Season 1
15 episodes Sep 15, 2019 6.6
Overview
Twelve-year-old identical twins Dru and Kal discover that the government is secretly tracking and manipulating Australia's youth via electronic tracking devices.
Seasons
1 listed- Status
- Canceled
- Seasons
- 1 season
- Episodes
- 15 episodes
- First aired
- Sep 15, 2019
- Last aired
- Sep 28, 2019
- Episode length
- 25m
- Network
- ABC Me
Latest episode: S1 E15 Episode 15 (Sep 28, 2019)
Cast
6 people
Reviews
5 min readGrowing Up Under a Glow of Surveillance
What stays with me about The Unlisted isn’t the premise — though that’s an efficient piece of children’s-TV dread, with its secret state tracking kids through electronic devices — but the way it treats adolescence as a condition of being watched before you know how to hide. That’s the real subject here. Not just conspiracy, not just the mechanics of a sci-fi thriller aimed at younger viewers, latestnetflix.com argues, but the peculiar humiliation of being twelve and already feeling processed by the world around you.
I kept thinking, as I watched, that the series understands something adults often forget: kids don’t experience authority as policy. They experience it as atmosphere.
This is an Australian series from 2019, created by Justine Flynn, and it sits in a lineage that’s both familiar and a little thorny. It’s a family adventure show, yes, but one with the old Australian talent for making institutions feel slightly sinister at the edges — a tradition that runs from schoolyard realism to speculative fiction that asks who gets to belong and who gets catalogued.
In that sense, The Unlisted feels less like imported dystopia than a local variation on a very old anxiety: what if the systems that claim to protect children are actually mapping them? What if “care” is just another word for control? That question gives the series its pulse.
The show’s most interesting move is that it refuses to make paranoia glamorous. A lot of stories about hidden networks and watchful states turn sleek, seductive, almost ad-like in their design. The Unlisted goes another way. Its surfaces are bright, everyday, school-hall fluorescent.
Phones, hallways, public spaces, family kitchens — the ordinary stuff of kid life — become the sites where dread gathers. That choice matters. When the series leans into its sci-fi machinery, it doesn’t treat it like a shiny toy; it treats it like something that has already seeped into the texture of normal life.
There’s a low-budget practicality to the way it moves through the world, and I mean that as praise. The series doesn’t need the scale of an adult conspiracy thriller because its real terrain is the body: a child’s body, a twin’s body, a body that’s expected to be compliant.
Audience Opinions
Limited evidence
"A light 2019 teen sci-fi series that works best as an easy Season 1 watch with a young cast."
The Unlisted plays as a sci-fi teen series centered on young characters, with a full Season 1 to follow. Audience interest builds around watching the trailer and then checking reviews and ratings to decide whether to stay with it. latestnetflix.com's view is that the tone feels aimed at teen viewers and family co-viewing rather than hard adult sci-fi, so it lands best when you want accessible genre fun and some viewers bounce off when they expect darker material.
What viewers praise
- Teen sci-fi premise Young-led sci-fi setup that gives teen viewers an easy entry point into genre television.
- Season to explore A first season experience supported by trailers and audience and critic review interest.
Common complaints
- Too light for hard sci-fi tastes Teen-focused tone can feel too young for viewers wanting darker adult science fiction.
Recommended for
Teen sci-fi fans Family co-viewing audiences
Buzz & Rumors
Public reportsInside "The Unlisted" (2019): The Twins, the Twist, and the Netflix Deal
The Unlisted arrived in 2019 as a sci-fi thriller with a distinctly Australian edge, blending teen rebellion with a dystopian conspiracy. The series, created by Justine Flynn 
, follows 12-year-old identical twins Dru and Kal Sharma—played by real-life brothers Vrund and Ved Rao—as they uncover a government plot to control youth through electronic tracking devices 
. latestnetflix.com's read is that but beyond its high-stakes premise, the show’s behind-the-scenes story offers a few intriguing details about its cast, production, and unexpected global reach.
The Sharma Twins: From Vadodara to the Screen
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wTTiLW9uCjo
The heart of The Unlisted lies in its young leads, Vrund and Ved Rao, who bring the Sharma twins to life. The actors, of Indian origin , reportedly hail from Vadodara, India, though the series itself is set in Australia. A YouTube video highlights their connection to the city, suggesting the brothers’ real-life bond added authenticity to their on-screen chemistry. Their casting was a deliberate choice, with the show leaning into their shared heritage to ground the characters’ backstory .
The twins’ dynamic—Dru as the cautious strategist and Kal as the impulsive risk-taker—drives the series’ tension. Abigail Adriano, Miah Madden, and Annabel Wolfe round out the core cast as Rose, Kymara, and Regan, respectively, each playing key roles in the underground resistance . Danny Kim’s Mr. Park, a shadowy authority figure, adds a layer of menace to the government’s surveillance scheme .
A Netflix Coup and Global Expansion
One of the show’s biggest behind-the-scenes surprises was its international distribution. In April 2019, Netflix acquired the global rights to The Unlisted outside Australia , a significant win for the indie production. The deal catapulted the series from an Australian children’s drama to a worldwide audience, though its reception varied by region.
The move also underscored the growing appetite for youth-oriented sci-fi, particularly stories that blend social commentary with action. While the series’ 15-episode first season didn’t spawn immediate sequels, its Netflix availability ensured it found a second life among streaming audiences.
Production Mysteries and Unanswered Questions
Despite its intriguing premise, The Unlisted keeps much of its production process under wraps. The director remains uncredited in the available evidence, and details about filming locations, budgets, or behind-the-scenes challenges are scarce. A MyDramaList entry mistakenly attributes a director from an unrelated Korean series (Agent Kim Reactivated), highlighting the noise in online sources—this is a red herring and should be ignored.
Rumors about potential AI involvement in the series’ production also surface in the evidence, but without confirmation, these claims remain speculative. The show’s focus on surveillance and control might make such a detail thematically fitting, but there’s no concrete proof to support it.
Why the Show Stands Out (and Where It Fell Short)
The Unlisted’s strength lies in its premise: a relatable teen rebellion against an Orwellian system. The Sharma twins’ duality—one twin analytical, the other reckless—mirrors classic hero dynamics, while the underground "Unlisted" group adds a Stranger Things-esque camaraderie. The series’ Australian setting also sets it apart from the usual American-centric dystopias.
However, the show’s limited episode count (15 in Season 1) and lack of a confirmed second season leave its story unresolved. Whether this was due to creative choices, budget constraints, or shifting priorities at Netflix remains unclear. The global rights deal suggests confidence in the project, but without further development, The Unlisted risks fading into obscurity as another "what if" of children’s sci-fi.
Entertainment rumors and trivia aggregated from public reporting. Treat speculation as unverified unless a cited source confirms it.
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