The 12 Best Shows on Netflix That Aren't in English
If you're only watching Netflix's English-language offerings, you're missing out.
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Credit: Netlflix-YouTube
The problem with Netflix's algorithmic recommendations is that it creates an entertainment echo chamber where viewers' tastes are confirmed instead of challenged. Right now, there's probably a TV series languishing in Netflix's back 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 excellent foreign-language shows, so many that finding a place to start can be daunting. As Lifehacker's expert on "what's good on TV," I've put together a list of the best of the best "not in English" Netflix series, listed in order of Rotten Tomatoes review aggregation score. If you can deal with subtitles, I bet you'll find your new favorite show somewhere below.
Marianne (France, 2019)
I'm starting this list with Marianne, maybe my favorite TV show of all time. I love horror, but I've seen so much of it that I'm rarely actually spooked by anything anymore. French series Marianne, though, legitimately creeped me out. A deeply unsettling series about a horror writer whose nightmares come true, Marianne carefully builds an atmosphere of dread that's practically suffocating at times, then releases the pressure valve with gruesome, Grand Guignol set pieces at exactly the right time. It's horror for grown-ups, and it's really good.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
K-drama Extraordinary Attorney Woo is a legal show like no other. Park Eun-bin plays the title character, Woo Young-woo, a woman with autism who made herself into a legal savant by memorizing seemingly all of Korea's laws. Extraordinary Attorney Woo's heroine is a fully fleshed out character—she's a woman who has autism, not "autism personified"—and the show is as much about the different cases she tries each week as it is about her navigating a world she doesn't fit into.
Money Heist (Spain, 2017)
This brilliant, stylish, crime thriller begins with some heavy Tarantino influence, but it's a bait-and-switch. Money Heist's gang of misfits are cool, but they aren't badass anti-heroes. They're complicated, conflicted, damaged people who make bad decisions for good reasons, and good decisions for bad ones. Their audacious plan to rob Spain's national mint of billions of Euros may seem like an Oceans' Eleven lark at first, but it's soon revealed as a desperate criminal act that blows up and spins farther out of control than anyone predicted.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
The Chestnut Man (Denmark, 2021)
At its worst, "Nordic noir" transplants tired police procedural tropes to Northern European countries, and you end up with NCIS with parkas. At its best, though, Nordic noir is like The Chestnut Man, a grisly, gloomy series that combines serial killing, political corruption, and ancient, unspeakable pagan rituals into something unique, cliche-free, and perfect for binging. If you like the vibe of the first season of True Detective, check out The Chestnut Man.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
Cassandra (Germany, 2025)
Just the premise of this German sci-fi series should be enough for most people to watch it. In Cassandra, a typical suburban family moves into an isolated house that was built in the 1980s and was meant to be the "home of the future." The massive old computers in the basement still work and the dusty household robot still clanks around, but something is very wrong with this house. If you're like me, and you feel like you're being haunted by both the past and computers, Cassandra will resonate deeply.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
Delicious in Dungeon (Japan, 2024)
Along with traditional foreign series, there's a ton of anime on Netflix too; enough that the specialized genre deserves a separate list (stay tuned). I put Delicious in Dungeon here to represent all anime, and because I really like it. It's good entry-level cartoon, a fantasy series influenced by Dungeons and Dragons, video games, and food, in which a group of intrepid adventurers eat their way through a monster-packed dungeon to save their friend. It's a weird combo, but it's held together by well-drawn characters, beautiful art, and lore that's as rich as espagnole.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
Dear Child (Germany, 2023)
I went into Dear Child cold, without knowing anything about it, and the first couple of episodes are so mysterious and dread-inducing, I wasn't sure if it was going in a dark science fiction direction, or if it was more of a supernatural horror show. Turns out, it's neither. Dear Child is a thriller based on real life, and its carefully paced, visually stunning depiction of captivity, torture, and brainwashing is way scarier than any made-up monsters. Germans really have a unique understanding of how authoritarian control degrades the human soul; go figure.
Rotten Tomatoes score: 100%
Squid Game (Korea, 2021)
You can't make a list of Netflix's best foreign shows and not include Korean sensation Squid Game. I defy anyone to watch the first episode of this show and not keep going. Set in a near-future dystopia where rich people convince ordinary people compete in deadly versions of childhood games for a fortune, Squid Game provides pointed commentary on capitalism's corruption of culture and is somehow is fun to watch at the same time. It's brutal, addictive, fearless, darkly funny, and wildly original. Squid Game definitely earned its nearly universal approval among critics and viewers.
Kleo (Germany, 2022)
This stylish, action-packed period thriller takes place in the days after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Jella Haase plays the title character, an imprisoned Stasi agent with an unusual skill set that includes making poison from a pufferfish and kicking serious ass. With the Cold War over, Kleo is released with all the other political prisoners and sets out for vengeance upon the spooks and government functionaries who ruined her life. If you like slick-as-hell action that isn't stupid, check out Kleo.
All of Us are Dead (Korea, 2022)
Imagine The Breakfast Club, Parasite, and Train to Busan had a three-way baby and you have some idea of what All of Us are Dead is like. This Korean zombie epic is set at Hyosan High School, where regularly scheduled classes (and teenage romance, popularity jockeying, bullying, shenanigans, etc.) are briefly interrupted by an invasion of fast, deadly zombies. All of Us are Dead hits all the undead invasion notes perfectly—it's brutal, violent, and action-packed—but it stands out from the pack by featuring characters you care about and thoughtful social commentary on youth and society, without ever devolving into "Heart-to-Heart Talk of the Dead" territory, like the later seasons of The Walking Dead.
How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) (Germany, 2019)
Based loosely 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 mogul and sticking it to the popular kids one day. So, like the title says, Moritz starts selling drugs online (fast) which expands his social circle, but creates exponentially expanding dangers in the form of cops, drug-dealers, and other crime-show complications. Fast, funny, and addictive, How to Sell Drugs Online (Fast) is perfect binge-TV. There's no score from Rotten Tomatoes, but trust me.
Rotten Tomatoes Score: None
Tabula Rasa (Belgium, 2017)
Intense Belgian mind-fuck Tabula Rasa is criminally under seen—It doesn't have enough online reviews to even have a Rotten Tomatoes rating—but it's amazing. Main character Kai lost her memory after a car accident. She lives in a perpetual, confusing present in which her mind seems to "fill in the blanks" of her life with horrifying hallucinations. Or maybe her house is haunted. Or maybe she's a killer who murdered a young man like the police think. Maybe someone else is setting her up for something. Maybe none of this is real. Tabula Rasa's "what is even happening?" plot holds up through the final twist, and its grotesque imagery is fascinating. This is a true hidden gem.
Rotten Tomato Score: None
Stephen Johnson
Staff Writer
Stephen Johnson is a Staff Writer for Lifehacker where he covers pop culture, including two weekly columns “The Out of Touch Adults’ Guide to Kid Culture” and “What People are Getting Wrong this Week.” He graduated from Emerson College with a BFA in Writing, Literature, and Publishing.
Previously, Stephen was Managing Editor at NBC/Universal’s G4TV. While at G4, he won a Telly Award for writing and was nominated for a Webby award. Stephen has also written for Blumhouse, FearNET, Performing Songwriter magazine, NewEgg, AVN, GameFly, Art Connoisseur International magazine, Fender Musical Instruments, Hustler Magazine, and other outlets. His work has aired on Comedy Central and screened at the Sundance International Film Festival, Palm Springs International Film Festival, and Chicago Horror Film Festival. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
