We can all agree that Netflix has completely changed the way we see television. Before, it wasn’t possible for us to binge-watch content within a day because episodes came out every week. Now, because of Netflix, we can also watch shows that we missed when they aired on television, keeping us up to date with our knowledge of pop culture. Netflix is known for the incredible content it gives its audience. From Thrillers, Horrors, and Mysteries, to Romance, Comedy, and even Musicals, there is a little bit available for everyone to enjoy. But with the amount of content that the platform churns, it’s easy for a lot of good shows to get missed. There are a lot of hidden gems and underrated shows that the platform has to offer. These shows include Peaky Blinders, Mindhunter, and Derry Girls among many others. These shows definitely deserve a top 10. Here are the top 10 hidden gems that Netflix has to offer, that you’re probably sleeping on.
10. The OA (Netflix Original)
After going missing for 7 years, Prairie Johnson returns home to her family. Her sudden return and the fact that she’s no longer blind is nothing short of a miracle. The show explores what happened to her in those 7 years and how she deals with it in the present day. Brit Marling and Zal Batmanglij, the creators of the show, do a great job of creating an aura of terror and suspense while also showing love and friendship in the most unexpected places. Released in 2016, it was one of the first Netflix original shows to be released on the content platform. The OA has 2 seasons and stars Brit Marling as Prairie Johnson and Jason Isaacs, Emory Cohen, Alice Kruge, and Riz Ahmed, among many others. The top 10 list would be incomplete without this show.
9. Alias Grace
Grace Marks, a poor Irish immigrant in Canada is convicted of the murder of her employer in 1843. The stable hand who also works with her is convicted of the crime and sentenced to death while she receives life imprisonment. The show is a period-piece drama that explores Grace’s involvement in the crime which is especially difficult since she doesn’t remember any of it. The 2017 Miniseries is haunting and goes in-depth in her character psychology while still being vague and mysterious about it even till the end. It’s based on a real incident that happened in the 19th century and on the novel written by Margeret Attwood. The novel takes inspiration from real newspaper clippings that surrounded the case, making the show that much more unsettling. Grace Marks’s character is extremely likable and innocent and it makes it very easy to root for her. Alias Grace stars Sarah Gadon as Grace Marks along with Zachary Levi, Edward Holcroft, and Sarah Paquin.
8. Dead To Me (Netflix Original)
Jen Harding loses her husband in a hit-and-run case and is determined to solve the crime. She meets Judy, another woman who has suffered a loss, in a support group. Despite being complete opposites, they bond over the loss and become unlikely friends. This dark comedy explores grief, friendship, and forgiveness in a heartwrenching yet funny manner. Both Christina Applegate and Linda Cardellini who play Jen and Judy respectively were nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Comedy Series. Dead To Me currently has 2 seasons and aired its first episode in 2019.
7. Crashing
The show follows six characters and their struggles with a high cost of living in a time of economic recession. As the new adults now navigate through life, they realize they need to be a lot more responsible. Like any content Pheobe Waller-Bridge is involved in, this too is a comedic masterpiece. Crashing is funny and chaotic and dives into life and love. Pheobe Waller-Bridge plays Lulu along with Johnathan Bailey as Sam in the 2016 Comedy-Drama.
6. Mindhunter (Netflix Original)
FBI agents, Holden Ford and Bill Tench try to understand criminal minds and their damaged psych to help investigations involving serial killers. A lot of cases in the show are based loosely on real-life incidents. It is well directed by Oscar-nominated director David Fincher and has immense attention to detail. The incidences in the show are blood-curdling and aren’t dramatized like other crime dramas. The dialogues are phenomenal and do a great job of making the hair stand on the back of your neck. Mindhunter stars Johnathan Groff as Holden Ford and Holt McCallany as Bill Tench and has 2 seasons. The show is based on the 1995 non-fiction book Mindhunter: Inside the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit, written by retired FBI agent John E. Douglas and his co-author Mark Olshaker.
