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Tom's Guide
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Tom's Guide
5 best shows like ‘Untamed' to stream right now
Netflix's new mystery-thriller "Untamed" has had viewers glued to their screens. Ever since its July 17 premiere, Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith's Yosemite-set mystery has continued to be one of the most popular watches on the streaming service. Every time I've checked, it's occupied the No. 1 spot in Netflix's top 10 shows list. The show sees Eric Bana stepping into frame as Investigative Service Branch Agent, Kyle Turner, who is on the trail of a killer and grappling with his own past. Given the show's popularity and the fact that it's only six episodes long, I wouldn't be surprised if many fans had already worked their way through the entire mystery and were on the hunt for another compelling watch to keep them occupied. With that in mind, I've put together a round-up of five more shows with a similar vibe that I think you should check out next; you can find my list of shows like "Untamed" (and where to stream them) below. "Bodkin" might be more of a comedic series than "Untamed," but I think this Netflix series is every bit as compelling a mystery thriller as the streamer's more recent hit, and one that I think "Untamed" fans will enjoy. This seven-part limited series revolves around three unlikely allies — disgraced Irish investigative journalist, Dove Maloney (Siobhán Cullen), American podcaster Gilbert Power (Will Forte), and his assistant, Emmy Sizergh (Robyn Cara) — who are thrown together to investigate a cold case (a trio of decades-old disappearances during Samhain) in the titular Irish town of Bodkin. Get instant access to breaking news, the hottest reviews, great deals and helpful tips. The trio finds that the people of Bodkin aren't exactly happy to discuss the disappearances, and as they keep digging, the stakes get way higher, and dark secrets start to come to light... Watch "Bodkin" on Netflix now AMC's "Dark Winds" feels like a very natural follow-up, to "Untamed," as it's also currently available on Netflix and follows officers tackling cases in another striking setting (the American Southwest) The 1970s-set series follows Navajo Tribal police officers Joe Leaphorn (Zahn McClarnon) and Jim Chee (Kiowa Gordon) as they investigate a series of increasingly violent crimes on the reservation — mysteries that see both grappling with their own pasts and that force them to challenge their own spiritual beliefs. Netflix only has the first two seasons at present, but the show was renewed for a fourth installment back in February 2025, so there's plenty more thrills to come. Watch "Dark Winds" on Netflix now If you missed it earlier this year, then I'd recommend giving Scott Frank's "Dept. Q" a go, as this is another intriguing mystery thriller that will get its hooks into you. If you tune in, you'll be swapping the vast expanse of Yosemite National Park for the streets of Edinburgh and following DCI Carl Morck (Matthew Goode), a no-nonsense English detective with a knack for cracking cases, but not for making friends in his Scottish department. After an investigation gone wrong, he finds himself exiled to the basement and tasked with heading up "Department Q," a newly-formed cold case unit (a thinly-veiled PR stunt) to distract from the force's failings. With the aid of a misfit team with everything to prove, he sets out to uncover the truth behind a missing persons case in textbook Carl fashion: rattling cages and refusing to take no for an answer. Watch "Dept. Q" on Netflix now If you're on top of your detective stories from the past few years, then you'll no doubt have come across "Mare of Easttown," Brad Ingelsby's critically acclaimed HBO Max show, which many regarded as appointment viewing when it was on the air. If not, you've got a fantastic, suspenseful small-town crime drama to stream at your earliest convenience. The series follows "local hero" detective sergeant Mare Sheehan (a phenomenal performance from Kate Winslet) as she tries to get to the bottom of a recent murder in the fictional suburb of Easttown, Philadelphia. Watch "Mare of Easttown" on HBO Max now I'm rounding out this list with "The Sinner," a dark, unorthodox crime thriller anthology series that sees Detective Harry Ambrose (Bill Pullman) getting to grips with a series of murder cases and uncovering what drove the culprits to commit their crimes. It's a whydunnit, not a whodunnit. Season 1 kicks things off with Harry investigating a young woman (Jessica Biel) who commits a brutal murder on a family beach trip, trying to understand exactly what could have triggered that killing. It's gripping TV, and should be another solid watch. And with four seasons to stream, it should keep you locked in for some time to come. Watch "The Sinner" on Netflix now If none of these shows seem like your kind of watch, we can still help you find your next show. Check out our guide to the best Netflix shows for tons more watchlist-worthy streaming recommendations. Follow Tom's Guide on Google News to get our up-to-date news, how-tos, and reviews in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button.
Epoch Times
7 days ago
- Entertainment
- Epoch Times
‘Untamed': Murder, Mayhem, and More at Yosemite
TV-MA | 6 episodes | Drama, Action, Crime, Mystery, Thriller | 2025 Co-created and co-written by Mark L. Smith and his daughter Lauren Elle Smith, 'Untamed' is the latest premium cable Western-themed TV series, and proves the once close-to-extinct genre to be far more resilient than many may have thought.
