Reviewing the best Netflix series , despite being a young platform, is an ambitious company, because in less than 10 years of original production it has become the operator that releases the most titles week by week. Long ago that germinal title of Lilyhammer , in 2012, of House of Cards , in early 2013, of Orange is the New Black , in the following summer …
Her work as a home delivery DVD distributor (this was her initial business, which ended the iconic Blockbuster) allowed her to gain a huge database that she later used to create, in keeping with the tastes of viewers. Let’s remember that the very House of Cards was born because the public loved the films of Fincher and Kevin Spacey.
Netflix’s current strategy to produce series is not very different, in the sense that Big Data, the user information that it stores, and that helps it locate consumer trends, continues to guide creation. That is why you will have seen that many of their fictions are so similar .
True crime and non-fiction work very well for the company ( Making a Murderer , Tiger King , Wild Wild Country ); the thriller ( Mindhunter , Believe me ); science fiction with juvenile characters ( Stranger Things , Dark , The OA ); the adolescent genre ( For thirteen reasons , I never , Elite ); and the romantic and millennial comedy ( Master of None , Valeria , Love ).
The best Netflix series
But if we talk about Netflix series, it is impossible to ignore the dichotomy between the global and the local. The platform operates in many countries around the world, and producing in them is not only sometimes an obligation, but an opportunity to get new subscribers in them . The idea is simple: replicate your greatest successes in other coordinates.
Let’s also remember that Dark triumphed in Germany shortly after the Stranger Things phenomenon, and now countries like South Africa and Mexico have offered their own versions of Elite : Control Z and Blood & Water .
Regarding local fiction, Spain has become an epicenter for Netflix , because it serves as a meeting point between the European and the series that work in Latin America. Illustrative is the example of Las chicas del cable , the giant’s first fiction in our country , inspired by the good reception that Gran Hotel and Velvet had in their catalog in Latin American countries.
Later came La casa de papel , which perfectly represents one of the company’s usual dynamics : rescuing series that have been canceled so that its fans become subscribers. Elite and Valeria , who do not fail in the lists of the most seen , also show the good eye of their series in Spain.
However, although it sometimes seems that the production dynamics is too measured according to the data (for example, that fictions have been canceled so many times in the third season , with the consequent anger of their followers), the best Netflix series tend to coincide with your freest projects.
Consider The Crown , his biggest series (and one of the best yet) ; the already canceled Día a día , about a family of Cuban immigrants in the United States); Mindhunter or Creedme , very thoughtful and particular thrillers ; The OA , a jewel of science fiction closer to Twin Peaks than anything we have seen before, the brilliant miniseries Gambit de Dama and Unorthodox , phenomena like The Bridgertons or Lupine …
1 / 25
Stranger things
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%.
Among the top 25 critically-rated Netflix series, it ‘s impossible for Stranger Things to be left out. The eighties bet, about a group of children facing supernatural threats (monsters, whoops), is one of the biggest hits on the platform, and apparently, the critics are also fighting the Demogorgon.
© Courtesy of Netflix
2 / 25
The Bridgertons
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 93%.
It has been to arrive and succeed. The Bridgertons is the first series for Netflix by Shonda Rhimes ( Grey’s Anatomy , How to defend a murderer ), which has been made to beg after signing its millionaire agreement with the platform. It is a meeting between the novels of Jane Austen and Gossip Girl .
© Courtesy of Netflix
3 / 25
Sex education
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
We know that one of Netflix’s great successes is its commitment to youth series, and with Sex Education they have nailed it : lessons on sexuality and healthy relationships in an inspiring teenage story.
© Courtesy of Netflix
4 / 25
The curse of Hill House and Bly Manor
Rotten Tomatoes score: 93 and 87%.
The Curse of Hill House and its second part, The Curse of Bly Manor , are totally different stories that only the creator and actors share . Well, and his taste for haunted houses. Mike Flanagan has devoted a horror anthology to talk about important issues (death, oblivion) that brings everyone, critics and viewers together.
© Courtesy of Netflix
5 / 25
Sees it
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
With the permission of Girls , Love is the series that has best portrayed the emotional vicissitudes of the millennial generation , subjected to brutal expectations especially in life. And in particular, about love. Three seasons has the first of all these Netflix series that you cannot miss.
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6 / 25
Dark
Rotten Tomatoes score: 94%
The German Dark is not only one of the best Netflix series produced outside the United States, but one of the phenomena closest to Stranger Things .
© Courtesy of Netflix
7 / 25
Dear whites
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%.
Netflix premiered in 2017 the adaptation of the independent film Dear Whites , about a group of black college students who rise up against the daily racism of a less progressive America than you think.
© Courtesy of Netflix
8 / 25
Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%.
Females are strong as hell! In 2020 Netflix has launched the interactive episode of Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt, the comedy produced by Tina Fey after the multi-award winning 30 Rock . And although it has not been a phenomenon like that, it has left us a great character to remember: Kimmy Schmidt, who after surviving a decades-long kidnapping, begins a new life in stimulating New York.
