The Best Netflix Originals You've Missed In 2020 So Far

When Netflix initially introduced their streaming service, the idea of bringing a world of classic movies and TV to your living room was enough. Now, though, they also have plenty of their own unique content. Today, you don't even have to go to the movie theater to see some the finest new releases — instead, you can check out the original offerings from Netflix every month. Innovative filmmakers and up-and-coming actors enjoy plenty of artistic freedom when they work with Netflix, and every year, there are several Netflix originals that end up drawing huge audiences and earning glowing praise from critics.

2020 is already seeing some Netflix originals get lots of positive buzz. From drama series to gripping documentaries, the streaming giant is experimenting with some fresh ideas. Of course, with their release schedule ramping up more than ever, it's inevitable that some gems will fly under the radar. Looking for something new to watch? Here are a few Netflix originals that you probably haven't seen yet.

There are medical dramas, there are cop shows, and then there's Medical Police, which combines both genres into one comedy series. Medical Police is basically a spinoff of the Adult Swim series Childrens Hospital, and just like Childrens Hospital, it pokes fun at all kinds of classic tropes you've seen on other medical shows.

In Medical Police, Dr. Lola Spratt and Owen Maestro become responsible for dealing with a deadly virus that has been released in cities around the world. They race against time as dangerous players plot to expose even more people to the virus, and their adventures take them around the world. The writers never miss an opportunity to squeeze in another joke, and the series is heavy on meta-humor. If you've found yourself laughing at Childrens Hospital before, don't miss Medical Police — you'll get to spend even more time with these hilarious characters and see them dealing with entirely new and wacky scenarios.

The Cold War-era drama The Coldest Game received some positive attention on the awards circuit in Poland after its initial screening at the Gydnia Film Festival, but it isn't well-known internationally — not yet, anyway. Now that the film has officially been released on Netflix, American audiences can finally see it for themselves.

In The Coldest Game, former chess player and skilled mathematician Joshua Mansky is wasting his days away playing card games at the bar and drinking heavily. One day, everything changes when he's roped into the conflict between the United States and the Soviet Union. After being kidnapped by American spies, he is forced to fill in for a deceased American competitor at a chess tournament. Now, he has to go up against the reigning Soviet champion, Alexander Garylov. This is more than just a chess tournament — he's stuck in the midst of a proxy war between the world's most powerful nations, and for Mansky, the stakes couldn't be higher.

This South African crime drama is actually the very first Netflix original series produced in Africa. Queen Sono is definitely bringing something new to the platform. This series tells the story of a secret agent, Queen Sono, working in South Africa and trying to solve the mystery of her mother's murder. She's involved with a clandestine organization called the Special Operations Group, but to everyone else in her life, she's merely an "art trader."

Queen may use unorthodox methods to gain intel, occasionally getting criticism from the other agents she works with, but no one can deny that she is very skilled at what she does. And when she decides to put her talents to the test to see if she can crack the case surrounding her mother's death, no one is getting in her way. If you want to dive in and follow Queen's adventures, you'll be in for a wild ride.

This Norwegian horror anthology will take you on a wild ride — literally. Bloodride balances scary scenes with morbid humor, and while the anthology format can be difficult to master, this series manages to pull it off. Each episode begins with an intro scene on a bus, featuring the characters that will appear in the series, even though their stories are not interconnected. But the terrifying bus driver indicates that they're headed to an eerie destination, if only metaphorically.

The various stories featured in Bloodride take viewers from a village that just happens to be the home of an ancient sacrificial Viking stone (which the residents use for their own nefarious aims), to a creative writing class where one student finds out that she is the character in another classmate's story when horrible things start happening to her. With six unique episodes to delve into, you're bound to find a few that genuinely make your skin crawl.

In the Taiwanese drama The Victims' Game, we're introduced to Fang Yi-Jen, a future forensic scientist with Asperger's syndrome. Yi-Jen is a great student, and he never misses a detail in his assignments, but his lack of social skills means that he endures bullying from his classmates.

Years later, Yi-Jen is a working scientist, and he's assigned to a horrifying murder case: a once-popular singer has been killed, and her body has been dissolved in acid, making it difficult to positively identify the corpse. As an adult, Yi-Jen doesn't always fit in with the rest of his team at work – but his work ethic and keen eye mean that he often notices things that others don't, and this case is no different. After Yi-Jen takes fingerprints from the singer's belongings, he's shocked to find that they match a print found on one of his daughter's old drawings.

Yi-Jen has been estranged from his daughter for years, partially because he was so focused on his work. Now, he knows he needs to find her. When he meets local investigative journalist Hsu Hai-yan, he enlists her help to track her down and find out how his daughter became entangled with this murder mystery. If you're a fan of police procedurals, you'll definitely get invested The Victims' Game.

When Jahkor Lincoln was growing up, the last thing he wanted was to follow in his father JD's footsteps. JD's involvement with local gangs in Oakland always jeopardized their family's safety, and Jahkor dreamed of becoming a rapper and carving out a better life for himself one day.

But as you'll discover in All Day and a Night, Jahkor's path ends up taking a dark turn. After finding out that he's about to become a father, he tries to make some money by working with the wrong crowd — and his actions land him in prison for life. In the same prison, JD is waiting for him behind bars. When father and son come face-to-face once again, Jahkor ends up on a journey of self-reflection. He has to figure out which decisions have led him to end up like his own father so that he can break the cycle for his son. This gripping drama is anchored by powerhouse performances from Ashton Sanders, Jeffrey Wright, Reigna Taylor, and Yahya Abdul-Mateen II.

