22 foreign-language shows you should be watching on Netflix
Gabbi Shaw
- There are dozens of Netflix Originals to watch, like "Outer Banks," "Grace and Frankie," and more.
- But Netflix's latest phenomenon, "Squid Game," is a South Korean show that has spread worldwide.
South Korean series "Squid Game" has become Netflix's biggest hit of all time.
Without giving away too much, "Squid Game" is about a group of individuals who all have one thing in common: They're each in massive amounts of debt. When a mysterious organization offers them the chance to play playground games to win money, they jump at the chance — without realizing there may be deadly consequences.
According to the streamer, "Squid Game" is its most popular show ever, with 142 million households tuning in in the first four weeks. It also has a 93% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
"La Casa de Papel," or "Money Heist," is a Spanish series that Netflix renewed after its original run ended.
"Money Heist" is finishing up an impressive run in December 2021, after five parts (seasons) and 41 episodes, and a win for Best International Series at the International Emmys in 2018.
The series, at first, follows a crew of bank-robbers hitting the Royal Mint of Spain, led by a mysterious figure known as the Professor. Episodes are narrated by Tokyo, one of the robbers and an unreliable narrator to boot. It has a 92% on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Young Royals" is a Swedish teen drama series with a dedicated fanbase.
For those looking for more teen dramas in their life (who isn't?) but with more LGBTQ representation than some of the classics (your "OCs," your "Gossip Girls"), look no further than "Young Royals," which kind of feels like fan-fiction come to life, in the best way.
Sweden's young prince, Wilhelm, is sent to the boarding school Hillerska after getting in a fight at a club. His classmates are also, wait for it, young royals! The six-part first season revolves around Wilhelm and his burgeoning feelings for classmate Simon. It was renewed for a season two that will drop in 2022.
While it doesn't have a critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, it does have a 99% audience score.
"Lupin" is a French mystery series starring Omar Sy.
Sy's character Assane Diop is a thief who is inspired by the crimes of Arsène Lupin, a fictional "gentleman thief" and master of disguise. Assane's father died in prison after being arrested for a crime he didn't commit, and now he's determined to get revenge on those who framed his father.
The first two parts consisting of five episodes dropped in January and June 2021, and as it was the most-watched series before "Squid Game" with 70 million households watching, it was renewed for a third part. The series has a 97% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
German series "Dark" was named one of the best shows of the 21st century by the BBC.
Specifically, the BBC ranked "Dark" No. 58 on its list of the 100 greatest shows of the 21st century.
At first, "Dark" focuses on the residents of the fictional town of Winden — children are going missing and no one has any answers. Eventually, four families are brought to the forefront, and they discover a conspiracy dating back hundreds of years in the past ... and decades into the future.
While "Dark" might not have wrapped up every question with a bow when the third and final season was released in June 2020, it still has an impressive 95% on Rotten Tomatoes.
Spanish series "Elite" is shaping up to become one of Netflix's longest-running series.
"Elite" can be described as "Gossip Girl" meets "Big Little Lies" — a group of students at a prestigious high school in Spain are each interrogated by the police after one of their friends is murdered. The show periodically switches between flashbacks and police interviews in the present.
"Elite," which was renewed for a sixth season in October 2021, could ostensibly go on forever as some characters graduate and others begin attending Las Encinas. And with a critics score of 97%, who's to say it won't?
Japanese comedy "The Naked Director" is definitely not suitable for everyone, but it's entertaining.
"The Naked Director" is a semi-biographical comedy series revolving around Toru Muranishi, a famed adult film director, and his attempts to totally change the industry in Japan.
It consists of two seasons, with season two dropping in June 2021. The show doesn't have a critics score, but there is a 70% audience score.
"Unorthodox" is Netflix's first series that's primarily in Yiddish.
"Unorthodox," which was nominated for eight Emmys in 2020, including Outstanding Limited Series and Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series, was released in March 2020. It's based on the book "Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots."
It follows Esty, a young woman living in an ultra-Orthodox Jewish community in Brooklyn, who decides to run away to Berlin and escape from her arranged marriage. In total, it has four parts. The miniseries has a 96% on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Delhi Crime" won Best Drama Series at the International Emmys, making it the first Indian series to win the award.
"Delhi Crime's" seven-episode first season was released in March 2019. It is based on a real 2012 gang rape case that took place in the Delhi neighborhood of Munirka. The main character, Vartika Chaturvedi, is the deputy commissioner of police who is tasked with finding the culprits.
Any true crime buff, or fans of series like "When They See Us" and "Unbelievable," should check out the series. It has a 94% on Rotten Tomatoes and was renewed for a second season following a different case.
If you like Norse mythology, or just the "Thor" movies, the Norwegian series "Ragnarok" might be perfect for you.
The series is a modern-day retelling of Norse mythology, taking place in the fictional Norwegian town of Edda. A teenager, Magne, discovers that he's a reincarnated version of Thor, the god of thunder, while his brother Laurit is none other than Loki. It's their job to defend their town from the evil Jutul family, who are polluting the planet.
Season two was released in May 2021. The series has 70% on Rotten Tomatoes.
"How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)" is a German series perfect for fans of "Breaking Bad" and "The End of the F***ing World."
"How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast)" is about nerdy teenager Moritz Zimmermann and his friend Lenny learning to sell ecstasy online in order to get Moritz's ex-girlfriend Lisa back — but, predictably, things get out of hand fast.
