8 Netflix Miniseries With the Highest Rotten Tomatoes Scores, Ranked
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An aggregated rating system that often shapes box office success, marketing, and consumer choices, Rotten Tomatoes is a universally recognized (if flawed) metric for a show or movie’s quality. In 2019, It’s Bruno! became the first Netflix original miniseries to earn a full 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes. Since then, the streamer has produced a long list of incredible shows and series in the category, many of which have followed in the footsteps of the first and topped the ranking meter.
From big-banner productions to indie hits and international originals, Netflix boasts some great miniseries and limited-episode shows that easily surpass their longer-running counterparts, with the Rotten Tomatoes scores to prove it. From critical and commercial successes like Parasyte: The Grey to hidden gems like Harlan Coben’s The Innocent, here’s our ranked guide to eight Netflix miniseries with the highest possible Rotten Tomatoes scores.
8 ‘Geek Girl’ (2024)
A teen comedy-drama based on Holly Smale’s young adult novel from 2013, Geek Girl centers on an awkward and eccentric teenager named Harriet, who struggles to fit in with her peers at high school. While on a school trip, Harriet is scouted by a top modeling agency based in London, and her life and destiny take a dramatic turn. Emily Carey stars as the titular central character, with Sarah Parish, Liam Woodrum, Emmanuel Imani, and Tim Downie in main roles.
Anchored by a relatable character and realistic themes, Geek Girl does a fantastic job of capturing the journey of an adolescent in a constantly contradictory world. The 10-part series is anything but a garden-variety teenage comedy, even though it has high school drama and adolescent pangs for it. While there are a lot of laughs from these tropes, there is also immense depth and quiet brilliance in exploring the struggles and insecurities of people like Harriet, which elevate the show to a higher level.
7 ‘Parasyte: The Grey’ (2024)
Created by Yeon Sang-ho, Parasyte: The Grey is a South Korean sci-fi horror series spin-off of the best-selling manga, Parasyte, written and illustrated by Hitoshi Iwaaki, which has also been adapted into live-action films. The six-part series follows Jeong Su-in, whose life turns upside down when an alien parasite takes over her body, transforming her into a human-parasite hybrid and thrusting her into an emotional, psychological, and moral spiral. The series stars Jeon So-nee as Su-in, with Koo Kyo-hwan, Lee Jung-hyun, Kwon Hae-hyo, and Kim In-kwon as important characters.
Terrifying, both visually and conceptually, Parasyte: The Grey is a faithful expansion of the globally recognized manga series from the '90s. Delivered with stunning visual effects and frenzied, anime-style action choreography, the series does complete justice to the world-building, core rules, and lore of the original story. When it premiered, Parasyte: The Grey received several accolades and was hailed as a timely and immersive sci-fi show — a truly binge-worthy addition to Netflix’s Korean-language library.
6 ‘Baby Reindeer’ (2024)
Created by Scottish actor and comedian Richard Gadd, based on his one-man show of the same name, Baby Reindeer is a black comedy thriller depicting a fictionalized story inspired by events in his real life. The series follows Donny (Gadd), a struggling comedian and bartender, whose small act of kindness towards a distressed customer throws his life down a dark spiral, forcing him to come face-to-face with his personal demons. Jessica Gunn, Nava Mau, and Tom Goodman-Hill star as the other main characters.
Widely considered one of the best miniseries made since 2020, Baby Reindeer takes a very intelligent and intense stance on the dangers of obsession. On its premiere, the Netflix original was a massive success, earning acclaim for the writing, acting, and phenomenal on-screen chemistry between Gadd and Gunning, with Gunning winning an Emmy for her breakthrough role. Emotionally raw and darkly funny, Baby Reindeer is a one-of-a-kind black comedy on Netflix that is a must-watch for genre fans.
Collider Exclusive · 8 Questions · 2 Minutes Which Netflix Character Would Be Your Best Friend? Dustin · Emily · Wednesday · Gi-hun
Some friends drag you out of the house. Some sit with you on the worst night of your life. Netflix has written both, plus the one who tells you the truth you have been avoiding all week. Answer eight quick questions about how you actually do friendship, and find out which of them was always going to end up in your corner.
