A short episode count can give a miniseries greater focus, allowing its creators to concentrate on character motivations and let the setting carry much of the storytelling. Netflix’s catalog includes several standout originals that use this format to deliver tightly constructed dramas, mysteries, horror stories and anime.

Here are 10 highly acclaimed Netflix miniseries with fewer than 10 episodes.

1. Unorthodox

Unorthodox follows Esty, a young Jewish woman who leaves an ultra-conservative community and an unhappy marriage to seek refuge with her estranged mother in Berlin. While her husband searches for her, Esty struggles to abandon the beliefs she was raised with and build a new life. Across just four episodes, Shira Haas’ performance gives the series a compelling emotional core as it explores personal freedom and the difficulty of breaking away from social expectations.

2. Bodies

Bodies combines the structure of a police procedural with a science-fiction mystery. A dead body appears in the same London location across four different time periods, forcing four investigators to examine the case using fragmented information. Each timeline approaches the mystery from a different perspective, while chase scenes and shootouts add an action-driven edge to the investigation.

3. The Queen’s Gambit

This period drama follows Beth Harmon, played by Anya Taylor-Joy, as she rises through the chess world from the 1950s into the early 1960s while battling addiction. The series treats chess as a demanding, high-stakes pursuit and examines how ambition can bring out both the best and worst in people. Beth’s journey also addresses internalized misogyny, the support she receives from male peers and the personal cost of exceptional talent.

4. Ripley

Netflix’s Ripley offers a darker interpretation of Patricia Highsmith’s The Talented Mr. Ripley. Andrew Scott plays Tom Ripley as a petty white-collar criminal in New York, without the boyish charm associated with the earlier film version. Filmed entirely in monochrome, the series uses the visual language of film noir to emphasize Ripley’s unsettling nature and his willingness to exploit the people and world around him.

5. Pluto

Pluto adapts the “The Greatest Robot on Earth” story arc from Osamu Tezuka’s Astro Boy. The eight-episode anime follows Gesicht, a robot detective working for Europol. Its story explores artificial intelligence, memory and humanity’s role in large-scale destruction, while geopolitical parallels add depth to a darker and more mature reimagining of the original material.

6. Godless

Godless uses the miniseries format to take a different approach to the Western genre. The story centers on Roy Goode, a young outlaw who flees his abusive mentor and arrives in a town populated almost entirely by women. This setting moves the series away from the traditionally male-dominated frontier and supports a slower, more atmospheric story rather than relying exclusively on violence and action.

7. Baby Reindeer

In Baby Reindeer, bartender Donny offers a free cup of tea to Martha, a distressed customer. The gesture leads to Martha developing an increasingly disturbing obsession with him. The series complicates the idea of victimhood by presenting Donny as an imperfect target who is forced to examine his own behavior. Its portrayal of stalking, shame, fear and culpability creates a disturbing and emotionally conflicted story.

8. Midnight Mass

Set on the isolated Crockett Island, Midnight Mass follows Riley Flynn after he returns home following four years in prison. As Riley wrestles with his fading faith and growing existential anxiety, the island’s residents confront a threat more disturbing than religious fanaticism or self-righteousness. Across seven episodes, Mike Flanagan blends horror, drama and extended monologues, with Hamish Linklater providing a central performance that helps hold the ambitious story together.

9. When They See Us

Ava DuVernay’s When They See Us dramatizes the 1989 Central Park jogger case, in which five teenagers of color were wrongly accused of assaulting and raping Trisha Meili. The series focuses on the lives of the Central Park Five and the consequences of sensationalized coverage, racial harassment and failures within the U.S. justice system. Its approach humanizes those affected while confronting the institutional damage caused by the case.

10. Adolescence

Every episode of Adolescence is filmed in a single continuous take. The story begins when Jamie Miller, a schoolboy played by Owen Cooper, is arrested for the murder of a girl from his school. As his family faces devastation and community backlash, the series examines online radicalization, misogynistic content and the way toxic ideas can contribute to real-world violence. Its one-take structure heightens the tension while Jamie’s apparent confusion and fear gradually give way to a deeper look at online manipulation and patriarchal beliefs.

Sources: Polygon.