The psychological horror miniseries My Sad Dead (Mis muertos tristes) arrived on Netflix on September 24, 2026, marking a significant entry into the “new gothic” genre. Directed by Chilean filmmaker Pablo Larraín, the four-episode series moves away from conventional jump scares to explore a collective haunting rooted in societal neglect and private mourning.
The narrative follows Ema (Mercedes Morán), a recently retired doctor who has lived her entire life with the ability to see and communicate with the dead. While Ema has long managed her isolation, the boundary between the living and the deceased begins to dissolve for her neighbors in the Piedrabuena district of Buenos Aires. This shift transforms a personal burden into a community-wide crisis, allegedly triggered by a spirit infiltrating the local water supply.
The series is an adaptation of short stories by acclaimed Argentinian author Mariana Enríquez. Known for weaving contemporary social issues into supernatural frameworks, Enríquez’s influence is evident in the choice of setting. Piedrabuena is a real-life neighborhood often associated with structural neglect, and in Larraín’s hands, the haunting serves as a metaphor for the unresolved grief and history of the area. This atmospheric approach recently earned praise from horror novelist Stephen King, who recommended the series on Threads for its premise of a city’s water supply causing a neighborhood-wide vision of the dead.
While Netflix has released the project as a four-episode miniseries, the production has a pedigree beyond standard streaming fare. My Sad Dead had its world premiere at the 74th San Sebastián International Film Festival in September 2026. This highlights the cinematic ambitions of Larraín, who previously explored dark psychological territory in films like Post Mortem and Spencer.
For viewers deciding whether to stream or skip, the series offers a dense, auteur-driven experience rather than a fast-paced thriller. The focus remains on the “new gothic” literary tradition, where the horror is inseparable from the environment and the characters’ social reality. The presence of Mercedes Morán provides a grounded center to the increasingly surreal events as her character, Ema, navigates a world where the ghosts of the past are no longer confined to the shadows of her own mind.
