Virgin River, Disenchantment, and More of the Best Netflix Releases in September 2023

September marks a milestone for Netflix — on September 29 the company is shutting down its DVD-by-mail service for good. But customers who were still getting their media by mail will at least get a consolation prize. On August 21, Netflix announced via Twitter that not only will it be randomly shipping out extra discs to customers during the service’s final month, but that anyone who receives them can hold onto them for good.

“We are not charging for any unreturned discs after 9/29,” the DVD Netflix account tweeted. “Please enjoy your final shipments for as long as you like!”

Though the DVD service is winding down, Netflix is still reliably dropping upwards of 50 new titles onto its streaming library every month, and September is no exception. Some highlights of this month’s offerings include Sex Education’s final season (check out more on that in Primetimer’s monthly preview) and yet another season of Love Is Blind, which is premiering just five months after Season 4’s ill-fated live reunion. Here are eight more must-see shows premiering or releasing new episodes on Netflix in September.

Disenchantment, Season 5 (September 1)

This season of Matt Groeing’s fantasy animated series will be its last. Things wrap up with an epic battle for Dreamland between Queen Bean (Abbi Jacobson) and her evil mother, Queen Dagmar (Sharon Horgan). Bean at least has her trusty companions Elfo (Nat Faxon) and Luci (Eric Andre) by her side as she heads into the deadly showdown, though whether or not they’re all that helpful is questionable. The voice cast for the final season also includes Richard Ayoade, Matt Berry, and Noel Fielding plus frequent Groening collaborators John DiMaggio and Billy West.

Is She the Wolf? (September 3)

In this Japanese reality series, five men and five women enter a house with the goal of finding the one. The twist? Any or all of the women could be a “wolf,” and as such is, according to Netflix, “not allowed to fall in love.” To win the wolves must make it to the end of the series without being found out or accepting any confessions of love. How exactly that second part plays out remains to be seen, but actress Nako Yabuki, comedian Natsuko Yokosawa, model Karen Takizawa, and Riku from the musical group The Rampage will be providing commentary along the way to make sense of it all and try to sniff out the wolves.

Infamy (September 6)

Zofia Jastrzębska stars in Anna Maliszewska’s Polish drama as a teenager caught between the tradition of her Romani roots, her responsibility to her family, and her dream of becoming a hip-hop star. While her parents attempt to marry her off for honor and money, she falls in love with a boy who shares the same passion for music that she does, attempting to forge her own path with him despite her parents’ wishes. But the stakes are higher than she imagined when she realizes her family’s fate is in her hands.

Predators (September 6)

Netflix’s latest nature docuseries is dedicated to the most vicious members of the animal kingdom. Tom Hardy narrates this five-part program, each episode focusing on a different species — polar bears, cheetahs, and wild dogs among them — fighting to survive and maintain their dominance. The series gives an up close and personal look at the habits of these hunters and the ways in which they must evolve as the environments around them change and, in the case of the polar bears, literally crumble beneath their paws.

Dear Child (September 7)

This German thriller, based on Romy Hausmann’s novel of the same title, starts in the aftermath of a woman and her daughter escaping abduction. They’d been kept in a man’s basement for years, doing exactly what he told them to do to stay safe — but are they any safer now that they’re free? And are they both really who they say they are? The series unpacks what actually took place while these two were in captivity and explores the lasting traumas and twisted family dynamics that the abuse has wrought.

Virgin River, Season 5 Part 1 (September 7)

At the end of Season 4, Mel (Alexandra Breckenridge) and Jack (Martin Henderson) were finally in a good place, engaged, pregnant (with confirmation that the baby is indeed Jack’s), and ready to settle down without any more drug smuggling, kidnapping, or murder to contend with — or so they think. Though at this point they should know better than to think anything will be as calm and easy as they like. According to Netflix, this season has “surprising new relationships, a shocking break-up, a difficult court trial, a heartbreaking goodbye, and a wildfire that threatens the town, bringing some people of Virgin River together while tearing others apart.” Part I includes the first 10 episodes of the season and Part II will premiere on November 30 as two holiday specials.

Glow Up, Season 5 (September 12)

Makeup legends Dominic Skinner and Val Garland are back to find Britain’s next great make-up star, this time with a new host, model Leomie Anderson. Ten MUAs (make-up artists) compete for the title, tackling challenges that put their creativity, precision, and ability to apply a flawless lash to the test. It’s not only a marvel for the full-faced creations produced by contestants, but also offers some practical beauty tips for those watching at home. The season has already aired in the U.K. on BBC 3 so we have some idea of what to expect, including guest judges Trixie Mattel, Selling Sunset’s Chelsea Lazkani, and influencer Hrush Achemyan.

Castlevania: Nocturne (September 28)

Castlevania, an anime adaptation of the video game franchise of the same name, may have come to end with its fourth season in 2021, but this new spin-off from creators Clive Bradley and Ken Kolde shows there are many more vampire-ladden tales to tell. This new addition to the franchise focuses on vampire hunter Richter Belmont’s origin story, set during the French Revolution, and is based on the 1990s games Castlevania: Rondo of Blood and Castlevania: Symphony of Night.

Look for more promising premieres from Netflix and other programmers in our monthly preview, running on August 31. You can check out a complete list of Netflix’s comings and goings here.

Brianna Wellen is a TV Reporter at Primetimer who became obsessed with television when her parents let her stay up late to watch E.R.