Popular shows like The Night Agent and Bridgerton are currently taking on Netflix — but what for those who’re in search of something else?
Because the preeminent streaming experts, Watch With Us knows all of the little “hole-in-the-wall” shows that deserve a bit more love. For those who’re bored with streaming Bridgerton, we may help.
Along with being underrated, these shows even have near-perfect Rotten Tomatoes scores.
Our picks include the Irish period sitcom Derry Girls and the highschool true crime mockumentary American Vandal.
3. ‘Unbelievable’ (2019)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 98 percent
Based on true stories, Unbelievable follows a young person named Marie (Kaitlyn Dever) who reports being raped — then takes back her story. At the identical time, two female detectives (Toni Collette and Merritt Wever) begin investigating a series of rapes bearing similar trademarks to that of Marie’s story. Because the detectives follow the evidence and dig deeper, they start to locate the reality of Marie’s accusations.
Unbelievable subverts true crime clichés by shifting its focus to survivors of abuse, and consequently crafts a thoughtful and powerful narrative freed from melodrama. The show seriously grapples with the toll that the reality takes on sexual assault victims, making it greater than only a cop procedural but a real meditation on the patriarchal establishment. Dever, Collette and Wever are all stunning of their performances.
2. ‘American Vandal’ (2017-2018)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 98 percent
American Vandal takes the true crime craze and flips it on its head with this engaging and hilarious satire of documentaries like Making a Murderer and Serial. In the primary season, American Vandal attempts to pinpoint the offender of an ambitious highschool prank that leaves 27 faculty cars covered in phallic images. Teen sleuths Peter Maldonado (Tyler Alvarez) and Sam Ecklund (Griffin Gluck) try uncover the reality after class clown Dylan Maxwell (Jimmy Tatro) has the crime pinned on him and is expelled.
The second season of American Vandal takes the series to latest comic heights when Peter and Sam head to a Catholic highschool after the cafeteria lemonade is spiked with laxatives, and so they find themselves on the hunt to discover the perpetrator known only as “The Turd Burglar.” Not only is American Vandal an exceptional, laugh-out-loud lampoon, it’s also a genuinely engaging mystery. Marked by a striking sense of authenticity, American Vandal mimics true crime while being more narratively sensible than many easy thrillers.
1. ‘Derry Girls’ (2018-2022)
Rotten Tomatoes rating: 99 percent
Set throughout the final years of The Troubles, Derry Girls follows a gaggle of teenagers in Northern Ireland who attend the fictional Catholic highschool Our Lady Immaculate College. Erin (Saoirse-Monica Jackson), Orla (Louisa Harland), Clare (Nicola Coughlan), Michelle (Jamie-Lee O’Donnell) and Michelle’s English cousin James (Dylan Llewellyn) navigate coming-of-age amidst the backdrop of political and cultural unrest, incessantly entering into absurd, comical situations as they endure their many adolescent growing pains.
Derry Girls is admittedly beloved by its fanbase (especially in Ireland), but one can’t help but feel that this sitcom deserves way more mainstream attention in america than it received. Ultimately, the show serves as an honest and accurate portrait of teenage life during The Troubles while also being a genuinely funny sitcom. And never only is Derry Girls hilarious, but it surely’s also warm, surprisingly touching and coloured by memorable, eclectic characters.