Netflix boasts a vast range of massively popular TV shows you’ve probably already seen, such as Squid Game, The Crown, Bridgerton and Orange Is The New Black.
But what about those lesser-known series? The ones you may scroll past, for no reason other than you’ve ‘never heard of it’?
We all do this, but the truth is there are some real gems just waiting for you to stream tonight.
To help you decide what to take a chance on next, we’ve compiled a list of ten of the very best lesser-known Netflix series you can binge-watch right now. And if you fall in love with any of these – which we’re quietly confident you will - don’t say we didn’t warn you!
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Sweet Home
Easy to initially dismiss as ‘another zombie thing’, Sweet Home offers a thrillingly unique take on the well-worn apocalyptic future trope.
The show about mankind’s collapse sees regular folk transform into hideous monsters, each one intriguingly based on their deepest desires when still a human.
Sweet Home follows a group of desperate survivors in an isolated apartment building - former firefighter Seo Yi-kyung (Lee Si-young), troubled teen Cha Hyun-soo (Song Kang); and Pyeon Sang-wook (Lee Jin-wook), who may be a savage gangster.
Based on the Korean web comic by Kim Carnby and Hwang Young-chan, Sweet Home combines state-of-the-art prosthetics, top-notch CGI, and even good old stop-motion animation for some truly unsettling juddering monsters.
Similar to global mega-hit Squid Game, this gore-fest has a heavy subtext about Korea’s economic politics, making it a far deeper story than many monster-themed apocalyptic shows (of which there are a surprising lot).
Midnight Mass
This slow-burning supernatural miniseries really relishes ratcheting up the tension over its seven episodes.
Midnight Mass centres on a charming young priest who joins the church of a small island township.
It isn’t long before an array of spectacular miracles happen – the blind can see and the paralysed can walk.
Perhaps inevitably, all is not as it seems, however, and there is a dark secret right at the heart of this religious revival.
Let’s just say the priest isn’t necessarily using the powers of good here.
Created by Doctor Sleep’s Mike Flanagan, Midnight Mass offers a stark and uncompromisingly bleak deep dive into the rites and traditions of Christianity, and the horror often lurking in scripture.
The theme of how religion can be used to corrupt and manipulate has, of course, been done to death – but never quite like this. Watch out for stellar performances from a cast that includes Hamish Linklater, Kate Siegel, Rahul Kohli and Zach Gilford.
Chef's Table
This fascinating culinary tour de force details the trials and tribulations of some of the world's most renowned chefs for an intimate look at the person behind the plates.
And there are a whopping six series to sink your teeth into, with the most recent focusing on an American chef specialising in Southern cuisine, Sean Brock, who is dedicated to reviving lost flavours. We also get to rub shoulders – and pork chops - with Tuscan butcher Dario Cecchini, whose dream is to change how the world thinks about meat.
Inspiring, engrossing and above all just so thoroughly entertaining, Chef’s Table is bound to leave you hungry for more.
Chewing Gum
Cringe-worthy, awkward but very funny and revelatory with it, Chewing Gum will definitely stick in your memory long after the credits roll. This wonderfully rude and irreverent comedy on the uncertainty of young adulthood follows Tracey, a young, black Londoner hell-bent on escaping her staid Christian upbringing and losing her virginity.
Created by and starring Michaela Coel, who penned the thrilling and frequently astonishing I May Destroy You, Chewing Gum has a unique voice that’s often near the knuckle, but all the more exciting for it.
Last Chance U
Following a group of junior college student-athletes training to become future American football stars, Last Chance U takes us on a real journey of discovery, often stopping off in some quite dark places on its way to the (hopeful) big time.
The series is currently up to part five, shifting its focus from rural towns with lofty ambitions to Laney College in Oakland, California.
Far from rich and without an imported player in sight, Laney has a real community feel, with its players pooled from a mere stone’s throw away.
It's this instalment that really shines a light on the burgeoning dislocation and inequality in America as the influx from the neighbouring and more affluent San Francisco slowly gentrifies the one-time blue-collar Oakland.
Happy!
Now if ever a show had an enticing premise, it’s this one: “A boozy ex-cop turned hit man thinks he's losing his marbles when a cartoon unicorn only he can see urges him to rescue a girl kidnapped by Santa”.
Said unicorn is the imaginary friend of our hero's kidnapped daughter Hailey, and the titular Happy believes former policeman Nick is the saviour who will come to her rescue. Still with us? Good.
Cue plenty of violence and some upsetting scenes which may not sit well with viewers of a more nervous disposition.
The off-the-wall story, which is deliciously twisted with a rather dark sense of humour, is adapted from the short comic series of the same name.
The bittersweet contrast between Nick’s complete nonchalance to the horrors of the world and Happy’s childish naivety are both funny and often quite heartbreaking. A real curio that will leave you … Happy! But also strangely contemplative.
Travelers
This riotously entertaining Canadian sci-fi series sees a federal agent tasked with hunting down four people who suddenly take on completely new personalities.
The group of time travelers are dispatched to "the 21st" to thwart the post-apocalyptic future from which they came.
So far, so mundane – but there’s a twist, and it’s in the way they travel – namely to have their consciousness put into the bodies of people shortly before they die, allowing them to adopt their identities and living out their lives between missions. Not so mundane now, hey? A madcap premise that's surprisingly coherent. Well worth the journey.
The OA
An utterly absorbing supernatural mystery that oozes originality, if you’re looking for something completely different this could well be it.
The show begins with Prairie Johnson, played by co-creator Brit Marling, reappearing seven years after vanishing from her home. She harbours mysterious new abilities and sets about recruiting five strangers for a very secret mission.
Highly binge-able at a sleek 16 episodes, this utterly bizarre yet compelling series may be high in concept but it's also lofty in drama, tension … and should be near the top of your list.
Dogs
Unlike any of our previous recommendations, Dogs is a decidedly heart-warming series looking at the emotional bonds between the pet and its caregiver.
In the very first episode we follow a service animal trained to detect seizures in a young girl, with a further instalment about groomers in Japan, which features many adorable pooches and how their devotion and love brings out the very best in us humans.
Elsewhere in the series we get to experience the tense trip a husky has to endure to reunite with its owner, and take a wander around the world's largest dog shelter in Costa Rica.
Dogs really do bring out the best in us, and if you binge-watch the two series of this currently on Netflix, you’ll see why.
Unbelievable
Plunging us back into the darker side of life is Unbelievable, about a series of rapes in Washington State and Colorado. The show centres on the aftermath of Marie Adler's rape, and the female detectives who team up years later to uncover a series of disturbingly similar crimes.
An inherently uneasy watch that focuses on giving victims a much-needed voice, Unbelievable avoids the trap of being sensationalistic and instead adds up to a subtle, thoughtful look into the enduring impact of sexual violence.
