8 Shows With the Best Plot Twists on Netflix

Alright, we’re gonna make a deal here. I promise not to spoil anything about the shows on this list, including subtly alluding to the twists to be clever, but, in exchange, you have to go into these shows as fresh as you can without looking for the twists or running over them with a fine-toothed comb of expectations. This way, I get to write about expert foreshadowing and the pristine execution of a mystery, and you get to enjoy some amazing shows with both great writing and maximum rewatchability with a clear mind and open heart. Agreed? Agreed! Now that we’ve pinky promised and sealed our pact, let's jump into Netflix’s collection of shows with the best plot twists.

For more recommendations, check out our ranked lists of The 10 Best Movie Twists of the 2000s and The 10 Best MCU Plot Twists.

Disclaimer: These titles are available in the US.

‘The Good Place’ (2016 - 2020)

Rotten Tomatoes: 97% | IMDb: 8.2/10

Starting with a show that is so funny and memeable that you may already know the Season 1 twist is Michael Schur’s hilarious and beautiful exploration of ethics and philosophy through the lens of the afterlife. The Good Place features a fantastic ensemble, including Kristen Bell, William Jackson Harper, Jameela Jamil, and Manny Jacinto, as people in a nondenominational heaven-style afterlife run by Ted Danson and D'Arcy Carden. If you’re familiar with Schur’s hit series Brooklyn Nine-Nine and Parks and Recreation, you already know he brings his character-driven absurdity to comedy while naturally weaving a tapestry of social commentary. Make your home a good place by throwing on this groundbreaking series.

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‘The Haunting of Hill House’ (2018)

Rotten Tomatoes: 93% | IMDb: 8.5/10

Writer and filmmaker Mike Flanagan is one of the best in the horror game right now. Known for his dynamic and mind-bending sequences coupled with a great instinct for what makes the skin crawl, it only makes sense that he would make a spine-tingling horror miniseries based on Shirley Jackson’s iconic novel. The Haunting of Hill House tells a story across two timelines as it follows five siblings who return to the haunted house they had to flee as children, allowing the audience to see the ways the traumatic events of their childhood have shaped them as adults. The whole series, especially the parallel timelines, feels very Stephen King’s It in all the best ways, which makes sense considering Flanagan is the king of adapting King’s work right now.

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‘Mr. Robot’ (2015 - 2019)

Rotten Tomatoes: 94% | IMDb: 8.5/10

Sam Esmail’s tech-driven psychological thriller, led by Rami Malek and Christian Slater, is a noir-ish dive into the underworld of hacking and the ways the rich elite use cybersecurity to hide their misdeeds. Malek and Slater are a fantastic duo as they bounce off one another while careening down a dark path of vigilante justice to enact a scheme that feels like an updated version of Project Mayhem that’s specifically built for the digital age. Beyond the chemistry of the two Mr. Robot leads, Esmail delivers a beautifully shot masterpiece that immediately pulls the audience into the paranoid mind of the main character while elevating each scene with Mac Quayle’s techno-industrial score that will make your heart pound.

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‘Dead to Me’ (2019 - 2022)

Rotten Tomatoes: 86% | IMDb: 7.9/10

This star-studded dark comedy is another woman-led hit created by Liz Feldman, and boy, does it hit hard. The story follows Christina Applegate as a grieving widow who befriends a quirky woman she meets at group therapy, played by Linda Cardellini, but things start to spiral out of control soon after they become close. Though Dead to Me has a crime mystery aspect surrounding a deadly hit-and-run, the big draw is the exploration of grief and the ways it can unravel a person’s world, which Applegate and Cardellini play with in their own unique ways. But they’re not the only ones driving this gritty and hilarious series, as James Marsden does double duty as twins in a bit that feels like an homage to the classic soap opera trope. (But don’t read into that too much — it’s not the main twist, I promise.)

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‘Lost’ (2004 - 2010)

Rotten Tomatoes: 86% | IMDb: 8.3/10

When most people think of big twists in television and movies, the first thing that comes to mind is probably M. Night Shyamalan. The second would be the J. J. Abrams mystery box series Lost, which captured the nation’s attention with a long series of revelations and never-ending questions. Whether you watched week-to-week during the original run, binged after it ended to see what the hype was about, or even have yet to check out the mysterious tale of the survivors of Oceanic Airlines Flight 815, you’re probably familiar with the aspects of the show that broke through to the zeitgeist like Smoke Monster, polar bears, and the Dharma Initiative. However, even if you know every turn or strange occurrence on the island, it’s the characters' journeys that really matter, and this show takes them on a wild adventure across multiple timelines.

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‘Dark’ (2017 - 2020)

Rotten Tomatoes: 95% | IMDb: 8.7/10

Speaking of stories across time, Dark is a German sci-fi mystery that tells a story that spans decades as it unravels a case surrounding a series of missing children that slowly reveals itself to trace back to the '50s. The tone and subject matter are as dark as the name suggests, and although the inciting incident is similar to its contemporaries like Broadchurch and Stranger Things, it quickly balloons into a rich and intriguing conspiracy that draws the audience deeper into the pitch-black depths of these disappearances. Also, though the original German acting is fantastic, if you find it hard to read subtitles while getting immersed in the visuals, the English dub is well done and allows you to sit back and take in the deliciously sinister vibes.

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‘You’ (2018 - 2025)

Rotten Tomatoes: 94% | IMDb: 7.6/10

Based on the dark romance by Caroline Kepnes, You is a captivating gaze into the mind of a man who falls in love at first sight and will do anything to spend the rest of his life with a woman he meets at his job as a bookstore manager. Penn Badgley takes on the role of the love-struck Joe, who’s often stuck in his own head, and he does an amazing job using his natural charisma to connect with the girl of his dreams, played by Elizabeth Lail. Having recently aired its last season, you can now fall madly in love with Joe as he moves around the world and finds new relationships wherever he goes over the course of five seasons. Please note that when I say it’s a dark romance, I mean it. It gets very dark, and like most romance novels, it would be best not to internalize or reenact anything the characters do.

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‘Breaking Bad’ (2008 - 2013)

Rotten Tomatoes: 96% | IMDb: 9.5/10

Vince Gilligan’s masterpiece about a high school chemistry teacher who starts cooking meth after being diagnosed with cancer is filled with big twists and turns, but instead of being there for shock value, each one feels deeply character-driven and often heartbreaking. Breaking Bad was a sensation for a reason, and that’s mainly due to the combination of spectacular performances from the ensemble, especially leads Bryan Cranston and Aaron Paul, and the complex writing that balances dark humor and situational drama. This award-winning series that redefined prestige television is many things: a commentary on the American healthcare system, the descent of a decent man, and an emotional roller coaster that will often leave you sitting silently in sad contemplation. But it’s also a franchise that’s a breeze to binge, with only 125 episodes between the main series and the similarly excellent prequel, Better Call Saul.

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