The success of “Run Away” and Netflix's new crime formula The series surpassed Stranger Things, reaching first place on the platform

When a series reaches the number one spot on Netflix, people always look for the reasons behind its success. With Run Away it’s quite obvious. Although it often happens that titles with no big names in the cast or production unexpectedly shoot to the top of the charts, in this case — looking at the show adapted from Harlan Coben’s novel — it feels like the climb was carefully planned. Once again, there are no hugely famous faces here either (an important detail, but neither unique nor a guaranteed ticket to a spot among the platform’s most-watched titles). Among the more recognizable names is Alfred Enoch, whose career began with the role of Dean Thomas in the Harry Potter film saga and continued some years later with How to Get Away with Murder.

Why does Run Away work?

The ace up Run Away’s sleeve lies in the intricate plot first crafted by Coben and then by showrunner Danny Brocklehurst: a thriller so complex and so packed with twists about a missing daughter and a family desperately searching for her that it feeds the algorithm directly. After ten years, this pattern has become quite evident: Netflix users have shown a clear preference for the genre, regardless of nationality, sending audiences spinning around the world. As a result, the platform keeps producing thriller/crime/mystery works at a steady pace, and finds confirmation every time a film, series, or miniseries reaches the top of the most-watched streaming charts.

Sometimes the result is excellent: Adolescence is an exceptional case. Stephen Graham is a well-known face, yet it’s clear that his presence wasn’t what drove the huge audience to watch the miniseries. A year earlier, Baby Reindeer had been the most talked-about title of 2024 — another example of how the actual quality of a production can be praised even in a sea of series and films uploaded to the platform, even without famous faces. Run Away, however, cannot really be compared to either of those two shows and will most likely be more of a passing title than one that will stay with us throughout 2026, but the reasons it sits at the top of the charts in the early months of the new year seem quite clear.

Why Run Away doesn’t work

The series perfectly reflects exactly what a modern viewer needs: a convoluted premise, a slight undercurrent of morbid fascination, a bit of fake blood and action that never hurts, and such a large amount of shocking revelations that it’s distraction-proof — or, paradoxically, actually helps you lose focus. That doesn’t mean, however, that everything is handled well. Although the story has to accommodate the large number of subplots and characters present in the novel, right from the start the sheer quantity of intersecting threads and people weighs down a narrative that clearly intends to lead us through constant red herrings and shocking reversals which — especially when they arrive and even though they are meant to be shocking — end up feeling predictable or at the very least telegraphed.

There’s no finesse in the writing — there is only the desire to throw a lot of meat on the grill and let it burn one piece at a time. It is true that every open storyline, every investigation, every doubt that arises in the characters, and every police intuition eventually gets its payoff with full explanations. But it’s equally true that the script lacks nuance and depth, suffers from excess, and relies on shallow psychology. The direction and staging follow the coarseness of the writing, though that’s often exactly what you get from these kinds of Netflix productions (the lighting and photography have become a signature by now).

And while the actors may be convincing, they are so buried under the overloaded, complicated layers of the story that their performances end up imprisoned. It must be said that seeing Run Away overtake Stranger Things at number one on Netflix just over a week after the final episode is a surprise — even though one might guess that, with only one episode released, people watched it on New Year’s Eve so they wouldn’t have to wait or risk spoilers and could then move on to something else. With a finale that deliberately leaves open the very real possibility of a second season (making the line between calling it a series or a miniseries rather blurry here). So it’s possible we’ll hear more about this mystery of a drug-addicted missing daughter whose search drives her father to despair. But truly great thrillers are something else; this one can at best be a lazy pastime.

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