Netflix's New 10-Part Mystery Thriller Is a Perfect Weekend Binge From Start to Finish

The series came out last year and has yet to be picked up for a second season

Paranormal procedural shows are a dime a dozen. From The X-Files to iZombie, the genre spans decades and has something for everyone, whether you’re a hardcore horror sicko or someone who enjoys the spooky vibes and character dynamics that can pop up in these hyper-realized scenarios.

It’s a winning formula, which is why the genre has become so crowded. But if you’ve seen all of the classics and want a supernatural story anchored by a genuinely engaging family drama — with a fresh twist on the zombie trope — you’re in luck. The first season of Syfy’s 2025 series Revival is now streaming on Netflix.

What is Revival about?

Created by Aaron B. Koontz and Luke Boyce, and based on the comic series by Tim Seeley and Mike Norton, Revival follows a family in crisis in the small town of Wausau, Wisconsin. Dana Cypress (Melanie Scrofano) is a divorced cop who's desperate to leave the town she’s been trapped in her entire life. She’s finalizing a move to Chicago and plans on leaving with her son (Hudson Robert Wurster) for a fresh start as soon as her transfer is approved. Her boss, as it turns out, is her father and the town’s Sheriff (David James Elliott) — someone worth trusting in a crisis, yet not the most pleasant person to be around 24/7.

But before Dana can make her escape, things change forever. The town’s recently deceased inexplicably come back to life. The resurrections happen in various ways. Some people peacefully crawl out of their graves as they look for their family. Others awaken frightfully while locked inside the incinerator. The event is dubbed Revival Day, and it makes the town the subject of both a media frenzy and a government-enforced quarantine as health experts and authorities try to understand what’s going on. It also complicates Dana’s job. As she investigates various crimes, the culprit behind each strange occurrence could be a member of the undead.

The rise of the dead sparks an understandable fear in the town. While many celebrate the return of their loved ones, now called the Revivers, others are waiting for the other shoe to drop. A revived little girl at school is bullied by her classmates, who call her "zombie girl" in public but steer clear of her when alone. Amid the chaos of a crowded police station, a woman wonders if the sullen teenager who lives next door and wears black clothes and goth makeup is a Reviver. “That’s Tina — she just likes The Cure,” says an exhausted Dana.

Revival reinvents the zombie genre

Despite the strangeness of it all, most Revivers are peaceful and want to return to their normal lives. Still, there’s plenty of reason for concern. After their reawakening, Revivers are immune to cuts and life-threatening injuries. In one disturbing scene, an old woman’s teeth grow back the minute they fall out. Some also develop supernatural skills, like extraordinary strength. Others come back “wrong,” displaying aggressive behavior and a distorted sense of reality.

Aside from exploring the fun and gory bits of traditional zombie stories, Revival draws inspiration from shows like The Leftovers, which focus on the aftermath of an unexplainable event and its effect on a community. In Wausau, some people are still waiting for their loved one to arise, taking extreme measures so their fantasy comes true, whether that means digging out the dead and bringing their body back home, or ignoring a Reviver’s terrifying behavior by locking them away in the barn and pretending nothing has changed.

While the twists on the undead and the focus on the community make Revival a thought-provoking take on the zombie genre, what makes it worth your time is its investment in its core characters. Through all the chaos, the Cypress family remains at the center, with each episode revealing bits of backstory that explain why these characters act the way they do. Scrofano, a reliable Canadian TV presence, shines as Dana, playing her as a resourceful yet immature cop who’s always fun to watch onscreen, especially when making rash decisions to solve a case. There’s also Em (Romy Weltman), her sickly younger sister, who’s returning home after a bad college experience and has a dynamic with her dad filled with tension and misunderstandings. Her relationship with Dana is layered: prickly and a little distant, but loving and protective. The writers take their time establishing all of these storylines, with the viewer finishing every episode wondering what caused these relationships to break, and whether they can be mended in the future.

The series’ first season aired last year, and it’s unknown if a second season will be ordered. Koontz believes that a good performance on Netflix could determine its future. “We have always believed there is a much bigger audience out there for this show,” he said to What’s on Netflix. “The response from the people who found Revival on Peacock was incredible, but Netflix gives it an entirely new life.” Still, completionists will be happy to know that the murder mystery of the first season is resolved in the finale.

Regardless of its future, Revival feels like a show meant for a Netflix rediscovery. It has all the makings of B-movie schlock – fast pace, funny dialogue, gory thrills – while paying as much attention to the community’s reaction to the impossible and the complex family story at its core. Revival has its cake and eats it too.

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Revival is streaming on Netflix.