Whenever I watch something on Netflix, whether that is a movie or a TV series, there has to be intention behind it. I won’t blindly use up the hours of my day viewing a show that I’m not sure I would even like, I’d rather not waste my time. It has to be a release that has gotten my attention, perhaps a friend recommended it to me, maybe I wanted to make a review on it, or I came across its trailer in passing and got me curious. Nowadays I don’t really have much time outside of work, and more often than not, I would playing games during that free time—so when I do watch, it has to be something that’s really damn good.
As the title of this article suggests, this is my accidental Netflix watchlist. This consists of releases that I’m surprised entered my radar. I had no idea these existed, and although I would eventually see them while browsing through Netflix, I really wasn’t particularly intrigued. These had to find a different way to get me interested—and when they did, they really captivated me. So check these out and maybe accidentally add these to your watchlist as well.
The Recruit
Sometimes I like working in the living room. It’s a good change in the environment that I operate in whenever my personal space becomes a little too stifling. When I set up my laptop on our dinner table to get down to writing, my dad would occasionally open Netflix for his relaxation. I would usually pay this no mind, but I was pretty distracted then, holiday mode on I guess. The spy-thriller-comedy-drama concoction starring the likes of Noah Centineo, Laura Haddock, Fivel Stewart, Kaylah Zander, and Aarti Mann among others, was too good to ignore.
The story follows the adventures of Owen Hendricks, a fresh graduate straight out of law school who enters the CIA as a lawyer. Without being given much time to adjust to the new environment, Hendricks is immediately thrust into the dark world of politics and espionage where he encounters a former asset who threatens to expose the nature of her relationship with the agency.
This was honestly a much-appreciated breath of fresh air to the saturated spy genre. It is refreshing, funny, and intriguing. The premise of a fresh graduate joining the CIA is pretty cool—maybe I’m also seeing a bit of myself there, having also just graduated. Humor here is also well-placed, nothing is forced. In fact, the very plot just sets the stage for it. If you were to place an untrained newbie lawyer on the field and not to mention in the middle of an international game of power and politics, and oh spies and assassins are involved, I don’t think we should expect to see James Bond levels of competence. So far I’ve watched two episodes already, mostly while I was looking at the television screen instead of my own laptop for work—sorry boss if you’re reading this.
Lookism
‘Lookism’ is a South Korean webtoon written and illustrated by Park Tae-Joon that was recently adapted into its very own animated series on Netflix. It follows the story of a miserable high schooler who is shunned and looked down upon because of his unsightly appearance. However, in a twist of fate, he wakes up with a brand new good-looking face, and a chiseled body, and now his once dreadful existence had seemingly turned upside down. I encountered Lookism when I accidentally hovered over it, allowing the trailer to play while I was on my phone. What intrigued me was that the animation style did not look like anything that was out there, it was bright, lively, and gave a hint of realism. Aside from that, the plot was quite interesting, reminiscent of something like ‘The Princess Diaries’ or ‘Gangnam Beauty’.
Gudetama: An Eggcellent Adventure
I don’t know anything about Gudetama except for the fact that he is a lazy egg, and that I once saw a shirt of him. I encountered ‘Gudetama: An Eggcellent Adventure’ while mindlessly scrolling down through Facebook in an unintended effort to procrastinate and laze around. As seen above what I saw was this brief clip of the series, showing the two on an elevated surface, a chicken freshly hatched ready to jump with ambitions to fly, and Gudetama telling him it’s impossible. It was honestly so cute, especially hearing the little chicken’s lively emotive voice compared to the runny egg’s lifeless tone—not to mention the flightless chick actually jumping off the edge. That’s all I know from it but I can tell you this early on that it’s a must-watch for the soul.
Love You as the World Ends
A similar case with ‘The Recruit’ I also encountered this series because of my dad while I was coincidentally in the living room at the same time as him—perhaps he’s the one with a knack for discovering good things to watch in the family. ‘Love You as the World Ends’ tells the story of a husband looking for his wife after a zombie apocalypse had separated them. It sounds like your typical run-off-the-mill zombie movie storyline, but what intrigued me was this small twist that made it seem like it was an isekai instead. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, isekai refers to a genre in manga and anime where the protagonist is transported away from their mundane lives into a fantasy world where they get a new chance at life. In the Japanese Netflix series, without actually killing or moving the main character into a different world, the opening episode shows him getting trapped in a tunnel, only for him to break free a couple of days later and into a world he no longer recognizes—kinda like Captain America in his first film, but make it zombies.