Netflix
Netflix has become such a prominent aspect of the entertainment world that we’ve reached a point where it can be difficult to imagine life without it. Over a decade after expanding beyond its DVD rental company origins and into the streaming world, and seven years since debuting its first major original series with House of Cards, the streamer continues to dominate the increasingly crowded TV landscape. In addition to building a sprawling library of shows originating from outside of the platform, such as Breaking Bad and Grey’s Anatomy, Netflix has consistently produced and distributed countless original content, both scripted and unscripted, that has completely changed the game.
New programming is added every single week, so it can naturally be overwhelming to scour through the never-ending collection to find something to watch. From genre-bending sci-fis and gripping crime thrillers to swoon-worthy period romances and soapy reality TV, Netflix’s programming has covered every genre imaginable. Though not every series is a hit, there are dozens of ambitious and compelling shows highly worthy of binge-watching.
Another thing Netflix has going? Some shows have more than 100 episodes for you to watch, so you can really settle in and feel like you’re getting to know the characters and the world they live in. Other shows are short and sweet—a quick watch that you can finish in a single night if you so please.
Whatever your tastes and mood, the options are limitless, so there is bound to be something perfect for you. To make things easier, below we’ve compiled a list of 50 of the best Netflix shows to watch.
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A crime procedural produced and frequently directed by the master of thrillers, David Fincher, is what dreams are made of. Mindhunter stars Jonathan Groff and Holt McCallany as agents and Anna Torv as a psychologist in the FBI’s budding Behavioral Science Unit who study real-life serial killers. It is a fascinating and layered examination of the minds of criminals that checks all the boxes of what we would expect from a Fincher production.
Swapping out casts every two seasons, The Crown offers a sweeping, decades-spanning journey through the life of Queen Elizabeth II and her reign, in addition to the behind-the-scenes occurrences of the rest of the British royal family that exist beyond the headlines. The Emmy-winning series boasts an ensemble including Claire Foy, Olivia Colman, Imelda Staunton, Matt Smith, Tobias Menzies, Jonathan Pryce, Josh O’Connor, Dominic West, Emma Corrin, Elizabeth Debicki, and Helena Bonham Carter.
Netflix has carved its own space in the reality dating world through an assortment of bonkers TV offerings marketed as “social experiments.” Love is Blind might be the most unhinged of them all. Hosted by Nick and Vanessa Lachey, the series has contestants first meet one another in gender-separated pods, and they must get engaged before meeting face-to-face. Afterwards, the engaged couples spend the weeks leading up to their weddings exploring their relationships to determine if they want to stay together.
Call My Agent! (Dix pour cent) is a French comedy centering on a group of talent agents, including Camille Cottin’s scene-stealing Andréa Martel, at the fictional agency ASK. It expertly weaves in and out of their chaotic personal lives and the high-maintenance clients they manage, who are French (and sometimes American) celebrities playing heightened versions of themselves. The glorious list of guest stars include Isabelle Huppert, Jean Dujardin, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Sigourney Weaver, Monica Bellucci, and Juliette Binoche.
Based on the 1989 Central Park Five case, Ava DuVernay’s 2019 four-part limited series is a harrowing and heartbreaking retelling of a tragic event about a group of young Black men who are targeted and put on trial for a crime they were wrongfully accused of committing. Shedding light on the corruption within the NYPD and United States legal system, When They See Us is a difficult but necessary watch.
Following a group of teenagers who are forced to run their own community after the rest of the population of their wealthy suburban town mysteriously vanishes, The Society is a compelling teen drama that stands out in a sea of YA-centric TV. Despite getting its second season renewal tragically reversed during the pandemic that caused it to end on a massive cliffhanger, it is still a wholly gripping one season wonder.
One of Netflix’s most popular non-English titles, Dark is a German sci-fi thriller that centers on four families whose lives are brought together after two children go mysteriously missing. The increasingly intricate series eventually expands into a supernatural time travel story with a web of connections that may be difficult to keep track of but is bound to keep you on the edge of your seat.
From executive producer Shonda Rhimes, this lavish Regency era-set show based on Julia Quinn’s book series is one of Netflix’s most-viewed shows. It follows the eponymous family as they navigate love, marriage, and above all else, scandal that gets documented in a newsletter written by a Regency version of Gossip Girl voiced by Julie Andrews. Featuring modern needle drops, Bridgerton is a sexy and soapy period drama that transcends time.
