2024 has been a good year for movies, but it has also been a great year for show. So many highly anticipated series and lesser known gems were released this year, and some of them are available to watch right now on your favorite streaming platforms. As the end of the year approaches, many of us are catching up with some of the year’s best releases, and streaming-wise, we often look to Netflix, home of many popular shows. Needless to say, there’s plenty to choose from, so we made a list to help you narrow it down to a few titles. All of these shows are available on Netflix right now in most countries – or, if you live in a country where your favorite streaming platform isn’t available, a VPN can allow you to bypass geo-restrictions – and they will make for fantastic first-time watches! So, without further ado, here are 5 2024 shows to watch on Netflix right now, in alphabetical order!
1. 3 Body Problem
Let’s start with this sci-fi gem from showrunners David Benioff, D.B. Weiss, and Alexander Woo, which hit Netflix in March 2024 after its SXSW Premiere. If most people started watching it for the cast – including, among others, I Care a Lot’s Eiza González, Game of Thrones’s Liam Cunningham and John Bradley, Doctor Strange‘s Benedict Wong, and The Two Popes‘s Jonathan Pryce – they were surprised to find an incredibly compelling story that took them to new places with every episode.
3 Body Problem is adapted from Cixin Liu’s hugely popular “Remembrance of Earth’s Past” book trilogy and covers the first novel in the series. It all begins with a young woman who makes a decision in 1960s China. But before we’ve even had time to process this dystopian world, we’re taken to an even more mysterious one in our present-day world, where something seems to be happening to our best scientists. All of the Earth’s most promising young experts and researchers seem to be taking their own lives for no apparent reason, and no one can figure out why.
Soon, nanotech expert Auggie (Eiza González), theoretical physicist Jin (Jess Hong), physics researcher Saul (Jovan Adepo), business genius Jack (John Bradley), and physics teacher Will (Alex Sharp) all find themselves with their dilemmas to deal with, first individually and them as a group. In the show, we follow them get closer to the truth a nd eventually realize humanity’s about to face its biggest threat. 3 Body Problem is a show that requires your full attention: it unfolds across continents and over multiple timelines, which are not always presented linearly. But it also rewards you with one of the most gripping stories of the year, which will have you thinking about humanity’s very nature.
2. Baby Reindeer
Unless you’ve been living under a rock, chances are you’ve already heard of this show. Baby Reindeer was hugely popular from the moment it became available on Netflix, as viewers worldwide couldn’t stop thinking about a bizarre premise that creator and lead Richard Gadd said was inspired by his own life. The series revolves around a young man named Donny (Gadd) who moves to London hoping to become a comedian but finds himself working as a bartender and only getting the occasional gig. One day, a woman named Martha (Jessica Gunning) shows up at his workplace, clearly distressed, crying, and unable to afford a drink to cheer herself up. Moved by the situation, Donny offers her a cup of tea.
But this simple act of kindness leads Martha to return to the pub daily, and Donny soon realizes he’s dealing with a stalker. As the situation escalates – we’ll let you find out on your own in exactly what way, but trust us: it’s unbelievable – Martha ends up completely taking over Donny’s life. When he finally decides to take action, it might be too late.
Baby Reindeer is a well-crafted show that will have you go through a series of emotions, from the shock of the initial premise to fear for Donny’s fate to empathy when you realize that this could happen to everyone… To doubt, as you start wondering exactly how much of this story was true and how much was fictionalized. The series has sparked controversy for precisely this reason, and part of its appeal is the moral questions it will have you ask, not only on the situation described but also on its very existence. Regardless of your opinion, it’s worth watching for Jessica Gunning’s mindblowing performance, which might even earn her a Golden Globe.
3. Eric
2024 was the year of movies about imaginary friends, as it saw the release of both John Krasinski’s IF and Jeff Wadlow’s Imaginary. But the best 2024 story involving imaginary friends has got to be Netflix’s Eric, where Benedict Cumberbatch plays a puppeteer at a famous children’s TV show who finds himself on a downward spiral when his son Edgar (Ivan Morris Howe) goes missing. Convinced that he’s the only one who can find him, Vincent (Cumberbatch) sets off on a trip that eventually finds him nearly homeless, without a job, and mistrusted by friends, family, and even his own wife. But what makes this tale stand out from other similar stories is that Vincent is not alone: he’s accompanied by a literal monster – a giant blue creature, inspired by an idea Edgar had for a new puppet for Vincent’s show, that only Vincent can see.
Is the creature real, or is it a representation of Vincent’s mental state? Is he a friend or an enemy? Is Vincent’s wife right in placing her trust in investigator Ledroit (McKinley Belcher III), who has been taking a more traditional approach to finding their son? Or has Vincent been right all along in thinking that something else is taking place underneath the surface? Eric answers all of these questions and even prompts us to ask ourselves questions about some issues facing the modern USA – but it does so at the end of a gripping journey that will surprise you with every turn. Not to be missed!
4. Ripley
Andrew Scott stars in this Netflix adaptation of Patricia Highsmith’s Tom Ripley novels, and the series is worth checking out regardless of whether you’re a fan of “The Talented Mr. Ripley”. Just like the novels and many previous adaptations, the show follows a grifter named Thomas Ripley (Scott) who travels to Italy when a wealthy businessman hires him to find his son Richard “Dickie” Greenleaf (Johnny Flynn) and convince him to come home. His employer believes him to be a friend of Richard’s, but both “Dickie” and we as an audience know that he isn’t. But what happens when the two men meet each other is something we couldn’t have predicted. Pretending to remember him, Dickie invites him to stay with him and his girlfriend, Marge (Dakota Fanning), who’s not exactly thrilled at the idea.
What makes this story as a whole so compelling, in every adaptation, is that we can never be fully sure of Tom’s motives until the very end, as we can’t quite make up our mind on whether he’s a villain or, quite simply, a genius. His flaws make him such a compelling protagonist, and this is elevated here by Andrew Scott’s superb performance and a script that manages to renew the original novel in a clever way. Also noteworthy are its stunning black and white cinematography (Robert Elswit) and authentic worldbuilding, giving you so much to look at in every frame. A must-watch!
5. Supacell
The last series on our list takes place in South East London, where a group of completely ordinary people suddenly develop superpowers for no apparent reason. Even more interestingly, they only have one thing in common: they’re Black. As they each try to adjust to a new way of living their lives with these new powers, a lot is going on that they completely ignore. Soon, we realize that something – or someone – is trying to bring them together for something bigger than they can imagine.
Supacell doesn’t invent the superhero subgenre, and the storytelling won’t hold many surprises. Yet, it has two things going for it: it’s gorgeous to look at, and its characters are made fresh by fantastic acting. We’ll let you discover the rest on your own!
The five shows listed above were all released in 2024 and are all available to stream on Netflix right now. Whether you’re looking for gripping sci-fi, thought-provoking adaptations, noir-like vibes, or a story that is too absurd to be believed, there’s something for everyone on this list. And if you’re looking for even more 2024 Netflix shows to watch, check out One Day, Arcane Season 2, Bridgerton Season 3, and Heartstopper Season 3. Happy watching!
