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A woman escapes from a remote cabin where she has been held captive with two children. Police connect her to a missing-person case from 13 years earlier, and the parents of the vanished Lena Beck (Justus von Dohnányi and Julika Jenkins) hope at last for answers. Kim Riedle, Naila Schuberth and Haley Louise Jones lead the German cast.
Checked 25 Oct 2026. Services change their catalogues often; the service’s own page has the final word.
A woman escapes from a remote cabin where she has been held captive with two children. Police connect her to a missing-person case from 13 years earlier, and the parents of the vanished Lena Beck (Justus von Dohnányi and Julika Jenkins) hope at last for answers. Kim Riedle, Naila Schuberth and Haley Louise Jones lead the German cast.
Why watch Dear Child won Best TV Movie or Miniseries at the 52nd International Emmy Awards, and it earns the honour with patient, unsettling storytelling rather than shock. It ranked as Netflix's most-watched non-English series in its first two weeks, reaching the top 10 in more than 90 countries. Expect a puzzle about identity as much as a crime story, and a performance from Justus von Dohnányi that German reviewers singled out.
Isabel Kleefeld and Julian Pörksen wrote and directed the series, adapting Romy Hausmann’s novel Liebes Kind, published in English as Dear Child in Jamie Bulloch’s translation. Netflix released all six episodes on 7 September 2023. The story moves between the investigators, led by CID officer Gerd Bühling (Hans Löw) and Officer Aida Kurt (Haley Louise Jones), the escaped woman and the two children, and the Beck family, still waiting after 13 years. Jeanne Goursaud appears as the real Lena Beck.
Episode one is the hook: the escape and its immediate aftermath set up nearly every question the series answers. It plays best over a few nights, and the original German audio is worth choosing over the dub. If it grips you, Adolescence and Run Away are natural next steps.
Streaming
Netflix · Global · All six episodes streaming now
All six episodes of Netflix's German thriller from the Dear Child team, about a housebound novelist baiting her sister's killer, are streaming now.
Lauren Smith · 4 min read
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