The Best Series To Watch on Netflix Right Now
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Netflix has one of the most extensive catalogs of television shows from all genres and time periods. There are full seasons of classic sitcoms like Seinfeld, award-winning faves like Ozark, limited series stunners like Maid, and fan favorites like Stranger Things. We have genuinely been spoiled for choice when it comes to the shows on offer. That said, you can lose a lot of time scrolling through the countless viewing options, so we’ve done the work for you. Here are the best series currently streaming on Netflix.
1. Sex Education (2019-present)
Sex Education became an instant hit when the first season arrived on Netflix. This British dramedy series from creator Laurie Nunn follows socially awkward teen Otis and his friends at secondary school as they navigate personal issues—typically involving sex. There are currently three seasons and it is returning for a fourth outing soon.
2. Manifest (2018-present)
In Manifest, passengers and crew are relieved when their plane lands safely after a turbulent flight, but quickly realize the world has aged five years since they were up in the air, and their family and friends have moved on after mourning their supposed deaths. Now that they are back, the passengers—including siblings Michaela and Ben Stone—race against time to discover what really happened on that flight.
3. Dead to Me (2019-2022)
Dead to Me centers on the unlikely friendship between two women, played by Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini, and humorously explores elements of loss and forgiveness. When Jen’s husband tragically dies in a hit-and-run she sets out to find out who was behind the accident. She soon meets free-spirited Judy at a support group and the pair bond despite their differences. However, Jen is unaware that Judy is hiding a massive secret from her. Outrageous antics ensue.
4. Stranger Things (2016-present)
Four seasons in, and the cast of Stranger Things are bonafide stars in their own right and it’s easy to see why. The nostalgic sci-fi series has kept us on the edge of our seats with its story of extraordinary forces and mysterious government exploits out to destroy the world—and the group of young friends on a mission to get to the truth.
5. Ginny & Georgia (2021-present)
Ginny & Georgia is a complex yet witty look at the bond between a young mother and her biracial teenage daughter. After years on the run, Georgia finally puts roots down in an idyllic New England town to provide a safe space for her daughter Ginny and young son Austin. However, it’s not long before her past comes back to haunt her, prompting difficult questions from her daughter which she must answer or lose her trust forever.
6. Beef (2023)
Created by Lee Sung Jin (Dave, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia), Beef stars Ali Wong and Steven Yeun as two people unable—or unwilling—to move on after a heated road rage encounter. Our own Madeline Carpou has written extensively about Beef, noting that “every episode manages to expertly weave themes surrounding classism, sexism, new-age petulance and ‘toxic positivity,’ and all kinds of notions regarding race in the Western world.”
7. Bridgerton (2020-present)
London’s Regency era has never been so glamorous and steamy. Based on the book series by Julia Quinn and produced by Shonda Rhimes, Bridgerton focuses on the eight Bridgerton siblings‘ journey to finding love. In season 1, we saw Daphne Bridgerton fall for the highly desirable yet rebellious Duke of Hastings. In contrast, the second season saw the eldest and most hard-to-impress Bridgerton sibling, Lord Anthony Bridgerton, fall for Kate Sharma after she arrives from India.
8. Never Have I Ever (2020-present)
Mindy Kaling is an expert at feel-good comedy, and it’s no surprise that Never Have I Ever has won fans over across the globe. The series, partially based on Kaling’s experiences growing up, follows first-generation Indian-American teenager Devi as she navigates high school, her family, and friendships—all while trying to impress the best-looking guy in school, Paxton Hall-Yoshida.
9. The Witcher (2019-present)
With a talented cast led by Henry Cavill, The Witcher has attracted quite a fan base over its three seasons. The show follows the journey of the witcher Geralt of Rivia, a professional monster hunter who struggles to find his place in a medieval dark fantasy world.
10. You (2018-present)
For Joe Goldberg in You, the goal has always been to find true love, but he just can’t escape his terrifying past—or his impulsive desire to kill. His sinister obsession with getting the woman of his dreams often means getting rid of everyone in his way.
11. Squid Game (2021-present)
South Korean thriller Squid Game is the stuff of nightmares, and it quickly became one of Netflix’s most-viewed series of all time. In the series, which is set to return for season 2, hundreds of cash-strapped contestants compete in a game for a huge financial reward. But the stakes are, quite literally, deadly.