Hailing from Sweden, Young Royals has quickly cemented itself as one of Netflix’s most captivating teen dramas. A perfect blend of Gossip Girl, The Crown, and the Norwegian web-series Skam, it follows Crown Prince Wilhelm (Edvin Ryding) as he adjusts to life at his new prestigious boarding school while embarking on an exploration of his sexuality. From slow-burning romances to complicated family trees and battles for social power, Young Royals has everything you would want in a teen series.
Anya Taylor-Joy’s captivating performance in this 2020 limited series catapulted her into another dimension of stardom. The fictional drama based on Walter Tevis’ 1983 novel follows the rise of Beth Harmon, from growing up in an orphanage in the 1950s to her ultra-success in the male-dominated sport of chess as she becomes one of the youngest players in the world while battling a drug and alcohol addiction.
A few years before Phoebe Waller-Bridge blessed the world with her highly successful series Fleabag, she made a brilliant little six-part comedy that deserves to be showered with just as much love. Crashing follows six eccentric twenty-somethings living in an abandoned hospital whose relationships get entangled as they attempt to coexist. It’s a fun and easy show with witty dialogue and a delightfully weird group of characters.
Gearing up for its fourth season, Sex Education is one of the most genuine and hilarious coming-of-age shows in recent years. The show focuses on Otis (Asa Butterfield), a socially awkward teen experiencing his sexual awakening, his sex therapist mother played by Gillian Anderson, and fellow schoolmates played by Ncuti Gatwa, Emma Mackey, and Connor Swindells. The British comedy is a thoughtfully refreshing portrayal of topics that are typically considered taboo.
Inspired by the real-life Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling, GLOW. is a nostalgic, campy, and incredibly fun comedy with an ensemble led by Alison Brie, Betty Gilpin, and Marc Maron. The series revolves around a group of failed actresses and outcasts who are brought together to form a female wrestling league by a grumpy B-movie filmmaker. With compelling dynamics, sharp writing, and stunning costumes, GLOW is a fantastic show that deserved to get a final season.
Giving Jason Bateman the chance to show off his dramatic acting chops as well as helm several episodes, Ozark slowly but surely became one of Netflix’s most acclaimed crime dramas. Bateman plays Marty Byrde, a financial advisor who relocates his family from Chicago to Missouri after a money laundering scheme for a Mexican cartel goes wrong. The series is packed with never-ending suspense as the Byrde clan falls deeper into the criminal underworld.
Orange Is the New Black
One of Netflix’s first major successes, Jenji Kohan’s Orange is the New Black ran for seven strong seasons. The prison comedy began as a character study of a woman sent to prison for drug smuggling but blossomed into a complex and oftentimes heart-wrenching exploration of the lives of the people she is incarcerated with and issues such as race, corruption, and the flawed prison system. The stellar ensemble includes Taylor Schilling, Laura Prepon, Natasha Lyonne, Uzo Aduba, Laverne Cox, Kate Mulgrew, and many more.
Mindy Kaling’s coming-of-age series uses the standard teen drama mold as a stepping stone for a refreshing point of view into the genre. It centers on 15-year-old Devi (Maitreyi Ramakrishnan in what is shockingly her first acting role), a first-generation Indian-American grappling with her sexuality and grief over her father’s death. Told through a cultural lens that isn’t frequently seen in teen TV and narrated by John McEnroe, Never Have I Ever is a funny and relatable yet painfully awkward portrait of adolescence.
At its best, Charlie Booker’s wildly popular dystopian anthology series is a fascinating investigation of the technological world through deeply human experiences that utilize a combination of genres. With each episode serving as a standalone story, Black Mirror is composed of an incredible cast that includes Jon Hamm, Bryce Dallas Howard, Daniel Kaluuya, Anthony Mackie, and Jesse Plemons.
Netflix sadly canceled The Baby-Sitters Club after only two seasons, but it remains a delightful gem. Based on Ann M. Martin’s series of kids novels, the show centers on five girls who start their own babysitting business. Updated for modern audiences, it never loses what made the books so charming while handling sensitive topics without talking down to its younger audience in a way that makes it equally enjoyable for adults.
