Excellent Netflix Limited Series You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of

Some of the most satisfying binges are stories that know exactly where they’re going—and wrap up decisively. Netflix’s catalog is packed with limited series that deliver a complete arc in just a handful of episodes, spanning true-crime, international dramas, historical sagas, horror, sci-fi, music, and documentary hybrids.

Below, you’ll find 20 Netflix original limited series that fly a bit under the radar. Each one begins and ends its story within a single season, so you can press play, enjoy the full ride, and be done—no cliffhangers lingering on your watchlist.

‘Maniac’ (2018)

‘Maniac’ pairs two strangers in a pharmaceutical trial that promises to solve the mind’s most stubborn problems. Created by Patrick Somerville and directed in part by Cary Joji Fukunaga, it stars Emma Stone, Jonah Hill, Justin Theroux, Sonoya Mizuno, and Sally Field across 10 episodes that blend speculative science with grounded character backstories and therapy-like simulations.

The series jumps through meticulously designed “trial” worlds while following the clinicians engineering the experiment. Shot largely in New York with a retro-futurist production design, ‘Maniac’ uses stand-alone scenario episodes to unpack grief, family, and identity inside a sealed clinical study.

‘Brand New Cherry Flavor’ (2021)

Set in Los Angeles during the early 1990s, ‘Brand New Cherry Flavor’ adapts Todd Grimson’s novel into a hallucinatory revenge tale centered on a filmmaker played by Rosa Salazar. Across eight episodes, the series weaves in a mysterious witch (Catherine Keener), a volatile producer (Eric Lange), and an underground world that intersects with Hollywood’s shadowy corners.

Created by Nick Antosca and Lenore Zion, ‘Brand New Cherry Flavor’ mixes body-horror imagery with industry power games and occult transactions. The show’s period detail, practical effects, and off-kilter tone build a contained story that begins with a broken promise and spirals through surreal consequences.

‘The Eddy’ (2020)

‘The Eddy’ follows the owner of a struggling jazz club in Paris, played by André Holland, as he navigates mounting debts, band dynamics, and a threat from organized crime. The ensemble includes Joanna Kulig, Amandla Stenberg, and Leïla Bekhti, with musical performances recorded live on set to capture an organic sound.

Executive-produced by Damien Chazelle, who directs the opening chapters, ‘The Eddy’ tells its story in eight bilingual episodes that orbit the club’s stage and the city’s neighborhoods. Each episode spotlights a different character while tracing the band’s original songs, immigration pressures, and family relationships.

‘Wormwood’ (2017)

Errol Morris’s ‘Wormwood’ reconstructs the mysterious death of government scientist Frank Olson through a hybrid of documentary interviews and dramatic reenactments starring Peter Sarsgaard, Molly Parker, and Christian Camargo. The series blends archival materials, declassified documents, and Morris’s signature interview technique.

Across six parts, ‘Wormwood’ examines Cold War secrecy, experimental programs, and the decades-long investigation pursued by Olson’s son. The dramatizations intercut with interviews to test competing narratives, creating a single, closed-loop inquiry into truth, memory, and the official record.

‘Ghoul’ (2018)

‘Ghoul’ is a three-episode Indian horror mini-series set in a near-future security state, where a military interrogation center receives a detainee linked to a supernatural entity from Arab folklore. Radhika Apte headlines alongside Manav Kaul, with Patrick Graham writing and directing.

Produced with Blumhouse Television and filmed in India, ‘Ghoul’ fuses political paranoia with claustrophobic, night-vision-lit set pieces. The show uses a compact runtime to explore myth, guilt, and authoritarian control within a single, escalating operation.

‘Treason’ (2022)

In ‘Treason’, an MI6 officer played by Charlie Cox is thrust into leadership after an attack sidelines his chief. The sudden promotion entangles him with a former contact (Olga Kurylenko) and an intricate web of competing intelligence services, personal allegiances, and old kompromat.

