Netflix fans rush to watch 'mind-blowing' sci-fi series rocketing up the charts with impressive Rotten Tomatoes score and 'chilling twists'

Daily Mail​

02-05-2025

Netflix fans have rushed to watch a 'mind-blowing' sci-fi series that is rocketing up the charts, boasting an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score and 'chilling twists'.
The Eternaut, only released on the streaming platform on Wednesday, follows a group of friends in Buenos Aires after a strange toxic snowfall settles on the city in the middle of summer.
Much of the city's population is wiped out, with the friends some of the only survivors - and they soon realise the snowstorm is just the first attack by an alien army trying to invade Earth, which they band together to fight.
The six-part Argentine series has had a highly positive response so far - it is currently the fourth most-watched show on Netflix in the UK, Metro reports.
The Spanish-language show, based on an Argentine comic of the same name from the fifties, also has an impressive Rotten Tomatoes score, at a laudable 92 per cent.
And after receiving widespread praise both from critics and viewers alike, it is already confirmed to be coming back for a second season.
The six-part Argentine series (pictured) has had a highly positive response so far - it is currently the fourth most-watched show on Netflix in the UK
ScreenRant has said the programme 'modernises the story of its 1950s comic source material, providing a gripping post-apocalyptic tale perfect for sci-fi fans'.
Gaming and entertainment website Polygon says: 'It's a grounded, tense sci-fi story with cool production design, a beguiling mystery and a focus on human resilience and ingenuity.'
And it has been dubbed 'a chilling slow-burn sci-fi with no shortage of twists' by arts and entertainment site Collider.
It is popular with IMDb reviewers too, with one user describing it as a 'mind-blowing high-production adaptation': 'Breathtaking high-quality show. A big rare from Netflix.'
Another praised the fact it was bringing the beloved comic to the screen for the first time, making it 'a historic milestone for television'.
They added: 'This story has left a lasting mark on generations with its powerful metaphor about resistance, solidarity and collective struggle in the face of adversity.'
Fans on X have raved about it as well, with one saying: 'If you love post-apocalyptic series, you have to watch The Eternaut.'
It is popular with IMDb reviewers too (pictured), with one user describing it as a 'mind-blowing high-production adaptation'
One person gave it the incredibly high praise: 'One of the best survival shows I've seen in recent years.'
Another went as far as to say they were 'in love with it': 'I'm being 100 per cent honest when I say this is one of the best series I've seen in my entire life and it definitely deserves and award.'
The star of the show is Argentine actor, director and producer Ricardo Darín, widely considered one of the best at his craft in his homeland.
He starred in the 2009 film The Secret In Their Eyes, which won the Oscar for Best Foreign Picture, about investigators working on a murder case in 1970s Argentina.
The original Argentine comic the show was based on, by Héctor Germán Oesterheld and Francisco Solano López, was published between 1957 and 1959.
The battle to successfully adapt it for TV has been ongoing for years, since advertisement production company Gil & Bertolini first won the rights nearly 60 years ago, in 1968 - but had their show cancelled after just a 24-minute pilot.
Over the next 20 years, other efforts to adapt it also faltered amid financial and copyright problems.
One director said at the time the comic could only be made into an English-language TV show - he reckoned it would cost $10-15million to adapt and that only American production companies, with American actors, had that kind of cash.
Fans on X have raved about it as well (pictured), with one saying: 'If you love post-apocalyptic series, you have to watch The Eternaut'
But many were adamant any adaptation should stick to the story's Argentine roots - and this wish came true in 2018.
The author's grandson Martín Oesterheld and a woman named Laura Bruno, who own the rights to the comic, approved the Netflix version, on the conditions it was set in Buenos Aires and filmed in Spanish.
The show's Argentine director and creator has previously spoken about how adapting this beloved comic was certainly not something he took lightly.
He told Forbes: 'The biggest challenge was creating an original story that still honoured the heart of the source material, while also recognising that it needed to be updated and given new dynamics to fit a different medium.
'A comic works brilliantly as a comic, but when you adapt it to another format, there are a lot of things you need to reconsider.
'And because this comic is so beloved by the Argentine public, there's a lot of pressure​.
'You feel like you're handling something everyone wants to remain untouched.
'So, for me, the hardest part was accepting that change was necessary, and at the same time, taking the risk of making those changes, with everything that entails.'
French-language film Oxygen (pictured) stars Mélanie Laurent as a young woman who finds herself trapped in a cryogenic chamber, with oxygen levels swiftly dwindling
It comes after a Netflix sci-fi horror film, dubbed a 'must watch', terrified fans so much they were left 'struggling to breathe'.
French-language film Oxygen stars Mélanie Laurent as a young woman who finds herself trapped in a cryogenic chamber, with oxygen levels swiftly dwindling.
Having lost her memory, the woman tries to recall how she ended up in such a desperate situation - all while battling to survive, guided only by the voice of an AI robot.
Directed by Frenchman Alexandre Aja, the Netflix Original creation of debut screenwriter Christie LeBlanc has an impressive 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
And it has received significant praise from the critics, with the Guardian warning despite it requiring 'some hefty levels of disbelief suspension', 'it's a rather elegant contrivance' and 'excellent' French actress Mélanie 'sells it hard'.
The film was released in 2021 - but new fans keep rediscovering the near one-woman effort on the streamer, taking to social media to express how captivating it is.
One person said on X: 'Oxygen is a phenomenal example of one-location filmmaking done right'
One person said on X: 'Oxygen is a phenomenal example of one-location filmmaking done right.
'Brutal moral dilemmas, surprising discoveries about the mysterious protagonist, a fantastic one-woman show from Mélanie Laurent keep the slow, flashback-heavy narrative engrossing.'
A fan review noted: 'As the tension build to excruciating levels at the climax, will have viewers so caught up in the action they will need to check they are still breathing.'
Another X user commented: 'Gripping, some nail-biting scenes and a great performance from Mélanie Laurent - but maybe don't watch it if you're claustrophobic...'