It's remarkably based on a true story from 2015. Moritz's character is based on Maximilian Schmidt. You can learn more about his real story by conveniently watching the Netflix documentary "Shiny_Flakes: The Teenage Drug Lord."
The series, which recently had its third season debut in July 2021, doesn't have a critics score, but it does have a high 90% audience score.
"The Chestnut Man" is a Danish crime series based on the Søren Sveistrup novel of the same.
"The Chestnut Man" was released on Netflix just a few weeks ago, on September 29, 2021, but it's already making waves. For fans of murder mysteries like "The Killing" or "Sharp Objects," "The Chestnut Man" centers around two Danish detectives who are investigating a murder — their only clue is a figurine made of chestnuts at the crime scene.
The series, which consists of six episodes, has a 78% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Into the Night" is Netflix's first original Belgian series, and it was released in 2020.
Netflix has big plans for the series already, as a Turkish spin-off is set for 2022. It takes place on a submarine.
"Into the Night" is based on a Polish novel called "The Old Axolotl," and follows a group of passengers aboard a hijacked plane, who then become survivors of a planet-wide natural disaster in which exposure to sunlight is an instant death sentence. The group works together to try and outrun the sun as they fly around the world.
The second season was released in September 2021. It currently has a 88% score on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Biohackers," a German series, has a rare 100% on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Biohackers" has two seasons with six episodes apiece, and it has earned the rare 100% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes. The most recent season was released in July 2021.
The show follows medical student Mia Akerlund, her friend Jasper, a biology student, and his roommate Niklas. While investigating her brother's death, Mia gets involved in a conspiracy concerning "biohacking," aka illegal genetic experimentation.
After it was canceled in Thailand, "Girl from Nowhere" was renewed by Netflix for a second season. It was released in 2021.
"Girl from Nowhere" originally aired in 2018 on the Thai channel CMM 25. The streaming giant brought it back in May 2021 to huge success in Asia.
The titular girl from nowhere is Nanno, a mysterious teenager who travels around Thailand enrolling at various high schools and exposing the students', teachers', and anyone else's hypocrisy and lies. Each episode follows Nanno at a new school, wreaking havoc. It currently has a 73% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Summertime" is an Italian love story - perfect for fans of "Call Me By Your Name."
"Summertime" is essentially just your classic love story between two beautiful people living on the Adriatic coast — specifically, a town called Cesenatico. Summer, who begins working at a hotel to provide for her family, and Ale, a motorcycle racer from Rome, learn to work through their differences and be happy.
The series is based on Italian author Federico Moccia's series of novels called "Three Meters Above the Sky." Season two was released in June 2021, and it was already renewed for a third season.
If you watched "Squid Game" and couldn't get enough of deadly playground games, try the Japanese series "Alice in Borderland."
"Alice in Borderland" is based on the manga of the same name, and it was released in December 2020. A second season was announced just two weeks after it premiered.
The premise is similar to "Squid Game," in that it follows a group of people competing against each other in service of a shadowy organization — in this show, the group is transported to an abandoned Tokyo, and each time they win a game, they get their "visa" extended. If they lose ... you can probably guess what happens.
The series has 83% on Rotten Tomatoes.
If you're still mourning the loss of "Good Girls Revolt," try Spain's period drama "Cable Girls."
"Cable Girls" takes place in '20s Madrid and tells the story of four women who begin working at a telecommunications company to secure some financial independence for themselves — but as political tensions grow within Spain, things get more complicated.
All five seasons are available to stream on Netflix, and it currently has a 74% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes.
"Invisible City" is a Brazilian supernatural series based on the country's folklore.
In "Invisible City," a detective for the environmental police who is dealing with the death of his wife discovers that all of the folklore he grew up learning about is true, and that he himself is a "half-entity," which is why he can suddenly perceive this new world.
With a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and an early season two renewal in March 2021, it's clear this is a solid bet for those who grew up with "Percy Jackson" and are now looking for a new culture's mythology.
Spooky season may be over, but French horror series "Marianne" will keep the scares coming year-round.
"Marianne" stars Victoire Du Bois as a young novelist named Emma who comes to realize that the horrifying creatures from her books are real. She is lured back to her hometown to eradicate the evil once and for all.
The series was canceled after one season in 2020, but its eight episodes are more than enough to keep anyone awake at night.
Mexican series "Who Killed Sara?" is unsettling in a different way.
"Who Killed Sara?" is about a man, Alex, who spends 18 years in prison after being wrongfully convicted of killing his sister Sara. He then decides to get revenge on the Lazcano family, who were involved in setting him up — though, of course, things are much more complicated than Alex anticipates.
At the time of its release in March 2021, it became Netflix's most-watched foreign-language show, with 55 million households tuning in. It was quickly renewed for a season two which premiered in May 2021, and there's a season three on the way.
It also has 86% on Rotten Tomatoes.
As the holiday season approaches, any holiday rom-com fan should fire up the Norwegian series "Home for Christmas."
''Home for Christmas" is the story of Johanne, a nurse, who lies to her family and says she has a boyfriend she'll be bringing home for Christmas dinner. Over the course of the first season, you see Johanne try all sorts of ways to meet a man, even though, of course, love might be right in front of her the whole time.
Season two was released in December 2020. It hasn't officially been renewed for a third season, but the show has a 92% audience score — so it's not out of the question.
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