Netflix releases so much original programming that it’s nearly impossible to keep up with all of it, even if you’re consistently checking for the latest titles. Sci-fi is one of Netflix’s primary genres, with hits like “Stranger Things,” “Dark” and “3 Body Problem,” but there are plenty of lower-profile Netflix sci-fi shows that are just as good. With the sheer volume of premieres each week, those shows often move into the vast reaches of the service within a short period of time.
If you’re looking for a new sci-fi binge-watch and have made it through some of Netflix’s most popular shows already, there are plenty of other options available, from time-travel mysteries to grounded superhero stories. Here are three of my picks for high-quality Netflix sci-fi series that most viewers probably missed out on the first time.
‘Maniac’
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With a high-profile cast led by Emma Stone and Jonah Hill, plus direction from blockbuster filmmaker Cary Joji Fukunaga (“No Time to Die”), this head-trip mini-series should have made more of an impact. Fukunaga delivers on the psychedelic visuals, in a story set in a futuristic (or perhaps alternate history) version of New York City. Stone and Hill play participants in an experimental clinical trial for people with mental disorders.
The pills they take send them into various fantasy worlds, mingling their personal trauma with imaginary scenarios, as the lines between reality and dreams start to blur. Justin Theroux plays the possibly mad scientist running the experiment, with Sally Field as his equally brilliant and equally unhinged mother. Together, they put the test subjects through a kaleidoscopic journey into their own minds, and Fukunaga takes the audience right along.
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‘I Am Not Okay With This’
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Although it was a quasi-spinoff of Netflix hit “The End of the F***ing World,” this sci-fi coming-of-age series never quite reached the same audience. Once again adapted from a graphic novel by Charles Forsman, the story follows introverted 17-year-old Sydney Novak (Sophia Lillis) as she discovers her emerging telekinetic powers and grapples with other typical teenage concerns.
Lillis is excellent as the snarky but sensitive Sydney, who is still processing her father’s death and coming to terms with her sexuality. While elements of the story recall Stephen King’s “Carrie,” Sydney more closely resembles a teenage recruit to the X-Men, with powers that develop during puberty and provide an outward manifestation of inner turmoil.
The seven-episode series suggests an intriguing world connected to Sydney’s abilities, but the planned second season was unfortunately scrapped by Netflix before going into production.
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‘Bodies’
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This centuries-spanning mystery series begins with multiple murder investigations before expanding into a time-warping conspiracy saga. Police officers in London in 1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053 all discover what appears to be the same dead body in the same place, and their inquiries lead them to the same figures in seemingly far-flung time periods, connected by an all-encompassing future organization known as the Executive.
“Bodies” works as an engrossing procedural and a mind-bending sci-fi story, while also finding plenty of time for character development of its four main detectives. The different eras provide opportunities for overlapping social commentary, and each protagonist is in some way a societal outsider. Stephen Graham adds menace as the villain who seems to be pulling all the strings, becoming more prominent and more powerful as the eight episodes play out.
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