Thrillers are more popular than ever. Just look at the top-ranked movies streaming on Netflix any given week, and you’ll find at least one of them hovering near the top. It’s not hard to understand why — just like riding a rollercoaster, we like to put ourselves in a simulation of danger without facing any real consequences.
This week is new, but already, Netflix has a new thriller on its most popular movies list. (Well, it’s not really new — it was actually released 30 years ago.) Copycat, a suspense movie about a serial killer mimicking the crimes of past infamous murderers, stands the test of time. It hasn’t dated one bit, and it could be released today with minimal changes and still make sense.
Copycat is a favorite film here at Watch With Us, and we’re sharing a few reasons why you should put it on your Netflix queue right now.
Copycat’s Premise Is Just So GoodDr. Helen Hudson (Sigourney Weaver) is a world-renowned criminal psychologist who specializes in profiling serial killers. Like Wolverine, she’s the best there is at what she does, but she’s been forced into early retirement by a past attack by a deranged fan, Daryll Lee Cullum (Harry Connick Jr.). You can’t blame her — Daryll Lee killed two police officers in front of her before almost killing her.
Don’t cry too hard for Helen — she’s spending her time in her palatial San Francisco home playing chess with strangers online and barely managing a severe case of PTSD and agoraphobia with a steady diet of pills and liquor. Her brilliant mind isn’t idle, though — she can’t help but notice that a recent string of murders is all connected due to their eerie — and deliberate — similarities to the Boston Strangler’s crimes twenty years ago.
Her observations soon grab the attention of two detectives, M.J. Monahan (Holly Hunter) and Reuben Goetz (Dermot Mulroney). Together, they try to solve the mystery of this copycat killer as he or she claims other victims while mimicking other famous murderers like Son of Sam and Jeffrey Dahmer.
We’ve seen plenty of serial killer movies before. In 1995 alone, there was an avalanche of them, with David Fincher‘s Seven with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman being the most successful and critically acclaimed. But Copycat one-ups its peers by being a thriller about serial killers — what drives them, how they execute their crimes and why we’re so fascinated with them.
Copycat uses an entertaining premise to subtly point a finger at the audience. Why is it enjoyable to watch people get killed? And why do we get a kick out of watching detectives try to figure out the mystery before they, too, are threatened?
The Reveal of the Killer Is Genius (No Spoilers!)Copycat also subverts convention by being a thriller where the reveal of the killer doesn’t really matter. This isn’t an Agatha Christie mystery where learning the killer’s identity is the climax of the movie. Instead, Copycat divulges who the killer is around the midpoint of the film without much fanfare. Toward the end, you realize the killer’s always been there, lurking in the background and watching the police try to catch someone who is in the same room with them.
It’s an ingenious move on the part of the writers, Ann Biderman and David Madsen, to not only show who the killer is but to get us closer to them once we know who they are. We get to see up close how they operate and how little value they hold for human life. That’s what makes Copycat so effective — it gives a human face to evil and makes us watch helplessly as they do despicable things to innocent people.
The Score Is Creepy — in a Good Way!Thrillers rely on their scores more than most other genres, and Copycat’s music is top-notch. Composed by Christopher Young, the score immediately sets the mood in the opening credits, suggesting a plunge into danger that won’t let up for another two hours.
Later on, when various people are running from and to the killer, Young pumps up his score, giving the action on screen an increased urgency and desperation. The music itself is scary — it suggests you’re the one being chased instead of just watching a chase unfold.
Watch the opening scene in the above clip and hear how Young uses volume to give pacing and depth when Helen is first attacked in a woman’s bathroom, then held prisoner as her life literally hangs by a thread. It’s a masterful use of music, and it makes Copycat better because of it.
The Two Lead Performances Are TerrificWhat makes Copycat worth watching, both in 1995 and 2025, is the two lead performances by Weaver and Hunter. As Helen, Weaver isn’t afraid to make her academic a bit of an asshole. She’s cranky, rude and a bit smug, and she resents being dragged into the serial killer business even though that’s what she’s best at doing.
Weaver doesn’t make her entirely unlikeable, though. There’s just enough vulnerability there to understand why Helen behaves like she does and why catching this killer is just part of an endless cycle of violence she’s a part of — and has profited from in the past. After all, what do you think paid for that gorgeous San Francisco home, anyway?
Hunter’s M.J. is more sympathetic, since we see her struggling to be heard and taken seriously in a profession dominated by men who don’t take her seriously due to her size. (Holly Hunter’s height is 5’2”.) It’s not unlike what Jodie Foster’s Clarice Starling had to endure in The Silence of the Lambs, but Hunter’s M.J. is tougher and more persistent — she shrugs off being made the butt of a joke at work because she has a killer to catch.
What’s fascinating about Copycat is that the movie doesn’t make its two female characters like each other. There are no phony scenes of them bonding or getting to know one another — they’re strictly coworkers, at least for the moment, and they have a job to do. They get on each other’s nerves and don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, but their main goals are the same — find the killer and stay alive.
Copycat Is One of the Best Netflix Movies Streaming Right NowCopycat can be deep, but it’s first and foremost a slick, entertaining thriller that delivers the goods. The violence is disturbing for all the right reasons, and the acting, directing and production values can’t be beat. It’s a great thriller to watch on a summer’s eve when it gets just dark enough to make you wonder what’s lurking in those shadows.
Copycat is now streaming on Netflix.
