The Best Drama Shows on Netflix Right Now (July 2023)

Created by: Lee Sung Jin | Seasons: 1 | Episode Count: 10

Average Run Time: 34 minutes

Cast: Steven Yeun, Ali Wong, Joseph Lee, Young Mazino, David Choe

The A24 miniseries Beef (2023) kicks off with a easy altercation in a car parking zone. But boy, does it go to some loopy locations from there! More precisely described as a dramedy, Beef follows struggling handyman Danny Cho (Steven Yeun) and successful-but-unfulfilled Amy Lau (Ali Wong) who first butt heads in that car parking zone incident. They might have simply left it there however as an alternative, they start utilizing one another because the goal for his or her pent-up frustrations in an ever-escalating sequence of reprisals. The present additionally goes into their particular person lives and the emotional struggles they face. While there are some episodes in the direction of the tip that do appear a bit dragged, the payoff is value it because the sequence ends on a mindblowing finale that is heartfelt, surreal, and… simply chic. For a narrative stuffed with pressure, drama, comedy, and real human moments, look no additional than this critically acclaimed gem. – Remus Noronha

Creator: Shonda Rhimes

Cast: India Amarteifio, Adjoa Andoh, Michelle Fairley, Ruth Gemmell, Corey Mylchreest

Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story, a prequel to Netflix’s hit Shondaland interval drama, exhibits followers of the unique sequence the love story between Queen Charlotte and King George. But don’t fear, even when viewers haven’t seen Bridgerton, this spin-off offers newcomers all of the context they should sit again and luxuriate in this story of marriage and insanity. Plus, India Amarteifio (The Midwich Cuckoos) as younger Queen Charlotte is sufficient to drive the sequence, delivering a masterful efficiency that feels just like the Queen followers know whereas including her personal tackle how the revolutionary Charlotte began down her path to vary the dominion for the higher. – Tauri Miller

Creator: Debora Cahn

Cast: Keri Russell, Rufus Sewell, David Gyasi, Ali Ahn, Rory Kinnear

Keri Russell (Felicity) leads this political thriller a few US diplomat who’s deeply in over her head making an attempt to defuse a world incident whereas struggling to handle her husband, a former ambassador, who can’t assist however step into the highlight. Russell is the right driving drive to maintain this sequence on monitor, expertly balancing the heart-pumping drama of a possible world warfare with the difficulties of making an attempt to carry collectively a wedding that interferes along with her profession. Also, the sequence is about in London and features a cavalcade of high British expertise equivalent to Rory Kinnear (Man), David Gyasi (Interstellar), and Pearl Mackie (Doctor Who). – Tauri Miller

Created by: Eric Kripke | Seasons: 15 | Episode Count: 327

Average Run Time: 42 minutes

Cast: Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles

Calling Supernatural (2005-2020) a drama is truthfully fairly limiting. Technically, it is a sci-fi fantasy horror street journey buddy comedy-drama (and I’m fairly certain I’ve missed some issues there). But by the strictest definition, a drama it most definitely is. This landmark present that ran for over a decade begins with two brothers, Sam and Dean Winchester, occurring a street journey to seek out their lacking father. Simple sufficient, proper? Except that the Winchesters are monster hunters and their dad is monitoring the demon who killed their mom. And that is simply the primary two seasons! Over the course of its 15 seasons on the air, Supernatural has seen the Winchester boys go up in opposition to an ever-escalating set of huge bads, all the way in which as much as the most important dangerous of all: God himself. It’s a operating joke on the web (principally Tumblr) that every part you may presumably consider has occurred on Supernatural at the least as soon as. While that is not solely true, the present has had every part from an episode the place Gandhi throws fists, to 1 the place the Titanic by no means sank, to an animated crossover with the gang from Scooby-Doo. For first-time viewers, the sheer quantity of episodes to observe can appear daunting and sure, issues do go downhill a bit towards the tip. However, the first 5 seasons of the present make up among the finest narratives in supernatural TV. The ending could also be divisive, and the sequence has definitely had its justifiable share of missteps, however the truth stays that Supernatural, all 15 seasons of it, is one hell of a trip! – Remus Noronha

Created by: Peter Berg

Cast: Kyle Chandler, Connie Britton, Gaius Charles, Zach Gilford, Minka Kelly

Before Orange is the New Black, House of Cards, and different Netflix-made sequence seemingly designed to binge-watch, there was Friday Night Lights. The present kicked off on NBC again in 2006, however now it’s nearly as if it had been made to observe over and over from begin to end, and I’ve carried out so extra occasions than I care to confess. It’s a superb and addictive mixture of soccer, romance, and drama that rocks a roster of conflicted but particularly charming characters you come to know and love. Soon after beginning the present, Dillon, Texas rapidly begins to really feel like a comfortable dwelling, making the present extraordinarily powerful to show off after every episode. – Perri Nemiroff

