Three very different worlds are waiting for you on Netflix this weekend. A 19th-century murder mystery that questions everything you think you know about guilt, a Danish Nordic noir serial killer thriller that you genuinely cannot stop watching, and a Japanese sumo drama that has absolutely no business being as gripping as it is.
One is based on a Margaret Atwood novel, the second has a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, and the third one will make you care deeply about a sport you have never thought about once in your life. All three are criminally underrated and worthy of your weekend binge.
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Alias Grace (2017)
Based on Margaret Atwood’s novel of the same name, this six-part miniseries follows Grace Marks, a young Irish immigrant in 19th-century Canada, convicted of murdering her employer and his housekeeper. A decade into her sentence, psychiatrist Dr. Simon Jordan begins interviewing her to determine whether she should be pardoned on grounds of insanity. The whole show rests on one central question: is Grace telling the truth?
Sarah Gadon plays Grace with such quiet, calculated control that you never quite know where you stand with her. She is fragile yet magnetic and possibly dangerous all at once. The show is also a sharp study of how women were perceived, judged, and silenced in that era. It holds a 99% on Rotten Tomatoes and deserves every bit of it.
You can watch Alias Grace on Netflix.
The Chestnut Man (2021)
This is your perfect weekend watch because season 2 of The Chestnut Man: Hide and Seek drops on Netflix on May 7. So you have just enough time to binge the first season before it arrives. This Danish crime thriller follows detectives Naia Thulin and Mark Hess as they hunt a serial killer in Copenhagen who leaves tiny chestnut figurines at each crime scene.
What makes the series so gripping is how the mystery keeps expanding in directions you do not see coming. The pacing is relentless, the atmosphere is genuinely unsettling, and the finale lands hard. With six episodes, a perfect 100% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is one of the best Nordic noir series Netflix has ever put out.
You can watch The Chestnut Man on Netflix.
Sanctuary (2023)
It’s baffling how little people talk about this hidden gem on Netflix. This Japanese drama follows Kiyoshi, a broke and reckless young man who stumbles into the world of professional sumo wrestling, chasing money, only to find himself swallowed whole by its traditions, politics, and brutal hierarchy. Think Rocky, but set in one of Japan’s most sacred sporting institutions, with a dark comedy streak running through it.
The actual sumo matches are equal parts brutal and stunning. But what keeps you hooked on this underrated show is how it captures the culture around the sport, the rivalries between stables, the iron grip of tradition, and the political games played behind the scenes. It holds an 86% on Rotten Tomatoes and an 8/10 on IMDB. I recommend giving it two episodes before you judge the show.
You can watch Sanctuary on Netflix.