This all-new German spy thriller has quickly climbed the charts on Netflix.
Currently sitting comfortably in the platform’s Top 10, Unfamiliar follows a married couple whose peaceful lives are upended when their identities as former undercover agents are exposed.
The six-episode show is a twist-filled tale of secrets, betrayal and espionage, and is the perfect diversion for fans of binge-worthy puzzle box narratives — Harlan Coben‘s, in particular.
Watch With Us has the scoop on why Unfamiliar is your next Netflix streaming obsession in February and beyond.
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‘Unfamiliar’ Is a Must-Watch for Fans of Espionage Thrillers
The first episode introduces audiences to the gripping premise that makes you want to keep bingeing all day. The story centers on married couple Meret (Susanne Wolff) and Simon Schäfer (Felix Kramer), who just happen to be former German spies. These days, while being parents to 16-year-old Nina (Maja Bons), they run a restaurant together in addition to a safe house in Berlin. On the night of their daughter’s birthday, they receive an emergency request from someone seeking shelter after an attack. Not unfamiliar territory for the Schäfers.
However, when the client arrives at their safe house, his story raises Meret and Simon’s suspicions because his wounds appear self-inflicted and he won’t say who he is. What’s more, he indicates knowledge of a covert operation in Belarus from sixteen years ago that turned disastrous and involved a high-ranking Russian military intelligence — who just happens to be in Berlin now. Then, Meret catches the mysterious client copying her fingerprints and sending them off to an unknown source. This incident sends the Schäfers down a path that threatens to reveal all their skeletons. If this setup doesn’t hook you instantly, you’re crazy.
The Central Character Dynamics Are Intriguing
Wolff and Kramer get the pleasure of playing a great kind of relationship dynamic: a long-time married couple whose relationship begins to fray as secrets bubble to the surface and the foundation of trust erodes. This offers a compelling arc for the actors to play around in, and both Wolff and Kramer are superb with their performances. Amidst the espionage narrative sits both a love story and a drama about a family attempting to survive a deadly past that they never truly escaped from, and one that implicates their own daughter as well. Thus, Unfamiliar ends up as an intriguing blend of spy thriller and domestic drama.
Meret and Simon are familiar archetypes — if you’ve seen Mr. and Mrs. Smith or The Americans, you’ll recognize who they are and what they represent. But Unfamiliar takes these characters that we’re familiar with and reassembles them into something different, more uniquely compelling. Wolff and Kramer have great chemistry with one another, while embodying characters who are deeply flawed and complex, which may test our willingness to side with them. Of course, those kinds of characters often end up being the most gripping to watch.
‘Unfamiliar’ Is the Perfect Twisty Thriller to Watch in February
Unfamiliar is the perfect kind of twist-filled thriller, with unpredictable narrative left-turns and secrets that have secrets. While this might make it sound like the show is overstuffed with plot twists, the story is too clever to be buoyed solely by an excess of surprises. The six-episode arc is perfectly paced and brisk to get through, and the reveals come about at just the right time to make them really pack a punch.
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And even though the narrative is filled with one wild narrative swing after another, it avoids the very American inclination of making things too over-the-top. The writers of Unfamiliar do a fantastic job of not wasting any details; everything in the show is there for a reason, and it all comes together beautifully in the end. Plus, ending with a cliffhanger only makes viewers want Unfamiliar to get a season 2 approved immediately.
Stream Unfamiliar now on Netflix.
