The biggest gift of the streaming revolution is subtitles. Which is to say, international series (for maximum viewing pleasure, always choose original language and subtitles). Everyone likely already has a favorite or two — “Narcos,” “Call My Agent,” “Borgen,” “Dark” and, of course, “Squid Game” — but for those looking to keep up the global connection the World Cup created, here are a few more.
‘The Chestnut Man’ (Danish, Netflix, two seasons)
Nordic noir, with “Blair Witch” talismans. An opening scene flashes back to a horrific family murder in which one of two surviving foster children is found in the basement filled with figures constructed from chestnuts. More than 30 years later, a similar token discovered at a grisly murder scene sends Copenhagen police detective Naia Thulin (Danica Ćurčić) and her new Interpol partner Mark Hess (Mikkel Boe Følsgaard) on a twisting, turning trail of abduction and murder. And, of course, more of the truly creepy chestnut men.
‘The Åre Murders’ (Swedish, Netflix, one season)
Stockholm police detective Hanna Ahlander (Carla Sehn) has fled to the dark and snowy ski town of Åre to escape problems at home and work. But the day she arrives, a girl goes missing and Hanna cannot resist becoming part of the team searching for her. The first season (another is on its way) covers two crimes and many glorious vistas of Sweden’s mountainous beauty.
‘Money Heist’ (Spanish, Netflix, five parts)
Some time between its 2017 release and the COVID-19 lockdowns, the wild-ride chaos of “Money Heist” became streaming’s hottest international thriller. Assembled by the mysterious mastermind known as “The Professor” (Álvaro Morte), a misfit group must first rob the Royal Mint and then, in later series, the Bank of Spain. As you might guess, nothing goes as planned but — as narrated by one of the would-be thieves, Tokyo (Úrsula Corberó) — robberies, like people, are rarely what they seem.
‘Sacred Games’ (Indian, Netflix, two seasons)
Sartaj Singh (Saif Ali Khan) is a cop in Mumbai (still known as Bombay in the series) whose commitment to honor has kept him from advancing and cost him his marriage. He receives a phone call from Ganesh Gaitonde (Nawazuddin Siddiqui), a notorious gangster believed to be long dead, who tells him, among other things, that Singh has 25 days to save his city. As Singh tries to prevent that from happening, his efforts are transposed with Gaitonde’s story, an epic tale that examines the nature of power amid the city’s religious and economic tensions.
‘Girl From Nowhere’ (Thai, Netflix, two seasons)
Though clearly not human, Nanno (Chicha Amatayakul) is just a schoolgirl who wants to have fun. Except her version of fun involves vengeance, sly righteousness and the exposure of humanity’s darker tendencies. In each social-commentary-teetering-on-horror episode, Nanno is a pupil at a different school, picture perfect and scanning the room for whatever secrets — an abusive teacher, an absurd hierarchical system, petty jealousy — demand to be revealed. Girl Power on steroids, Nanno prefers cold hard justice to empathy every time.
‘Lupin’ (French, Netflix, three seasons)
Assane Diop (Omar Sy) is a charming, brilliant, chameleon-like professional criminal who styles himself as Maurice Leblanc’s fictional “gentleman thief” Arsène Lupin. He is also on a mission — to clear his father’s name as the wrongfully convicted thief of a valuable necklace owned by the Pellegrini family. Not since Cary Grant in “To Catch a Thief” has there been a more charismatic and lovable “villain,” not to mention some pretty great heists.
‘Dear Child’ (German, Netflix, one season)
After a hit-and-run accident, a badly injured woman is found with an unharmed child named Hannah (Naila Schuberth). Hannah says the woman is her mother Lena (Kim Riedle) and that her blood type is AB negative. This triggers the belief that Lena is a woman who went missing 13 years before. At the hospital, Hannah says many other things, which lead staff and police to believe that she, her mother and her brother have been held captive. Overlaying the rescue of the boy and the identification of the abductor is a nuanced and troubling examination of trauma and how it creates its own kind of prison. Also a terrific performance by Schuberth.
‘How to Get to Heaven From Belfast’ (Irish, Netflix, one season)
This is an English-language series (though the accents may send you to subtitles), but if you’re looking for a dark and truly hilarious mystery-comedy set in the wilds of County Donegal from the creator of “Derry Girls,” look no further. When Saoirse (Roisin Gallagher), Robyn (Sinéad Keenan) and Dara (Caoilfhionn Dunne) learn that their childhood friend Greta (Natasha O’Keeffe) has died, they travel to a small Donegal town to pay their respects, and find out if she revealed a secret they all shared before she died.
