Five short Netflix series that you can finish under six hours
Rome wasn’t built overnight, nor was the fandom of short-format releases on OTT. But the way our lives are getting busier with each passing day, it won’t be long before we start thinking twice, even before hitting play on a Netflix limited series.
If you’re someone who agrees and has restricted time on your hands, don’t worry, we’re travelling the extra mile to get a watchlist sorted for you that doesn’t even take a day to finish, let alone weeks.
No extended commitment. No beating around the bush. No unresolved cliffhanger to force you to return.
All you really need to do is spare a few hours and forget about the rest of the world, because on today’s episode of what to watch next on Netflix, we bring five short series that you can finish under six hours.
Five short Netflix series that you can finish under six hours
Dear Child (Julian Pörksen and Isabel Kleefeld, 2023)
To kick-start the marathon, we have the Emmy-winning Dear Child, based on Romy Hausmann’s book, cutting the ribbon this time. The six-episode German thriller revolves around the abduction of a woman who is held captive with two children, Hannah and Jonathan, in a house without windows. Together, they are forced into a rigid routine by their captor, “Papa.”
But when the woman manages to pull off a seemingly impossible escape from the kidnapper during a hit-and-run accident, the investigation leads to the reopening of a 13-year-old missing person case. What follows next is a pulse-pounding revelation that puts a question mark around the victim’s true identity and the sinister reality behind her unpredictable confinement. For those unfamiliar, all episodes of the crime thriller clock in at under 50 minutes. So, if you’re struggling with a time crunch, Dear Child could be a great start.
Behind Her Eyes (Erik Richter Strand, 2021)
Adapted from Sarah Pinborough’s 2017 novel, Behind Her Eyes is a British psychological thriller that hit the Netflix shelves way back in 2021, but remains one of the most-talked-about entries of all time. If you like shows where all your guesswork comes to a failure, this is the only limited series that should be on your watchlist. The gripping adaptation follows single mother Louise, who finds herself entangled in an affair with her new boss, psychiatrist David, who, by the way, is married.
What complicates the messy situation is not just David’s marital status, but the fact that Louise also befriends his mysterious wife, Adele, sparking an unlikely love triangle that’s darker than a new moon night. But Behind Her Eyes is not really a simple story of a love triangle gone wrong. Instead, it’s packed with supernatural elements and a shocking plot twist you won’t see coming from miles away, and all of that happens well within a six-hour duration.
His & Hers (Dee Johnson, 2026)
Now, coming to a relatively recent slate of Netflix original productions, we have His & Hers, a hard-hitting revenge thriller based on Alice Feeney’s 2020 novel. With just six episodes that hardly run beyond 48 minutes, this mystery thriller easily fits the bill of a strict six-hour watch. Moreover, considering it just got freshly baked out of the Netflix oven, there’s no way you can skip this.
For those uninitiated, His & Hers tells the story of two estranged spouses, one a detective, another a news reporter, who share a traumatic incident in their past. Although the wife has been steadily withdrawing from her career, when she overhears news of a murder in her hometown, Dahlonega, she gets back into action. But as she begins investigating the case, she realises the secrets behind the murders have something to do with her own tragic past. What she doesn’t realise, however, is that that’s not the only connection she probably has with the killings.
Land of Sin (Peter Grönlund, 2026)
Like His & Hers, Land of Sin is also a recent Netflix offering, a five-episode Swedish crime drama that hit the streaming shelves on January 2nd. Again, with this limited series, you don’t have to wait for your watch, as it will even leave you an hour free to help you recover. Set in the Scanian countryside, this enticing new series on Netflix picks up the story when a teenager named Silas is found dead under mysterious circumstances at a farmhouse on the Bjäre Peninsula.
In the aftermath of the discovery, the perpetually angry but highly genius investigator Dani pairs up with newly graduated police colleague Malik to get to the roots of the cold-blooded murder. Land of Sin follows this procedural investigation as the investigators in question are pushed down a patriarchal hellhole where the secrets unravel a dark family feud that dates back generations.
Adolescence (Philip Barantini, 2025)
Lastly, in the wake of Owen Cooper making history for Netflix this award season, make sure you save some room for Adolescence, the award-winning one-take limited series that made waves across showbiz in 2025. The psychological crime thriller consists of just four episodes, which are enough to leave you reeling once finished.
Set in a small town near Doncaster, Adolescence centres on a 13-year-old school boy, Jamie Miller and his family, after their son is arrested from the family home on suspicion of the murder of his classmate, Katie Leonard. While it’s hard to find anyone who hasn’t watched the Emmy-sweeping show already, for those still out of the loop, make sure to make this one of the pitstops during your short series marathon on Netflix.