Created by Matt Charman, the five-episode limited series unfolds across London safe houses, surveillance hubs, and diplomatic corridors. Oona Chaplin and Ciarán Hinds round out the cast, as the plot tracks internal security protocols, covert exchanges, and the cost of divided loyalties.

‘The English Game’ (2020)

‘The English Game’ dramatizes the origins of modern football in England, tracing the clash between elite amateur clubs and emerging working-class teams. Created by Julian Fellowes, it follows players Fergus Suter and Jimmy Love as they navigate professionalism, factory life, and shifting rules on and off the pitch.

Filmed across the UK, the six-episode series maps early club rivalries, tactical changes, and evolving FA governance. The narrative pairs match sequences with boardroom debates and personal stakes, showing how the sport transitioned from pastime to cultural force.

‘The Playlist’ (2022)

‘The Playlist’ chronicles the creation of Spotify through a multi-perspective structure, with each episode narrated from a different stakeholder’s view. Edvin Endre portrays Daniel Ek, while the ensemble includes Christian Hillborg, Gizem Erdogan, and Ulf Stenberg.

Produced in Sweden, the six-part series examines licensing negotiations, streaming infrastructure, compression algorithms, and the platform’s royalty model. By changing narrators, ‘The Playlist’ explores how engineers, labels, lawyers, and entrepreneurs framed the same turning points in conflicting ways.

‘Thai Cave Rescue’ (2022)

‘Thai Cave Rescue’ offers a scripted, ground-level account of the Wild Boars soccer team and their coach trapped in Tham Luang Nang Non cave. Developed with access to participants’ perspectives, it tracks the local community, the rescue command center, and the multinational effort that assembled on site.

Across six episodes, the series covers monsoon patterns, sump dives, air pocket calculations, and the logistical choreography required to extract the team. Thai and English dialogue reflect the operation’s international scope, while the structure follows the timeline from disappearance to recovery.

‘The Woods’ (2020)

‘The Woods’ adapts Harlan Coben’s novel into a Polish limited series centered on a prosecutor who reopens a decades-old camp mystery tied to his sister’s disappearance. Grzegorz Damięcki and Agnieszka Grochowska lead the cast as parallel timelines reveal new evidence.

Set in Warsaw and rural forested areas, the six-episode story blends legal procedures, media scrutiny, and family secrets. The production uses two distinct periods with color grading and costuming cues to navigate between past and present as the investigation closes.

‘Hold Tight’ (2022)

Another Polish adaptation from Harlan Coben’s collection, ‘Hold Tight’ begins with a teenager’s disappearance in an affluent suburb and the community’s escalating attempts to control the narrative. Magdalena Boczarska and Leszek Lichota star as parents confronting digital footprints and neighborhood dynamics.

Spanning six episodes, ‘Hold Tight’ focuses on parental surveillance tools, school pressures, and the ripple effects of secrets. The show maps security cameras, messaging apps, and interlocking friend groups as clues converge on a hidden network of decisions.

‘The Liberator’ (2020)

‘The Liberator’ tells the story of U.S. Army officer Felix Sparks and the 157th Infantry Regiment as they fight across Europe during World War II. Bradley James leads the cast, with the narrative following unit composition, training, and key operations.

Created by Jeb Stuart, the four-episode series employs a hybrid animation technique called Trioscope to layer stylized visuals over live-action performances. The result allows large-scale battlefields, weather, and terrain to be depicted consistently while tracking command decisions and frontline tactics.

‘The Unlikely Murderer’ (2021)

‘The Unlikely Murderer’ dramatizes the investigation into the assassination of Swedish prime minister Olof Palme, focusing on suspect Stig Engström. Robert Gustafsson plays Engström, while the series portrays forensic re-examinations, witness statements, and press conferences that shaped public understanding.

The five-episode limited series is based on a nonfiction account and reconstructs city layouts, timelines, and procedural gaps. It balances newsroom coverage and police work, culminating in a portrait of how a high-profile case can harden around a single, disputed narrative.

