New Netflix sci-fi show is being compared to Interstellar and Ad Astra after intriguing first trailer

Netflix's next sci-fi show has an intriguing new trailer that's drawing comparisons to movies like Interstellar and Ad Astra.

The German-language series follows scientist Paula (Peri Baumeister), who's away on a mission to the International Space Station. "Why doesn't mom like it on Earth?" her daughter Charlie (Yuna Bennett) asks her father Sven (Florian David Fitz) in the trailer, suggesting that her mother prefers life in zero gravity. While on her flight back home, however, Paula disappears without a trace. 

Per the streamer's logline, this leaves Sven and Charlie "with a riddle which could shake the entire earth. Up there, in the depths of space, Paula made an unbelievable discovery." The trailer teases father and daughter's attempts to decode messages from Paula and hints that whatever she discovered is valuable information that could put their lives at risk. The limited series will consist of four episodes releasing next month. 

The premise of family members left behind on Earth to solve a mystery linked to a parental figure lost in space definitely has Interstellar vibes. In Christopher Nolan's 2014 movie, Murph (Jessica Chastain) is left to solve an equation to help humanity find a new home away from a rapidly decaying Earth after her father Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) disappears for decades on an exploration mission. Ad Astra, meanwhile, follows Brad Pitt's astronaut Roy McBride, who ventures into space to try and find his lost father.  

German-language titles have been a hit on the streamer before, too. Sci-fi thriller Dark, which aired between 2017 and 2020, became a cult classic, and showrunners Baran bo Odar and Jantje Friese followed up with mystery series 1899 in 2022. The show, which was also very popular but canceled after one season, follows the fateful voyage of the Kerberos, a steamship heading from Europe to New York on the cusp of the 20th Century.

The Signal arrives on Netflix on March 7. In the meantime, fill out your watch list with our picks of the best Netflix shows streaming now.