Creators: Josh Pate, Jonas Pate, Shannon Burke

Cast: Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, Jonathan Daviss

Founded on a premise that feels like The Goonies meets One Tree Hill, Outer Banks is a charming journey drama from co-creators Josh Pate, Jonas Pate, and Shannon Burke. Outer Banks swings from treasure-hunting motion to star-crossed romance based on the societal divide between working-class residents from a coastal city in North Carolina and the rich guests who flock to the realm on trip. As anticipated from a top quality younger grownup drama, Outer Banks guarantees hours of pressure and romantic entwinement with an undeniably attractive forged, together with Chase Stokes, Madelyn Cline, Madison Bailey, and Jonathan Daviss. – Yael Tygiel

Developed By: Salim Akil

Cast: Cress Williams, China Anne McClain, Nafessa Williams

Just after I was beginning to suppose we had reached peak superhero fatigue, Black Lightning hit the scene and shook issues up. The CW’s dynamic sequence is laudable for numerous causes, the obvious one being that it focuses on a black household, and the second most blatant one being that its lead character isn’t a young person. But the sequence additionally may be the superhero style’s most clever; it is aware of what it desires to say about race and politics with out ever being preachy. The first season additionally made a whole lot of sensible selections about when to introduce the powers of characters aside from Jefferson Pierce (an enthralling Cress Williams), and in addition didn’t really feel the necessity to dispatch its Big Bad by the season’s finish (although it did handle a bunch of extra minor villains all through). The story of a vigilante-turned-principal trying to get again into the sport due to drug violence on his streets is a refreshing one and helped preserve Black Lightning grounded and related all through its run. This is a hero to unequivocally root for. — Allison Keene

Created by: Justin Simien | Seasons: 4 | Episode Count: 40

Average Run Time: half-hour

Cast: Logan Browning, Brandon P. Bell, DeRon Horton, Antoinette Robertson

From its deeply felt, character-driven tales to its hilarious popular culture parodies, Dear White People may need initially impressed controversy because of the title, however it represents a wise and distinctive voice within the TV area that goes nicely past the conversations about race it conjures up. But these conversations are welcome and legitimate and nuanced in how they strategy the subject from particular person factors of view, which mixed with the occasional deviation into alternate realities or different genre-bending escapades makes for generally heartfelt, generally hilarious viewing. – Liz Shannon Miller

Created by: Shonda Rhimes | Seasons: 19 | Episode Count: 406

Average Run Time: 44 minutes

Cast: Ellen Pompeo, Chandra Wilson, James Pickens Jr., Kate Walsh

I’ll admit it: I used to be a loyal viewer of Grey’s Anatomy again within the day. I keep in mind tuning in for brand spanking new episodes every week, and I positively keep in mind watching that epic two-parter kicking off proper after the Super Bowl when the surgeons-in-training at Seattle Grace needed to take care of a bomb in a physique cavity. (An episode with each Christina Ricci and Kyle Chandler? Who might overlook, truthfully.) But even whereas I’ve fallen behind on maintaining with current seasons, this long-enduring medical drama has all the time been a strong consolation present — round at any time when I would like it, ready for me to leap again in. It’s a sequence whose theme music has by no means felt extra apropos than it does proper now, because the ABC drama exhibits no indicators of slowing down after nearly 20 seasons and no one is aware of the place they may find yourself! Until then, Netflix’s bought all the heartbreak, hardship, and truthfully bonkers medical circumstances so that you can revisit over and over. – Carly Lane

Created by: Adam Glass | Seasons: 1 | Episode Count: 8

Average Run Time: 50 minutes

Cast: Margarita Levieva, Cillian O’Sullivan, Lydia Fleming

For no matter motive, 2022 has seen the premiere of a lot of spy exhibits, fairly a couple of of them on Netflix. But this Netflix authentic is definitely among the finest, even whether it is considerably underrated. In From the Cold begins with a newly-divorced American mother named Jenny Franklin (Margarita Levieva) accompanying her daughter’s determine skating crew to Spain for a event. While there, she is kidnapped by CIA brokers and uncovered as a former KGB spy and murderer. With no approach out, she agrees to assist the agent who captured her clear up a sequence of seemingly unrelated crimes. But despite the fact that that one secret may need been revealed, it seems Jenny has much more up her sleeve, together with experimental know-how that makes her the right infiltrator. As the sequence progresses, Jenny uncovers a posh plot involving right-wing terrorists and a ghost from her previous, all of which builds as much as a climax that threatens the lifetime of her beloved daughter. In From the Cold by no means ceases to shock audiences, even till the final second, when the present’s ending makes you rethink every part you thought you knew about this shadowy world. – Remus Noronha

