15 Shows Like Netflix’s ‘Minerva Academy’ You Absolutely Have to See

Netflix’s Italian drama ‘Minerva Academy’ immerses viewers in the rigorous and disciplined world of a military high school where cadets grapple with fierce rivalries, heavy family expectations, and the search for a missing friend. The show combines the rigid atmosphere of an elite boarding institution with a dark, unfolding mystery.

For audiences drawn to academy-set thrillers, high-stakes peer conflicts, and suspenseful investigations, numerous television series offer similar narrative elements. These titles explore the high pressures of competitive education, hidden institutional secrets, and adolescent struggles.

‘The Boarding School: Las Cumbres’ (2021–2023)

Set in an isolated boarding school adjacent to an ancient monastery in the Spanish mountains, the institution houses rebellious youths under an uncompromising disciplinary regime. When a student vanishes into the surrounding woods, a group of cadets secretly investigates the disappearance and the school’s hidden history. The students uncover dark rituals, clandestine experiments, and long-kept secrets tied to the school administration. The series combines a strict institutional environment with a suspenseful missing person mystery.

‘Elite’ (2018–2024)

When three working-class students receive scholarships to Las Encinas, an exclusive private high school in Spain, intense social friction immediately erupts. The clash between wealthy elites and incoming outsiders leads to jealousy, deception, and escalating criminal investigations. Each season explores murder cases, missing persons, and cover-ups through police interrogations and flashback sequences. The drama emphasizes the psychological pressure, academic rivalry, and moral compromises of privileged teenagers.

‘Baby’ (2018–2020)

Inspired by real events in Rome, the Italian drama centers on two high school girls attending an elite private academy in the Parioli district. Constrained by strict family expectations and high-society standards, the protagonists lead secret double lives in Rome’s underworld. As their involvement deepens, they struggle to keep their clandestine activities hidden from parents, peers, and school authorities. The series examines the emotional isolation, rebellious impulses, and institutional pressures facing modern Italian youth.

‘Young Royals’ (2021–2024)

Prince Wilhelm of Sweden is enrolled in the prestigious Hillerska boarding school after a high-profile public altercation. Within the academy’s traditional and disciplined walls, Wilhelm attempts to build a private identity away from royal obligations. A budding romance with a fellow student creates complex personal and social dilemmas when private video footage is leaked. The narrative highlights the intense conflict between personal desires and rigid aristocratic expectations within an elite boarding school.

‘Blood & Water’ (2020–2024)

Cape Town teenager Puleng Khumalo orchestrates a transfer to Parkhurst College, an elite private academy, after suspecting a star swimmer is her abducted sister. Puleng infiltrates the school’s privileged inner circle while carrying out a covert investigation into her family’s past. Her inquiries expose deep-seated corruption, family cover-ups, and criminal networks tied to influential academy benefactors. The series pairs high school social dynamics with an ongoing investigation into a long-standing family mystery.

‘One of Us Is Lying’ (2021–2022)

Five Bayview High students enter detention together, but only four walk out alive after a classmate suffers a fatal allergic reaction. The victim ran a notorious gossip service designed to expose the darkest secrets of the four surviving students. With law enforcement treating each student as a prime murder suspect, the group forms an uneasy alliance to identify the real killer. The storyline explores deceit, peer pressure, and the desperate measures teens take to protect their reputations.

‘Control Z’ (2020–2022)

An anonymous hacker begins broadcasting the private secrets of students at the prestigious National School in Mexico. The digital leaks disrupt the established social hierarchy, turning close friends into bitter rivals and sparking violent confrontations. Sofía Herrera, an introverted and observant student, uses deductive reasoning to track down the hacker’s identity. The series focuses on institutional surveillance, peer betrayal, and the unraveling of adolescent secrets under intense pressure.

‘Get Even’ (2020)

Four female students at the elite Bannerman Independent School form a secret society named DGM to expose school bullies. Their mission takes a dark turn when one of their targets is murdered, and a note left at the crime scene frames their group. The members must maintain their undercover operation while investigating the true culprit to clear their names before the police intervene. The British series blends private school politics with a suspenseful murder investigation and student camaraderie.

‘Tiny Pretty Things’ (2020)

Following a mysterious attack that leaves a star student in a coma, the Archer School of Ballet welcomes a replacement dancer from California. The incoming student enters a hyper-competitive and intensely disciplined environment where dancers will go to extreme lengths to secure lead roles. As rivalries escalate, the faculty and students become suspects in the ongoing investigation into who pushed the former prima ballerina. The drama showcases physical discipline, toxic perfectionism, and deep-seated deception inside an elite performing arts academy.

‘Cruel Summer’ (2021–2023)

The mystery anthology series follows the lives of teenagers affected by sudden disappearances and hidden criminal acts across alternating timelines. In the first season, a popular high school student goes missing while an awkward peer unexpectedly takes over her social life. When the missing girl is rescued, conflicting testimonies trigger legal battles, public scrutiny, and a search for the objective truth. The narrative examines how intense peer pressure, deception, and administrative scrutiny distort adolescent relationships.

‘AlRawabi School for Girls’ (2021–2024)

Set within a prestigious all-girls school in Amman, Jordan, the drama depicts the consequences of severe bullying and institutional neglect. After surviving a brutal physical assault, an alienated student orchestrates calculated revenge plans against her wealthy tormentors. As retaliatory actions unfold, the boundaries between perpetrators and victims blur under strict school regulations and traditional family expectations. The series provides an examination of social stratification, disciplinary standards, and high school rivalries.

‘Deadly Class’ (2019)

Set in the late 1980s, a homeless teenager is recruited into Kings Dominion of the Deadly Arts, a secret private academy for the children of global crime syndicates. The curriculum enforces brutal physical discipline, lethal combat training, and an uncompromising code of survival. Cadets navigate factional rivalries, family expectations, and dangerous assignments that test their loyalties and moral boundaries. The series mixes dark institutional authority with intense student conflict and high-stakes survival.

‘Curon’ (2020)

Twin teenagers relocate with their mother to her eerie childhood hometown in Northern Italy, where a submerged bell tower harbors dark legends. When their mother abruptly vanishes without a trace, the siblings must investigate local townspeople and hidden family secrets to find her. While dealing with hostility from local students and strict local customs, they uncover supernatural doubles emerging from the lake. The Italian mystery series explores adolescent isolation, family trauma, and an unsettling search for missing loved ones.

‘Pretty Little Liars’ (2010–2017)

One year after the mysterious disappearance of their group leader, four estranged high school friends begin receiving anonymous messages threatening to expose their darkest secrets. The tormentor utilizes surveillance and blackmail, pushing the teenagers to investigate the unsolved disappearance themselves. As police investigations intensify, the teenagers must navigate family deceit, school rivalries, and institutional distrust. The series highlights teen mystery storytelling driven by missing person investigations, covert conspiracies, and concealed identities.

‘Red Rose’ (2022)

A group of British teenagers downloading a sinister mobile application find their lives upended during the summer following their secondary school exams. The application demands strict obedience to increasingly dangerous tasks, threatening to expose personal secrets and destroy family relationships if disobeyed. Following the mysterious death of a close friend, the remaining members investigate the origins of the software to save themselves. The thriller explores psychological control, adolescent vulnerability, and the search for truth amid digital surveillance.

Share your favorite academy and teen mystery series recommendations in the comments.