Daily Mirror
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
American Primeval creator has made Untamed - Netflix's answer to True Detective that could last for years
Our review of Netflix's latest crime thriller The creator of hit American Primeval have just made Netflix's version of True Detective and it could last for years, despite its limited series status. All six episodes of Untamed are now available to watch on the major streamer as of today (July 17). It is easily a must binge watch show for this weekend for any fans of the two previously mentioned shows. According to the brief synopsis shared by Netflix, the crime thriller is based amidst the vast expanse of Yosemite National Park. A woman's suspicious death draws a federal agent into lawless terrain, where nature obeys no rules but its own. Untamed was created and written by father daughter team, Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith. Smith senior previously wrote the screenplays for The Revenant, for which Leonardo DiCaprio finally picked up an Oscar, and Twisters. He also created the historical drama American Primeval, which was a hit for Netflix earlier in the year. Together, the duo look to have repeated and offered up the closest thing to True Detective Netflix has been able to provide among all its binge worthy crime dramas and declared themselves as two of the steamer's must follow creatives. If anything they write next is as addictive as Untamed, I'll be there day one. True Detective is known for its A-list cast list and Untamed certainly competes in that area itself. It is lead by Australian actor Eric Bana, who has starred in Troy, The Time Traveller's Wife and played the Hulk before the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is supported by Jurassic Park star Sam Neill, Wilson Bethel who also plays Bullseye in the Daredevil television series along with Rosemarie DeWitt and Lily Santiago. Together, along with a central mystery that follows many twists and turns, the series throws up a story even more gripping than any other murder mystery. In fact, I found myself gripped harder than any of True Detective's four seasons, which often fell by the wayside. There's no such danger here, with the Netflix series determined to clear everything up. Untamed, also like the HBO show, makes understated use of the supernatural and local folklore. It would spoil an early plot point to explain in detail how this is but while True Detective might thrust the ghost stories in the viewers' faces, Untamed keeps them rightfully in the shadows to reflect on its characters and spectacular setting. A clear benefit of setting a show in one of the US' celebrated National Parks is that some of the shots used can be as dramatic or intimate as desired. While Mark Smith's previous Netflix success, American Primeval, took advantage of its setting in its time period, Untamed does similar with its locality. Untamed only ever slows down to allow viewers to appreciate the glimpse of some of the best scenes nature allows. A look behind the scenes of some sequences would be fascinating, and hopefully wouldn't break my heart in revealing any green screen magic. Despite the fact that this is being billed as a limited series for Netflix, Untamed could easily go on for years. Its premise of federal agents investigating serious crimes taking place within a national park they are based is almost too good not to be turned into an anthology. It certainly wouldn't be the strangest series Netflix could renew. The United States has 63 National Parks and Yosemite, which serves as the locale for Untamed, is only the 19th largest. Considering that, it feels like the potential for follow ups, whether they be tied directly or be complete standalone stories in other Parks is endless.
Los Angeles Times
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
‘Untamed' brings Eric Bana into a murder mystery set in the wilds of Yosemite
'Untamed,' a quasi-police drama premiering Thursday on Netflix, is a vacation from most crime shows, set not in a big city or cozy village but in the wilds of Yosemite National Park. (Never mind that the series was shot in British Columbia, which has nothing to apologize for when it comes to dramatic scenery, and whose park rangers are not threatened by draconian budget cuts nor their parks by politicians' desire to sell off public lands.) The mountains and valleys, the rivers and brooks, the occasional deer or bear are as much a part of the mise-en-scène as the series' complicated, yet essentially straightforward heroes and villains. Lacking big themes, it's not so much meat-and-potatoes television as fish and corn grilled over a camp fire, and on the prestige scale it sits somewhere between 'Magnum P.I.' and 'True Detective,' leaning toward the former. Created by Mark L. Smith ('American Primeval') and Elle Smith ('The Marsh King's Daughter') and starring Eric Bana and Sam Neill, Antipodean actors wearing American accents once again, it's a limited series, though, for a while, it has the quality of a pilot, introducing characters that could profitably be reused — with perhaps a little less of the trauma peeking out at every corner. Of course, if the show becomes a fantabulous success, the Netflix engineers may contrive a way to make it live again; it's happened before. 'Untamed' starts big. Two climbers are making their way up the face of El Capitan when a woman's body comes flying over the cliff, gets tangled in their ropes and hangs suspended, dead. She is hanging there still — the climbers have been rescued — when Investigative Services Branch special agent Kyle Turner (Bana) rides in on his horse. 