Created by: Laeta Kalogridis | Seasons: 2 | Episode Count: 18

Average Run Time: 56 minutes

Cast: Joel Kinnaman, Chris Conner, Dichen Lachman, Renée Elise Goldsberry, Anthony Mackie

On an infinite timeline, every part will get pushed to the acute. And in a world like that, what’s one man to do when confronted with the darkest corners of humanity? That’s the query on the coronary heart of the laborious sci-fi sequence Altered Carbon. Based on the novel by Richard Okay. Morgan, the present is about in a far future the place science has found out how you can retailer, switch, and retrieve human consciousness like information on a disk. Behind the scenes, this provides the creators the chance to have the identical character be performed by a number of actors, with Joel Kinnaman taking part in the lead in Season 1 and Anthony Mackie taking on in Season 2. What this implies for the narrative is that the wealthy successfully stay ceaselessly, discovering new lows of debauchery and colonizing complete worlds to feed their industrial machines. The story follows Takeshi Kovacs, an imprisoned former insurgent fighter who’s introduced out of stasis to resolve the homicide of a 300-year-old oligarch. The deal is that if he can clear up the homicide, his crimes will probably be pardoned and he’ll be a free man. The first season follows Takeshi’s investigation and exhibits the way it’s intrinsically tied to a ghost from his previous. Season 2 takes issues a step additional with a brand new case, the mysterious reappearance of Takeshi’s lifeless lover and insurgent chief Quellcrist Falconer (Renée Elise Goldsberry). Though the present was canceled after simply two seasons, it has an intricate, well-crafted world and loads of noir-esque drama and intrigue. The franchise additionally has a spinoff anime film on Netflix titled Altered Carbon: Resleeved and the present’s ending leaves the door open for extra tales sooner or later—offered somebody ever will get round to reviving the sequence. – Remus Noronha

Created by: Steven Knight | Seasons: 6 | Episode Count: 36

Average Run Time: 60 minutes

Cast: Cillian Murphy, Helen McCrory, Paul Anderson, Sophie Rundle, Joe Cole

Historical fiction is not a straightforward style to get proper however if you wish to see a sequence that does pull it off, look no additional. Peaky Blinders is a BBC sequence that takes a fictional strategy to the story of the real-life gang whose title the present bears. Featuring a star-studded forged, together with actors like Tom Hardy and Anya Taylor-Joy in recurring roles, this present is for many who take pleasure in a great crime sequence that is also formed and knowledgeable by actual historic occasions. Beginning shortly after World War I, the present follows the rise of Tommy Shelby (performed by the incomparable Cillian Murphy) and his household as they lie, cheat, and kill to claw their strategy to the highest. But Peaky Blinders is not simply concerning the crime aspect both. It artfully portrays sophisticated human beings in all their tenderness and ache. Come for the good forged and the dramatic storyline, keep for the relationships and emotional weight. Either approach, this sequence is a must-watch.- Remus Noronha

Created by: Neil Gaiman, David S. Goyer, and Allan Heinberg | Seasons: 1 | Episode Count: 10

Average Run Time: 45 minutes

Cast: Tom Sturridge, Gwendoline Christie, Vivienne Acheampong, Boyd Holbrook, Charles Dance

There are only a few works of literature as distinctive and epic as Neil Gaiman‘s graphic novel sequence The Sandman. The story revolves round Dream, the titular Sandman, and his siblings, the immortal more-than-gods often known as the Endless. There have been makes an attempt to adapt the sequence for the reason that early 90s however that is the primary time ever that this story is coming to life on display screen. While the present makes some departures from the unique materials, it is nonetheless largely true to the graphic novel and is a type of few examples of a e-book adaptation carried out proper. Netflix’s The Sandman presents a well-crafted story with an intricate world that’s certain to please previous followers of this universe simply as a lot as those that are assembly Dream of the Endless for the very first time. – Remus Noronha

Created by: Adam Price | Seasons: 4 | Episode Count: 38

Average Run Time: 57 minutes

Cast: Sidse Babett Knudsen, Birgitte Hjort Sørensen, Pilou Asbæk, Søren Malling

If you are within the temper for a great political drama, try the Danish sequence Borgen. The present follows the story of Birgitte Nyborg Christensen (Sidse Babett Knudsen), a minor politician who climbs up the ladder to change into the primary feminine prime minister of Denmark. As with any political sequence, there are conspiracies and betrayals aplenty. Audiences get to observe Birgitte’s profession via its ups and downs and see how her idealism frays within the face of sensible politics. – Remus Noronha

Created by: Alice Oseman | Seasons: 1 | Episode Count: 8

Average Run Time: half-hour

Cast: Kit Connor, Joe Locke, William Gao, Yasmin Finney, and Olivia Colman.

