Jong-seo in 'Burning,' Orson Welles in 'The Third Man,' James Caan in 'Thief'
Credit: Everett; Getty; Everett
Thrillers thrive on tension, and Tubi has quietly become a gold mine for pulse-pounding gems that keep you guessing until the final frame.
The platform's lineup spans decades, genres, and styles, offering everything from cult classics to under-the-radar modern masterpieces. Blow Out, more timely now than in its post-Watergate heyday, crackles with paranoia and precision, while Lee Chang-dong’s Burning delivers slow-burn psychological dread.
Whether you crave twisty conspiracies, atmospheric tension, or character-driven suspense, these 10 thrillers represent the very best that Tubi has to offer.
Battle Royale (2000)
Tatsuya Fujiwara, Aki Maeda, and Sayaka Ikeda fight to the death in 'Battle Royale'
Credit: Anchor Bay/Courtesy Everett Collection
Based on Koushun Takami’s dystopian novel, Battle Royale follows 42 teenagers sent by the government to a desert island. Their task is simple: Kill each other until only one is left standing.
Kinji Fukasaku’s unbelievably gory and equally thrilling actioner — politically incorrect as the day is long — has inspired everything from Kill Bill to The Hunger Games. It’s not just the kill-or-be-killed framework, but also its splattery approach to extreme violence.
That said, there’s a gleeful satiric edge underpinning the film that, lost in many of its imitators, balances popcorn thrills with genuine pathos for its eccentric teen ensemble.
Blow Out (1981)
John Travolta heard something he should not have heard in 'Blow Out'
Credit: Mary Evans/CINEMA 77/FILMWAYS PICTURES/VISCOUNT ASSOCIATES/Ronald Grant/Everett Collection
Jack Terry (John Travolta) is a motion-picture foley artist working on a cheap horror flick. When out one night picking up sound, he witnesses a car swerve off a bridge and splash into a river. The driver is dead; the passenger, a young escort named Sally (Nancy Allen), is alive and well. As it turns out, Jack may have just witnessed the assassination of a presidential hopeful — and captured the audio. Meanwhile, the assailant (John Lithgow) aims to finish this suddenly-more-complicated job.
Blow Out, loosely inspired by Michelangelo Antonioni's Blow Up (1966) is a classic paranoid thriller in which every paranoid fantasy is, in fact, very real. It’s one of Brian De Palma’s most vital works.
Burning (2018)
Trust, there is unbearable tension going on in this shot, IYKYK
Credit: Well Go USA/courtesy Everett Collection
Jong-su (Yoo Ah-in) has a chance reunion with a childhood friend, Hae-mi (Jeon Jong-seo), now a beautiful but inscrutable woman. She heads out of town for a brief trip, only to return with Ben (Steven Yeun) — handsome, charming, but vaguely (or maybe not so vaguely) sinister.
The psychological puzzle that ensues involves a strange, cryptic confession, an unexplained disappearance, and a rather elusive cat. The less you know going in, the better. Suffice it to say, Lee Chang-dong’s astonishing thriller is one of the most unexpected enigmas in recent memory, a perfectly pitched study in profound unease.
Insomnia (1997)
Stellan Skarsgard in 'Insomnia,' five years before Al Pacino played the role
Credit: Everett
Not to be confused with Christopher Nolan’s 2002 remake, Erik Skjoldbjærg’s Norwegian original stars Stellan Skarsgård as detective Jonas Engström, who’s called to a remote town to investigate the murder of a teenage girl. But things go awry as Jonas’ police work gets… let’s just say “messy.”
Insomnia is a haunting thriller, anchored by Skarsgård’s fierce star turn and Geir Jenssen’s thrumming score. It’s also a bit nastier and more unforgiving in its characterizations than Nolan’s sharp remake. Both versions are built on atmosphere, content to let the characters’ psychology deliver the most potent shocks.
Oldboy (2003)
Choi Min-sik with one of his most handy (and versatile!) weapons in 'Oldboy'
Credit: Tartan Films/courtesy Everett Collection
After 15 years imprisoned in a hotel room for an unknown transgression, Oh Dae-su (Choi Min-sik) gets inexplicably released, and sets out on a single-minded mission to find out who and why. He believes this is a revenge story, and makes his case as violently as possible. He’s only half right.
