Excellent Netflix TV Shows You’ve (Probably) Never Heard Of

Finding something new on Netflix can feel like scrolling through an endless maze. Beyond the buzzy hits, there’s a deep bench of Netflix original series that slipped under most people’s radar yet deliver distinctive worlds, precise craft, and memorable performances without demanding a hundred hours of your time.

This list pulls together twenty Netflix originals from around the world—limited runs, short seasons, and compact anthologies included. Each entry highlights what the show is about, who made it, who stars in it, and how it’s built, so you can decide fast whether it fits your next watch window.

‘The OA’ (2016–2019)

Created by Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, ‘The OA’ follows Prairie Johnson, a woman who reappears after a long disappearance with restored sight and a cryptic mission involving near-death experiences and a group of unlikely allies. The ensemble includes Brit Marling, Jason Isaacs, and Phyllis Smith, with the story threading together mystery, science, and philosophical inquiry across shifting perspectives and locations.

The series spans two seasons and sixteen episodes, each structured around character-driven chapters that connect a suburban support circle with a parallel investigation. Production blends intimate, dialogue-heavy scenes with carefully choreographed movement sequences, and its narrative format moves between timelines while keeping a steady focus on Prairie’s past, present, and stated purpose.

‘The Innocents’ (2018)

‘The Innocents’ centers on June, a teenager who discovers a rare ability that complicates her attempt to run away with her boyfriend Harry. Created by Hania Elkington and Simon Duric, the show stars Sorcha Groundsell, Percelle Ascott, and Guy Pearce, weaving family secrets and a remote research program into a grounded road-story framework.

The season contains eight episodes and balances character journeys with genre elements like identity shifts and clandestine medical experimentation. Filmed across moody coastal and rural locations, the production relies on practical staging and close-quarters drama, using focused bottle episodes to reveal the rules and risks of June’s condition.

‘Tidelands’ (2018)

Set in a small Australian fishing town with a tangled criminal economy, ‘Tidelands’ follows Cal McTeer, an ex-con who uncovers a community of siren-human hybrids tied to smuggling routes and old family debts. The series stars Charlotte Best, Elsa Pataky, and Aaron Jakubenko, and builds its lore out of local myth, borderland politics, and waterfront noir.

The single season runs eight episodes and uses a serialized mystery structure, with each chapter surfacing a new piece of the town’s power map. Production employs on-location coastal photography, underwater sequences, and a mix of English and accented dialogue to frame the hybrids’ territory and the competing agendas around it.

‘Osmosis’ (2019)

‘Osmosis’ imagines a near-future Paris where a biotech dating platform reads users’ brain data to match them with a supposed perfect partner. Created by Audrey Fouché and starring Agathe Bonitzer and Hugo Becker, the show treats intimacy as data and business strategy, following engineers, test subjects, and executives as a launch window approaches.

The season comprises eight episodes, each pairing corporate plotlines with personal case studies that probe consent, memory retention, and algorithmic bias. Production integrates minimalist set design, AR-style interfaces, and French-language dialogue, maintaining a clean tech aesthetic while tracking the consequences of a high-stakes product rollout.

‘Marianne’ (2019)

‘Marianne’ is a French horror series about Emma, a novelist who discovers that the witch from her bestselling books manifests beyond the page. Created by Samuel Bodin and starring Victoire Du Bois, Lucie Boujenah, and Mireille Herbstmeyer, the show links Emma’s hometown return to a pattern of possessions and unfinished childhood business.

Across eight episodes, ‘Marianne’ structures its scares around practical effects, village lore, and recurring symbols that echo from manuscript to reality. The production emphasizes coastal locations, intricate sound design, and contained settings like attics and parish spaces, developing a consistent visual language for the witch’s influence.

‘Criminal: UK’ (2019–2020)

Part of Netflix’s pan-European police anthology, ‘Criminal: UK’ takes place almost entirely inside an interrogation suite where investigators try to crack a case before time runs out. Created by George Kay and Jim Field Smith, it features Katherine Kelly and Lee Ingleby with guest turns from actors like David Tennant and Hayley Atwell.