12. Dear White People (2017-2021)
Justin Simien expands on his film of the same name with Dear White People. The sharp satire follows students of color at a mostly white Ivy League school and explores racial dynamics, social injustice, and class politics with the help of a brilliant cast led by Logan Browning.
13. Breaking Bad (2008-2013)
No one could have played the role of Walter White better than Bryan Cranston. From 2008-2013, Breaking Bad ruled TV with its story of a high school teacher who becomes a meth king in New Mexico to provide for his family after a fatal cancer diagnosis. Thanks to Netflix, we can now watch this iconic series again from start to finish.
14. Better Call Saul (2015-2022)
Part of the Breaking Bad franchise, there are six epic seasons following the trials and tribulations of ex-con artist Jimmy McGill. Better Call Saul follows Jimmy as he transforms into the morally corrupt criminal lawyer Saul Goodman and explores the consequences of his time working with Walter White and Jesse Pinkman.
15. The Haunting of Hill House (2018)
The talents of Victoria Pedretti, Oliver Jackson-Cohen, Kate Siegel, and Carla Gugino come together beautifully in Mike Falangan’s terrifying masterpiece, The Haunting of Hill House. The series explores the lives of the Crain siblings, who grew up in a famously haunted house. Later as adults, they reunite in the face of tragedy to confront their terrifying past.
16. Friday Night Lights (2006-2011)
Friday Night Lights stars Kyle Chandler as Eric Taylor, the coach of a high school football team in rural Texas—where football is championed above all else. Along the way, he faces the pressures of leading while also navigating current and former players, his personal relationships, and issues plaguing the small town of Dillon.
17. Ozark (2017-2022)
Ozark frequently dominated awards season during its four-season run and with good reason. The show stars Jason Bateman (also series creator), Laura Linney, and Julia Garner, and centers on a financial planner who relocates his family from Chicago to a summer resort community in the Ozarks after a money-laundering scheme goes wrong.
18. The Sinner (2017-2021)
Nothing is as it seems when Detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) investigates a bizarre new homicide each season. While others give up, Ambrose does everything in his power to get to the bottom of the case, even if that means developing a deep emotional connection with his unnerving suspects.
19. The Good Place (2016-2020)
The Good Place stars Kristen Bell as Eleanor, a flawed woman who finds herself in the titular fictional afterlife and discovers she’s been mistaken for someone else. The comedy follows Eleanor as she enlists the help of an army of new friends to earn her a permanent spot in The Good Place.
20. Maid (2021)
Margaret Qualley is brilliant in the critically-acclaimed limited series Maid as Alex, a single mother who escapes an abusive relationship with her young daughter. From being on seven different forms of government assistance to moving into a women’s shelter and eventually finding life-changing work cleaning houses. She does everything in her power to provide for her child and realize her dream of becoming a writer.
21. Mindhunter (2017-2019)
Executive-produced by director David Fincher and actress Charlize Theron, this short-lived crime drama traces the creation of the FBI’s Behavioral Science Unit. Mindhunter follows agents Holden Ford and Bill Tench as they work with psychologist Wendy Ford to develop criminal profiles based on interviews with serial killers.
22. Russian Doll (2019-present)
In the comedy-drama Russian Doll, Nadia (Natasha Lyonne) is a young woman who gets caught in a mysterious time loop. The first season follows Nadia as she keeps dying and reliving the same night—her birthday—over and over again, and soon discovers she’s not the only one.
23. The Queen’s Gambit (2020)
Anya Taylor-Joy absolutely nails it in The Queen’s Gambit as Beth Harmon, an orphan who becomes the greatest chess player in the world, all while battling her personal demons and addiction.
24. Black Mirror (2011-present)
Six seasons of standalone episodes have really made Black Mirror stand out in the television landscape. Each unnerving episode focuses on the unexpected and harmful societal consequences of new technologies. The show features many great guest stars, including Jon Hamm, Bryce Dallas Howard, Daniel Kaluuya, and Domhnall Gleeson.
25. Unbelievable (2019)
Based on the article An Unbelievable Story of Rape and inspired by a shocking real-life story, Unbelievable stars Kaitlyn Dever as a young woman named Marie who reports a rape—and isn’t believed. Two female detectives, played by Toni Collette and Merritt Wever, work together to solve the case.