When it was first released in 2021, Squid Game took the world by storm. In this South Korean series akin to The Hunger Games, hundreds of financially desperate people are recruited to participate in six children’s games in order to win ₩45.6 billion (equivalent to $38 million). It’s not as simple as it seems though, as the losers get killed off one by one. Violent, intense, and unsettling, Squid Game is impossible to look away from no matter how much you may want to.
Set in a world half-populated by anthropomorphic animals, Bojack Horseman is about a washed-up former sitcom star (voiced by Will Arnett) of the 1990s who tries to revive his celebrity status by releasing an autobiography as he continues to spiral through a cycle of substance abuse. On the surface, it’s just another funny animated comedy, but Bojack Horseman manages to do what many haven’t: depict depression in an honest and accurate way.
In a sea of political dramas that tend to lean into the same tropes, Danish import Borgen is a sophisticated, bleak, and consistently authentic entry in the genre. Over the course of 30 episodes, the series chronicles the life of Birgitte Nyborg (Sidse Babett Knudsen), a centrist politician who becomes the first female prime minister of Denmark and must overcome obstacles to hold onto power. After landing the rights to the show in 2020, Netflix released a fourth season consisting of eight episodes titled Borgen–Power & Glory.
Lilly and Lana Wachowski have always been masters at mind-bending storytelling, and Sense8, co-created by J. Michael Straczynski, is just as trippy as you would expect it to be. The series follows eight strangers from across the world who discover that they are mentally and emotionally connected, which makes them targets for a mysterious organization that views them as a threat to society. Sense8 is a special sci-fi show that is about emotional connection and love at its core.
Omar Sy headlines this gripping French thriller about Assane Diop, a professional thief who is intent on getting revenge on the man responsible for his father’s death. Inspired by Maurice LeBlanc’s book about a thief named Arsène Lupin, Lupin is an intense and stylish series that quickly became an international favorite no thanks in part to Sy’s charm.
Created, written, and directed by Logan screenwriter Scott Frank and executive produced by Steven Soderbergh, Godless is a gritty western set in a small mining town. It stars Jack O’Connell as Roy Goode, a gunslinger on the run from a crook played by Jeff Daniels and his crew. Goode hides out in a town populated entirely by women after a mining accident killed the majority of its male residents, so the gang must first go up against this tough group of pioneer women led by Michelle Dockery and Merritt Wever, who won an Emmy for her performance.
Emma Stone and Jonah Hill make for a stellar on-screen duo, and Maniac serves as living proof of it. The pair star in this dark comedy centering on Annie and Owen, two strangers who meet after signing up for a sketchy pharmaceutical trial that induces distressing dreams. The series is dark, twisted, and poignant with spectacular visuals and a layered dive into the subconscious.
There is something incredibly alluring about a series that features stunning luxury homes and the filthy rich, out of touch people who are tasked with selling them. From the creators of The Hills comes Selling Sunset, which follows the real estate agents at the Los Angeles-based Oppenheim Group and the drama that ensues amongst them both in and out of the workplace. The girlboss-y needle drops have become iconic, and there is never a dull moment while witnessing the cast engage in petty drama for our entertainment. The reality series is so successful that it spawned two spin-offs, Selling Tampa and Selling the O.C.
The End of the F***ing World
If you like dark British humor, then The End of the F***ing World will be right up your alley. Based on the comic series by Charles S. Forsman, it centers on James (Alex Lawther), a troubled 17-year-old who believes he is a psychopath, and his plan to kill his rebellious classmate Alyssa (Jessica Barden) while on the run. As they commit crimes together, the pair develop a Bonnie and Clyde-esque relationship. The deadpan comedy, unpredictable plot, and layered characters make The End of the F***ing World an absorbing viewing experience.
Concluding its six-season run in 2021, Peaky Blinders is a gritty British import that has been dubbed the UK version of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. Set in 1919, it follows Cillian Murphy’s war veteran Thomas Shelby, who leads the eponymous gang that consists of his family members and is named after the razor blades they keep in their hat brims. Intense and brutally violent, the series manages to capture a specific era while seamlessly making it feel timeless. Plus, the show features Tom Hardy in a recurring role—what more could we possibly ask for?