🧢Dustin(Stranger Things)
🗼Emily(Emily in Paris)
🕷️Wednesday(Wednesday)
🟢Gi-hun(Squid Game)
01
How do you usually end up making a new friend? The origin story says a lot about the friendship that follows it.
02
What is a perfect Saturday with your best friend? Friendship is mostly built out of very ordinary hours.
03
You call them at two in the morning. What happens? This is the real test of a friendship, and everybody knows it.
04
What do you want from them when you are clearly wrong? The best friendships are the ones that survive being corrected.
05
What do your friends actually value about you? The friend you attract says something about the friend you are.
06
You have a falling out. How does it go? How a friendship repairs itself matters more than how it breaks.
07
What do you actually need a best friend for? Everybody is missing something. The right friend fills that gap.
08
Ten years from now, what keeps the two of you close? Eight questions in, this is the one that decides who you get.
The Group Chat Has Spoken Your Best Friend Is…
Four Netflix characters, four completely different ways of showing up for somebody. This is the one who fits how you actually do friendship, and what having them in your life would be like.
Dustin Henderson
You do not do friendship at half volume, and neither does he. What you want is somebody who says yes to the plan before you have finished describing the plan.
- Dustin is the friend the entire show runs on: loyal past the point of sense, enthusiastic about everything, and incapable of leaving anybody behind.
- You have the same instinct. Your friendships are loud, specific and slightly ridiculous, and they last for decades because of it.
- He is also the one person who would take your strangest interest completely seriously, which is far rarer than it sounds.
- You would have a group chat. It would never once be quiet.
Emily Cooper
You are the friend who makes things happen, and so is she. Together you would be mildly exhausting to everyone around you and completely delighted with yourselves.
- Emily treats an ordinary Tuesday as something that could be turned into an occasion, which is either the best or the worst quality in a friend depending on your energy levels.
- You share her refusal to sit still. Neither of you has ever accepted a night in when something was happening somewhere else.
- She is far more loyal than people give her credit for. She defends her friends loudly, publicly, and occasionally before checking the facts.
- She would post the photo without asking. You would forgive her, because it is a very good photo.
Wednesday Addams
You have no patience for pleasant lies, and she has no ability to tell them. What looks like coldness from the outside is the most reliable friendship on this list.
- Wednesday never says a kind thing she does not mean, which makes the rare ones count for an enormous amount.
- You would rather be told the truth than be made comfortable. She is constitutionally incapable of offering you anything else.
- Underneath all of it she is ferociously protective. She simply refuses to make a performance out of caring.
- Do not expect a birthday message. Do expect her to ruin anyone who wrongs you.
Seong Gi-hun
You look after whoever is having the worst day. So does he. It is the least strategic way to move through the world and the best possible quality in a friend.
- Gi-hun is not the strongest player in Squid Game, or the cleverest. He is the one who keeps choosing to protect somebody else, over and over, at genuine cost to himself.
- You have the same instinct. You notice who is struggling and you stay with them, long after anybody would blame you for leaving.
- He is a flawed friend, and that is part of why it lands. He lets people down, then comes back and tries again, which is more than most manage.
- He would give you his last chance and never once mention that he had done it.
5 ‘The Innocent’ (2021)
Based on Harlan Coben’s standalone novel of the same name, The Innocent is a Spanish thriller miniseries by Oriol Paulo that follows a man named Mateo, whose life is torn apart after he commits accidental manslaughter. Years later, when he is about to return to an ordinary life as a family man, his life takes an extraordinary turn once again after a mysterious phone call sets him on a dangerous path. The series stars Mario Casas as Mateo, with Alexandra Jiménez, Aura Garrido, and José Coronado as other main characters.
The Innocent is a brilliant psychological crime thriller that improves upon the original novel with its different setting and a completely different character perspective. The puzzle-like narrative, edgy tension, and surprise plot twists are sure to astonish and awe even the most perceptive genre fan. When it premiered in 2021, the Netflix original Spanish series earned rave reviews from critics, but it soon fell off the radar and has since remained a lesser-known gem.
