20 Best Netflix Releases to Watch in October 2026: East of Eden Leads the Lineup

Vasundhra Tewari

| October 7 | Spotlight

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Florence Pugh’s East of Eden has given Netflix’s October lineup a strong start. The limited series reached No. 1 on Netflix’s Global Top 10 English TV list for its opening weekend, with 6.5 million views, which works out to roughly 45.5 million hours watched across its seven episodes. That window covers only four days on the service, Thursday to Sunday, and the rest of the month’s biggest releases have yet to arrive.

The opening shows how Netflix has approached October. Instead of building the month around a single franchise event, the streamer is releasing a series of mid-sized prestige titles, star-led films, non-English originals and live events, each aimed at a different audience. The selection below draws on that schedule and favours titles likely to travel across markets.

A Prestige Opener That Travels Unevenly

East of Eden is creator Zoe Kazan’s adaptation of John Steinbeck’s 1952 novel. Pugh plays Cathy Ames, whose life becomes entangled with the Trask brothers, Adam and Charles, played by Christopher Abbott and Mike Faist. Tracy Letts, Martha Plimpton, Hoon Lee and Ciarán Hinds round out the supporting cast.

The early numbers need context. Measured against other Netflix limited series in their first week, 6.5 million sits mid-table: just below Black Rabbit (6.6 million) and Eric (6.8 million), slightly above The Residence (6.4 million), and far below Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story (22.9 million). For a dense literary period drama, that is a solid start rather than a breakout.

The regional picture is more uneven. Third-party daily chart data from FlixPatrol shows the series in the Top 10 in 80 countries and at No. 1 in 22 of them, with particular strength in Europe, including the UK, France, Germany, Italy and Spain. It also reached No. 1 in the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and South Africa, but has climbed more slowly in Asia, ranking sixth in India, the Philippines and Thailand.

There is also an effect beyond streaming. Penguin Classics has reported that sales of the novel across formats rose nearly 200% after Netflix greenlit the series, and Steinbeck’s book has since reached No. 1 on Amazon’s Best Sellers list.

Thrillers and Star-Led Films

The next major release is Below (October 8), a thriller mini-series starring Josh Hartnett, Mackenzie Davis and Charlie Heaton. Its six episodes follow a remote coastal town threatened by a creature in the water.

Ben Affleck’s Animals (October 9) is the month’s most prominent film. Affleck directs and stars alongside Kerry Washington and Gillian Anderson in a political thriller about a mayoral candidate and his wife who resort to ruthless measures after their son is kidnapped. A week later, Sacrifice (October 16) offers something lighter. Chris Evans and Anya Taylor-Joy star in a satirical action-thriller about a disillusioned movie star taken hostage by eco-activists at a charity gala.

The Diplomat Season 4 (October 15) continues Netflix’s strongest returning political drama, bringing back Keri Russell as Kate Wyler and Rufus Sewell as Hal Wyler.

Where the Non-English Slate Carries Weight

October’s international releases are where Netflix’s global strategy is most visible. Netflix has confirmed that Lupin Part 4 arrives on October 23, with Omar Sy returning as the gentleman thief. The French series remains one of the streamer’s most successful non-English exports.

Scandinavia contributes two titles. The Storm (October 15) is a Swedish disaster-drama feature, and A Couple of Lies (October 30) is a Nordic noir about two couples who swap homes for a holiday and become caught up in surveillance and manipulation. From Germany, The Trap (October 13) follows a reclusive author who leaves her home for the first time in a decade to set a trap for her sister’s killer, with herself as the bait. Spain’s Collision Course (October 30) marks director Daniel Sánchez Arévalo’s move into thrillers, with a cast that includes Laia Costa, Karra Elejalde and Luis Zahera.

The Korean slate leans towards genre. Take Charge of My Heart (October 9) is a supernatural romantic comedy about a corporate heir living on a failing artificial heart and a screenwriter with electricity running through her body, who agree to a contract relationship.

Anime, Comedy and Family

For anime audiences, the main release is Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 (October 20), the follow-up that returns viewers to Night City. Nobody Wants This Season 3 (October 22) brings back Kristen Bell and Adam Brody, and Netflix has said that Andrew Rannells and Sarah Silverman are among the new cast members this season.

For younger viewers, Hollywood Arts (October 15) extends the Victorious universe, with Daniella Monet returning as Trina Vega to mentor a new group of talented teenagers.

Sports, Documentaries and Live Events

Sport makes up a large share of October’s documentary slate. Schumacher ’94 – The Birth of a Legend (October 2) revisits the 1994 Formula 1 season in which Michael Schumacher went from underdog to world champion, and TYSON (October 13) is a limited docuseries on the boxer. The One About Matthew Perry (October 27) is a docuseries looking back at the life and career of the Friends star.

Reality viewers get Love Is Blind Season 11, set in Boston, on October 14, and The New Stanford Prison Experiment (October 21), in which 30 people spend two weeks inside a real prison, where shifting power dynamics test how they behave.

Live programming completes the month and reflects Netflix’s growing interest in event viewing. Six Kings Slam Season 2 streams live on October 21, and on October 30 Beat Luke Littler gives amateur darts players one night and one chance to beat the 19-year-old world number one for a large cash prize.