Netflix subscribers love a thriller. That's why the streaming service's head honchos keep commissioning, producing, and releasing them at such a furious rate.
Some are fantastic, like David Fincher's Mindhunter, others are compelling and procedural, such as The Lincoln Lawyer, and others have missed the mark, like the daft The Devil In Ohio.
Then there are those that the critics love, but that weren't accompanied by splashy marketing budgets or big starry casts, and so they go under the radar. And it's those we're interested in today.
As you saw in the headline, these weren't just mild hits with critics, but gained perfect scores on Rotten Tomatoes – so here are six thrillers and dramas to get stuck into on Netflix.
The Snow Girl
Released at the start of this year, La Chica De Nieve, or The Snow Girl, is a thriller with a classic set-up. The story centers around the disappearance of Amaya Martín, a six-year-old, who went missing in 2010 during the annual Cavalcade of Magi festival in Malaga.
Many years later, Miren Rojo, an intern who is bored with her menial role at a local newspaper, leans about the case and decides to take matters into her own hands and get to the bottom of the mystery.
Based on Javier Castillo’s novel of the same name, the disappearance, as you might expect, quickly turns into a tangled web that lands Miren in deep trouble.
Critics praised the storytelling and the agility of the narrative, with the story's many time jumps woven in skilfully, and every twist carefully plotted.
Rough Diamonds
When you think of Belgian crime solving, it may well be that your mind goes straight to Hercule Poirot, but this new Netflix drama has something to say about that
Set in the city of Antwerp, Rough Diamonds follows Kevin Janssens' Noah Wolfson, a young man who decided to forsake his Orthodox Jewish upbringing and moved away to start a new life. But, after the suicide of his younger brother, Yanki, he is compelled to return.
After he arrives, Noah reconnects with the Orthodox community and quickly discovers that his family's diamond-trading business is being squeezed by both the right side of the law – a young, ambitious local prosecutor – and the wrong side of the law, in the shape of a vicious new gang.
Critics praised the show's complex story arcs as well as branding it a high-quality slice-of-crime drama, giving it a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes.
The Law According to Lidia Poët
Let's head to northern Italy in the late 1880s for another critical smash. Loosely based on the life of Lidia Poët, the first modern female lawyer in Italy, the show, which has been commissioned for a second season already, is a stylish romp.
We follow Poët as she tries to enroll as a practising lawyer, only to be told her presence is illegal and she is to be disbarred. While she prepares an appeal, Poët finds a job at her brother Enrico's law firm, where, naturally, she ends up getting more involved than her older brother had planned, with a new case to dive into each episode.
Critics praised star Matilda de Angelis' presence and energy in the role, while also talking up its style and swagger. There's always a spot in our lives for a good courtroom drama, as our eager wait for The Lincoln Lawyer season 3 proves – and here's a bunch more to enjoy, in fact.
Katla
Next, we're bound for rural Iceland for a seriously eerie mystery. Set in the small town of Vik, a tiny place in the shadow of the titular Katla volcano, the show begins following some hardy survivors who remain a year after an eruption of the Katla made the town basically unhabitable.
One seemingly ordinary day, a woman who apparently disappeared 20 years earlier returns to the village, looking as she did back then, apart from being caked in ash. If that wasn't enough, more victims of the volcano begin to return, causing locals and experts to team up to find just what was going on.
Reviewers adored the show, particularly the unexpected plot turns and the performances of the key cast, leading to its 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
Red Rose
When Eleven, the production company that gave us Netflix's coming-of-age drama Sex Education, announced a new teen drama, you might have expected something in the same wheelhouse. As it turned out, they delivered something much, much bloodier.
Written by "The Clarkson Twins," whose credits include The Wheel Of Time and The Haunting Of Bly Manor, Red Rose is a contemporary teen drama set in the UK town of Bolton, just outside Manchester.
It follows a group of close friends who are trying to enjoy their final summer before they head to college, until one of the gang decides to download a mysterious app called "Red Rose", which begins to make increasingly gruesome demands…
Critics have lavished praise on the show, with comparisons to Black Mirror and The Exorcist frequently dished out. Either way, it's landed maximum points on Rotten Tomatoes.
You Don't Know Me
Originally airing on the BBC in the UK and adapted from Imran Mahmood's bestselling book, You Don't Know Me is a searing thriller.
Told over four breathless parts and written by Vigil creator Tom Edge, the show stars Samuel Adewunmi as an unnamed defendant who stands accused of murdering a gangster named Jamil.
The evidence against him is overwhelming and everyone in the courtroom believes the trial will only go one way, but when Adewunmi starts to talk, the trial suddenly becomes wide open.
Starring Sophie Wilde, Bukky Bakray, Roger Nsengiyumva and Tuwaine Barrett alongside Adewunmi, this is a courtroom thriller like nothing you've seen before.
Critics were gripped and very taken with the performances, particularly Adewunmi.
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