Picture: Ransom Canyon, Dept Q, Adolescence, Toxic Town, American Primeval
It’s been a busy year, so here’s an updated countdown of the 10 best new series on Netflix so far in 2025. There’s a little of everything to feast your eyes on!
From Squid Game, to Wednesday, to Stranger Things — 2025 is a big year at Netflix for returning shows. Some of its most popular ever series are returning, with a few of them wrapping up. However, the streamer continues to expand with a myriad of new and exciting shows. We’re just halfway through 2025, and Netflix has already stumbled across some gems, many of which we hope to continue seeing on our screens for years to come. In this list, we count down the 10 finest new Netflix series streaming so far in 2025.
10
The Survivors
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Mystery
- Rating: TV-MA
- Release Date: June 6, 2025
- Director: Cherie Nowlan, Ben C. Lucas
- Cast: Charlie Vickers, Yerin Ha, Robyn Malcolm, Damien Garvey, Thom Green, George Mason
- Language: English
Watch on Netflix
If you recently watched Dept. Q on Netflix and you’re craving more crime and mystery, The Survivors is the show for you. Based on the best-selling novel by Jane Harper, The Survivors is another investigative crime series, starring Charlie Vickers (The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power) and Yerin Ha (Bridgerton, Halo).
The Survivors takes place in a sleepy, largely uneventful seaside town of Evelyn Bay, where a tight-knit community investigates the mysterious death of a woman. As they delve deeper into the case, they uncover secrets and answer questions from the past, revealing connections to the loss of three young people fifteen years prior.
The Survivors is a slow-burn thriller with many twists and turns that keep you guessing until the end.
9
Zero Day
- Genre: Drama, Thriller
- Rating: TV-MA
- Release Date: February 20, 2025
- Cast: Robert De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Lizzy Caplan
- Language: English
Watch on Netflix
Starring Robert De Niro as former US President George Mullen, Zero Day kicks off when he’s unwittingly brought out of peaceful retirement to spearhead a team investigating a cyber attack. Naturally, Mullen gets entangled in a web of conspiracies, and it becomes a race against time when he learns that a further cyberattack is imminent.
The cast is immense; there’s De Niro, Jesse Plemons, Lizzy Caplan, Dan Stevens, and Joan Allen. It’s a fantastic, enticing drama to watch if you find yourself stuck browsing through Netflix’s catalog.
Zero Day was never meant to get another season. The show’s executive producers, Noah Oppenheim and Eric Newman, fully intended for the series to be limited to 6 episodes.
8
The Residence
- Genre: Drama, Comedy, Mystery
- Rating: TV-MA
- Release Date: March 20, 2025
- Cast: Uzo Aduba, Giancarlo Esposito, Randall Park, Molly Griggs, Susan Kelechi Watson, Isiah Whitlock Jr.
- Language: English
Watch on Netflix
Who doesn’t love a good murder mystery story? Well, that’s exactly what Netflix’s The Residence is — but this time, there are over 150 suspects. The series sets up a high-stakes whodunnit, set within the walls of the White House itself, starring Uzo Aduba as wry, eccentric detective Cordelia Cupp.
The series is based on the bestselling novel The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House by Kate Andersen Brower and is the third major new series to emerge from the Shonda Rhimes deal, following Bridgerton and Inventing Anna.
The Residence season 1 gained pretty good ratings upon its release in March. It currently stands at an impressive 84% on Rotten Tomatoes. While Netflix has not yet renewed the series for another season, the current viewership figures don’t look promising. Discussions about a renewal have been relatively quiet at the moment, but we’ll keep you updated. Watch this space.
7
Apple Cider Vinegar
- Genre: Biography, Crime, Drama
- Rating: TV-MA
- Release Date: February 6, 2025
- Cast: Kaitlyn Dever, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Catherine McClements
- Language: English
Watch on Netflix
Described as a “true-ish story based on a lie,” Apple Cider Vinegar is set just after the release of the social media phenomenon platform Instagram. The Australian drama is based on the book The Woman Who Fooled the World by Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, which follows two women who set out to create a social media stir by advocating wellness remedies and techniques to cure illnesses, only to discover that it was all one big elaborate hoax.
The series stars Kaitlyn Dever, Ashley Zuckerman, Aisha Dee, and Alycia Debnam-Carey. Apple Cider Vinegar was initially billed as a limited series, and it wraps up without any major loose ends to tie up.
6
Ransom Canyon
- Genre: Drama, Romance
- Rating: TV-MA
- Release Date: April 17, 2025
- Cast: Minka Kelly, Josh Duhamel, Lizzy Greene, James Brolin, Eoin Macken, Garrett Wareing, Andrew Liner
- Language: English
Watch on Netflix
Ransom Canyon season 1 was a bona fide hit on Netflix, spending four consecutive weeks in the streamer’s top 10. Netflix has not yet renewed the series, but things remain promising. A romance with modern western vibes, Random Canyon is based on the bestselling 2015 novel and subsequent novels by Jodi Thomas. It follows the lives of three ranching families in Texas Hill Country, detailing their feuds, romances, loyalties, and legacies.