Loosely based on the Polish science fiction novel The Old Axolotl by Jacek Dukaj, Into the Night is the first Belgian original series on Netflix. Sure, you've probably seen plots about plane hijackings play out on screen before, but chances are you've never seen anything quite like Into the Night.

Passengers onboard a red-eye flight bound for Moscow from Brussels are shocked when their plane is hijacked by an Italian soldier. He demands that the pilot depart early, warning the crew that if they don't take off soon, the sunrise will kill them come morning. The passengers are understandably confused and frightened, but the pilot abides by the hijacker's threat. To the horror of all on board, they soon find out that the hijacker was telling the truth — countless people have been killed in a global crisis brought on by deadly exposure to sunlight. Now, the passengers and crew must continue chasing the darkness until they can find refuge.

The French action thriller Lost Bullet kicks off when Lino, an exceptionally skilled car mechanic, ends up behind bars after he drives a Renault Clio right through a building. He survives the crash, but his seatbelt jams, and the cops get to him before he can bolt. His time in prison takes an interesting turn when he's presented with an offer that he just can't turn down. A cop asks Lino to become part of a rather unorthodox work-release program in exchange for reducing his sentence — and he'll get to put his mechanic skills to good use.

Naturally, Lino agrees. He ends up joining a law enforcement organization called the "Go Fast Brigade" – and as you may have guessed, they love a good car chase. The rest of the film is a wild ride, and the action scenes are so engaging that you'll have no problem accepting the absurdity of Lino's situation.

If you're familiar with the famous Ju-On franchise (known stateside as The Grudge), you might already know the premise of Ju-On: Origins. When someone dies while harboring powerful rage, a curse is born, and their spirit haunts the place where they died. No one is safe from their desire for revenge.

Ju-On: Origins is the first original Japanese horror series on Netflix, and it functions as a sort of "prequel" to the other entries in this franchise. The series takes place over several years, following an ensemble of characters who are affected by a lingering curse at the scene of a murder — a curse with an especially traumatic effect on pregnant women and families with young children. The storyline in Ju-On: Origins brings new depth to these legends, but fair warning: this series is exceptionally violent and gory, with graphic visuals that are not for the faint of heart. But horror fans who can stomach it can easily binge-watch this series in a single spooky evening.

The series Young Wallander is based on the popular mystery novels by Swedish crime writer Henning Mankell. His novels feature a skilled police inspector named Kurt Wallander, who investigates cases in the southern Swedish town of Ystad. But Young Wallander tells his story with a twist — instead of portraying Wallander as a cynical older officer, in this version, he's a rookie stumbling his way through a controversial case.

Wallander lives in a public housing complex, where he tries to keep a low profile because his immigrant neighbors are suspicious of the police. He is awakened in the middle of the night by a fire in the complex, and when he escapes outside, he witnesses the gruesome death of a young boy. With tensions rising in his own backyard, Wallander steps up to take on the case, and now, it's up to him to figure out who was responsible for this murder. Seeing a new side of Wallander's story will be exciting for fans of the books, and for those who are new to the world of Wallander, the topical subject matter and intriguing protagonist is sure to get them hooked.

With big names like Tom Holland and Robert Pattinson, saying that the psychological thriller The Devil All the Time has an all-star cast would be putting it lightly. But these popular actors aren't the only draw — the disturbing storyline will have you holding your breath as you await the next morbid turn. The film is based on Donald Ray Pollack's novel of the same name.

While Marine Willard Russell is serving in the Soloman Islands during World War II, he comes across a sight that haunts him for the rest of his life: another soldier skinned and left to die hung up on a cross. When he returns home, he's a changed man, but he begins to rebuild his life. He settles down, gets married, and has a son named Arvin. But Willard's rural town is full of strange and sinister characters, and as the years go on, one begins to wonder if the devil himself might be at work in this community.

I'm Thinking of Ending Things draws you into a bizarre world where nothing quite makes sense. Director Charlie Kaufman, known for writing surreal cult classics like Being John Malkovich and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, pulls his trademark visual and narrative tricks on the viewer, and every time you think you're starting to figure out what this story is really about, something turns your perceptions upside down.

Initially, I'm Thinking of Ending Things feels like a break-up movie. A woman mulls over the possibility of ending her six-week-long relationship with her new boyfriend Jake. They're en route to Jake's parents' farm, where she'll be meeting them for the first time. But their drive is intercut with odd, seemingly irrelevant scenes that let the viewer know they're in for a surreal two hours. And when they arrive at the farmhouse, reality begins to feel like it's coming apart at the seams. Pay close attention to this psychological horror film — you don't want to miss any key details.

With a thrilling lead performance from Charlize Theron, director Gina Prince-Bythewood's The Old Guard follows a team of immortal mercenaries who have vowed that they will never work for the same people twice — but they finally break this rule when they're hired by the former CIA operative James Copley, who wants them to rescue a group of children who have been abducted in South Sudan. They choose to use their powers for good, so they accept the mission.

But when they are captured and killed during their mission, they have to face the harsh reality that they have been tricked. Copley has set up a trap for them, and they've fallen for it. Once their regenerative healing abilities have worked their magic, the group has to change tactics. Copley has caught their regeneration on camera, and now, they're dealing with a new kind of threat. Suddenly, they find themselves on a revenge mission. Can these centuries-old mercenaries prevail, or will they find that even immortality cannot save them?