It’s difficult to choose what to watch on Netflix at the best of times, but can you guess which shows have the highest viewership? Hint: Adolescence has just broken an astonishing Stranger Things record.
There are multiple 2025 releases that could easily enter the highest viewed Netflix shows of all time, including Stranger Things Season 5, Wednesday Season 2, and Squid Game Season 3. However, it’s going to be while until we’ve got stats on those… and aren’t we spoilt for choice anyway?
If we look back over the last 10 years of binge-worthy TV shows on the streaming service, there have been plenty of absolute bangers. But which have been the highest rated?
Plenty of us have put in solid hours of binging, and they’ve paid off in the form of the ultimate list: the 10 Netflix shows most highly rated by us. Good job, team.
10. Stranger Things Season 3
Views: 94.8 million
Season 3 was the introduction of Maya Hawke’s Robin, Eleven, and Max spend a lot of time hanging out at an 80s jazzed-out mall, and Hopper was left for dead while Russian prisoners were being fed to a Demogorgon.
Dropping two years after Season 2, it was the first (and sadly not the last) time fans had a significant wait for more episodes, arguably adding to why Season 3 has made the top 10 list at all. Plus we saw Eleven get officially adopted, something most of us had wanted since 2016.
9. Fool Me Once
Views: 98.2 million
Harlan Coben has had a successful streak of adapting his smash-hit novels for the streamer (and still will, with Will I Find You and Run Away both in development), but Fool Me Once is the cherry on the cake. There’s a great mystery at its core, with Maya Stern trying to come to terms with the brutal murder of her husband, Joe. However, when Maya installs a nanny-cam to keep an eye on her young daughter, she is shocked to see her husband in her house.
Released on New Year’s Day 2024, it was the perfect limited series binge to kick off a new year while we were still clinging to Christmas time off. But more than that, Fool Me Once was crime done well with a cast likely new to most US viewers, and it really did what it said on the tin.
8. The Night Agent Season 1
Views: 98.2 million
While monitoring an emergency line, an FBI agent answers a call that plunges him into a deadly conspiracy involving a mole at the White House. All words in this sentence are ones that should get your ears pricking, and that was true for almost 100 million of us. Not only was Season 2 incredibly hyped (and successful), but critics and fans alike were impressed with the construction and storylines of its debut.
7. Bridgerton Season 3
Views: 106 million
After being unmasked as Lady Whistledown, Bridgerton Season 3 was Penelope Featherington’s time to shine. Not only were fans chomping at the bit to see everyone’s favorite Nicola Coughlan in a leading role, but they were also more than ready to see her get… personal… with one Colin Bridgerton. With the series split into two parts, we had to wait that extra bit longer for the big moment, but boy, did it pay off.
6. The Queen’s Gambit
Views: 112.8 million
Before she was Furiosa or running away from a villainous Ralph Fiennes making burgers on a remote island, Anya Taylor-Joy rose to worldwide fame in her breakout role as Beth Harmon in The Queen’s Gambit.
Set during the Cold War era, orphaned chess prodigy Beth Harmon struggles with addiction in a quest to become the greatest chess player in the world. It’s probable that nobody would have thought chess would be the sexiest sport of 2020, but hey… there was a pandemic on! It was our go-to binge throughout the darkest days of COVID, and for that we’ll be forever thankful.
5. Bridgerton Season 1
Views: 113.3 million
When Bridgerton first burst onto the small screen, the landscape of Netflix shifted once again. We’d seen things go mega viral before this point (Stranger Things, for one), but a period romance drama that broke all social historical conventions?
It was raunchy, it was romantic, and it had a delicious amount of lore attached to it. Bridgerton’s beginnings are arguably still its best series, following Daphne and Simon’s courtship. We were still in the throes of the pandemic, but even so – the chemistry was undeniable.
4. DAHMER: Monster – The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Views: 115.6 million
If anything can comfortably enter the top 5 most-viewed Netflix shows of all time, it’s something based on a famous serial killer. The Monster series was a new creative foray for Ryan Murphy, even though he briefly touched on true crime in shows like American Crime Story.
But with Dahmer comes an unprecedented wave of interest, and Evan Peters’ portrayal was chillingly aloof. It also had its fair share of controversy, which never hurts ratings.
3. Stranger Things Season 4
Views: 140.7 million
It’s the season we’ve binged the most as our lifelong wait for Season 5 continues, but Stranger Things Season 4 was still full of iconic moments we’re still talking about.
Vecna is formally introduced as the archaic villain we’re all absolutely terrified of, Kate Bush briefly reentered the charts after that ‘Running Up That Hill,’ scene, and we’ve still got no idea if Max is actually dead or not. Will can still feel Vecna’s presence in the final scene, and we know the wrath of the Upside Down is far from over.
2. Adolescence
Views: 141.2 million
Considering Adolescence only dropped in April 2025, it’s absolutely staggering that it’s already second on the list. The show became a viral cultural phenomenon for its unique, shocking, one-take portrayal of incel culture in younger ages, probing into questions society has been too scared to ask itself.
Each of the four episodes is essentially a mini-film, examining different stages of Jamie’s journey, from arrest to just before the trial. Every aspect of this one is phenomenal, from its inventive cinematography to a debut performance from Owen Cooper. If you haven’t seen it yet, what are you doing?
1. Wednesday Season 1
Views: 252.1 million
At number one on our list, and over 100 million views ahead of any other show on the streamer, is Wednesday Season 1. A reinvention of The Addams Family we know and love from the late 1990s, Wednesday Addams attempts to master her emerging psychic ability at Nevermore Academy.
It’s Jenna Ortega’s performance that really sells it, but the high production value rivals most new movies coming out year on year. We had the viral dance moment on socials (no, Lady Gaga wasn’t actually a part of it at this stage), and plenty of intelligent and entertaining plot points.
We’ve had a Stranger Things level of waiting for Season 2, with new episodes possibly on track to eclipse its own record. With Mother Monster officially on board, anything could happen.
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