‘Unorthodox’ (2020)

‘Unorthodox’ follows a young woman who leaves a Hasidic community in Brooklyn and builds a new life in Berlin. Shira Haas anchors the cast alongside Amit Rahav and Jeff Wilbusch, with significant dialogue in Yiddish, English, and German.

Across four episodes, the series traces marriage expectations, religious study, and kinship structures, juxtaposing them with music conservatory auditions and immigration logistics. Filmed on location, ‘Unorthodox’ draws on a memoir to depict community practices and the practical steps of starting over.

‘Midnight Mass’ (2021)

‘Midnight Mass’ is a seven-episode horror drama set on an isolated island where a new priest’s arrival coincides with unexplained events and fervent religious devotion. Hamish Linklater, Zach Gilford, Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli, and Samantha Sloyan lead the ensemble.

Created by Mike Flanagan, the series tracks liturgy, small-parish routines, and the interpersonal ties of a fishing community. It uses sermons, town meetings, and nighttime patrols to explore belief, recovery, and the consequences of secrecy.

‘The Mess You Leave Behind’ (2020)

Based on the novel by Carlos Montero, ‘The Mess You Leave Behind’ centers on a literature teacher who moves to a small Galician town and uncovers the circumstances around another teacher’s death. Inma Cuesta and Bárbara Lennie headline as the plot moves through staff rooms, classrooms, and family kitchens.

The eight-episode limited series interlaces school politics, blackmail, and provincial cliques with a parallel investigation told through phone videos and message threads. Scenic locations in Galicia frame a puzzle built from overlapping testimonies and withheld evidence.

‘The Sound of Magic’ (2022)

‘The Sound of Magic’ adapts the webtoon “Annarasumanara” into a musical fantasy about a mysterious magician who appears in an abandoned amusement park. Ji Chang-wook, Choi Sung-eun, and Hwang In-yeop star as the story threads together performance, school pressures, and economic hardship.

Directed by Kim Sung-youn, the six-episode series integrates original songs with set-piece illusions and choreography. It balances classroom tests, parent-teacher meetings, and part-time jobs against sleight-of-hand and stagecraft that challenge the characters’ plans.

‘Five Came Back’ (2017)

‘Five Came Back’ is a three-part documentary that traces how five Hollywood directors—John Ford, William Wyler, John Huston, Frank Capra, and George Stevens—documented World War II and returned to reshape American cinema. Contemporary filmmakers provide commentary on the archival footage and military assignments.

Narrated by Meryl Streep, the series examines training films, combat photography, and the logistical realities of making movies in theaters of war. It connects wartime output to later careers, mapping how experience influenced techniques, subjects, and the production system.

‘Transatlantic’ (2023)

‘Transatlantic’ dramatizes the Emergency Rescue Committee’s efforts in Marseille to help artists and intellectuals escape occupied Europe. Gillian Jacobs, Lucas Englander, Deleila Piasko, and Cory Michael Smith lead an ensemble that traces safe houses, visa procurement, and maritime routes.

Co-created by Anna Winger, the seven-episode series draws from historical records and a novelized account of the operation. It reconstructs ad-hoc offices, consular lines, and coded correspondence while following the network of volunteers who improvised around shifting policies.

‘Bodies’ (2023)

‘Bodies’ adapts Si Spencer’s graphic novel into a multi-timeline detective story that begins with the same corpse appearing in four different eras of London. The investigation follows four detectives—played by Amaka Okafor, Kyle Soller, Jacob Fortune-Lloyd, and Shira Haas—whose cases interlock across time.

Created by Paul Tomalin, the eight-episode limited series aligns clues through recurring locations, motifs, and a conspiracy with political and technological dimensions. It uses period production design, from gaslit streets to near-future surveillance, to show how a single crime can echo through generations.

Share the limited series you’re adding to your queue—and the hidden gems we missed—in the comments!