The Haunting of Hill House/The Haunting of Bly Manor
Loosely based on Shirley Jackson’s gothic novel of the same name, Mike Flanagan’s The Haunting of Hill House is a terrifying and grounded tale about a broken family. It centers on the Crain family, who move into Hill House in the summer of 1992 and are forced to flee after experiencing paranormal activity, and 26 years later the remaining family members are forced to confront the memories that have haunted them for decades. Once again entwining a ghost story with romance, the second installment of the anthology, The Haunting of Bly Manor, is equally chilling and affecting.
A tongue-in-cheek parody of the true crime craze that has dominated discussions in recent years, American Vandal was ahead of its time. Using the mockumentary format, it centers on students Peter (Tyler Alvarez) and Sam (Griffin Gluck) as they search for the culprits of high school pranks, including penis drawings in the first season and laxative-laced lemonade in the second. Cleverly executed and hilarious as hell, American Vandal is undoubtedly one of the most genius comedies to ever grace our screens.
Natasha Lyonne, Leslye Headland, and Amy Poehler deliver a refreshing approach to the concept of being stuck having to live the same day over and over again. During Nadia’s 36th birthday party, she dies and keeps waking up in the bathroom, forced to relive the day until she eventually meets a stranger experiencing the same cycle. Things only get stranger in the second season when Nadia finds herself traveling back in time to 1982 and inhabiting the body of her mother. Above all, Russian Doll is a creative showcase for Lyonne’s comedic skills and captivating presence.
Toni Collette and Merritt Wever lead this miniseries based on a 2015 Pulitzer Prize-winning story about the hunt for a serial rapist. Kaitlyn Dever plays Marie Adler, a rape victim who pleads guilty to filing a false police report after the authorities doubt her credibility, allowing her attacker to continue operating until two female detectives team up to investigate a series of similar crimes years later. Bolstered by remarkable performances from the central cast, Unbelievable is a poignant exploration of a flawed system.
One of Netflix’s most brilliantly original shows, Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij’s The OA centers on Prairie Johnson, a blind woman who reappears after having been missing for seven years with her sight regained and now calling herself The OA. What follows is an absorbing mystery with supernatural elements that keeps you hooked from the onset, and it’s tragic that it got canceled after only two of the planned five seasons.
Set against the backdrop of Northern Ireland conflict circa the 1990s, Derry Girls follows a group of teens and their tight-knit friendship as they navigate the ups and downs of life over the course of three seasons. The beloved Irish sitcom is a wickedly funny and relatable portrait of girlhood that quickly solidified its place as one of the best comedies in recent years.
After Netflix picked up You from Lifetime in 2018, the show about a murderous psychopath became a megahit and spawned three more seasons. It stars Gossip Girl’s one and only lonely boy Penn Badgley as Joe Goldberg, a seemingly nice guy who loves books almost as much as he enjoys stalking (and later murdering) the women he develops feelings for and anyone who stands in the way, and later falls in love with someone who might be scarier than him. You is a constant reminder that the modern dating world is a nightmare, all the while spotlighting a chilling performance from Badgley.
Led by the stellar duo of national treasures Drew Barrymore and Timothy Olyphant, Santa Clarita Diet is a zombie comedy that focuses on a suburban California family whose life gets upended when Barrymore’s Sheila gets infected by a zombie virus and must kill in order to survive. Gory on the surface but sweet and funny underneath, the series deserved much better than to get canceled after two seasons.
Any TV show starring Sandra Oh is a must-see, and The Chair is no exception. Set at the fictional prestigious Pembroke University, the dramedy follows Oh’s professor Ji-Yoon Kim as she becomes the first woman to be appointed chair of the English department, in addition to being one of the few women of color in the entire department. She has to navigate the politics of her new role while managing her predominantly white and older male colleagues, family life, and a relationship with Jay Duplass’ eccentric professor Bill Dobson. The Chair is a darkly funny series that seamlessly balances the uncomfortable nature of academia.
Partially based on comedian Mae Martin’s own life, Feel Good centers on Mae, a stand-up comedian who is coming to terms with her drug addiction while developing a relationship with George (Charlotte Ritchie), whom she meets at the comedy club where Mae performs. The series is a tender and empathetic look at queer relationships and sobriety that has just the right dose of deadpan humor and a supporting turn from Lisa Kudrow.
