The best thing about streaming is just how many great television series you have access to. At any given time and across just about every platform you can imagine, there is a seemingly endless number of television series options that you can watch, be it to binge over a full weekend or take your time to savor episode by episode. This is particularly true for Netflix. However, while there are a lot of well-known and frequently discussed series available on the streaming platform at your fingertips, there are other series that no one really talks about that are every bit as good and very much worth your time.
These four Netflix series may not be on the tip of everyone’s tongues, but they are truly great watches. From horror to sci-fi and even a bit of action as well, these series are cult favorites that definite deserve your time. The best part is that most of them are just short enough that you can really sit down and make a weekend of it but are also complex enough that you can take your time and really enjoy them.
Given the overall popularity of vampire stories, I’m quite shocked that more people aren’t fully obsessed with Midnight Mass. The 7-episode miniseries is an absolute masterpiece and because it is only those 7 episodes, you can watch it in just one weekend (don’t do a full binge: you’ll want some time to digest what you’re seeing.) Created, written, and directed by Mike Flanagan, the series follows a very devout Catholic community on the isolated Crockett Island that starts to experience strange and supernatural events after the arrival of a mysterious and charismatic new priest. Part examination of faith it’s power (both good and bad) and part fresh take on vampires, Midnight Mass is a complex, heartbreaking, deeply grounded horror series that feels much larger. It asks some difficult questions that might just lead you to some unsettling answers, but the whole journey is truly incredible and not to be missed.
You might think that you’ve seen every adaptation of Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula that is out there, but I’m pretty sure you missed 2020’s Dracula. The three-episode series was created by Mark Gatliss and Steven Moffat and stars Claes Bang as the titular Dracula. While the series follows many of the same general beats as Stoker’s classic, it takes some big and wild swings as well, offering up a transformed version of the story with new additions that further expand the vampire’s history and makes him, as insane as it sound, seem more human. In particular, the series does something with general vampire lore at the end (I won’t spoil it) that really makes you rethink everything you know about the blood drinkers. It is admittedly a little unusual, given that there is a large component of the series that functions as a modern update but trust me: take the time for these three episodes. Bang’s Dracula is one of the best to date.
There is always something so cool that happens when you pair the supernatural with action and that’s definitely the case with Wu Assassins. The series ran only for one season of just 10 episodes back in 2019, though it did get a standalone film, Fistful of Vengeance, in 2022 that continued the story. Basically, the series follows a young chef San Francisco’s Chinatown, Kai Jin, who reluctantly becomes the Wu Assassin after he encounters a mystical spirit. It gives him skill and power and he uses his enhanced martial arts skills to try to take back the supernatural powers of five criminals who threaten to destroy the world. The concept is a little convoluted and the criticisms of the series’ plot aren’t without merit, but the fights and choreography are absolutely incredible. It’s a really thrilling watch.
Maniac is a 10-episode miniseries from 2018 that is, on the surface, a sci-fi black comedy but that honestly doesn’t really scratch the surface. The series ends up bouncing from genre to genre all as part of the story. It follows two mentally ill patients — played by Emma Stone and Jonah Hill — who, in a retro-futuristic New York City, sign up for a drug trial that claims to be able to cure all psychological problems. What transpires really must be seen to be fully appreciated and understood, though let’s just say the drug’s side effects include wild hallucinations and that’s where the genre hopping comes in. It’s such a weird, wild, and delightful sci-fi series and it’s just really cool. I’m not sure why this one has fallen out of conversation, but it’s a great, easy watch.
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