Netflix just dropped one of its most gripping conspiracy thrillers of the year with "The Madness," starring our fave Fear The Walking Dead character: Colman Domingo! If you're like most viewers, we bet you've already burned through all episodes and are now feeling that familiar post-show void.
In this post, we've done the digging for you and uncovered 6 pulse-pounding conspiracy thrillers like The Madness that'll have you questioning everything. And here's a bonus: one of our picks can even help you learn German while you're getting your conspiracy fix! Curious? Read on!
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What Is 'The Madness' About?
"The Madness" takes the classic wrong-place-wrong-time thriller formula and injects it with timely social commentary. Colman Domingo delivers a powerful performance as Muncie Daniels, a CNN commentator whose peaceful getaway to the Poconos turns into a nightmare when he discovers his neighbor – a notorious white nationalist – brutally murdered in a sauna.
Despite reporting both the crime and his attackers to local authorities, Daniels finds himself becoming the prime suspect, with his BLM connections being used to paint a target on his back. As the evidence mounts against him, he's forced into a desperate race to clear his name and uncover who's really behind the murder.
Conspiracy Thrillers Like The Madness
If "The Madness" left you craving more stories of cover-ups, corruption, and characters fighting against shadowy forces, be sure to check out these 6 conspiracy thrillers below!
The Night Agent
What would you do if a late-night phone call threw you into the heart of a deadly government conspiracy? That's exactly what happens to FBI agent Peter Sutherland, whose mundane job monitoring a White House emergency phone line turns explosive after one fateful call.
When Rose Larkin reaches out in desperation, Peter is pulled into a deadly conspiracy that reaches the highest levels of government. Now he must protect Rose while racing to expose a dangerous mole orchestrating assassinations and threats to national security.
While "The Madness" keeps its conspiracy grounded in small-town corruption, "The Night Agent" takes the paranoia all the way to Washington's corridors of power. Both shows master the art of making their protagonists question every alliance and doubt every piece of evidence – but "The Night Agent" ups the stakes with nationwide implications that'll keep you binge-watching into the early hours.
The Designated Survivor
Kiefer Sutherland stars in this white-knuckle thriller as Tom Kirkman, a low-level cabinet member whose life changes forever when a devastating explosion destroys the Capitol during the State of the Union address. As the "designated survivor," he suddenly becomes President of the United States, forced to lead a traumatized nation while powerful forces work in the shadows to undermine his presidency.
If "The Madness" shows how one man can be wrongfully targeted and framed, "Designated Survivor" demonstrates how a single act of terrorism can mask an intricate plot to reshape America itself. The series raises the stakes from personal survival to national preservation, with Kirkman fighting not just to uncover the truth, but to keep democracy itself from crumbling.
Kleo
Kleo Step into the gritty world of post-Cold War Berlin with "Kleo," where a lethal former East German spy emerges from prison with one goal: revenge. After being betrayed and imprisoned by her own people just before the fall of the Berlin Wall, Kleo unleashes her espionage expertise to hunt down those who destroyed her life.
Like "The Madness," this German thriller follows someone whose life is derailed by forces beyond their control, but "Kleo" adds a stylish Cold War twist to the formula. While Muncie Daniels stumbles into his nightmare by accident, Kleo's journey is a calculated mission of vengeance where every clue could be her last.
Note: Did you know that you can watch Kleo AND learn German? That's possible when you watch with Lingopie's Netflix extension!
Secret City
What begins as routine reporting quickly spirals into a dangerous investigation as Harriet Dunkley uncovers a hidden network of political intrigue and international conspiracy. But the deeper she digs, the more she realizes that exposing the truth could cost her everything – her career, her freedom, and possibly her life.
Where "The Madness" drops us into the isolated Poconos wilderness, "Secret City" plunges us into Australia's corridors of power, proving that sometimes the most dangerous conspiracies hide in plain sight. Both shows feature determined truth-seekers who discover that uncovering one secret can unleash an avalanche of deadly consequences.
Slow Horses
Meet MI5's biggest "failures" – a ragtag group of disgraced spies exiled to Slough House, where careers go to die. Led by the brilliantly cynical Jackson Lamb (Gary Oldman), these outcasts handle the most mind-numbing tasks in British intelligence. But when real conspiracies land in their laps, these underdogs prove that even slow horses can outrun danger – if they can stop tripping over their own mistakes first.
Unlike the lone-wolf pursuit of truth in "The Madness," "Slow Horses" gives us a whole stable of misfits stumbling through espionage's darkest corners. There's something deliciously satisfying about watching these rejected spies – the ones nobody believes in – piece together conspiracies that their "better" colleagues miss, all while dodging both bullets and bureaucracy.
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Pine Gap
Deep in the Australian outback lies Pine Gap, one of the world's most secretive joint defense facilities where American and Australian intelligence operatives work side by side. This taut thriller pulls back the curtain on a hidden world where international alliances are tested, loyalties are questioned, and the line between national security and personal secrets becomes dangerously blurred.
Why we recommend this? Simple! This series shows us that sometimes the most dangerous threats don't come from outsiders, but from the complex web of relationships and rivalries within our most trusted institutions.
Want to Learn a Language While Uncovering Conspiracies?
Let's be real - conspiracy thrillers hit different in their original language. There's something special about hearing those tense interrogations and shadowy meetings exactly as they were meant to be heard, whether it's in German, French, or Korean.
With Lingopie, you get the best of both worlds: heart-racing international thrillers and natural language learning rolled into one addictive package. . Our interactive features turn every suspenseful scene into a mini-language lesson, so you're not just following the conspiracy – you're mastering a new language while you're at it. Now that's what we call efficient binge-watching!