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8 acclaimed international sci-fi shows on Netflix to watch after Squid Game

“What are the rules in hell?”

by Robin Bea
Updated: 
Originally Published: 

Once you’ve watched Squid Game, there’s still plenty of brilliant dystopian sci-fi from around the world...

Here are the 8 best international sci-fi thrillers on Netflix.

8. 3%

In 3%, the ultra-wealthy build an island paradise for themselves and devise a series of ruthless games to choose poorer folks to join them. 3% has three seasons to dig deeper into its world if you found Squid Game a bit too short.

7. Alice in Borderland

Alice in Borderland should be the easiest series on this list for Squid Game fans to get into. Both shows feature deadly survival competitions based on children’s games and follow the cooperation and backstabbing that arise in them.

6. Sweet Home

In Sweet Home, a student in his first apartment takes refuge when monsters start rampaging outside. It has action as brutal as Squid Game, and similar fears over who characters can trust.

5. My Holo Love

If you want to explore Korean dramas without the terror, My Holo Love is a good choice. Its sci-fi premise of a young woman dating a hologram should make it easy for genre fans to love.

4. Reality Z

Instead of a deadly game show, Reality Z centers on a reality show gone wrong. When a zombie outbreak hits Rio de Janeiro, a Big Brother-like set becomes a refuge for survivors.

3. Dead Set

The show that inspired Reality Z, Dead Set imagines a season of Big Brother interrupted by a zombie outbreak. Created by Charlie Brooker and filmed in the UK, it’s the only series on this list originally in English.

2. Detention

Detention is a great choice if you liked Squid Game’s mix of horror and social commentary. Based on a video game of the same name, it explores Taiwan’s White Terror period of martial law.

1. Dark

Squid Game certainly has mysteries to unravel, but it’s got nothing on Dark. If you like wrapping your head around dense sci-fi with ensemble casts, Dark is worth untangling.