‘Wisting’ (Norwegian, five seasons, AMC+ [all seasons] and Acorn [seasons 1, 4 and 5])
A man and a child out to cut a Christmas tree find a corpse instead. Soon enough, Larvik detective William Wisting (Sven Nordin), his journalist daughter Line (Thea Green Lundberg) and, eventually, FBI special agent Maggie Griffin (Carrie-Anne Moss) are tracking an international killer through snow and uncovering secrets from the past and present of this coastal town.
‘Tale of the Nine Tailed’ (South Korean, Netflix, two seasons)
In this folklore fantasy, Lee Yeon (Lee Dong-wook) is a mountain god who traded his throne in exchange for the promise that his true love, Ah-eum, would be reincarnated. As he seeks her in the present day, he is tasked with hunting wicked supernatural creatures for the Afterlife Immigration Office. During one of his hunts, he is noticed by Nam Ji-ah (Jo Bo-ah), a TV producer he once saved after a car accident during which her parents vanished. Though Nam Ji-ah looks like Ah-eum, Lee does not believe it is her but together they try to discover what happened to her parents. A supernatural action thriller fueled by literal fairy-tale romance.
‘Moving’ (South Korean, Disney+/Hulu, one season)
What initially seems to be the story of three super-powered high school students trying to fit in quickly becomes a multigenerational spy thriller. Kim Bong-seok (Lee Jeong-ha), Jang Hui-soo (Go Youn-jung) and Lee Gang-hoon (Kim Sung-kyun) come by their powers genetically and now that they are being hunted by an unknown organization, their parents reactivate their own powers, and violent pasts, to safeguard them. Based on a popular Korean webtoon, “Moving”is a bit bloody for the Disney brand but the winsome kids and the family solidarity fits right in.
‘The House of Flowers’ (Mexican, Netflix, three seasons)
This dark, soapy comedy opens with a dramatic suicide and the promise that what led to it will be revealed. The florist business has appeared to make the De la Mora family rich though clearly not happy. And maybe not rich either. As the family gathers for patriarch Ernesto’s (Arturo Ríos) birthday, his wife Virginia (Verónica Castro) may insist that everything is perfect but anyone who has seen a telenovela and/or “Dallas” knows better. All manner of high-gloss betrayal, secrets and bad choices will be revealed.
‘El Eternauta’ (Argentine, Netflix, one season)
“The Day After Tomorrow” meets “Independence Day” in Buenos Aires. A group of friends are playing cards at Tano’s (César Troncoso) house in the middle of summer when the power goes out and a mysterious deadly snow begins to fall. Though it seems they are safe inside, Juan (Ricardo Darín) rigs up a suit that will allow him to go out and find his family. As the scrappy band of survivors grows and adapts (tip: mechanics and engineers are handy in this kind of crisis), it eventually becomes clear that this is a worldwide phenomenon that is extraterrestrial in nature. Stayed tune for Season 2.
‘My Brilliant Friend’ (Italian, HBO Max, four seasons)
Based on the beloved novels of Elena Ferrante, “My Brilliant Friend” tells the story of two pals growing up in a lower-class neighborhood in post-World War II Naples. Studious Elena, called Lenù, and played by Elisa Del Genio as a child and Margherita Mazzucco as a teen, is in thrall to the charismatic Lila (Ludovica Nasti as a child; Gaia Girace as a teen). But as they mature their lives diverge, in part because Lenù’s parents can afford to keep her in school and Lila’s cannot. Still, the two retain a lifelong bond that, while reflecting the reality of the world around them, all but defines Best Friends Forever.
‘Alice in Borderland’ (Japanese, Netflix, three seasons)
While messing around in Tokyo, three disaffected buddies — Ryōhei Arisu (Kento Yamazaki), Shuntaro Chishiya (Nijirō Murakami) and Chota Segawa (Yûki Morinaga) — suddenly find the city deserted and themselves forced to play a mysterious life-or-death game in which the type of task and level of difficulty are determined by playing cards. They soon meet up with Yuzuha Usagi (Tao Tsuchiya), a classic heroine, but, as with “Squid Game,” don’t get too attached to any of the players. They might not make it.