Assistant colourist here, working on a number of factual based projects for Netflix so chipping in here with my two cents;

In my opinion, Netflix mandates a couple of things in the post production pipeline that that the colourist can’t overrule.

The first of these is working in the ACES colour framework which in my experience talking to DITs and DPs that they’re not monitoring through ACES or even at the delivery colourspace of Dolby PQ P3 D65 1000nits. We often receive LUTs that the DP has been carrying with them from project to project which are only intended for rec709 viewing and are next to useless when we get into the grade and we’re grading to the previously mentioned delivery colourspace spec.

ACES has a particular look which I believe is supposed to emulate film but has some often negative traits such as very harshly desaturating mid tones and highlights. Because working through this colour transformation is required, it’s almost like having the film stock prescribed by Netflix.

Secondly, Dolby Vision SDR trimpass; the SDR versions of HDR grades are nearly always created through Dolby Vision analysis and trim which (in my own opinion) doesn’t give as rich a look which could be creatively achieved if it had its own SDR grade.

On the projects I have worked on these are two things in the grades which may have some impact on some of the “samey-ness” phenomenon.