If you’re anything like me, you’ve already binged everything new on Netflix in August and are ready to move onto something else. As much as we might like to, we can’t magically release upcoming shows onto the platform before they’re ready, so we’ve got to explore the jungle that is Netflix’s back catalog to find a TV show that perfectly suits our tastes.
Surprisingly, some series that were tipped to be the biggest releases of 2025’s first half have scored much lower with Rotten Tomatoes critics than expected. As far as TV shows are concerned, Wednesday season 2 came in at 83%, Squid Game season 3 is still sitting around 80% and the new medical series Pulse crashed out at 48%. With very little broaching the 90% threshold, where have all the good shows gone (and where are all the stars, to paraphrase Bonnie Tyler)?
As it turns out, five Netflix shows that have flown almost completely under the radar haven’t just hit 90%, but have all attained godly 100% certified fresh status, and are managing to stay that way. I’d bet any money that you haven’t clocked eyes on any of them, so make sure you add the below shows to your watchlist more quickly than you can hum the Tudum intro.
Supacell
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Release date: 2024
Cast: Tosin Cole, Nadine Mills, Eric Kofi-Abrefa, Calvin Demba
RT score: 100%
There’s nothing I love more than a supernatural story set against the gritty urban backdrop of London, and much like Misfits and The Irregulars, Supacell has something incredibly special to offer.
A group of normal people develop superpowers almost overnight, and the only connection they seem to have between them is the fact that they’re all Black. There’s a massive impact on all of their daily lives, and there’s only one man who can bring each of them together.
Alongside its unique premise, we’ve got some incredibly rich character development and genuinely unexpected twists in this series that acts with success as an antidote to the industry’s superhero fatigue. For an unsung Netflix series, the VFX are also particularly impressive, balancing dynamic action sequences with well-rounded and heartfelt storytelling. It’s not too supernatural either, meaning you can approach Supacell as a typical hard-hitting drama with a unique edge.
The Snow Girl
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Release date: 2023
Cast: Milena Smit, Francisca Aronsson, José Coronado, Aixa Villagrán
RT score: 100%
The first of our foreign language shows in the list, The Snow Girl follows the biggest fear of all: a missing child. When a little girl goes missing during a parade in Málaga, a young newspaper journalist becomes fiercely determined to help Amaya’s parents find her. As you can imagine, it’s an intense watch, with Javier Castillo’s original novel pithily retold across six succinct episodes.
Our central mystery is slowly unravelled throughout the show, and we’re actually left with definitive answers rather than the series bowing out with even more questions than it began with. The cinematography feels above its remit, and I mean that as a compliment. We’re experiencing something much more than a crime procedural we’ve seen a million times over, we’re witnessing a moment in time (though this one, thankfully, isn’t based on a true story).
Red Rose
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Release date: 2022
Cast: Amelia Clarkson, Isis Hainsworth, Natalie Blair, Ellis Howard
RT score: 100%
If you’re a UK native, you might have already heard that Red Rose is a hidden Netflix gem that’s come over from the BBC, but it’s probably flown right under everybody else’s noses. As a group of friends enjoy the summer after taking their GCSEs, their phones are taken over by an app that threatens them with dangerous consequences if they do not meet certain demands. Think Black Mirror’s ‘Shut Up and Dance’ episode, only if it was an outright horror.
We’re seeing a mashup of classic horror tropes and the 2020s modern world here, almost as if Pretty Little Liars was actually any good. The Red Rose app is the ultimate sense of the unknown, and that’s enough of a reason to keep us drawn in for the entire season. Sadly, it does also remind us there’s a whole dark web out there, but if you can manage to distinguish fiction from reality while you watch, you’ll be grand.
Carol & the End of the World
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Release date: 2023
Cast: Martha Kelly, Beth Grant, Lawrence Pressman, Kimberly Hebert Gregory
RT score: 100%
If Rick & Morty was far less gross and actually had some ethical morality behind it, it might look something like Carol & the End of the World. She’s not got too much on her plate, seeing as a massive alien planet is hurtling towards Earth and human extinction is all but imminent. Carol manages to find the positives in this, though, taking it upon herself to fulfil her wildest desires. She’s quiet, she’s uncomfortable, and frankly I’ve never felt more seen.
There’s something so liberating about watching Carol do exactly what she wants knowing there’s going to be next to no consequences for doing so, and you get the feeling that she truly deserves the opportunity. The animation is beautifully artistic in its subtle details, encompassed in an overwhelming cuddle of familiarity I firmly enjoyed nestling into. If an actual apocalypse feels this rewarding and life-affirming, I’m ready.
Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End
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Release date: 2023
Cast: Atsumi Tanezaki, Kana Ichinose, Chiaki Kobayashi, Nobuhiko Okamoto
RT score: 100%
Let me be frank: Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is one of the best anime shows to ever exist. Unlike rival shows, the premise is incredibly straightforward, following an elf and her friends defeat a demon king in a great war. However, when the war comes to an end, Frieren (our elf) has to find a new sense of purpose in life. Less bloodshed and more introspective soul searching? Sign me up.
It’s this almost backwards fusion of action and emotion in an anime that immediately sets Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End apart from its competitors. It goes without saying that the animation itself is impeccable, but the thorough exploration of time, memory and what it means to be alive is unlike anything else we’re seeing in the crowded market. Every element of the anime knows its place, and is happy to stay in it, never getting boring or over-saturated. You’ll be thinking about each episode long after the credits roll, and you’ll feel all the richer for it.
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