Some of Netflix’s best original series have come in different languages and with Netflix’s expansive audio and subtitle options it’s now easier than ever to enjoy them. Different storylines, different scenes and different problems. Here are our top five foreign Netflix Original series – we hope you like them as much as we do. We hope Netflix continues to get more foreign series as the originals program progresses.
3%
Main Language Spoken: Portuguese
Country Takes Place: Brazil
Only 3% will go on to live a better life. Only 3% will have perfection. Only 3% will be able to have everything they ever wanted. But they must go through vicious testing, they must be willing to fight and they must be brave enough to make it to the end. 3% is a series set in a future Brazil and showcases a competitive process in order for the selected few to make it to Offshore, which is where the privileged side of society lives.
Everyone has a reason for wanting to make it there, whether it’s because their family has before them or because they’re promised a fix for their problems. Either way, only 3% will be lucky enough to get through. This series is one that shows anyone, no matter what your disability or mental state, can achieve what they want to achieve. So have a watch – you won’t be disappointed.
Cable Girls
Main Language Spoken: Spanish
Country Takes Place: Spain
Set in 1920s Madrid, this series is a must-watch for feminists. Women wanted to work, they wanted independence and the right to vote and they didn’t want any man to stand in their way.
Alba, the main character in the series, gets a job at a telephone company through lying about her identity, in the hope of stealing their money to get out of a sticky situation. From there on she became a Cable Girl. All seems well until Alba meets the director of the company, who also just so happens to be the man who she loved ten years before, and from there the story blossoms.
This series is full of parties, music, smoking and mysteries. But will Alba’s identity be discovered by the other Cable Girls? And will her secrets be unraveled by those out to get her? All will be revealed in the excellent series – Cable Girls.
Narcos
Main Language Spoken: Spanish
Country Takes Place: Colombia
Follow the story of Pablo Escobar and the people who want to stop him in this Colombian Netflix Original Series. Pablo may not seem like the type of guy to be dangerous at first, but as you get to know him you’ll realize he won’t stop at anything to keep himself alive and to win the fight against the Colombian embassy.
With two seasons to watch of Narcos, you won’t run out of episodes for a while. This series will pull you in. Will Pablo Escobar be caught and killed? To what extent does his power evolve to make sure that he is the king of the drug world? Follow Pablo and DEA agent Steve Murphy in a battle against each other.
Marseille
Main Language Spoken: French
Country Takes Place: France
Coke. No, not Coca-Cola. Cocaine. A French drama focused on crime, politics, and corruption. Robert Taro, who is played by Gérard Depardieu, has been the mayor of Marseille for twenty years and when he plans on handing over to someone else, he chose a man he thought he could trust. He was wrong. Taro has made an enemy and that enemy is out to stop him from building a casino in the center of the city’s marina.
However, the mafia does not want the casino and from there gang members become involved and a feud begins. Created by Dan Franck, Florent Siri, and Thomas Gilou – this series has had mixed reviews. But if you like crime, give it a go. You won’t be disappointed by picturesque Marseille.
Hibana
Main Language Spoken: Japanese
Country Takes Place: Japan
This ten-episode Japanese series is based on Matayoshi Naoki’s bestseller and focuses on two men who become friends by helping each other out. Tokunaga asks Kamiya to become his mentor after seeing him perform at a summer festival. Kamiya agrees under one strict condition:
Tokunaga must write his bibliography. However, this gives him the freedom to give his ideas about comedy. They both end up making their own way and taking different paths but the series grips you with the story of the central characters. It shows their passion for art, comedy, and life but also offers some surprises later on in the series.