He and a young woman, Mi-do (Kang Hye-jung), who has her own checkered past, begin peeling back the layers of a decades-old mystery. Oldboy is an emphatic work of exploitation, one of the most grotesque and eyebrow-raising movies you’re ever likely to see.
Director Park Chan-wook provides a thematic backbone that justifies his most baroque flourishes and renders them with a genuine tragedy. It’s a high-wire act that’s a joyful horror to behold.
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Pi (1998)
Sean Gullette doing genius-level math in his head in 'Pi'
Credit: A24
Darren Aronofsky’s debut feature, made on a shoestring budget and shot in black and white, concerns a troubled mathematician (Sean Gullette) who builds a computer that he comes to believe may reveal secrets that mankind simply shouldn't know. Needless to say, other parties are interested.
A proper midnight movie, Pi is a genuine indie flick built on ideas and stamina. While lacking the visual dynamism of Aronofsky's subsequent efforts, it is just as experimental in form. The imagery, inspired by German Expressionism and silent films, is uncanny and often nightmarish, weaving an unbreakable spell that lulls viewers into the film’s singular rhythms.
The Pusher trilogy (1996–2005)
Mads Mikkelsen in 'Pusher II: With Blood On My Hands'
Credit: Everett
Years before Drive put him on the radar of American film buffs, Nicolas Winding Refn earned his head-stomping credentials with this stylish, emphatically gritty trilogy of films.
Heroin pusher Frank (Kim Bodnia, from Killing Eve and F1) makes a passable living alongside street kid Tonny (Mads Mikkelsen), but runs into trouble when he screws up a big score for narcotics kingpin Milo (Zlatko Burić) and has to clean it up.
The second installment follows Mikkelsen’s character as he tries to make a name for himself (while dealing with daddy issues). The third entry catches up with Milo years later, just as things are starting to unravel (again). All three movies are worth a look.
Thief (1981)
James Caan and, yes, that's Willie Nelson in prison in 'Thief'
Credit: Everett Collection
Veteran jewel thief Frank (James Caan) has made one thing explicitly clear: He doesn’t work for anyone. What he’s looking for is one last big score, after which he intends to retire with Jessie (Tuesday Weld).
His new business partner, so to speak, is a powerful yet avuncular underworld figure played by the late, great Robert Prosky, who might not be so keen on Frank leaving the outfit so soon.
Michael Mann’s first theatrical feature is an astonishingly assured caper with style to spare and one of the best soundtracks of all time, courtesy of Tangerine Dream.
The Third Man (1949)
"So is that true what Harry said about the cuckoo clock?" / "I'm afraid so, Joseph Cotten"
Credit: Ernst Haas/Getty
Holly Martins (Joseph Cotten) has a line on a job in Vienna but arrives to find that his main contact, an old friend named Harry Lime, has been killed. That death is just the beginning.
Holly winds up getting involved with the international authorities, Lime’s shady associates, and even his old pal’s girlfriend (Alida Valli). Suddenly, he’s unraveling a web he didn’t know existed — and that’s before a certain cat shines a new light on the whole thing.
The Third Man is one of the finest noirs ever made. With each viewing, you’ll find new treasures in the small details, from the intricacies of the performances to the texture of its production design.
The Usual Suspects (1995)
We can't repeat the line all these guys have to say, but trust us, it's very rude
Credit: Everett
Bryan Singer’s Oscar-winning thriller picks up in the aftermath of a massive criminal operation that ended in explosive fashion. The witness the cops are counting on to put together the pieces is Verbal Kint (Kevin Spacey), part of a crew of thieves who are somehow involved in it all. The real target — and the presumptive brains behind the operation — is criminal mastermind Keyser Söze.
You probably know the twist by now, but The Usual Suspects is worth the ride even if you know the destination. In the ’90s, it was as influential as Pulp Fiction in setting the crime-thriller template for a generation.
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