5
Sirens
- Genre: Comedy
- Rating: TV-MA
- Release Date: May 22, 2025
- Cast: Julianne Moore, Meghann Fahy, Milly Alcock
- Language: English
Watch on Netflix
Milly Alcock and Meghann Fahy play sisters Simone and Devon in Netflix’s lavish drama Sirens. A dark comedy with seductive, alluring tones and a mysterious cult, Sirens was easily one of Netflix’s standout shows from May 2025.
Sirens follows Devon (Meghann Fahy), who travels to see her sister, Simone (Alcock), where she works as a live-in assistant to the Kell family on their lavish island estate, to request assistance in caring for their ailing father, Bruce (Bill Camp). The couple who own the ornate Cliff estate, Michaela (Julianne Moore) and Peter (Kevin Bacon), are an elite, socialite, and cultish couple, harbouring secrets of their own. As Devon dives deeper into the cultish lifestyle of the Kell family, she begins to fear for the well-being of her sister and takes action.
Sirens has a dark, occasionally uncomfortable side to it, but it’s also hilarious from start to finish. If you’re a fan of The White Lotus, this is a perfect alternative. You can read our hugely positive review of Sirens here.
4
Toxic Town
- Genre: Drama, True Story, British
- Rating: TV-MA
- Release Date: February 27, 2025
- Cast: Jodie Whittaker, Aimee Lou Wood, Rory Kinnear, Robert Carlyle
- Language: English
Watch on Netflix
2025 has been a standout year for British series on Netflix. First up is Toxic Town, which tells the true, harrowing story of mothers who fought for justice when industrial work spilled toxic fumes into the air, causing disabilities in newborn babies. The story is incredibly heavy and inherently emotional, while also telling the inspiring saga of several mothers who took the case to court, ardently fighting for justice over a decade.
There are also some outstanding performances, particularly from Jodie Whittaker, who plays Susan McIntyre, the lady at the forefront of the court case. Aimee Lou Wood, Claudia Jessie, Rory Kinnear, and Brendan Coyle also make up a top-tier cast.
Toxic Town currently holds a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. You can check out our very own 5-star review here.
3
Dept. Q
- Genre: Crime, Drama, Thriller
- Rating: TV-MA
- Release Date: May 29, 2025
- Cast: Matthew Goode, Chloe Pirrie, Jamie Sives, Mark Bonnar, Alexej Manvelov, Leah Byrne
- Language: English
Watch on Netflix
Department Q (or simply Dept. Q) is a crime drama that stands out in many ways. Set in a dark and brooding Scotland, the gritty series follows the steely and no-nonsense detective Carl Morck (Matthew Goode). After suffering a near-death attack that killed a police officer and injured his partner, Morck is tasked with dealing with forgotten cold cases.
Along with his enigmatic Syrian partner, Akram (Alexej Manvelov), and Detective Constable Rose Dickson (Leah Byrne), the team investigates the disappearance of the controversial prosecutor, Merritt Lingard (Chloe Pirrie). As they delve into the case, which had long remained unsolved, they uncover various clues and leads, shedding light on one of Scotland’s most mysterious and unsolved crimes.
We loved season 1 of Dept. Q! Hopefully, Netflix renews it for another season. Being based on a long-running series of novels by Jussi Adler-Olsen, there’s plenty of seasons’ worth of content to cover.
2
American Primeval
- Genre: Action, Drama, Thriller
- Rating: TV-MA
- Release Date: January 9, 2025
- Cast: Taylor Kitsch, Betty Gilpin, Dane DeHaan, Shea Whigham, Jai Courtney, Preston Mota
- Language: English
Watch on Netflix
Netflix has released numerous westerns over the years. We’re talking Godless, The Harder They Fall, The Power of the Dog, and so on. The streamer’s 2025 entry, American Primeval, is particularly noteworthy. Created and written by Mark L. Smith, the series is set in 1857 during the Utah War, following a mother (Betty Gilpin) and son, Devin, fleeing from their past, where they form a found family. But before anything else, they must survive the harsh, dangerous, and brutal American West.
American Primeval stars Betty Gilpin, Taylor Kitsch, Kim Coates, Shea Whigham, and Shawnee Pourier. The 6-episode limited series offers a gory, brutal, and violent tale.
1
Adolescence
- Genre: Crime, Drama
- Rating: TV-MA
- Release Date: March 13, 2025
- Cast: Ashley Walters, Owen Cooper, Stephen Graham
- Language: English
Watch on Netflix
Of all the new shows on Netflix in 2025, Adolescence has had the most significant cultural impact. Quickly becoming a phenomenon for the streamer, it documents the arrest and investigation of 13-year-old Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper), who is suspected of murdering a classmate. With each episode being filmed entirely in one take, it drops the viewer right in the middle of an extremely disturbing investigation. Created by Stephen Graham and Jack Thorne, Adolescence is a deep and psychological look into not only knife crime itself, but the impact it has on family, friends, and society. It seamlessly covers the perspectives of his father, police investigators, and Jamie’s therapist — the latter of which makes up one of the finest episodes of television in recent history.
Adolescence isn’t just a must-watch, it’s an important watch; so much so that schools in the UK will be showing it to pupils.
What’s been your favourite new Netflix series so far in 2025? Tell us in the comments below!
