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Unaccustomed Earth is the new Netflix show you won't want to miss. The new series is based on Jhumpa Lahiri's short story collection of the same name, about an Indian American family community in Massachusetts (Cambridge and Boston, to be specific) whose lives are forever changed by both love and loss.
Netflix promises the story is "rich with nuance, emotion, and unforgettable characters," and this just became one of my most-anticipated TV shows of the winter.
Here's everything you need to know about Unaccustomed Earth before it comes to Netflix this December 2026.
'Unaccustomed Earth' is the ultimate family drama for the holiday season.
TV shows that explore families within multiple generations of the same family — especially when there are tons of family secrets to unfold.
In Unaccustomed Earth, we meet Parul Chaudhury (Frieda Pinto), who upends her entire life when she receives the cancer diagnosis she never wanted. Way back when, Parul sacrificed her first love, Amit Mukherjee (Siddharth), to honor her father, but now that she's faced with her future, she decides to move her family back to Massachusetts from India. After all, it's the one place she actually felt like she belonged. And Parul is determined to grasp what she actually wants before she runs out of time.
“It’s the kind of South Asian American community that we’ve never seen on television,” Pinto tells Netflix. “We haven’t seen it before through this very holistic, culture-embracing way, while also dealing with the complexities of what it is to be this tight-knit community.”
Between the secrets, the community, and the romance, this is definitely the kind of show any Ransom Canyon lover will want to tune into (even if there are significantly less cowboys).
Meet the 'Unaccustomed Earth' cast before the Netflix show premieres.
Netflix
The Unaccustomed Earth cast is truly remarkable. You'll see Freida Pinto (Avatar Aang: The Last Airbender) as Parul, Siddarth (Boys) as Amit, Indraneil Sengupta (Maa) as Jai, Parveen Kaur (Manifest) as Nina, Sarayu Blue (Expats) as Ruma, Justin Bartha (National Treasure) as Adam, and Adi Roy (Aladdin on Broadway) as Kaushik.
We'll also see Iyla Sundarsingh Mckaig as Hema, Jayant Kripalani as Pranab, Ishita Bansal as Divya, Meera Simham as Swati, Ravi Kapoor as Vishal, Swayam Bhatia as Sudha, and Palomi Ghosh as Anjali.
The show is streaming on Netflix starting December 17, 2026.
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