The days are getting darker, the forecasts are getting colder and our energy stores are slowly but surely hitting couch-potato levels of productivity. That means it's time for a good miniseries to cozy up to this winter, ones populated by amateur sleuths, sweet romances, charming settings and the like.
Helpfully, Netflix is home to many such charmers, whether you're after a cozy mystery drama with some gorgeous Irish scenery or a decades-spanning love story that will leave you swooning (and, yes, maybe just a bit teary).
'The Queen's Gambit'
This acclaimed Netflix miniseries stylishly transports viewers not only to 1950s and '60s Kentucky — with plenty of Emmy-winning period costuming and immersive mid-century production design to go with it — but also to the world of competitive chess.
Across seven episodes, the coming-of-age series centers on orphan-turned-chess prodigy Beth Harmon (Anya Taylor Joy) as she navigates the high-pressure game and the male-dominated pursuit as a young woman, all the while dealing with romantic entanglements, various addictions and the loneliness of seeking connection.
The streamer's most-watched miniseries, "The Queen's Gambit" has an excellent 96% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes, where critics proclaimed that, with "Anya Taylor-Joy's magnetic performance, incredibly realized period details, and emotionally intelligent writing, 'The Queen's Gambit' is an absolute win.
Watch "The Queen's Gambit" on Netflix now
'One Day'
You'll surely fall in love alongside Emma Morley (Ambika Mod) and Dexter Mayhew (Leo Woodall) throughout this Netflix limited-series romance, which charts the characters' 14-year relationship from meeting at the graduation ball of the University of Edinburgh through marriage, children, death and more in London, England, checking in on the pair on the same day — July 15 — across the decades.
"Each episode finds Dex and Em one year older on this one particular date as they grow and change, move together and apart, and experience joy and heartbreak," reads the series' synopsis.
Warning: "One Day" is a weeper, so keep the box of Kleenex handy! "Chronicling the passage of time with well-observed sweep, 'One Day' is by turns giddy and somber but always swooningly romantic," reads the critical consensus over on Rotten Tomatoes, where the bittersweet dramedy has an 91% approval rating.
Watch "One Day" on Netflix now
'Bodkin'
OK, this one is a bit of a sneak because technically "Bodkin" could become a longer-running series — word is still out on whether or not it will get picked up for a second season — but for now, the quaint Netflix mystery-comedy is a seven-episode stretch following a ragtag group of podcasters (played by Will Forte, Siobhán Cullen and Robyn Cara) as they investigate the 25-year-old disappearance of three strangers in a coastal Irish town.
Executive produced by the Obamas, the series gets a lot of its cozy charm from its quirky small-town characters and scenic County Cork setting. Though, per Rotten Tomatoes, critics did feel that "'Bodkin's' satire of true crime investigation could use a more compelling mystery to hang its quips on," the show's "sheer eccentricity makes for an intriguing enough tale from the old sod."
Watch "Bodkin" on Netflix now
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