For years growing up, it was seen as pretentious and "artsy" to watch anything that wasn't in the English language. I remember an entire decade where I had to keep secret my personal love of Japanese and Chinese movies. It was only by proclaiming loudly that "the Police Academy movies are peak cinema" did I avoid a beating.
Slight exaggeration, but you get the point.
Luckily, we now live in a world where TV and film from across the globe is easily accessible and has become, in many cases, mainstream. The release of Squid Game on Netflix in 2021 seemed to make foreign language TV cool, and opened the floodgates when it comes to new releases.
Now streaming services are packed with them – including a plethora you might have previously skipped past.
Here then are three great examples of foreign language shows you really should catch up on.
Dark
I absolutely fully understand Dark and in no way has it left me confused and shaken... no, really.
The first German production from the world's leading internet TV network, Dark is set in a present-day German town where the disappearance of two young children exposes the double lives and fractured relationships among four families. Running across 10 hour-long episodes, the story takes on a surprising twist that ties back to the same town in 1986.
That seemingly simple premise is instantly thrown aside when you realise this will be a genre bending, multiverse spewing, time travelling, physics based mystery. At no point do you actually believe that you fully understand what is going on, but are absolutely hooked due to its perfect use of cinematography, mood and performance.
It's difficult to fully go into this exceptional show and quite simply, it is the kind of thing you just need to watch to see where it takes you.
It's bold, inventive sci-fi at its very best.
Narcos
A joint American and Colombian production, Narcos regularly switches between English and Spanish (with subtitles), and launched the mainstream career of one of the biggest TV and movie stars in the world today. However, it's unbelievable that the show is never talked about in the same breath as Breaking Bad or The Sopranos. It is that good.
Narcos tells the true-life story of the growth and spread of cocaine drug cartels from Colombia to global markets, and attendant efforts of law enforcement to meet them head on. It centres on the notorious kingpin Pablo Escobar (Wagner Moura) and the DEA agent sent to capture him, Steve Murphy (Holbrook).
It also saw the arrival of Pedro Pascal, long before he donned the helmet in The Mandalorian, or dispatched a single clicker in The Last Of Us. Soon to also be seen as Reed Richards in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, he arguably put in the performance of his career as Javier Pena, a Colombian police officer also dedicated to bringing down Escobar... but no matter the cost.
Narcos needs to be watched. It is thrilling, brave and unrelenting. There are two follow-up series set in Mexico worth considering, too.
Money Heist
Before Squid Game gave us mystery antagonists wearing masks and hooded pink jumpsuits, Alex Pina’s Spanish crime drama, Money Heist, gave us mystery protagonists wearing masks and hooded jumpsuits – albeit red this time.
Well, they say imitation is the greatest form of flattery.
To carry out the biggest heist in history, a mysterious man called The Professor recruits a band of eight robbers who have a single characteristic – none of them has anything to lose.
Five months of seclusion, memorising every step, detail and probability culminate in 11 days locked up in the National Coinage and Stamp Factory of Spain, surrounded by police forces and with dozens of hostages in their power. It's truly gripping stuff.
Money Heist – or under its amazing Spanish title, La Casa De Papel – was the most-watched foreign language TV show until the release of Squid Game and for very good reason.
Each episode takes us on a roller coaster of tension and plot development. It looks great, has its own unique style, is effortlessly cool, and has enough twists and turns to make an underground railway planner proud. Still available now on Netflix, it is absolutely worth catching up on.
But remember, like with all foreign language shows, it has to be subs not dubs!