26. Kingdom (2019-present)
Did you ever watch the mercilessly pragmatic power grabs in any iteration of House of Cards and think, “This could use an ever-growing horde of zombies”? Then we’ve got the series for you. Based on Kim Eun-hee’s webtoon The Kingdom of the Gods, Kingdom (also written by Kim) is a period piece heavily steeped in horror. The show is set in Joseon-era Korea and follows the political intrigues and exploits that come down in the wake of the king’s incapacitation. Everyone makes plays for the seat of power with Game of Thrones-levels of viciousness, and compounding the whole tempest is a plague that reanimates the dead into overwhelming swarms of feral maniacs. The set pieces are fantastic, the class warfare makes for great storytelling, the cast is incredible (including Bae Doo-na of The Host and Sense8), and the photography is gorgeous whether beholding a kingdom or tracking a well-choreographed sword fight.
27. I Think You Should Leave with Tim Robinson (2019-present)
I Think You Should Leave (ITYSL) has a certain foothold in the realm of pop culture; even if you haven’t seen Tim Robinson and Zach Kanin’s absurdist sketches, you’ve likely seen the memes emerging from them. That’s because they identify a specific element of society and a staple of cringe comedy. That person who contends that they’re correct, cool, and intentional even when they make an embarrassing faux pas. Robinson’s characters either find themselves in socially awkward situations, like an intervention held at a Garfield-themed party house, or they themselves compound the awkwardness, like the man who insists that he’s not choking despite the bulging vein in his forehead suggesting otherwise. It’s impossible to pick the best ITYSL sketch, but you’ll have a good laugh while you try.
28. Junji Ito’s Maniac: Japanese Tales of the Macabre (2023)
Horror mangaka Junji Ito has creeped people out for decades. Works like Tomie and Uzumaki are cited as great manga works of cosmic horror, making something as simple as a spiral pattern the stuff of nightmares. In fact, a separate Junji Ito Collection is hailed as one of the scariest animes ever, and it seems like the morbid manga artist has no intention of stopping his festival of surreal dread. Junji Ito’s Maniac is an animated collection of adapted short stories from Ito’s extensive output, each more unsettling than the last. Highlights include “Hanging Balloons” in which the balloons are humongous, predatory human heads, and “Layers of Fear” which observes a disfigured woman’s discovery of younger versions of herself hiding underneath her skin. Netflix rarely gets this weird and viewers should jump on it.
29. Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities (2022-present)
There’s nothing like grabbing a nighttime snack and curling up with some bite-sized horror, and when Oscar-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro is involved, it can be a real thrill. The anthology series features eight stories, some written by del Toro and others crafted by talent like Panos Cosmatos (Mandy), all saturated in old-school supernatural horror. If you’re asking The Mary Sue, we recommend “The Outside” (episode 4) for its skin-deep skewering of gender expectations. As the late Brittany Knupper wrote, the episode conveys “the horror inherent in attempting to perform traditional gender roles,” all wrapped up in a body horror plot about a popular new women’s skincare product on the market. Those with more intense taste might enjoy Cosmatos’ face-melting episode “The Viewing” (episode 7), containing a rich recluse, ill-advised drug use, and an extraterrestrial object no human has any business messing with. It wouldn’t be cosmic horror if it didn’t have some hubristic area man toying with unfathomable horrors beyond our comprehension, and Cosmatos delivers that horror with style.
30. The Glory (2022-2023)
South Korea loves a good revenge story. More accurately, the nation’s cinema loves to unpack the psyche-damaging obsession with revenge. Park Chan-wook made a whole trilogy exploring the machinations of retaliation (the most celebrated entry being Oldboy), but there’s plenty of TV dedicated to measure-for-measure retribution. The Glory is one such series, a slow-burn K-drama following a survivor of school violence and relentless bullying. Moon Dong-eun (played by a stone-cold Song Hye-kyo) constructs a meticulous plan to get back at her wealthy former tormentors. She isn’t content to just return the physical damage she endured during her high school years, she won’t stop until reputations are tarnished and lives are utterly ruined.
(featured image: Netflix)
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