Eric is the third most-watched series on Netflix this week, racking in 6.8 million views, as subscribers flock to watch Benedict Cumberbatch’s new psychological thriller about a puppeteer whose son goes missing.
Set in 1980s New York City, Cumberbatch’s Vincent is in an unhappy marriage and his life is turned upside down when his nine-year-old son, Edgar disappears. This prompts him to make a new puppet called Eric, based on one of his son’s ideas, to try and help track him down.
If you enjoyed Eric, there’s plenty of other great Netflix thrillers at your fingertips. Whether you want a David Fincher masterpiece or an offbeat story about a young Australian boy, there’s a lot the best streaming service has to offer.
We’ve done the hard work and waded through Netflix’s thriller category to bring you six thriller shows we think are perfect for those who loved Eric and need more tense, twisty stories.
Mindhunter
We’ve all seen David Fincher’s movies. From Fight Club to Zodiac, he’s a master of the crime and thriller genres, keeping audiences on the edge of their seats for years. His TV series Mindhunter is equally as good, and is a must-watch if you haven’t got round to it yet.
The series follows FBI agents Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff) and Bill Tench (Holt McCallany), who attempt to understand and catch serial killers by studying their psyches, so you can expect some seriously disturbing moments. Cameron Britton’s portrayal of serial killer Edmund Kemper alone is enough to make a chill run down your spine.
It is widely regarded as a masterpiece with a 97% Tomatometer rating. The only downside is that it’s unlikely to return any time soon, as it has been off our screens since 2019 and there’s no word of a third season.
Available to stream worldwide on Netflix.
Boy Swallows Universe
If you want something a little more whimsical yet still dark, Boy Swallows Universe has a similar feel to Eric and follows a child called Eli Bell (Felix Cameron).
Set in 1985 Brisbane, Eli is an ordinary kid with a less than ordinary life. His brother refuses to talk, his mother is an addict, and his stepfather is a heroin dealer. Oh, and his babysitter is a notorious criminal, so there’s a lot going on.
Despite this, Eli tries to follow his heart and understand what being a good man means, but fate keeps throwing obstacles in his way and he ends up thrust into Australia’s criminal underworld, which we usually witness through the eyes of a child, who really shouldn’t be there…
Available to stream worldwide on Netflix.
The Sinner
There’s a lot of detective-led shows out there but in my opinion, there’s nothing quite like The Sinner. Season one opens with Jessica Biel’s mother and wife character Cora Tannetti suddenly stabbing a stranger on a beach for no obvious reason.
It’s up to Detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) to figure out why. But he’s got his own dark past, and this series is full of countless twists and turns, where we learn about Harry as much as the cases he quickly becomes obsessed with.
It was so successful that three more seasons followed, each one following a different case with an unlikely perpetrator at the centre of it. These include an 11-year-old boy who confesses to poisoning his parents and a passenger who survived a fatal car accident, but of course, neither of these are open and shut cases.
Available to stream worldwide on Netflix.
Criminal
Perhaps you’re after a much smaller setting that can still thrill you? In that case, Criminal is the perfect option as it’s set entirely within the confines of a police interview suite. There is something so tense about one location stories, and this is no exception.
David Tennant opens the series as Edgar, a doctor accused of rape and murder who finds himself being grilled by a group of detectives within the Metropolitan Police and engages in psychological games of cat and mouse in an attempt to find the truth.
Much like The Sinner, this series focuses on multiple different subjects so there’s plenty of cases to learn more about, and while it’s simple in its execution it really does deliver. There are also spinoffs of this series, so check out Criminal: France, Spain, and Germany if you enjoyed the original.
Available stream on Pluto TV, MGM Plus in the UK and Stan in Australia.
The Blacklist
There’s nothing James Spader can’t do. Whether he’s your weird boss in The Office US or Ultron in the ever growing Marvel Cinematic Universe, he consistently delivers. In The Blacklist, he gives what is arguably one of his most iconic performances.
Here, he plays notorious criminal Raymond Reddington who agrees to help the police catch other criminals on the condition he works with a new agent named Elizabeth (Megan Boone).
This one is the largest pick out of the list, with 10 seasons and over 200 episodes so it’s perfect if you’re looking for something more long-term rather than a quick binge.
Available to stream on Netflix in the US and Australia, and Prime Video in the UK.
Dear Child
Based on the book of the same name, Dear Child is a German series that centres around a 13-year-old missing persons case and is, as you might imagine, a very twisty thriller.
When an unknown woman is struck by a car, staff at the hospital have plenty of questions around who she is and what happened. Things get even more complicated once they start talking to the precocious and strange little girl who accompanies her in the ambulance, with the mystery growing even deeper.
It becomes a race against time to find out more about both the woman and the little girl, with dark truths being exposed throughout. This one is only six episodes long so it’s great for bingeing, even if you’ll want to watch something light afterwards.
Available to stream worldwide on Netflix.
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lucy.buglass@futurenet.com (Lucy Buglass)
