With Netflix’s vast library of riveting thriller series, it can be easy for some to fall through the cracks, but The Stranger is more than worthy of your attention. Released in 2020, the British series is based on the 2015 Harlan Coben novel of the same name, and looks at the sordid secrets of characters living in a Greater Manchester suburb.
At the heart of it all is Adam Price, a family man who seems to have it all, until a mysterious young woman — the titular Stranger — approaches him and tells him the scandalous secret that his loving wife, Corinne, faked her pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage. Shortly after Adam confronts Corinne about it, she goes missing, setting off a chain reaction of increasingly shocking events.
Thrillers set in the suburbs are nothing new, but there’s a reason why we keep coming back to them, as many of us have a morbid curiosity about what’s really going on behind the closed doors of our seemingly normal neighbors. And Netflix’s The Stranger more than scratches that itch.
Netflix’s The Stranger Is A Perfect Watch For Thriller Fans
The best thriller shows are full of jaw-dropping scandals and dark twists and turns, and there is perhaps no Netflix series that has more than The Stranger. Faking a pregnancy is such a bizarre, arguably twisted, thing to do, and we’re desperate to find out why Corinne did it just as much as we are to learn why she went missing and where she is.
The mysteries don’t end there, either. The enigmatic Stranger captures our attention and refuses to let go — Who is she? Why is she blackmailing all these people? What does she want? It’s almost impossible to start The Stranger without watching the whole thing in one sitting, making it the perfect Netflix thriller show binge.
The Stranger Is Just One Of Many Harlan Coben Thriller Shows On Netflix
Those looking for a multi-season thriller show may be disappointed that The Stranger is a limited series with only eight episodes, but Netflix has you covered. In 2018, Harlan Coben signed a multi-million-dollar deal with Netflix that would see 14 of his novels be adapted into TV shows or films.
| Harlan Coben Netflix Adaptations | ||
|---|---|---|
| Title | Release Year | Rotten Tomatoes Critics’ Score |
| Safe | 2018 | 71% |
| The Stranger | 2020 | 87% |
| The Woods | 2020 | 89% |
| The Innocent | 2021 | 100% |
| Gone for Good | 2021 | N/A |
| Stay Close | 2021 | 92% |
| Hold Tight | 2022 | N/A |
| Shelter | 2023 | 88% |
| Fool Me Once | 2024 | 72% |
| Missing You | 2025 | 50% |
| Just One Look | 2025 | 100% |
| Caught | 2025 | 43% |
| I Will Find You | 2026 | TBD |
| Run Away | TBD | TBD |
The Stranger was only the second adaptation, with the Michael C. Hall-starring Safe as the first in 2018. Since then, we’ve had a total of 12 Netflix-Cohen adaptations, with the 13th, I Will Find You, starring Sam Worthington, set for release in 2026. Though the adaptations do vary in quality, with The Stranger being one of the best, they’re an absolute boon for thriller fans.
