I do not make these lists to look good. I make them because I remember the series that have lasted longer than they last: the ones I am still thinking about months after switching off the screen. These six are the ones I would put in front of you, without arguing, if you asked me for the door into science fiction on Netflix.
They are not here for being famous. One is famous, one you have watched without knowing its name, and one is so strange that almost nobody has sat through it.
The series, one by one
Black Mirror — the British anthology that does not talk about technology, it talks about us using it. Every episode is a different story and almost none of them is forgotten.
Altered Carbon — Richard Morgan on screen. An enormous idea (consciousness is copied, the body is swapped) told with an enormous budget. If somebody asks what cyberpunk is, tell them to watch the first episode.
Maniac — the strangest series on the platform and the one that has made me laugh without wanting to. Ten episodes of uneven length, a mind experiment and Jonah Hill playing the weird guy better than anyone.
3% — a Brazilian dystopia about a selection process only three per cent survive. It has a texture and a language unlike anything else on this list.
Better than us — domestic robots in a very near Russia. Where the Swedish one fell short, the Russian one goes all the way.
Real humans — the 2012 Swedish series about hubots, loneliness and the rights of machines. It still feels ahead of its time and it is the most social of them all.
What they have in common
That in none of them is the technology the scenery. It is the rule that forces someone to choose, and almost always to choose badly. If a series does not leave you with that feeling at the end of the episode, for me it does not make the cut.
How to choose, depending on what you can take
Ideas and social critique: Black Mirror. Pure cyberpunk: Altered Carbon. Strangeness and humour: Maniac. Tension and dystopia: 3%. Robots and everyday life: Better than us and Real humans.
Frequently asked questions
What are the best sci fi shows on Netflix?
The six on this list. They are not here for what the platforms say about them, but for what they have left me, which is the only thing I can attest to.
Are they available in every country?
No. Platforms change their catalogue every month and by country. Check yours before taking it for granted: they are here for what they are worth, not for how long they stay in the window.
What about sci fi series not on Netflix?
I keep them in the best sci-fi TV shows, with classics such as Battlestar Galactica, The Expanse or Farscape.
And if what you want is to read
To read, start with the best sci fi books or with what to read in cyberpunk. The books I write come out of all this.
No Comments