The format uses self-contained episodes with limited sets, observation rooms, and monitored corridors, spotlighting procedure, verbal tactics, and evidentiary reveals. Two seasons cover seven total episodes, each built around shifting narratives and the legal boundaries that govern interviews, while retaining continuity among the core investigative team.

‘Criminal: Spain’ (2019)

‘Criminal: Spain’ shares the same interrogation-room framework as its sister entries but filters each case through Spanish legal norms and local social context. The cast includes Carmen Machi, Inma Cuesta, and Eduard Fernández, with scripts that revolve around conflicting testimonies, translation issues, and interpersonal pressure.

The run consists of three episodes, each a standalone case unfolding in real time. Production keeps a consistent visual setup with two-way mirrors and fixed surveillance angles, allowing small gestures, inconsistencies, and procedural escalations to carry the drama from initial statement to final charge decision.

‘Criminal: France’ (2019)

Set within the same sealed environment, ‘Criminal: France’ calibrates its cases around familial loyalty, institutional memory, and competing jurisdictional claims. The cast features Margot Bancilhon, Laurent Lucas, and Sara Giraudeau, with guest suspects whose backstories collide with local criminal history.

This edition also runs three episodes and relies on tight scripting and the dynamics of the interview triangle—suspect, lead investigator, and observing superior. The production maintains continuity with the broader franchise while employing French legal phrasing and procedural rhythms to shape the pace and outcomes.

‘Criminal: Germany’ (2019)

‘Criminal: Germany’ applies the series’ minimalist design to cases that hinge on technicalities, confession strategy, and clashes between federal and regional authority. The cast includes Eva Meckbach, Sylvester Groth, and Florence Kasumba, with interrogations that foreground motive and credibility.

Three episodes form the season, each using evidence packets, recorded timelines, and tactical breaks as plot engines. German-language dialogue and specific reference points in policing culture give this entry its texture, while the shared set architecture ties it to the wider experiment in focused, dialogue-driven crime drama.

‘The Society’ (2019)

‘The Society’ follows a group of high school students who return from a trip to find their town empty of adults and isolated from the outside world. Created by Christopher Keyser and starring Kathryn Newton, Gideon Adlon, and Jacques Colimon, the show maps how a new civic order forms under stress.

The single season runs ten episodes and treats each chapter like a step in building or challenging governance, covering resource allocation, security, and conflict resolution. The production uses town-square and school interiors to illustrate administrative spaces, while the ensemble format tracks households, committees, and opposing blocs.

‘Unbelievable’ (2019)

Based on a reported case and a subsequent book, ‘Unbelievable’ reconstructs a multi-jurisdictional investigation into a series of assaults and the experience of a young woman who initially recants her report. The series stars Kaitlyn Dever, Toni Collette, and Merritt Wever, with Susannah Grant, Ayelet Waldman, and Michael Chabon leading development.

Across eight episodes, the show alternates between survivor perspective and detective workflow, outlining evidence collection, inter-agency cooperation, and case linking. Production choices emphasize interview rooms, apartment searches, and document trails, with timelines presented through careful cross-cutting rather than flashier procedural devices.

‘The Woods’ (2020)

‘The Woods’ adapts a Harlan Coben novel into a Polish-language mystery that connects a present-day prosecutor to a long-ago camp tragedy. Starring Grzegorz Damięcki and Agnieszka Grochowska, the series interlaces a family’s history with a reopened investigation sparked by a new identification.

The limited series runs six episodes and splits its narrative between parallel timeframes tied together by recovered objects, witness statements, and changing recollections. Production uses forest locations, municipal offices, and court settings to frame the procedural path from discovery to resolution.

‘The Eddy’ (2020)

Set around a Paris jazz club, ‘The Eddy’ follows bandleader Elliot Udo as he navigates finances, personnel changes, and a set of intertwined personal obligations. Created by Jack Thorne with musical direction by Glen Ballard and direction contributions from Damien Chazelle, the series stars André Holland, Joanna Kulig, and Amandla Stenberg.

Eight episodes pair performance sequences with backstage logistics, covering rehearsals, bookings, and neighborhood relationships that shape the club’s survival. Live-recorded music, handheld camerawork, and multilingual dialogue build a naturalistic feel, while each episode spotlights a different character’s link to the venue.

