While some of the best TV shows on the platform are bingeable chart-toppers that everyone talks about, others areunderrated Netflix gems that everyone should watchbut very few of us manage to discover. One of the defining characteristics of quality streaming age content is television with a purpose beyond self-perpetuating distraction. Life-changing limited series, sweeping long-form dramas, and innovative comedies unshackled from the constraints of network TV now abound on major streaming platforms.Netflix is the best in the business at producing these kinds of series, the best of which we should all aim to see at least once.
Han So-hee’s biggest role to date is fronting a gripping crime thrillerthat pairs murky mafia plot threads with scintillating action sequences.My Nameis not only thebest Netflix original K-dramafor action and crime fans — it’s one of the best action crime series on Netflix, period. The command with which the show gradually unfurls the backstory connecting Han So-hee’s character Yoon Ji-woo to notorious drug lord Choi Mu-jin (played by Korean acting great Park Hee-soon) is a joy to behold. Few crime thrillers in any language are as accomplished asMy Name.
The Chestnut Manis just about the best Nordic noir series on Netflix, in addition to being one ofNetflix’s best shows about a serial killer— which is saying a lot. Itsunusual combination of gritty police-procedural realism and unsettling horror tropesmakes the drama utterly compelling. A belated second season is currently in the works, but there’s still plenty of time to bingeThe Chestnut Man’s extraordinary first season before you wait with bated breath for its follow-up.
The Chestnut Manis based on the debut novel of Danish writer Søren Sveistrup, who also wrote the screenplay for the previous Nordic noir thrillerThe Killing.
Thebest live-action Japanese show on Netflixis no longer a manga-inspired sci-fi or crime thriller — it’s this beautifully understated miniseries released in January 2025, which couples family drama with pitch-perfect social satire.Asurais the story of four sisters whose world is turned upside down by the discovery of their father’s extramarital affair.Rich in sympathetic but complex characterization, and punctuated by subtle and delicately delivered plot twists, this period drama adapted from a 1970s network TV show is a miniature masterpiece.
Sweet Tooth’s ingenious conceit, originated by Jeff Lemire in his 2009 comic book series, manages to blend commentary on social oppression and stigmatization witha profoundly powerful statement about humankind’s treatment of the natural world. With its central premise that new generations of humans are born with animal characteristics, the show serves as both an immersive fantasy and an intrusive dystopian vision of our near future. What’s more,Sweet Tooth’s three seasons of spellbinding storytelling have an endingworthy of the show’s accomplished world-building.
Italian historical dramaThe Law According to Lidia Poëttells the story of a real-life hero, whose fight against gender discrimination in the 19th century led to far-reaching social change. Apart from being one of thebest lawyer shows on Netflix, this series is an enthralling true story featuring exquisite period details.Lidia Poët is one of the most inspirational characters in any Netflix series, and she shines brightly against other onscreen portrayals of 19th-century heroines.
In 1884, Lidia Poët was disbarred from practicing law in Turin, after which she joined the international women’s movement.
When it arrived in 2014,BoJack Horsemanredefined the boundaries of what was possible for adult animation, a format that was already famous for its daring experimentation. It’s not just that the series is fronted by an anthropomorphic horse who lives like a regular human — it achievesan emotional range and depth that no other animated sitcom has ever come close to.BoJack Horseman’s best episodesaren’t necessarily its funniest, but rather, they’re the ones that move us in ways we would never have expected.
When it comes to contemporary works of horror,even the best movies of the past decade would struggle to compete withThe Haunting of Hill House. This limited series raised the benchmark for the entire genre by taking textbook horror tropes and elevating them to a whole new level of terrifying realism.
Onescene ofThe Haunting of Hill Houseeven caused the Mandela effectin some viewers, who came away from the show believing they’d seen a ghost that never appeared in it. This curious case of a false memory is just one of many excellent reasons to watch this peerless horror series.
Even thoughMoended after just two seasonsin early 2025, the comedy-drama has left an indelible mark on everyone who’s seen it. This belly-achingly funny, poignantly affecting, and, above all, deeply authentic portrait of a Palestinian American trying to make a home for himself and his family in Houston isone of the realest things on TV, not least because it’s based on the life of its titular creator. The show is full of moments that will make you laugh or bawl out loud.
“As Mo bristles against cultural appropriation in comedic ways, Amer infuses a sincere story of a man desperate to connect deeply with his roots."- Ferdosa Abdi -ScreenRant’s review ofMoseason 2
Mindhunterchanged the game for crime investigation dramas when it debuted on Netflix in 2017. Withits focus on getting inside the minds of murderersvia extended scenes dramatizing interviews with convicted serial killers, the series challenges even the most hardcore fans of the crime genre, but is immensely rewarding for those who can stomach it.Mindhunterwas canceled too soonafter just two seasons in 2019, but its legacy as one of the hardest-hitting true-crime shows on television lives on.