As he continues searching for true love, Dylan (Johnny Flynn) discovers that he has chlamydia and must track down his past partners and inform them that they might have it too. Thus goes the premise of Lovesick, a gem of a British romantic comedy that also weaves in the romantic entanglements of Dylan’s best friends, Evie (Antonia Thomas) and Luke (Daniel Ings). Amongst Netflix’s vast catalog, the series has often gone overlooked but serves an extremely enjoyable and low-stakes watch.
No list is complete without the inclusion of Stranger Things, one of Netflix’s most widely successful shows now four seasons into its run. The series focuses on the disappearance of a young boy in a small Indiana town and the appearance of a girl with telekinetic abilities named Eleven, and has since expanded its storytelling to build a world that is all-encompassing. For better or worse, the Duffer Brothers’ Stranger Things is a nostalgic homage to Steven Spielberg, Stephen King, and 1980s cinema.
Money Heist has turned into a global hit and become one of Netflix’s most-watched shows since getting picked up by the streamer in 2017. The Spanish crime thriller, which concluded in 2021 after five parts, follows a team of nine thieves as they work to pull off a pair of heists and the law enforcement officers trying to stop them. Visually slick and brimming with tension, Money Heist is a wholly immersive experience.
Iron Chef: Quest for the Iron Legend
Fans of cooking competition shows will be thrilled to know that Netflix has revived the ultimate cook-off, Iron Chef. Returning as host, Alton Brown is joined this time by Top Chef winner Kristen Kish as co-host while Mark Damascos makes a triumphant return as The Chairman. Here, contestants challenge the Iron Chefs—Curtis Stone, Dominique Crenn, Marcus Samuelsson, Ming Tsai, and Gabriela Camara—is a cook-off with a secret ingredient, with the highest scoring challenger ultimately battling against all five Iron Chefs in the hopes of becoming an Iron Legend.
Following the success of The Haunting of Bly Manor, Mike Flanagan brought us another slow-burning horror series. The series sees Riley Flynn (Zach Gilford) return to his hometown on Crockett Island, where he meets a new charismatic priest (played by Hamish Linklater) whose arrival triggers a series of mysterious events in the isolated community. Deeply haunting and full of suspense, Midnight Mass is also a thought-provoking examination of faith and how it can be used to manipulate.
Based on Stephanie Land’s memoir of the same name, Maid centers on Alex, a young mother trying to support her two-year-old daughter by working as a house cleaner while attempting to escape an abusive relationship, poverty, and homelessness. At the heart of the series is Margaret Qualley, who anchors this honest portrait of a single mother with an incredible performance as Alex.
Based on the best-selling series of detective noir novels by Volker Kutscher, Babylon Berlin is a spell-binding examination of Weimar Republic-era Berlin through a lavishly maximalist lens. The most expensive German-language show to ever be made, it follows Gereon Rath (Volker Bruch), a detective who medicates his PTSD from the war with morphine, and Charlotte Ritter (Liv Lisa Fries), a typist and occasional prostitute who aspires to become the first female detective. The pair get caught up in a crime-riddled world as they develop a slow-burn romantic relationship.
Elevated by fantastic performances from dream duo Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, Dead to Me is about two women who build a friendship that is linked by their mutual grief after meeting at a support group. As they try to navigate the challenges of the aftermath of their losses, the show complicates things when they find themselves involved in a murder mystery.
I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson
With I Think You Should Leave, SNL and Detroiters alum Tim Robinson has crafted a sketch masterpiece unlike most comedies on television. The series takes cringe comedy to a whole new level with surreal and painfully sketches packed into bite-size episodes. It may not be perfect, but I Think You Should Leave will undoubtedly make you howl with laughter.
In The Circle, participants compete against each other without meeting face-to-face, instead using only profiles on the show’s social media app, aptly titled The Circle, to communicate with each other. Five seasons in, The Circle is a widely entertaining show full of bold personalities, fun twists, and people constantly trying to identify the catfish among them.
Sex and the City creator Darren Star’s Emily in Paris, which recently debuted its third season and has a fourth in the works, is a show we all love to hate. The premise—a young, somewhat self-absorbed American gets a job in the dreamy city of Paris, France but doesn’t speak any French—is a cliché we’ve seen countless times, and Emily’s fashion choices are more than questionable, but we can’t deny that it’s an incredibly fun show to binge-watch and live vicariously through.
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