Netflix’s ‘The Rain’ May Be Their Answer To ‘The Walking Dead’

First, Netflix terrified us all with the Demogorgon and Demidogs in Stranger Things. Then they made us suspicious of everyone in our lives with the German time travel drama Dark. Now it looks like Netflix has selected a new sci-fi foe to make streamers panicky — The Rain.

Created by Jannik Tai Mosholt (Borgen, Rita), The Rain is Netflix’s first Danish original series. It’s also a sci-fi horror drama about killer rain, so that’s pretty neat. The series follows a brother and a sister who leave their bunker only to find that the rest of civilization has disappeared. According to Netflix’s press release:

“Soon they join a group of young survivors and together set out on a danger-filled quest through abandoned Scandinavia, searching for any sign of life. Set free from their collective past and societal rules, the group has the freedom to be who they want to be. In their struggle for survival, they discover that even in a post-apocalyptic world, there’s still love, jealousy, coming of age, and many of the problems they thought they’d left behind with the disappearance of the world they once knew.”

Because of its apocalyptic focus, a lot of critics and streamers have been comparing the series to The Walking Dead, which is a fair comparison as The Walking Dead is one of the best known apocalyptic dramas of all time. However, to this writer, the series feels more similar to another Netflix original — Between, the Canadian drama about a bunch of small town teens who have to survive a deadly virus that wipes out civilization. If you mixed Between with the brooding prestige tone of Dark and the weather-related villainy of Stephen King’s The Fog, that feels closer to The Rain‘s trailer, which is pretty exciting. Even though Between and the movie version of The Fog weren’t the best watches, they still have some pretty cool ideas.

One of the most interesting parts of this announcement has little to do with the show’s premise. In the same trailer, The Rain features voiceover in both English and Danish. Is this a bilingual Narcos situation? Will these trapped teens have to overcome several language barriers while trying to stay alive? Only time will tell.

The Rain‘s announcement continues Netflix’s trend of embracing and promoting its foreign language dramas. The aforementioned Dark was one of the best shows to premiere last year, and 3%, which will be releasing a second season soon, is another hidden gem. The Rain will premiere on May 4, but if you can’t wait until then, check out Decider’s handy guide to all of Netflix’s excellent foreign dramas. 

Stream The Rain on Netflix May 4