4 ‘Giri/Haji’ (2019)
A heavily underrated hard-boiled British crime drama by Joe Barton, Giri/Haji follows the story of Kenzo, a Japanese detective from Tokyo who travels to London searching for his brother Yuto, who had allegedly killed the nephew of a dangerous yakuza boss, triggering a gang war. Kenzo teams up with Detective Constable Sarah and local sex worker Rodney to find out if Yuto is dead or alive, navigating a vastly different culture, legal system, and the dark corners of London that challenge Kenzo’s entire belief system. Takehiro Hira, Kelly Macdonald, Yōsuke Kubozuka, and Will Sharpe play the main characters.
Sharp and suspenseful, Giri/Haji stands out among other miniseries of its time. The BBC show is slick and stylish, with great cinematography, using animated sequences within its live-action storytelling for backstories, flashbacks, and characters’ imaginations. During its eight-episode run, Giri/Haji earned critical acclaim and has since ranked among the finest crime miniseries of this century, though it’s still not as widely known as it ought to be.
3 ‘Maya and the Three’ (2021)
An animated fantasy miniseries created by Jorge R. Gutiérrez, Maya and the Three is the story of the titular warrior princess, who lives in a fictional world similar to pre-colonial Mesoamerica. Maya’s entire life changes on her 15th birthday when she learns about a prophecy and sets out on a quest to defeat the gods of the underworld and save the world from destruction, with three warriors as her allies. The A-list voice cast stars Zoe Saldaña, Diego Luna, Gabriel Iglesias, Alfred Molina, and Rita Moreno as key characters.
Maya and the Three is a heavily underrated animated miniseries that deserves far more mainstream attention than it has received so far, despite its perfect rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Thrilling and energetic, the animated miniseries is an absolute visual treat. With its delightful voice performances and the rich art, concept, and exploration of Indigenous cultures, Maya and the Three has all the right elements to engage adults and kids alike.
2 ‘Kotaro Lives Alone’ (2022)
Based on the manga series of the same name by Mami Tsumura, Kotaro Lives Alone is a 10-episode anime miniseries that centers on the life of the titular four-year-old boy, who lives on his own without any family. After he moves next door to a struggling manga artist, Kotaro befriends him and begins to build a support community with his neighbors. The main characters are voiced by Rie Kugimiya, Toshiki Masuda, Saori Hayami, and Junichi Suwabe, with story composition by Hiroshi Satо̄, character designs by Tomomi Kimura, and music by Yūya Mori.
Even though Kotaro Lives Alone appears to be just another sweet anime series about a little boy, it’s actually deeply heartbreaking, with some very beautiful moments that more than justify its perfect Rotten Tomatoes score. The series handles weighty issues like child neglect and abuse with great care and sensitivity, striking the right balance between humor and heart. Most importantly, the show’s short and focused runtime makes the story of Kotaro Lives Alone both impactful and a quick watch.
1 ‘Pluto’ (2023)
Written by Heisuke Yamashita and Tatsurou Inamoto, Pluto is an anime miniseries adaptation of Naoki Urasawa and Takashi Nagasaki’s manga series Pluto: Urasawa x Tezuka, in turn a spin-off of Astro Boy. Set in a world where humans and robots cohabit under strict rules and control, the story follows a series of violent murders of famous robots and humans, which uncovers a twisted conspiracy that could shake the delicate equation of existence between humans and robots. Shinshū Fuji, Hiroki Yasumoto, Koichi Yamadera, Yoko Hikasa, and Minori Suzuki voice the main characters.
Pluto is an extraordinarily touching science fiction story that keeps the viewer in tension while simultaneously challenging them with heavy questions about humanity and human existence as we know it. A fantastic combination of hard sci-fi, murder mystery, and philosophy, the eight-episode anime lingers with the viewer long after the credits roll. Deeply thoughtful and thought-provoking, Pluto is a critically acclaimed genre masterpiece of the 21st century that tops the list of Netflix’s top-rated anime titles, especially within the miniseries category.
Pluto
- Release Date
- 2023 - 2023-00-00
- Directors
- Toshio Kawaguchi
- Writers
- Tatsuro Inamoto, Heisuke Yamashita
KioskNews shows a cleaned-up reading view extracted from the publisher’s page — the original always lives on their site, not ours.