The Perfect Couple is the number one show in Netflix’s Top 10 this week. But with a Rotten Tomatoes score of just 59%, it’s officially considered to be a rotten show. With many people, including myself, excited about the new Nicole Kidman thriller this might come as a disappointment. With a score like that, we won’t be adding it to our best Netflix shows round up.
Don’t worry though, because the best streaming service has plenty of other mystery offerings that will scratch that itch. I’ve put together a range of different ones I personally love from across the horror and thriller genres, with a mix of different countries too, so hopefully you’ll find something you’ll love here!
The Sinner
RT Score: 92%
Age rating: TV-MA
Length: ~40–54 minute episodes
Creator: Derek Simonds
Fans of anthologies won’t want to miss The Sinner, as it follows four self contained cases across its four season run. At the center of each one is detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman), a troubled detective who must get to the bottom of some very complex cases.
My favourite is still season one, which focuses on a mother named Cora (Jessica Biel) who stabs a couple to death during a beach visit with her family, seemingly out of the blue. But what would possess an average woman to do such a thing? That’s for Harry, and you, to find out. The other three seasons are just as compelling, but there’s something about the first that has always stuck with me.
Archive 81
RT Score: 87%
Age rating: TV-MA
Length: ~ 45 – 58 minute episodes
Creator: Rebecca Sonnenshine
It really is a shame that Archive 81 was cancelled after one season, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth your time. As the sole horror on this list, of course I am going to bat for it, and it really is one of Netflix’s best offerings in that genre. There is a podcast of the same name, too, if you’re hungry for more.
Here, a video archivist investigates the secrets behind a mysterious fire and becomes obsessed with the idea that he can save a young woman from the terrifying fate she met 25-years ago. Shows like this don’t come around as often as they should, so savour this, and perhaps season 2 might happen after all. I can live in hope.
A Killer Paradox
RT Score: 100%
Age rating: TV-MA
Length: ~ 45–63 minute episodes
Creator: Lee Chang-hee
If you love K-dramas, you won’t want to miss this 100% rated mystery thriller series. Honestly, A Killer Paradox has everything. It’s dark, it’s funny, it has some insane twists and turns. I had such a blast with this one and can’t recommend it enough.
In the eight part series, one accidental killing leads to another, an ordinary young man named Lee Tang finds himself stuck in an endless cat-and-mouse chase with a shrewd detective. It goes in quite a crazy direction, but it’s worth sticking with!
Boy Swallows Universe
RT Score: 87%
Age rating: TV-MA
Length: ~ 49 – 78 minute episodes
Creator: John Collee
Based on the book of the same name by Trent Dalton, this Australian series follows Eli, an ordinary boy who has a very difficult life. In an effort to save his mother, he must enter the criminal world full of gangs and drug dealers, all the while balancing his tense relationship with his biological dad and his unique bond with his selectively mute brother.
The seven-part series is heavy but it sucks you in immediately, as Eli introduces us to his life and all the perils that come with it. The first episode alone picks up with a gang threatening his family during dinner, and it only gets wilder from that moment on.
