'Bhay: The Gaurav Tiwari Mystery,' Netflix's 'Black Warrant,' 'Paatal Lok 2': Revisiting the darkest web-series of 2025

2025 was a mixed bag for both cinema-going viewers and people who prefer watching content on OTT at homes. As far as the landscape of streaming is concerned, we had some interesting titles that attempted to show the dark side of humanity both fictional and real. Profanity and voyeurism took a backseat mercifully, but the expose of the twisted side of the world was very much intact.

Here are the darkest, and also perhaps the most dazzling web-series of 2025:

Robbie Grewal’s web show was about India’s first paranormal investigator. It was more of a paranormal take on a mysterious death rather than in-your-face horror. It almost answers how it all happened but nobody can articulate why it happened.

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Shah Rukh Khan has been ruling the roost for three decades. It’s no surprise Aryan, his son, makes his directorial debut with a series about a profession his father is a veteran of. The show was pulpy, campy, juicy, dark, and dazzling. All eyes on the scion’s next moniker.

Paatal Lok 2

Just like season one, season two too balances itself between the personal and political. The quaintness of Nagaland is a nice choice by the makers to craft a murder mystery in. That’s exactly what has been happening in most of the Indian thrillers ever since the pandemic crippled the nation. It gives them the opportunity to milk the ambiguity of the state and not just fetishize its expanse and grandeur.

Who said we need stars for an entertaining and engaging watch whether it is a movie or a series, audiences need honest performers. And that’s exactly what   The Family Man Season 3 is all about. Solid story-line, brilliant direction and stellar craftsmen and that’s all you need for a successful show. From the ‘most loved’ to the ‘most wanted’, Shrikant Tiwari’s (Manoj Bajpayee) journey is still full of struggles.

Black Warrant

Vikramaditya Motwane’s show on Netflix covers key events of the time, including Charles Sobhraj’s imprisonment, high-profile executions like those of Ranga-Billa and Kashmiri terrorist Maqbool Bhat, and the impact of Indira Gandhi’s assassination on a burning Delhi and Tihar Jail.

Khakee: The Bengal Chapter

After the Khakee The Bihar Chapter, now we get to see Netflix’s Khakee: The Bengal Chapter and this is one of the most promising series on the digital platform. The show reflects the political condition, the crime scene since 1988. Whenever we talk about Bengal, it is only about the rich culture, heritage and literature. But no filmmaker has touched upon the crime and political nexus in West Bengal so vividly the way filmmaker Neeraj Pandey has for this show.