The Biggest Streaming Surprises of 2025

Streaming is well and truly here to stay. 2025 saw some landmark cultural moments in the world of film and TV streaming. Squid Game came to an end (at least, until the US spin-off is released). Wednesday released its second season to much less fanfare than the first. Severance was so popular it brought back water cooler talk. The final season of Stranger Things is officially underway. And, oh yeah, Netflix might buy Warner Bros.! But amidst the new and returning shows that we all knew would be major hits, and a takeover deal that could forever change Hollywood, there were some incredible shows and movies on streaming that seemingly came out of nowhere.

With 2025 almost completely in the rearview mirror, MovieWeb has been taking a look back at the best movies and TV shows of the past year. But we want to take a moment to appreciate those shows and films that started as another piece of content amidst vast streaming libraries, before exploding in popularity and taking the world by storm. We’ll be jumping between harrowing crime dramas and music-inspired animated action movies with world-ending stakes. So strap in, because these were the biggest streaming surprises of 2025.

5

‘Adolescence’

Netflix

There’s something special about a British crime drama. Be it the (usually) more rural setting, the drab cinematography, complex characters, or overabundance of sarcasm, viewers can’t get enough of a UK-made crime series. But, Netflix delivered one of the greatest of all time in 2025 with Adolescence. If you’ve been anywhere near Netflix or social media this year, you’ve likely heard of it. Or you were one of the 142.6 million who watched the show since its debut in March.

One of the big selling points of Adolescence was its one-take format. All four of the hour-long episodes were shot in single, unbroken takes – “true oners,” as film fans call them. But the show is so much more than that. Stephen Graham (who starred in and co-created the show) delivered a bombshell of a performance, as did the young Owen Cooper, who recently became the youngest male performer to win an acting Emmy. The series even broke headlines in the UK when the British government pushed for high schools to screen the series to students to show them the reality of knife crime and violence against women.

4

‘The Pitt’

There are medical shows, and then there’s The Pitt. The HBO Max Original series should have been another run-of-the-mill medical drama on paper. The show shares its essence with ER, thanks to its showrunner and executive producer, John Wells, along with Noah Wyle in the leading role. Outside of Wyle, The Pitt didn’t star any major names. But that didn’t stop it from being a tour-de-force of a show that defied the usual conventions of a streaming series and immediately got fans hyped for Season 2.

Across its 15 episodes, viewers were thrown headfirst into the Pittsburgh Trauma Medical Center, with each episode showing an hour of the 15-hour shift the staff work through every day. The real-time style is nothing new (24 famously kept it going for, you guessed it, 24 episodes). With this many episodes, more buzz was generated organically, building on the excitement week after week. Add amazing performances from the entire cast, and some incredible character-focused writing, and you get The Pitt.

3

‘Solo Leveling’ Season 2

Even if you’re not an anime fan, you’ve likely heard of Solo Leveling. The series, based on the web novel by Chugong, actually debuted in 2024, and received decent reactions from anime fans. But when Season 2 dropped in the Winter 2025 season, it broke the internet. The term “Aura Farming” was thrown around the internet way too much, as Sung Jinwoo’s quest to become an S-Rank hunter and save his mother was taken to new levels of cool.

Solo Leveling broke several records on Crunchyroll. The series is the second most-reviewed anime of all time on the streaming platform, overtaking Demon Slayer and Jujutsu Kaisen. Season 2 was so popular that it even pushed the first season to win Crunchyroll’s Anime of the Year, with many accidentally voting for the wrong season of the show. The series even beat out the critically acclaimed fantasy show Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End. What’s most interesting about Solo Leveling‘s success is that the internet has since turned on the show, with many calling it “wildly overhyped.”

2

‘The Studio’

Films and TV shows about making and appreciating movies can often (fairly) be classed as “Oscar-bait.” In the build-up to The Studio‘s release, the Apple TV series drew that very criticism from some. But, following the first episode, even the most casual of movie-lovers fell in love with the tense and darkly comic show. Seth Rogan starred as Matt Remick, the new head of Continental Studio. While Matt adores movies, the nature of his job makes him constantly feel like he’s ruining them (well, that and his desperate need for celebrity approval).

The first episode alone featured a cameo from Martin Scorsese, with Matt Remick trying to get the beloved filmmaker to make a Kool-Aid movie through the lens of the Jonestown Massacre. The Studio did go on to win 13 Emmys, somewhat proving its “Oscar-bait” moniker correct. But, audiences were blown away with the stress-inducing 11-episode series, and cannot wait for the upcoming second season.

1

‘KPop Demon Hunters’

Zoey, Rumi and Mira in KPop Demon Hunters

Was it really going to be anything else? K-Pop as a musical genre has become an international phenomenon. But when that is combined with excellent animation and demon slaying, it is sure to be a hit. However, no one expected KPop Demon Hunters to be such a sensation. Released in June, KPop Demon Hunters got off to a promising start, shooting to the top of Netflix’s weekly Top 10 ranking. But then it stayed there. And it stayed there some more. And it stayed there even longer. And it continued to stay there. At the time of writing (December 2025), it is still in the top 10, sitting in seventh place. KPop Demon Hunters has been in the top 10 for 180 days and counting.

But the success didn’t stop there. KPop Demon Hunters overtook Dwayne Johnson’s Red Notice to become the most-watched movie on Netflix of all time. The movie was watched 325.1 million times during its first 91 days on streaming. That success led to sing-along screenings in theaters, and, of course, a sequel. KPop Demon Hunters 2 is now in the works and is slated for release in 2029.