Based on the graphic novel of the identical title, Heartstopper is the queer coming-of-age story that many individuals had been ready for. Charlie Spring (Joe Locke) is a homosexual schoolboy who falls in love with somebody he sits subsequent to in his new type, Nick Nelson (Kit Connor). A phenomenal love story and exploration of sexuality, Heartstopper understands completely how troublesome being queer and so younger could be, exploring friendships, sexuality, and gender in a approach that only a few exhibits do. With unimaginable chemistry between the 2 leads, Heartstopper makes you fall in love with Nick and Charlie, bringing collectively a narrative value rooting for and making you need to discover the identical form of love they’ve. – Arianne Binette

Created by: Chris Van Dusen | Seasons: 2 | Episode Count: 16

Average Run Time: 64 minutes

Cast: Phoebe Dynevor, Régé-Jean Page, Nicola Coughlan, Jonathan Bailey, Luke Thompson

From Shondaland, Bridgerton is for the Regency romance lovers. About the Brigderton household, every season follows one of many youngsters as they go on to seek out real love. It’s the romance sequence that we’ve got not gotten in a very long time, stuffed with chemistry, drama, and juicy scenes. Bridgerton’s drama-filled sequence brings one of the best out of Shonda Rhimes’s tv fashion with the backdrop of a gossip author tormenting aristocratic society. If you like drama, romance, and steamy scenes, this present gives you all of that and a lot extra. – Arianne Binette

Created by: Greg Berlanti and Sera Gamble | Seasons: 4 | Episode Count: 40

Average Run Time: 50 minutes

Cast: Penn Badgley, Elizabeth Lail, Shay Mitchell, Victoria Pedretti, Jenna Ortega

Based on the identical title e-book, You approaches its topic with a meticulous hand. The present follows Joe Goldberg (Penn Badgley), a bookstore supervisor – and serial killer – who falls in love in a short time and develops obsessions over those that catch his eye. What makes You so distinctive is how the present treats its predominant character, by no means making an attempt to make him appear like the nice man — leaning closely into his psyche and understanding him, sure, however by no means making an attempt to redeem him. While the primary season was good, the second season is the place the present discovered itself and its voice. Joe’s obsessions being advised via his eyes and his narration present perception into his psyche but additionally do not present each aspect of the story till revealed later. It’s a approach of telling the story that retains you engaged and on the sting of your seat till the final second of the season. – Arianne Binette

Directed by: Joji Matsuoka, Nobuhiro Yamashita, Shotarou Kobayashi | Seasons: 5 | Episode Count: 50

Average Run Time: 25 minutes

Cast: Kaoru Kobyashi, Mansaku Fuwa, Toshiki Ayata, Yutaka Matsushige, Ken Mitsuishi

A slice-of-life manga that impressed a serene and considerate sequence, Midnight Diner (aka Shinya shokudō) is a Japanese anthology sequence that follows a curious little diner that solely opens late within the night time. Run by the mysterious and scarred chef recognized solely as Master, the diner is stuffed with curious characters and regulars, with every episode that includes a selected Japanese dish. Incredibly introspective, Midnight Diner is addictive as a sequence regardless of its subdued nature. Like Master and his different prospects, it’s straightforward to rapidly get wrapped up within the story of the week. With delicious-looking meals and quite a lot of folks from completely different walks of life, Midnight Diner will make you giggle, it’ll make you suppose, and it would make you hungry, too. There are 5 seasons of the sequence at the moment, three below the title Midnight Diner, and two below Midnight Diner: Tokyo Stories. — Therese Lacson

Created by: Chun Sung-il, Lee JQ, Kim Nam-su | Seasons: 1 | Episode Count: 12

Average Run Time: 62 minutes

Cast: Park Ji-hu, Yoon Chan-young, Cho Yi-hyun, Lomon, Yoo In-soo

Netflix has invested closely in Korean dramas just lately and it appears to have paid off. All of Us Are Dead, primarily based on the webtoon Now at Our School by Joo Dong-geun, is a zombie horror sequence with a powerful coming-of-age theme. Set at a highschool overrun by zombies, the present has some sensible storytelling, tons of gore, and intense interpersonal relationships. The story kicks off when a zombie virus is unleashed at a highschool in South Korea. With no provides and minimize off from the surface world by the federal government, the scholars of the highschool are pressured to depend on no matter assets they’ll discover to guard themselves from the contaminated. It’s an exhilarating present that is spent weeks on Netflix Top 10 lists worldwide since its launch on January 28, 2022. – Remus Noronha