Netflix, being one of the top streamers who paved the way for the modern media landscape, seems to make its own rules, with everyone else following suit. They’re not beholden to broadcast standards that would limit the boobs, butts, and blood on screen.
Like Netflix, you don’t have to confine yourself to family-friendly content either. You can enjoy some mature shows with grown-up themes, a bit of violence, and maybe even some titillating scenes. Here are the best R-rated shows on Netflix (aka TV-MA, but that certainly doesn’t have the same ring to it, does it?).
For more recommendations, check out our list of the best R-rated movies on the platform, as well as the best movies and shows on Netflix across all ratings.
Editor’s note: This article was updated August 2024 to include The Umbrella Academy.
‘The Umbrella Academy’ (2019 – 2024)
Rotten Tomatoes: 78% | IMDb: 7.8/10
Based on the eponymous Dark Horse Comics series written by Gerard Way and illustrated by Gabriel Bá, The Umbrella Academy is a superhero comedy-drama show created by Steve Blackman and developed by Jeremy Slater. The series follows seven super-powered children born under mysterious circumstances who are adopted by a reclusive billionaire and trained to be superheroes. Years later, this dysfunctional family reunites to solve the mystery of their father’s death and stop the apocalypse. The show stars Elliot Page, Tom Hopper, David Castañeda, Emmy Raver-Lampman, Robert Sheehan, Aidan Gallagher, Justin H. Min, and more. Since its premiere in 2019, The Umbrella Academy has proven to be a popular series with both audiences and critics. The show consists of four seasons, and though the final season was a bit polarizing, the series has generally received positive reviews throughout its run. The series has also earned six Emmy nominations, as well as several other accolades. A humorous yet emotionally layered story that’s driven by its troubled and fascinating characters, The Umbrella Academy is a series that pushes the superhero genre in strange and amazing new directions.
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‘Squid Game’ (2021 – Present)
Rotten Tomatoes: 95% | IMDb: 8.0/10
This South Korean psychological thriller is a compelling dramatization and critique of the capitalist structures that exploit the vulnerable and disenfranchised for the advancement of the wealthy. Squid Game, created by Hwang Dong-hyuk (Silenced), places over 400 contestants in a survival game where failure means death. The series follows an ensemble cast, but Lee Jung-jae (The Acolyte) really takes the lead and deserves every award nomination and win he received for his performance. In addition to the rich themes of the plot, the show has a unique and colorful aesthetic that juxtaposes a childlike atmosphere with a dark, blood-soaked competition that offers criminals, poor, and indebted citizens the chance to change their lives by injecting it with money — or a bullet to the head.
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‘Bridgerton’ (2020 – Present)
Rotten Tomatoes: 84% | IMDb: 7.4/10
Bridgerton ain’t your grandma’s regency-era drama. Based on the novels by Julia Quinn, the hit Netflix series takes the vibes and iconography of Jane Austin novels and infuses them with diversity and a modern flare. Following the noble Bridgerton family in London, each season focuses on the courtship and drama surrounding a different sibling as they try to climb the social ladder and maintain their status among the British upper crust. The series features a revolving cast of top-notch actors that would fill this article if I tried to name them all, but the main cast is anchored by Nicola Coughlan (Derry Girls), Adjoa Andoh (Invictus), Luke Thompson (Dunkirk), Golda Rosheuvel (Lady Macbeth), and Julie Andrews (Mary Poppins).
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‘Derry Girls’ (2018 – 2022)
Rotten Tomatoes: 99% | IMDb: 8.5/10
Created by Lisa McGee (Being Human) based on her own adolescence in Derry, Northern Ireland, Derry Girls is a coming-of-age teen comedy set in the ’90s during the Troubles. The series follows a tight-knit group of friends attending a Catholic school and the shenanigans they get into trying to stand out and figure out what they believe in. Being set against the backdrop of the political unrest that plagued Ireland through the late ’90s allows the show to splash around in the tension of the era while commenting on the ground-level perspectives by letting the main characters be affected by major events happening in their periphery while they’re hyperfocused on the absurd situations they stumble into just trying to get through secondary school.
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‘Vikings: Valhalla’ (2022 – 2024)
Rotten Tomatoes: 96% | IMDb: 7.3/10
Screenwriter Jeb Stuart (Die Hard) hoists his flag and makes the Vikings world his own, creating a story that takes place 100 years after the original series. Vikings: Valhalla is a historical drama about the battle for England between the Danes and the native Englishmen that continues the tradition of amazing costumes and sets while elevating the scale of the battles and performances — specifically the three leads, Sam Corlett (Chilling Adventures of Sabrina) as Leif Erikson, Frida Gustavsson (Dröm) as Freydís Eiríksdóttir, and Leo Suter (Sanditon) as Harald Sigurdsson, who each expertly command the screen and drive the adventure forward in their own ways.
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‘Orange is the New Black’ (2013 – 2019)
Rotten Tomatoes: 90% | IMDb: 8.0/10
Based on the Piper Kerman memoir of the same name, Orange is the New Black is a dark comedy about a woman in her 30s living her ideal life who suddenly gets sent to prison for smuggling drugs a decade prior. The series initially revolves around the fish-out-of-water story of the prim and proper Piper, played excellently by Taylor Schilling (Pantheon), but it quickly broadens out to embrace the ensemble of amazing women that surround her, digging into each of their stories and the circumstances that landed them in this wild correctional facility. As I mentioned, Schilling is perfect for the role, and her performance is only magnified by the phenomenal actresses around her, including Laura Prepon (That ’70s Show), Uzo Aduba (Lightyear), and Natasha Lyonne (Poker Face).