'Here comes f—ing Gary Cooper,' mutters grumbling ranger Bruce Milch (William Smillie) to new ranger Naya Vasquez (Lily Santiago), a former police officer (and single mother, with a threatening ex) newly arrived from Los Angeles. (The horse, says Milch, who regards it as a high horse, gives him 'a better angle to look down on us lowly rangers.') What are the odds on Vasquez becoming Turner's (junior) partner? And on a difficult relationship developing into a learning curve ('This is not L.A. — things happen different out here') and turning almost … tender? More heroically proportioned and handsome than anyone else in the show, a man of the forest with superior tracking skills, Turner is also a mess — a taciturn mess, which also makes him seem stoic — barely holding himself together, drinking too much, living in a cabin in the woods filled with unpacked boxes, undone by the unaddressed family tragedy that broke him and his marriage. (The dark side of stoicism.) Sympathetic remarried ex-wife Jill (Rosemarie DeWitt, keeping it real), who herself is only 'as happy as I can be, I guess,' and sympathetic boss Paul Souter (Neill), try to keep him straight. 'You've locked yourself away in this park, Kyle,' Souter tells Turner. 'It's not healthy.' Turner, however, prefers 'most animals to people — especially my horse.' Nevertheless, he has a couple of friends: Shane Maguire (Wilson Bethel), a wildlife manager — that means he shoots things, so be forewarned — also living in the woods, but without the cabin, is the toxic one; Mato Begay (Trevor Carroll), an Indigenous policeman, the nontoxic one. And he's sleeping with a concierge at the local nice hotel, just so that element is covered; it's otherwise beside the point. If the dialogue often has the flavor of coming off a page rather than out of a character, it gets the job done, and if the characters are essentially static, people don't change overnight, and consistency is a hallmark of detective fiction. The narrative wisely stays close to Turner and/or Vasquez; there are enough twists and tendrils in the main overlapping plots without running off into less related matters. (Keeping the series to six episodes is also a plus, and something to be encouraged, makers of streaming series. Your critic will thank you for it.) Still, between the hot cases and the cold cases, with their collateral damage; hippie squatters from central casting chanting 'Our Earth, our land;' a mysterious gold tattoo, indigenous glyphs and old mines — there is an especially tense scene involving a tight tunnel and rising water — the show stays busy. Though last-minute heavy surprises don't register emotionally — trauma overload, maybe — you will not be left wanting for answers, or closure. And you will learn quite a bit about vultures and their dining habits — not what you might think.
Daily Mirror
17-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mirror
American Primeval creator has just made Netflix's True Detective that could last for years
Our review of Netflix's latest crime thriller The creator of hit American Primeval have just made Netflix's version of True Detective and it could last for years, despite its limited series status. All six episodes of Untamed are now available to watch on the major streamer as of today (July 17). It is easily a must binge watch show for this weekend for any fans of the two previously mentioned shows. According to the brief synopsis shared by Netflix, the crime thriller is based amidst the vast expanse of Yosemite National Park. A woman's suspicious death draws a federal agent into lawless terrain, where nature obeys no rules but its own. Untamed was created and written by father daughter team, Mark L. Smith and Elle Smith. Smith senior previously wrote the screenplays for The Revenant, for which Leonardo DiCaprio finally picked up an Oscar, and Twisters. He also created the historical drama American Primeval, which was a hit for Netflix earlier in the year. Together, the duo look to have repeated and offered up the closest thing to True Detective Netflix has been able to provide among all its binge worthy crime dramas and declared themselves as two of the steamer's must follow creatives. If anything they write next is as addictive as Untamed, I'll be there day one. True Detective is known for its A-list cast list and Untamed certainly competes in that area itself. It is lead by Australian actor Eric Bana, who has starred in Troy, The Time Traveller's Wife and played the Hulk before the Marvel Cinematic Universe. He is supported by Jurassic Park star Sam Neill, Wilson Bethel who also plays Bullseye in the Daredevil television series along with Rosemarie DeWitt and Lily Santiago. Together, along with a central mystery that follows many twists and turns, the series throws up a story even more gripping than any other murder mystery. In fact, I found myself gripped harder than any of True Detective's four seasons, which often fell by the wayside. There's no such danger here, with the Netflix series determined to clear everything up. Untamed, also like the HBO show, makes understated use of the supernatural and local folklore. It would spoil an early plot point to explain in detail how this is but while True Detective might thrust the ghost stories in the viewers' faces, Untamed keeps them rightfully in the shadows to reflect on its characters and spectacular setting. A clear benefit of setting a show in one of the US' celebrated National Parks is that some of the shots used can be as dramatic or intimate as desired. While Mark Smith's previous Netflix success, American Primeval, took advantage of its setting in its time period, Untamed does similar with its locality. Untamed only ever slows down to allow viewers to appreciate the glimpse of some of the best scenes nature allows. A look behind the scenes of some sequences would be fascinating, and hopefully wouldn't break my heart in revealing any green screen magic. Despite the fact that this is being billed as a limited series for Netflix, Untamed could easily go on for years. Its premise of federal agents investigating serious crimes taking place within a national park they are based is almost too good not to be turned into an anthology. It certainly wouldn't be the strangest series Netflix could renew. The United States has 63 National Parks and Yosemite, which serves as the locale for Untamed, is only the 19th largest. Considering that, it feels like the potential for follow ups, whether they be tied directly or be complete standalone stories in other Parks is endless.
