Netflix caters for all tastes, from cheesy romcoms to gripping psychological dramas, and it really excelled back in 2023 when it dropped all six episodes of German thriller Dear Child.

The show, which was based on the German novel Liebes Kind, was critically acclaimed upon its release, achieving a perfect score on Rotten Tomatoes, despite the streamer putting an 18+ warning on the show due to its “intense psychological horror”.

The gripping drama follows Lena, a woman who is held captive alongside two children by a faceless captor in a windowless environment. Lena is able to escape her captivity, but is quickly involved in a car accident, and during her recovery, she tells the story of her abuse, while police investigate her disappearance.

A synopsis for the mini-series reads: “A mysterious woman’s escape from her harrowing captivity points investigators toward the dark truth behind an unsolved disappearance 13 years earlier.”

What did fans make of Dear Child?

Praise has been universal for the series since its initial release. One viewer said: “It has been a long time since Netflix brought a new series that was this engaging in my opinion, so I highly recommend if you are into dark, psychological mysteries.”

A second added: “Once you start Dear Child, you find it hard to look away. My only disappointment was that the series finished too soon, I would have liked to have seen what happened to everyone involved,” while a third said: “All in all, I binged the 6 episodes at once. It was like a book you can’t put down and finish at 4am, knowing you have to get up in a couple hours to get ready for work. It was spooky, it was sad, it was horrifying and all of the characters worked.”

Kim Riedle in a still image from Dear Child© Netflix
Fans and critics were gripped by the show

Meanwhile, a fourth penned: “This is probably my favourite psychological thriller/horror/mystery of all time. The series fascinatingly shows the story of a woman who was hit by a car, but whose story starts to unfold into something more sinister as they speak with her daughter in the ambulance with her.

Writing in TIME Magazine upon its initial release, Megan McCluskey called the programme the “show of the moment”.

Who stars in Dear Child?

The show features some of Germany’s best talents, including Kim Riedle (Skylines), Haley Louise Jones (Sad Jokes), Hans Löw (I’m Your Man) and Justus von Dohnányi (Downfall).

Hans Low and Julika Jenkins in a still from Dear Child© Courtesy of Netflix
The show stars some of Germany’s best actors

Dear Child also stars Birge Schade (The Desert Rose), Seraphina Maria Schweiger (The End of Innocence), Julika Jenkins (Dark), Özgür Karadeniz (FBI: International), Juri Senft (Blood & Gold), Christian Beermann (The Peppercorns), Jeanne Goursaud (Kabul) and Christian Kerepeszki (Berlin Station).

The show also starred child actors Naila Schuberth and Sammy Schrein.