What did we do before Netflix came into our lives, and what the heck did we watch? Luckily, there's no need to think about such sombre questions. We are living in the golden age of television, and we intend to use every minute of it. Each month, we bring you the most essential viewing Netflix recommenations for new shows and new seasons. Let the binging begin:
Unsolved Mysteries
A reboot of the popular investigative docuseries which looks into, as evident from the title, unsolved mysteries: unexplained disappearances, bizarre deaths, and supernatural encounters - All with the hope viewers will somehow be able to help solve the cold cases.
All episodes are rooted in the experiences of ordinary people who have gone through the extraordinary.
1 Season, 12 episodes, July 1
1 Season, 12 episodes, July 1
Warrior Nun
Based on a manga book character with the same name, the show follows an orphan girl called Eva, who wakes up in a morgue with a mysterious chip that gave her her life back.
Eva realizes that she now has strong super-powers, that she became a part of a secret, ancient cult of demon-fighting nuns, and that these powers are in the core of the battle between heaven and hell.
1 season, 10 episodes, July 2
1 season, 10 episodes, July 2
Down to Earth with Zac Efron
Is 2020 the year of the Zac Efron documentary? Looks like it. After Killing Zac Efron (which aired on Quibi), in this new show Efron and wellness guru Darin Olien travel the world and learn about different ways to achieve a healthy lifestyle.
We agree it sounds a bit dull, but that was before we saw Efron encounter a “community fart bag”.
1 season, 8 episodes, July 10
1 season, 8 episodes, July 10
The Business of Drugs
A new docuseries investigating how drug money moves, where it goes, and its devastating effects on people’s lives.
The show’s host is a former CIA agent that takes us through the different points in the drugs’ path – from the people who make them, through their distributes, all the way the consumers and addicts.
1 season, 6 episodes, July 14
1 season, 6 episodes, July 14
Cursed
Katherine Langford (13 Reasons Why) stars in a new intriguing fantasy series, based on a comic book re-imagining of an Arthurian tale.
The story is told through the eyes of Nimue, a young heroine in possession of a mysterious power, who joins forces with Arthur, a young mercenary. Together they try to find wizard Merlin and deliver him an ancient sword.
1 season, 10 episodes, July 17
1 season, 10 episodes, July 17
Vis a vis: El Oasis
The anticipated spin-off of Locked up, aka the show Álex Pina made before Money Heist. The show premiered in Spain earlier this year, and now the rest of the world can enjoy it.
The new version focuses on the characters of Macarena and Zulema, who recruit four other women for a last grand robbery at the wedding of a crime family.
1 season, 8 episodes, July 31
1 season, 8 episodes, July 31
June 2020 Recommendations
Reality Z
One of the more intriguing new shows coming up this month is a Brazilian adaptation to Dead Set, Charlie Brooker’s (Black Mirror) mini-series. Based on its trailer it’ll perfect for fans who like Black Mirror’s darkness, but also to those who’ve had enough of it and are looking for a lighter watch.
Reality Z is a wild black comedy, which tells a story that’s become shockingly relevant in the Covid19 era: participants of a reality show called “Olimpo” (a fictive version of Big Brother) discover that a zombie apocalypse is taking place outside of their home, and that the confinement imposed upon them as part of the show, makes them the last survivors on earth.
1 season, 10 episodes, June 10
1 season, 10 episodes, June 10
Curon
An Italian supernatural thriller about Anna, a woman returning to Curon, the town where she grew up, with her teenage twins.
When Anna mysteriously disappears, the kids set out on a journey exposing all the dark secrets hiding below the town’s calm surface, and revealing a side of their family they have never seen before.
1 season, 7 episodes, June 10
1 season, 7 episodes, June 10
Floor is Lava
Remember ‘the floor is lava’, the game we played when we were young? Netflix took it one step further with a sports reality show a-la Ninja Warrior, which follows the same rule:
in each episode, contestants will try to complete an obstacle course where they’ll have to hang, skip and jump over various hurdles without touching the floor for a second – because, just like when we were kids, touching the floor means elimination.
1 Season, June 19
1 Season, June 19
Home Game
A new documentary series about the unique, bizarre and thrilling sports traditions around the world, from voodoo wrestling in Congo to roller derby in Texas.
We admit that the premise sounds a little dull, but that’s also what we thought about Tiger King before we were introduced to Joe Exotic and Carole Baskin.
1 season, June 26
1 season, June 26
Crazy Delicious
Following the success of the charming Nailed It!, Netflix bring us another wacky reality cooking completion.
A joint-production with Britain’s Channel 4, the concept is still a little bit vague but is expected to take the usual boring dishes we consume every day and inspire viewers to make them 'crazy delicious'. With an emphasis on crazy, we hope.
1 season, 6 episodes, June 24
1 season, 6 episodes, June 24
13 Reasons Why, Season 4 (June 5)
Hannah Baker’s suicide tale was such a thin one, that we thought we would never get to season 4 – but we did.
After the Clay Jensen storyline, depicted in the previous seasons, the new and final season of 13 Reasons Why will introduce a new mystery, and will also bid farewell to all the students of Liberty High.
Queer Eye, season 5 (June 5)
These days, more than ever, we can use the intense sugar injection, supplied by the fab five, for a morale boost.
This season, the five arrives to change the lives of some lucky Philadelphia residents, amongst them an ambitious DJ and a dog groomer who can barely make ends meet.
The Politician, season 2 (June 19)
After a fun a thrilling first season, Ryan Murphy’s (Glee, American Horror Story, Hollywood and many others) show carries on from the same intriguing point the last season ended on –
ambitious Payton moves from the world of high school politics to the big league, and challenges the New York Senate majority leader.