5. The Midnight Gospel (Netflix Original)
Chaotic, Confusing, and Sensory Overload are the first words that come to mind for this 2020 Adult cartoon. It shows a Space caster, Clancy (Voiced by Duncan Trussell), traveling between different worlds in his universe simulator and interviewing different people for his Space cast while dealing with the chaos raining down on those worlds. The idea for the show came from Trussell’s podcast The Ducan Trussell’s Family Hour. The guests on the show talk about a range of contents, from drug use, death positivity, and transcendence to existentialism, forgiveness, and magic. The show deserves to be on the top 10 list for making difficult conversations, fun and normal. The Midnight Gospel was released in 2020.
4. The Alienist
In the hustle of 19th century New York, a new serial killer has emerged with ritualistic tendencies. Bamboozled by these crimes, police commissioner Theodore Roosevelt calls up Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, a psychologist, then known as Alienists. Kreizler tries to find the killer along with Roosevelt’s assistant Sara Howard and his friend John Moore who is a newspaper illustrator. The show is harrowing but shows the real struggles of being small and powerless in a city as big as New York. It’s a great mix of period piece and crime drama with unexpected twists. The show doesn’t shy away from talking about harsh and unthinkable incidences. Considering the attention to detail, it’s surprising that more people haven’t watched the show and is therefore included in this top 10 of hidden gems. The Netflix show aired in 2018 and stars Daniel Brühl as Dr. Laszlo Kreizler, Dakota Fanning as Sara Howard, and Luke Evans as John Moore.
3. Derry Girls
Set in 1990s Northern Ireland, Derry Girls follows Erin and her friends go about their day-to-day life in the small town of Derry and all the trouble they get into with their shenanigans. As hidden gems go this coming-of-age family-centered story shows what it was like to grow up in a world of armed police in armored Land Rovers and British Army checkpoints. The show is absolutely hilarious with simple situations turning into catastrophic disasters that are a treat for the audience. The characters’ Irish accent mixed with relatable friendly banter just makes everything just that much funnier. The show has 2 seasons and will start filming season 3 this year. This is the perfect show to binge-watch if you want something light-hearted and definitely deserves to be high on the top 10 list and is definitely a hidden gem. Saoirse-Monica Jackson, Louisa Harland, Nicola Coughlan, Jamie-Lee O’Donnell, and Dylan Llewellyn together star as Derry Girls.
2. Peaky Blinders
Tommy Shelby, leader of the Peaky Blinders gang navigates his tumultuous and anarchic family all the way to the top of the criminal food chain in Birmingham. Although the show is pretty well known, it isn’t talked about enough, therefore I categorize it as a hidden gem. The story of Peaky Blinders is phenomenal and portrays incredibly complex characters that make it hard to root for any of them, even though you love them. Peaky Blinders is based on a real gang with the same name that existed in Birmingham who was active from the 1890s. Peaky Blinders has a star-studded cast with Cillian Murphy as Tommy Shelby, along with the late Helen McRory, Tom Hardy, Adrian Brody, Anya Taylor-Joy, and Sam Claflin among many others.
1. Sense8 (Netflix Original)
Eight strangers around the world find themselves connected by their thoughts and a shared violent vision that brings them together to find out what happened and why. They discover that they are a different species of humans called Sensates and that they are being hunted to be weaponized by an organization called the BPO. The series is the definition of diversity in cinema as it takes place in different countries around the world, including India, South Korea, and Kenya. It also has LGBTQ+ representation portrayed in a wholesome and beautiful manner.
The characters connect and try to understand each other’s culture as they also use each other’s strengths to lift themselves. The Netflix show is an absolute delight to watch and is created by the Wachowski’s, the directors of the Matrix. The content of the series is thrilling yet wholesome and is a perfect blend of different worlds. Although the series was popular when it was initially released, it is not as well known, considering how good the show actually is. Sense8 truly is a hidden gem and deserves to be at the first position in the Top 10.
