5 Best Netflix Miniseries Nobody Talks About Anymore

The television miniseries used to be a massive cultural event. Something like the finale of "Roots" – one of the best miniseries of all time — was watched by 100 million people, guaranteeing it'd be the only thing anybody talked about at work and school the next day.

We all consume different media these days, especially with streaming services pumping billions into producing original content meant to hook subscribers. Some break out of the tsunami of streaming shows, but plenty of great ones get lost in the algorithmic shuffle. We now live in an era where you can watch a show that you consider one of the best ever made, and no one you know has heard of it.

The miniseries listed below all streamed on Netflix, and all racked up positive critical reviews. Sure, they have their devoted fans, but for the most part, these shows came and went. Some people may have clicked play, spent a weekend on an enjoyable binge, and then never thought about these shows again, if they were even aware of their existence. If you have a day to kill and are looking for something great to watch that won't take up too much of your time, check out these overlooked Netflix miniseries.

"Dracula" has had many faces on television, but one of the best recent incarnations came in 2020, when Netflix picked up the BBC's new production of the Bram Stoker novel. This version was created by Mark Gatiss and Steven Moffat, best known for rebooting "Doctor Who" and the Benedict Cumberbatch-starring "Sherlock" series. In other words, the duo know a thing or two about updating recognizable characters for new audiences.

In their "Dracula" miniseries, Danish actor Claes Bang dons the iconic fangs, playing the ancient creature as a savage, yet seductive member of the aristocracy. The first two episodes seem like they might be following the traditional story arc — Jonathan Harker (John Heffernan) travels to Transylvania, meets an old man who feeds on blood, and so on. In its third episode, however, "Dracula" becomes something else entirely. We won't spoil things here, but this is a modern update of the story on several levels, offering interesting commentary on the role of the vampire.

The miniseries received positive reviews upon release, racking up an impressive 71% Fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Unfortunately, the series dropped in the first few days of 2020, and the world soon had other things on its mind. "Dracula" may have come and gone, but it's worth a watch no matter how late you are to the party.

For several years, horror director Mike Flanagan partnered with Netflix on a collection of miniseries adaptations. "Midnight Mass" is an original idea, but the others remix horror fiction of old. While "The Haunting of Hill House" kicked things off with a bang and "The Midnight Club" failed to capture much of the same success, "The Haunting of Bly Manor" falls somewhere in the middle of most Mike Flanagan horror show rankings.

That's unfortunate, because "The Haunting of Bly Manor" is fantastic. Much of it is based on Henry James' seminal horror novel "The Turn of the Screw," a book about a governess who realizes that the two children she's caring for can see ghosts. In the show, the governess is named Dani, played by "Hill House" and "You" alum Victoria Pedretti, who delivers an even more impressive performance.

In Flanagan's hands, the famously-chilly ghost story becomes a rumination on loss and longing. It's also, of course, incredibly scary. Flanagan told Daily Dead that he filled the series with Easter Eggs to other horror landmarks, hoping to bring people together through a shared love of horror. "It's a quiet and secret communication that's meant to just awaken just a little moment of joy in people who see the same thing you see, like the same thing you like," he said. Because it's so underappreciated, "The Haunting of Bly Manor" now functions the same way.

Colman Domingo nearly quit acting after auditioning for "Boardwalk Empire," and we're lucky he didn't. The thespian is one of the most reliable stars to emerge over the past decade, rocketing to the top of the A-List thanks to his turn as Ali on "Euphoria." He'd been on shows like "Fear the Walking Dead," "The Knick," and "Lucifer," but it wasn't until after his breakthrough that Domingo was handed lead roles.

He's excellent in "The Madness," a Netflix miniseries where he plays Muncie Daniels, a pundit who talks politics on cable news shows. When Muncie accidentally witnesses a murder, he is drawn into a vast conspiracy eager to make him the fall guy for a shadowy plot.

The miniseries had the unfortunate timing of dropping in November 2024, as the country was exhausted from one of the most tumultuous presidential elections in recent American history. People weren't particularly interested in a show all about the kinds of online white supremacist networks that seemed to be increasingly influencing real-life society. In fact, Domingo joked to Deadline that the show might have actually been based on real life. "The corporations of America running things and being the puppeteer of it all," he said. "It's very strange. Is it a conspiracy or is it real? I don't know, you decide." While audiences initially might not have been ready to confront "The Madness," it now seems more relevant than ever.

We now live in a world where three-time Oscar winner Meryl Streep stars in multiple seasons of Hulu's "Only Murders in the Building," but in the 2010s, it was still somewhat unusual to see bona fide movie stars in streaming shows. In 2018, Netflix aired "Maniac," a miniseries that served as a reunion for two movie stars whose careers long had taken off, bringing Jonah Hill and Emma Stone back together after "Superbad" made them box-office gold.

The twisted sci-fi show follows Stone and Hill as Annie and Owen, two mentally ill patients who sign up for a strange drug trial that can supposedly cure all psychological ailments. The show is retro-futuristic, meaning it ostensibly takes place in the near future but contains production design inspired by mid-century ideas of what the future would look like. That makes "Maniac" a visual delight, even before getting to the part where the experimental drug causes vivid hallucinations that take the form of genre-hopping alternate realities.

In other words: sometimes Annie's an elf, and sometimes Owen's a football star, and the series never stops moving, always tossing around a smorgasbord of visually-explosive twists and turns. Plus, despite all the silly shenanigans going on in the show's sci-fi plot, Stone and Hill anchor the series with heartfelt performances that'll make you really care about the characters.

Like several stories on this list, Patricia Highsmith's "The Talented Mr. Ripley" has been adapted many times. Her cycle of books follows Tom Ripley, a man who appears to have no moral compass; he is a man made of pure need, trying to climb his way through society by taking on whatever personality trait he needs at any given moment. He's a chameleon, a shapeshifter, the kind of guy who can entertain a crowd at a party or slip unnoticed through the streets of Rome.

In Netflix's 2024 miniseries adaptation, Andrew Scott takes on the titular role, and he's extraordinary. He made "All of Us Strangers" into a heartrending tale of grief, loneliness, and love, and makes "Ripley" into a chilling exercise of unchecked ego. It's all shot in gorgeous black and white that envisions mid-century Europe like a noir from Hollywood's golden age, those stone streets full of deep shadows and blinding summer sun.

Scott isn't the only actor worth watching "Ripley" for. The series also features a fantastic performance by Dakota Fanning, playing the role once held by Gwyneth Paltrow in the 1999 film adaptation. In fact, Fanning is so good that, like Scott, she was nominated for an Emmy. The show itself won four, picking up awards for directing, cinematography, sound editing, and visual effects, proving that even though audiences didn't show up in droves, the show is a major achievement worth celebrating.