Netflix is the most well-known streaming service and has grown enormously since the company started. The company started out as a DVD rental and selling service by mail. Since then, Netflix became a household name and has produced many of its own shows and movies. Among their shows, they produce docu-series, limited series, and animation along with incredible hit shows. 

Here are some of my top recommendations for Netflix original shows to watch:

Popular Netflix Original Shows 

You (2018-2023)

You is by far one of the most engaging, nail-biting shows I’ve ever seen. The show stars Gossip Girl icon Dan Humphry himself – Penn Badgley – who plays the main character, Joe Goldberg. Goldberg is an obsessive stalker who fixates on a woman and does everything in his power to get close to her no matter what obstacles get in his way. Every single season is mind-blowing with crazy plot twists.

Outer Banks (2020-2023)

Outer Banks became a big hit during the pandemic when the first season of the show was released. Due to the pandemic, no one could leave their houses, so when Outer Banks came out, everyone binged it. The show stars Madelyn Cline, Chase Stokes, Rudy Rankow, Madison Bailey and Jonathan Daviss as their characters hunt for a legendary treasure linked to Stokes’ character’s father’s disappearance. This show is action-packed with sprinkles of thriller, mystery and romance. 

Wednesday (2022)

Wednesday is a comedy horror show starring Jenna Ortega. It is based on the character Wednesday from The Addams Family (1991) and the show is a modern take on the character. Wednesday is attending Nevermore Academy after getting expelled from countless previous schools for misbehaving. Shortly after her arrival, murders start happening. It is a creative and engaging show. 

Stranger Things (2016-2022)

Stranger Things is one of the best shows Netflix has created so far. It has gained a large fanbase and became very popular after its first season in 2016. The show, set in the 1980s, stars Millie Bobby Brown, Finn Wolfhard, Noah Schnapp, Caleb McLaughlin, Sadie Sink and Gaten Matarazzo who play young friends but after one of them goes missing, they search for answers. This supernatural show is so well written and produced. 

Ozark (2017-2022)

Ozark is a crime drama thriller starring Jason Bateman and Laura Linney who play a married couple with two children. Bateman plays a financial planner who relocates the family from Chicago to a summer resort community in the Ozarks after his money-laundering scheme goes wrong. He is in substantial debt to a Mexican drug lord and to keep his family safe, he must pay off the debt. This is a very intense crime show with some comedic lines. 

Archive 81 (2022)

Archive 81 is a phenomenal show starring Dina Shihabi and Mamoudou Athie. The show is about an archivist who takes a job restoring damaged videotapes. While going through the tapes and fixing them, he finds himself being pulled into a mystery involving a mysterious cult the videotapes were documenting. This show is insanely good and worth watching. It is filled with mystery and a bit of supernatural, horror and drama. 

Netflix Original Limited Series

The Woman in the House Across the Street from the Girl in the Window (2022)

This thriller limited series starring Kristen Bell is filled with plot twists. The show focuses on Bell’s heartbroken character Anna who sets her sights on her handsome new neighbor until she witnesses a brutal murder across the street from her window. This show had me on the edge of my seat and Kirsten Bell’s acting is amazing. 

The Stranger (2020) 

The Stranger is a thriller mystery limited series with many cliffhangers and plot twists. The show follows a husband who finds out from a mysterious stranger that his missing wife faked her pregnancy and miscarriage before she disappeared. You get hooked on the show from the first episode. It is such a good mystery.

Stateless (2020)

This incredible limited series is based on the true story of Cornelia Rau, an Australian who was unlawfully detained under the Australian Government’s mandatory detention program. It stars The Handmaid’s Tale actress Yvonne Strahovski who played the role of the main character Sofie Werner so well. This is an incredible story and it was told so well. 

Netflix Original Docu-Series

MH370: The Plane That Disappeared (2023)

This docu-series is about Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 which vanished in 2014 with 239 passengers on board. The series has interviews with family members of the passengers, scientists, investigators and journalists who are actively looking for answers. This show goes through the theories of where the plane went, and different timelines based on theories. It does such an excellent job with the timeline and going through the information in chronological order. 

The Most Hated Man on the Internet (2022)

This docu-series was mind-blowing to watch because I was eight when all the events covered in the series happened and I wasn’t aware of any of it. In 2010, a man named Hunter Moore created a website called “Is Anyone Up?” which was a pornographic site where stolen and hacked nude photos were shared. The series covers how a mother whose daughter’s nude photos were posted on the site helped take down Moore who was the self-claimed “King of Revenge Porn.” This series is crazy to watch and I highly recommend it.