© Courtesy of Netflix
9 / 25
Unorthodox
Rotten Tomatoes score: 95%.
Unorthodox is without a doubt one of the most acclaimed miniseries on the platform. Inspired by the memoirs of Deborah Feldman, it recounts the experiences of a young woman fleeing the community of Orthodox Jews in which she grew up, in New York.
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October / 25
This is how they see us
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%.
We are surprised that This is how they see us did not achieve a higher score, considering the unanimity it achieved among critics in 2019. Ava DuVernay’s series recovers one of the most unfair cases in the American chronicle: the Central Park Five .
© Courtesy of Netflix
November / 25
A series of catastrophic misfortunes
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%.
Count Olaf, from Lemony Snicket’s popular saga of children’s novels, is seen to have a good fan base (those who read the books in their childhood, of course), also among television critics. Neil Patrick Harris ( How I Met Your Mother ) has given life to the mythical character in all three seasons of the series.
© Courtesy of Netflix
December / 25
Russian doll
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%.
The first great series that Netflix premiered in 2019 became one of the most acclaimed. Natasha Lyonne (whom you will remember from Orange Is the New Black ) produces and stars in Russian Doll , a comedy about a woman who dies and is resurrected on her 36th birthday over and over again.
© Courtesy of Netflix
13 / 25
Kingdom
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%.
If you still think the best zombie series is The Walking Dead, it ‘s because you haven’t seen Kingdom . This Korean fiction, about a deadly plague in medieval times, has become one of the great phenomena of the company.
© Courtesy of Netflix
14 / 25
I never
Rotten Tomatoes score: 96%.
Actress and creator Mindy Kaling ( The Mindy Project , The Office ) produces this teen comedy about a young woman of Indian origin who tries to navigate the typical high school conflicts . The difference is that she just lost her father.
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15 / 25
Elite
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%.
Spain has become one of the great enclaves of its European production, and the success of Elite , this unlikely encounter between Gossip Girl and For Thirteen Reasons , proves it.
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16 / 25
Mindhunter
Rotten Tomatoes score: 97%.
Netflix’s most iconic thriller is also a favorite of television experts. We can tell you little about Mindhunter that you don’t already know : it narrates the beginnings of criminalistic profiles through cases of real and very disturbing murderers.
© Courtesy of Netflix
17 / 25
Lovesick
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%.
When Dylan learns that he has chlamydia, he takes it upon himself to contact all of his sexual partners to inform them of the diagnosis. It may sound silly to you, but the British comedy Lovesick is one of Netflix’s critically preferred series.
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18 / 25
Wild wild country
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%.
Few vices lived in 2018 like Wild Wild Country , admit it . The documentary produced by the Duplass brothers ( Togetherness ) tells the crazy story of the sect of Rajneeshees in the United States (with an exceptional villain as the protagonist: Sheela).
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19 / 25
Believe me
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%.
Merritt Wever and Toni Collette star in this series, inspired by a true story, that of two policewomen on the hunt for a serial rapist.
© Courtesy of Netflix
20 / 25
American Vandal
Rotten Tomatoes score: 98%.
It’s funny that American Vanda l is above the series he parodies. Critics are left with this mockumentary of murder documentaries, set in an American high school in which the teachers’ cars are painted with penises.
© Courtesy of Netflix
21 / 25
Lupine
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%.
Only a few days were enough for Lupine to become not only the best French series on Netflix, but also its first global phenomenon of 2021. For creative reasons and because Omar Sy is a style icon thanks to his sneakers.
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22 / 25
Big mouth
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%.
BoJack Horseman , Rick and Morty , Steven Universe … Maybe you think you know about animated series, but if you don’t watch Big Mouth , you’re missing one of Netflix’s best-reviewed jewels . Adolescence and sex education. It does not fail.
© Courtesy of Netflix
23 / 25
The paper house
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%.
When we talked to you about the importance of Spanish Netflix series, we were referring to this. La casa de papel is not only one of its most watched fictions around the world , it is also an example of how to take advantage of the successes of other chains to perfect the catalog.
© Courtesy of Netflix
24 / 25
Lady’s gambit
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%.
Those who say Netflix should focus only on miniseries have seen Lady’s Gambit , the best limited fiction on the platform so far. Starring Anya Taylor-Joy and inspired by the novel of the same name from the 1980s, it chronicles the misadventures of a chess virtuoso in 1960s North America.
© Courtesy of Netflix
25 / 25
Master of None
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%.
Perhaps the greatest consensus of criticism around the great Netflix series is found in Master of None . Aziz Ansari (known for Parks & Recreation ) surprised as creator and protagonist of this series, sometimes funny and sometimes uncomfortable, sometimes romantic and sometimes heartbreaking, about a thirty-year-old who seeks his place in the world without losing his sanity.