‘Bloodride’ (2020)

‘Bloodride’ is a Norwegian horror anthology that opens on a mysteriously populated bus before peeling off into standalone stories with a sardonic edge. Created by Kjetil Indregard and Atle Knudsen, it features rotating casts and settings, with each tale exploring a single high-concept premise.

The season contains six episodes, each roughly a half hour, making it easy to sample different tones and scenarios. Practical effects, Nordic locations, and concise scripts keep the focus on setup-payoff structure, with the bus interludes providing a recurring frame that ties the anthology together.

‘Equinox’ (2020)

Danish series ‘Equinox’ follows Astrid, a radio host who looks into the disappearance of a school class that included her sister, uncovering folklore elements and secret pacts. Created by Tea Lindeburg and starring Danica Curcic, the story adapts a narrative first introduced in a podcast from the same creator.

Six episodes intercut present-day investigation with earlier events, using diaries, tapes, and witness interviews to bridge gaps in memory. Production leans on rural landscapes and seasonal imagery, layering in mythic motifs while keeping police procedure and personal inquiry as parallel tracks.

‘Biohackers’ (2020–2021)

‘Biohackers’ is a German techno-thriller about Mia, a medical student who infiltrates a lab to uncover the truth behind a genetic experiment that changed her life. Created by Christian Ditter and starring Luna Wedler and Jessica Schwarz, the series moves between lecture halls, research facilities, and covert workshops.

Two seasons add up to twelve episodes, each blending campus drama with lab-bench process details like CRISPR techniques, trial protocols, and data breaches. Filming incorporates Freiburg and Munich backdrops and a mix of German and English dialogue, grounding the science fiction elements in contemporary academic settings.

‘Katla’ (2021)

Icelandic mystery ‘Katla’ takes place in a town living under the shadow of an active subglacial volcano, where ashfall coincides with the arrival of strangers who resemble lost residents. Created by Baltasar Kormákur and Sigurjón Kjartansson, it stars Guðrún Ýr Eyfjörð Jóhannesdóttir, Íris Tanja Flygenring, and Ingvar Sigurdsson.

The limited series comprises eight episodes, structured as linked character cases that examine identity, grief, and cause-and-effect within an extreme landscape. Production uses on-location shoots, practical ash effects, and spare interiors to emphasize isolation, with an investigative throughline connecting personal mysteries to the town’s history.

‘Tribes of Europa’ (2021)

‘Tribes of Europa’ is a German science-fiction adventure set after a continental systems collapse that splinters society into competing micro-states. Created by Philip Koch and starring Henriette Confurius, Emilio Sakraya, and David Ali Rashed, the plot follows siblings who become custodians of a device sought by multiple factions.

Six episodes chart raids, alliances, and border crossings, using distinct production design for each tribe’s culture and technology level. Action sequences, multilingual slang, and a traveling-quest structure keep the narrative moving, while the season leaves room for future territorial and political developments.

‘The Irregulars’ (2021)

‘The Irregulars’ reimagines the Baker Street street kids as a core investigative unit working cases with supernatural causes in Victorian London. Created by Tom Bidwell and starring Thaddea Graham, McKell David, and Royce Pierreson, it links their operations to Dr. Watson and a distant Sherlock Holmes.

The series runs eight episodes and combines period production design with creature-of-the-week cases that tie into an overarching rift storyline. Practical sets, costuming, and fog-heavy exterior work define the look, while ensemble writing rotates focus to give each member of the crew a specific skill set and arc.

‘Glitch’ (2022)

‘Glitch’ is a South Korean series about Ji-hyo, whose search for a missing boyfriend pulls her into a UFO community with a layered internal hierarchy. Written by Gin Han-sai and directed by Roh Deok, it stars Jeon Yeo-been and Nana, tracing an investigation that runs through fandom spaces, surveillance networks, and urban subcultures.

Ten episodes balance casework with friendship dynamics and cult operations, using handheld camerawork and city-night locations to maintain momentum. The production mixes police procedure, private-sector security, and amateur sleuthing, steadily expanding the scope from a single disappearance to a coordinated belief system.

Share the under-the-radar Netflix originals you’d add to this list in the comments.