Sphinx is the ‘edge-of-your-seat’ crime drama that had viewers gripped from the start

Channel 4 just added the dark and atmospheric crime drama, Sphinx, to its streaming service.

The six-part Dutch-language series, which viewers have hailed as a disturbing and twist-filled watch, initially aired in the Netherlands in 2024 and hooked audiences from the very start. 

The story, which is created, co-written and directed by Diederik van Rooijen, centres around the kidnapping of a 14-year-old girl. After she returns home three years later with a mysterious tattoo on her back, it seems the teenager is still being influenced by her abductor. 

The drama comes to Channel 4 via Walter Presents, an offshoot streaming service that highlights top-rated foreign-language dramas chosen by Italian TV producer, Walter Iuzzolino (Professor T, Bookish, The Couple Next Door). 

Keep reading to find out all you need to know…

What is Sphinx about? 

The story opens with the disappearance of 14-year-old Minke Moorman on her way to school.

After a desperate search by her family, all that remains is her bicycle, thrown from a motorway near the Belgian border.

Three years later, Minke suddenly reappears, feral, confused and with a mysterious wing tattoo on her back. 

© Channel 4

The synopsis continues: “When Minke is allowed to return home to reintegrate, her broken family must try to put the pieces back together; her parents who had almost fully separated decide to pretend that their relationship is stable. 

“Minke’s mother Eva struggles to reconnect with her, meanwhile her father Luca, a police detective, does not trust his colleagues with the case, now reopened, when they failed before. Altered by her traumatic experience, Minke is still manipulated by her abductor from the shadows, still under the influence of The Sphinx.”

© Channel 4

The cast includes Andrea Vass, Rifka Lodeizen, Marcel Hensema and Sallie Harmsen.

What have viewers said about Sphinx?

The series has been hailed as “amazing” and “gripping from the off”.

In an online review on IMDb, one viewer described the show as “very dark,” while also commenting on the “layered plot,” the “turns and twists,” and the “superb” cast.

© Channel 4

Taking to social media, another viewer said they were hooked from the start, describing the drama as “gritty, bizarre and edge-of-your-seat”. 

Other gripping crime dramas to watch on Channel 4

• The Darkness – Gritty crime drama about a veteran detective who becomes consumed by a chilling cold case, one year after her daughter’s death. 
• Codename: Annika – A Finnish-Swedish neo-noir series about a Finnish art fraud investigator who embarks on a dangerous assignment deep within Stockholm’s corrupt fine art scene. 
• The Pushover – Scandinavian thriller about a North Zealand police inspector and a Copenhagen journalist who follow separate leads on a chilling murder case.

Sphinx is available to stream on Channel 4 now.