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‘The Gentlemen’ (2024 – Present)
Rotten Tomatoes: 74% | IMDb: 8.1/10
Writer and auteur director Guy Ritchie (Snatch) brings his signature style to the small screen as he expands the world of his original British gangster film. Like the original film, The Gentlemen, starring Theo James (The White Lotus), delves into the criminal underworld of England as a young army officer finds himself inheriting the growing space of a massive weed empire that threatens to bury him if he makes the wrong moves. Ritche introduces all new characters to the world, including an American billionaire played by the ever-charming Giancarlo Esposito (Breaking Bad) and Ray Winstone (The Departed) as the leader of the drug empire. And you know, he always brings in his favs like Vinnie Jones (Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels) along for the ride, too.
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‘Shameless’ (2011 – 2021)
Rotten Tomatoes: 82% | IMDb: 8.5/10
After a decade on the air, you can finally watch the Emmy-winning scripted series from start to finish. Shameless is an adaptation of a British dramatic comedy of the same name that quickly comes into its own as it focuses on the Gallagher family with a striking balance of outlandish sensibilities and heart-wrenching character drama that makes it stand out from the crowd of hundreds of television family dramas. William H. Macy (Fargo) takes on the role of the patriarch of the family trying to raise his six kids alone while stumbling through his alcoholic stupor — and the show doesn’t shy away from the trauma that comes with growing up in a dysfunctional household. Considering the stunning performances that drive the series, it’s no wonder it produced a full crop of rising stars like Jeremy Allen White (The Bear) and Cameron Monaghan (Star Wars Jedi: Survivor).
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‘Baby Reindeer’ (2024)
Rotten Tomatoes: 98% | IMDb: 7.8/10
Baby Reindeer is a dark comedy by comedian and writer Richard Gadd (Against the Law), who relives the true story of his own stalking incident. The series follows the snowball of a meet-cute with a woman at Gadd’s bar that quickly goes downhill and grows into an avalanche of threats and obsession. It’s a brave venture into one of the most chaotic and traumatic times of Gadd’s life, and it takes a lot of guts to process one’s feelings in such a public forum while shining a light on the ways that men’s stalking cases aren’t taken as seriously as they should be. However, the story would only be half as compelling if not for Jessica Gunning (The Outlaws), who captures the unpredictable and dangerous vibes of a person who is willing to do anything to get what they want.
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‘Suits’ (2011 – 2019)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91% | IMDb: 8.4/10
Suits is a clever legal drama starring Patrick J. Adams (A League of Their Own) as a law school dropout with a photographic memory who cons his way into a job at New York’s leading corporate law firm by impressing their top attorney, played by Gabriel Macht (The Spirit), who takes him under his wing while hiding his secret. Since hitting Netflix, Suits has had a major resurgence with audiences who may have cut the cord during its run on cable television — all nine seasons are now readily available for your binging pleasure without having to jump to other apps. Truly the golden age of streaming! With the revival show Suits: LA on the horizon, this is the perfect time to catch up.
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‘Beef’ (2023 – Present)
Rotten Tomatoes: 98% | IMDb: 9.0/10
Creator Lee Sung Jin (It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia) presents a dark comedic drama that’s as raw as it is hilarious. Beef stars Steven Yeun (Nope) and Ali Wong (Always Be My Maybe) as an odd pair who vow to ruin each other’s lives after a fraught road rage encounter. Yeun and Wong are perfect foils for one another, as they manage to make even the most bonkers situations feel grounded and purposeful, infusing their dreadfully unhappy characters with charm and relatable faults. The series captures an aspect of the human condition that is rarely explored. Often, protagonists make decisions to grow out of their central flaws, but real people are a bit messier than that and tend to redirect their own insecurities and anxieties outward, finding it easier to lash out rather than do the work of healing. That messiness is what makes this Emmy-winning series amazing.
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‘One Day’ (2024)
Rotten Tomatoes: 91% | IMDb: 8.1/10
Based on the novel of the same name by David Nicholls, One Day is a romantic will-they-won’t-they that spans two decades. Ambika Mod (This Is Going to Hurt) and Leo Woodall (The White Lotus) take our hands and lead us through this series of longing and love as they take on the roles of two students who meet on the night of their graduation thinking they’ll never see one another again. Fate, however, seems to keep bringing them back together. I have seen the series compared to When Harry Met Sally, and while I get it, I will say that Mod and Woodall have more chemistry than Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal could ever dream of. Don’t jump me just ‘cause I’m right.
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‘Sex Education’ (2019 – 2023)
Rotten Tomatoes: 94% | IMDb: 8.2/10
Set in a fictional British town, Sex Education is a teen comedy that explores the sexual anxieties that pop up as adolescents come of age. Asa Butterfield (Hugo) leads an ensemble cast as he takes on the role of Otis Milburn, a secondary school (that’s high school for us Yanks) student who siphons texts and therapeutic knowledge from his sex therapist mother to help his classmates work through their intimacy issues. In addition to being funny and heartwarming, the series is basically providing a service to young teens who don’t have an outlet for talking about their feelings of sexual inadequacy by giving them representation on-screen through which they can find catharsis. And now that the series has wrapped, you can binge every raunchy moment from start to finish.
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