The 12 Best Shows on Netflix That Are Not in English
The problem with Netflix’s algorithmic recommendations is that they create an entertainment echo chamber in which viewer tastes are confirmed rather than challenged. Right now, there’s probably a series languishing in Netflix’s catalog that would blow your mind if only you knew about it. But it’s probably not in English.
Netflix has a huge catalog of great foreign language shows, and there are so many that it can be difficult to find where to start. As Lifehacker’s expert on the topic of “What’s Good on TV,” I’ve compiled a list of the best of the best Netflix “non-English language” series, ranked in order of cumulative Rotten Tomatoes review ratings. If you’re good with subtitles, I bet you’ll find your new favorite show somewhere below.
Marianne (France, 2019)
I’m starting this list with Marianne , perhaps my favorite TV show of all time. I love horror, but I’ve seen so much of it that it rarely scares me. But the French series “Marianne” quite scared me. A deeply disturbing series about a horror writer whose nightmares come true. Marianne carefully creates an atmosphere of dread that is almost suffocating at times, and then releases the pressure valve at just the right moment with a terrifying Grand Guignol set piece. It’s horror for adults, and it’s really good.
Rotten Tomatoes Score : 100%.
Extraordinary Prosecutor Woo (Korea, 2022)
“Extraordinary Prosecutor Wu” is a legal show like no other. Park Eun Bin plays the main character Woo Young Woo, a woman with autism who becomes a legal scholar after seemingly memorizing every law in Korea. The heroine of Prominent Prosecutor Wu is a fully developed character—she’s a woman with autism, not “autism personified”—and the show focuses not only on the different cases she tries each week, but also on how she navigates a world she doesn’t fit into.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: 100%.
Money Heist (Spain, 2017)
This slick, stylish crime thriller starts out with a strong Tarantino influence, but it’s a bait-and-switch. Money Heist ‘s gang of misfits are cool, but they’re not cool anti-heroes. These are complex, contradictory, flawed people who make bad decisions for good reasons and good decisions for bad ones. Their daring plan to rob Spain’s national mint of billions of euros may at first seem like an Ocean’s Eleven prank, but it soon reveals itself as a desperate criminal act that explodes and spirals further out of control than anyone imagined.
Rotten Tomatoes Score : 100%.
“The Chestnut Man” (Denmark, 2021)
At its worst, Nordic Noir brings outdated police procedural stereotypes to the Nordic countries, and you end up with NCIS in the parks. However, at its best, Scandinavian noir is like The Chestnut Man – a gruesome, dark series that combines serial murder, political corruption and ancient, untold pagan rituals into something unique, free of clichés and perfect for binge-watching. If you like the atmosphere of the first season of True Detective , watch The Chestnut Man .
Rotten Tomatoes Score : 100%.
Cassandra (Germany, 2025)
The premise alone of this German sci-fi series should be enough to get most people to watch it. In Cassandra, a typical suburban family moves into an isolated house built in the 1980s, intended to be the “home of the future.” The massive old computers in the basement are still running and the dusty house robot is still clanging, but something is wrong with this house. If you’re like me and feel haunted by both the past and computers, Cassandra will resonate deeply.
Rotten Tomatoes Score : 100%.
Delicious in a Dungeon (Japan, 2024)
In addition to traditional foreign series, Netflix also has a ton of anime; it’s enough that the specialized genre deserves its own list (stay tuned). I put Delicious in Dungeon here to represent the entire anime and because I really like it. This is a good entry-level cartoon, a fantasy series influenced by Dungeons and Dragons, video games and food, in which a group of intrepid adventurers fight their way through a monster-filled dungeon to rescue their friend. It’s an odd combination, but it’s held together by well-drawn characters, beautiful graphics, and lore as rich as the Spanish language .
Rotten Tomatoes Score : 100%.
Dear Child (Germany, 2023)
I went into Dear Child cold, not knowing anything about it, and the first few episodes are so mysterious and awe-inspiring that I wasn’t sure if it was going in a dark sci-fi direction or if it was more like a supernatural horror series. It turns out that it is neither one nor the other. Dear Child is a thriller based on real life, and its meticulously crafted, visually stunning depiction of captivity, torture and brainwashing is far scarier than any of the fictional monsters. The Germans have a truly unique understanding of how authoritarian control degrades the human soul; go figure it out.
Rotten Tomatoes Score : 100%.
Squid Game (Korea, 2021)
It’s impossible to make a list of Netflix’s best foreign shows without including Korean sensation Squid Game . I encourage everyone to watch the first episode of this show and not continue with it. Squid is set in a near-future dystopia where rich people convince ordinary people to compete in deadly versions of children’s games for a fortune. “Squid Game” makes a sharp commentary on the corruption of capitalist culture, while at the same time being somehow entertaining to watch. It’s brutal, exciting, fearless, darkly funny and incredibly original. Squid has definitely earned almost universal acclaim from critics and audiences alike.
Rotten Tomatoes Score : 95%.
Cleo (Germany, 2022)
This stylish, action-packed thriller is set in the aftermath of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Jella Haase plays the title character, an imprisoned Stasi agent with an unusual set of skills, including making poison from puffer fish and kicking some serious ass. After the end of the Cold War, Cleo is released along with all the other political prisoners and sets out to take revenge on the spies and government officials who ruined her life. If you like action that’s damn neat and not stupid, check out Kleo .
Rotten Tomatoes Score : 92%.
We’re All Dead (Korea, 2022)
Imagine The Breakfast Club, Parasite and Train to Busan having a triple baby, and you have some idea of what We’re All Dead is all about. This Korean zombie epic takes place at Hyosang High School, where regular classes (and teen romances, popularity battles, bullying, shenanigans, etc.) are briefly interrupted by an invasion of fast and deadly zombies. “We’re All Dead” hits all the notes of an undead invasion perfectly—it’s gritty, violent, and action-packed—but it sets itself apart from the crowd of characters you care about and with thoughtful social commentary about youth and society, without ever slipping into “heart-to-heart talk about the dead” territory like recent seasons of The Walking Dead .
Rotten Tomatoes Score : 89%.
How to sell drugs online (fast) (Germany, 2019)
Based on a true story, How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) tells the story of Moritz Zimmerman, a high school nerd who dreams of becoming a tech tycoon and one day introducing the popular kids to it. So, as the title suggests, Moritz begins selling drugs online (quickly), which expands his social circle but creates exponentially growing danger in the form of cops, drug dealers, and other crime show complications. Fast, funny and exciting, How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) is the perfect entertainment. There are no ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, but trust me.
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: No
Tabula Rasa (Belgium, 2017)
Intense Belgian brain-fucking Tabula Rasa is criminally underrated—it doesn’t have enough online reviews to even have a rating on Rotten Tomatoes —but it’s amazing . The main character Kai lost her memory after a car accident. She lives in a constant, confusing present in which her mind seems to “fill in the blanks” of her life with terrifying hallucinations. Or maybe her house is haunted. Or maybe she is a murderer who killed a young man, as the police think. Perhaps someone else is setting her up for something. Perhaps none of this is true. “What’s going on?” Tabula Rasa group? The plot holds up until the last twist, and its grotesque images are mesmerizing. This is a real hidden gem.
Rotten Tomatoes Rating: No