Not unlike “56 Days,” Season 1 of the Starz show “The Couple Next Door” starts out with a naughty but not necessarily sinister premise. In this case, two sets of neighbor couples find themselves opening up their respective relationships to swapping. Initially, the biggest side effect is jealousy. But this isn’t just a matter of hard conversations about insecurity and things of that nature — it’s the type of jealousy that becomes violent and scary, thus fulfilling the thriller part of this erotic thriller series.

We specified Season 1 in the first paragraph because “The Couple Next Door” is actually an anthology series. Season 2 follows a completely new set of characters, sharing the basic thread of the story centering around four people whose physical and emotional relationships become intertwined. Only this time, it’s not as simple as two couples experimenting. At first, it’s one couple bringing in a third person, but when that third person’s jealous ex enters the picture, a complex web of love triangles between the four of them starts to unfold.

There has yet to be any official word on whether there will be a third season of “The Couple Next Door,” but it seems likely given the popularity of the show around the world. It has “taken the global market by storm” according to Variety, which confirmed that the anthology series has “secured major deals in more than 55 territories across the world.” There are plenty of directions the show’s basic premise can be taken in, so here’s hoping there is more to come. 

Based on the novel of the same name by May Cobb, “The Hunting Wives” seemingly came out of nowhere to become one of the most buzzed about shows of 2025 when it hit Netflix. It follows a woman named Sophie (Brittany Snow), who is befriended by the wife of her husband’s new boss. The wife, Margo (Malin Akerman), runs the titular group, an exclusive clique of the socialite wives of various men of power and influence in the area. Both Margo and the group itself are more than they seem, but Sophie ignores those red flags — especially when she begins a physical affair with Margo.

That affair is a big part of why “The Hunting Wives” became such a word of mouth success story for Netflix. When Sophie isn’t being intimate with Margo, she’s being a voyeur to Margo’s various other affairs and bad behavior. It’s a fact that Margo is not only aware of, but uses to her advantage in her increasingly twisted manipulation of Sophie.

Back in September 2025, Netflix finally renewed the steamy, star-studded show for a second season. We don’t yet know when Season 2 of “The Hunting Wives” is going to drop, but it is currently in active production and promises both returning characters — the ones that were still breathing at the end of Season 1, anyway — as well as new additions to the clique.  

Netflix’s “The Perfect Couple” isn’t as outwardly erotic as some of the other shows on this list. There are a few love scenes throughout the show’s six episodes, the type that will make you blush if you’re watching in mixed company. But the real steaminess in “The Perfect Couple” comes via revelations about who is/was sleeping with who — and which of the many secret affairs among this group led to the dead body that washes up ashore during the first episode.

The ending of “The Perfect Couple” reveals who killed Merritt, which is the central mystery of the show. But there’s a lot more to unpack here than just who killed her and why. What brought Merritt (Meghann Fahy) to the sprawling beach home of the famous and powerful Winbury clan to begin with is that her best friend, Amelia (Eve Hewson), is marrying into the family. As everyone preps for the wedding, we begin to learn more about all of the unseemly behavior of the Winbury family, much of which is kept under wraps by matriarch Greer (Nicole Kidman) to protect her career reputation as a famous author. 

Just how many secrets is Greer protecting? Does she actually know just how much dirty laundry the family is hiding? By the end of “The Perfect Couple” (which is based on the novel of the same name by Elin Hilderbrand if you want to check out the source material), you will learn that the title doesn’t apply to any of the relationships therein.

There is technically a love triangle at the center of “The Girlfriend,” which, like “56 Days,” is a steamy Amazon Prime Video thriller series. Only, the triangle is between a man, his new girlfriend, and… his mother. It’s not like that, of course, but the man’s mother is unsettlingly invested in her son’s romantic life. It’s immediately clear that she’s way more threatened by “losing” him to a future wife than is healthy. 

Laura Sanderson (Robin Wright) is a prominent art dealer and only wants the best for her son, curly-haired heartthrob Daniel (Laurie Davidson). It’s not terribly surprising that she would be incredibly difficult to impress and would presume that few women are good enough for her son, given her social standing. But when she meets his new girlfriend, Cherry Laine (Olivia Cooke), she is instantly skeptical of Cherry’s intentions and questions whether her blue collar upbringing makes her unsuitable for her son.

Things don’t stop at just a mother thinking her son’s new girlfriend isn’t up to his level and/or might be using him for his money. Eventually, things turn much, much darker. As mysteries are unraveled and true intentions are revealed, viewers will start to think that it’ll be a miracle if everyone comes out of this crazy mess alive.