You took Netflix by storm when it first landed on the best streaming service in 2018, instantly becoming one of the best Netflix shows with a 92% Rotten Tomatoes score from critics. With the show’s fifth and final season fast approaching, many are excited to know how the former bookstore manager, stalker turned serial killer’s story will end.
After living in London and posing as an English professor with a new name in You season four, Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley) has accepted all sides of his immoral self and moved to New York with his partner Kate (Charlotte Ritchie), leaving a trail of murder in his wake. He seems to have managed to avoid all of the consequences of his deadly actions as he restarts his life with Kate and her family, but will his past catch up with him in the fifth and final season?
If you can’t wait for You season five to hit our screens, here are five extremely popular thrillers that have received Rotten Tomatoes scores of 80% and higher to watch on Netflix in the meantime.
Killing Eve
- RT score: 80%
- Age rating: MA
- Length: ~42 minute episodes
- Creator: Phoebe Waller-Bridge
The stylish spy thriller series Killing Eve draws a lot of similarities to You’s Joe Goldberg, not least because it features a charming serial killer that you can’t help but fall in love with.
Killing Eve had a renaissance when it landed on Netflix earlier this year as US viewers became hooked on Eve’s irresistible relationship with assassin Villanelle. The premise of the series follows MI5 security officer Eve (Sandra Oh) who embarks on a wild game of cat and mouse as she tries to capture psychopathic killer Villanelle (Jodie Comer).
Villanelle and Eve’s obsessive love-hate relationship is similar to many of Joe’s relationships throughout You, particularly his marriage to Love Quinn (Victoria Pedretti). They’re toxic and downright crazy, but seeing their relationship play out on-screen is addictive to watch.
Ripley
- RT score: 85%
- Age rating: R
- Length: ~60 minute episodes
- Creator: Steven Zaillian
Andrew Scott takes on the role of penniless conman Tom Ripley in this neo-noir TV adaptation after Matt Damon’s star turn in the 1999 movie The Talented Mr Ripley. Like the movie, Ripley is also set in the late 1950s. It follows Tom, who is hired by a wealthy man to convince his reckless son, who is gallivanting in Italy to return home to New York. But Tom’s encounter with Dickie Greenleaf’s (Johnny Flynn) lavish lifestyle abroad is “the first step into a complex life of deceit, fraud and murder”.
Much like Joe in You, Tom worms his way into Dickie’s life and gains his trust, until his obsession and jealousy of his new friend turns into something far more sinister. Ripley is full of intrigue, tension and mystery, which is just a few of the reasons why you should watch the psychological thriller.
Baby Reindeer
- RT score: 98%
- Age rating: MA
- Length: ~30 minute episodes
- Creator: Richard Gadd
Baby Reindeer has gone on to be Netflix’s biggest TV success story so far this year and has even made it onto their all-time top 10 list of most-viewed shows. The seven-episode drama is based on Richard Gadd’s autobiographical one-man stage play of the same name. Gadd plays Donny Dunn, a struggling stand-up comedian who works as a bartender to get by. But when Donny shows kindness to pub customer Martha Scott (Jessica Gunning), she starts stalking him and he’s forced to confront a dark trauma.
It draws parallels to You with the stalker element and the intense, self destructive behaviour of the individuals. But all in all it’s a truly harrowing tale of two broken people that you will be thinking about for a long time.
The End of the F***ing World
- RT score: 94% Rotten Tomatoes
- Age rating: MA
- Length: ~25 minutes
- Creator: Jonathan Entwistle
The End of the F***ing World sees James (Alex Lawther), a 17-year-old who believes he is a psychopath, and rebellious classmate Alyssa Foley (Jessica Barden) embark on a chaotic adventure to escape her turbulent home life.
Like You, the British dark comedy has a flourishing relationship between two outcasts and flawed characters who make terrible decisions. The End of the F***ing World is a cocktail of murder and illegal activities that will have you hooked from start to finish, which is why it earned its worthy place as one of the best British TV shows on Netflix.
Dead to Me
- RT score: 88%
- Age rating: MA
- Length: ~30 minutes
- Creator: Liz Feldman
Dead to Me follows cynical widow Jen (Christina Applegate) searching for the hit-and-run driver that killed her husband. She befriends optimist Judy (Linda Cardellini) at a grief support group, who is hiding a shocking secret that could destroy her life.
The drama, crime and killer secrets take you on a whirlwind of emotions and you’ll find yourself bingeing the series just like You.
