If your Netflix queue is starting to look like a greatest-hits playlist of the same Hollywood names, it’s time to travel a little. No passport, no jet lag, no awkward attempts to order coffee in another languagejust foreign films on Netflix, ready to stream in your sweatpants.
In the last few years, Netflix has doubled down on international movies: Spanish survival thrillers, Korean zombie blockbusters, Oscar-winning war dramas, Indian epics with gravity-defying dance numbers, and quiet family tearjerkers from Thailand that somehow make the entire internet cry at once. Titles like Society of the Snow, All Quiet on the Western Front, RRR, and How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies have turned “world cinema” into must-see mainstream viewing.
This guide rounds up some of the best foreign films currently streaming on Netflix, across genres and countries. Availability can vary by region and over time, but as of late 2025 these are among the most talked-about, critically acclaimed international movies on the platform.
Why Watch Foreign Films on Netflix?
Foreign films give you things Hollywood often doesn’t: different pacing, new kinds of heroes, cultural details you’ve never seen, and emotional beats that don’t feel copy-pasted from the same three screenwriting books. Netflix also makes it easy to toggle between subtitles and dubs, so you can choose “subtitles and vibes” or “dubbed while folding laundry.”
For this list, I leaned on critic-loved picks, festival favorites, and Netflix’s own breakout hitsdrawing on recommendations from Rotten Tomatoes, Entertainment Weekly, Variety, People, and trusted curation sites like agoodmovietowatch, plus Netflix’s official pages.
Let’s press play.
Top Foreign Films to Stream on Netflix Right Now
1. Society of the Snow (Spain, 2023)
Based on the real 1972 Andes plane crash, Society of the Snow follows a Uruguayan rugby team whose plane goes down in the mountains, leaving survivors to endure unimaginable conditions. Director J.A. Bayona rebuilds the events with almost documentary-level detail, down to the terrain and weather, but never loses sight of the people at the center.
On Netflix, the film became one of the platform’s most-watched non-English-language titles, drawing huge global viewership and awards buzz, including multiple Oscar nominations. It’s intense, sometimes brutal, but its focus on solidarity, faith, and the messy ethics of survival keeps it from being misery for misery’s sake. Watch this when you want a gripping, harrowing true story that you’ll think about for days.
2. All Quiet on the Western Front (Germany, 2022)
This German-language adaptation of Erich Maria Remarque’s classic anti-war novel strips away any romantic notion of heroism. We follow Paul, a young German soldier, as he goes from eager volunteer to haunted survivor on the World War I front lines. The film is visually stunning and emotionally devastating, with muddy trenches, industrial warfare, and a relentless sense of dread.
Netflix’s release of the film turned it into a global phenomenon, topping the platform’s non-English Top 10 and winning four Academy Awards, including Best International Feature. Pair this with a very cozy blanket and the knowledge that you’ll probably need something light and silly afterward.
3. Roma (Mexico, 2018)
Alfonso Cuarón’s Roma is a black-and-white memory piece that somehow feels both intimate and epic. Set in 1970s Mexico City, it follows Cleo, a domestic worker for a middle-class family, as political unrest and personal crises collide in her life. The film is quiet on the surfacekids, laundry, everyday errandsbut underneath is a tidal wave of emotion about class, gender, and the invisible labor that keeps families functioning.
As a Netflix original, Roma proved that a streaming platform could deliver festival-level cinema at home, picking up multiple Oscars and critical praise. It’s a perfect choice when you’re in the mood for something slow, lyrical, and achingly human.
4. RRR (India, 2022)
If you’ve ever said, “I want a movie that has action, musical numbers, bromance, tigers, fire, colonial resistance, and dance battles,” congratulationsyou’ve described RRR. This Telugu-language epic imagines a fictional friendship between two real Indian revolutionaries and then cranks everything up to maximum spectacle.
When the Hindi dub landed on Netflix, RRR exploded globally, trending in dozens of countries, earning a place on lists of the year’s best films, and even winning an Oscar for the song “Naatu Naatu.” It’s long, but there’s not a dull minuteperfect for a weekend movie night when you want to be fully transported. Think of it as a three-hour adrenaline shot with feelings.
5. Train to Busan (South Korea, 2016)
Train to Busan is the movie that convinces people who “don’t do zombie movies” to rethink their life choices. Set almost entirely on a speeding train, it traps a group of passengersincluding a workaholic dad and his young daughteras a fast-moving zombie outbreak sweeps South Korea.
The film is tense and scary, sure, but it’s also sneakily emotional and razor-sharp about class and selfishness during a crisis. It’s frequently cited as one of the best zombie films ever made and continues to show up on “best horror on Netflix” roundups. Queue it up when you want white-knuckle suspense with characters you actually care about.
6. How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies (Thailand, 2024)
Ignore the cynical title: this Thai comedy-drama is here to wreck you emotionally in the nicest possible way. The story follows M, a broke university dropout who decides to care for his terminally ill grandmother, Amah, primarily to secure her inheritanceonly to find himself forming a real bond in the process.
The film became a massive box-office hit across Asia and later a viral streaming sensation when it arrived on Netflix, with viewers posting tear-streaked reactions online and critics praising its blend of humor and heartbreak. If you’re in the mood for a family story that feels painfully real but still hopeful, start hereand maybe pre-position a box of tissues.
7. Ip Man (Hong Kong/China, 2008)
This martial arts biopic chronicles the life of Ip Man, the legendary Wing Chun master who would later train Bruce Lee. Set in pre-war Foshan and then during the Japanese occupation, the film combines graceful fight choreography with a story about dignity, resistance, and community under oppression.
Netflix has repeatedly carried the Ip Man films in various regions, and in 2025 the full quadrilogyincluding Ip Man 2, often cited as the franchise high pointwas added to the platform’s lineup in many markets. If you love old-school kung fu cinema with emotional stakes, this is your next binge.
8. The Platform (Spain, 2019)
Spanish sci-fi horror The Platform imagines a vertical prison where inmates are stacked in hundreds of levels. Every day, a platform of food descends from the top, stopping briefly at each floor. The people on higher levels feast; by the time the platform reaches the bottom, there’s often nothing left. You don’t need a PhD in sociology to guess the metaphor.
It’s gory and claustrophobic, but beneath the horror trappings is a sharp critique of inequality, scarcity, and how quickly “civilized” people will rationalize cruelty when they’re hungry. Netflix pushed the film globally, and it became a word-of-mouth hit among fans of smart genre cinema. Watch this when you want a horror movie that doubles as a conversation starter about how unfair the world is… and whether you’d share your rations.
9. Happy as Lazzaro (Italy, 2018)
Happy as Lazzaro starts like a rustic Italian drama about exploited farm workers and then quietly morphs into something stranger and more magical. Lazzaro, a sweet, almost saintly young man, befriends the spoiled son of the estate’s owner; what begins as social realism gradually folds in time jumps and fairy-tale elements.
The film has become a cult favorite on Netflix among viewers who like their world cinema a little dreamy and allegorical. It’s not a fast-paced watch, but if you’re in the mood for something poetic that lingers in the back of your mind, Lazzaro’s gentle weirdness is hard to shake.
10. Little Big Women (Taiwan, 2020)
This Taiwanese family drama opens with a birthday celebration that turns into emotional chaos when news arrives that the matriarch’s estranged husband has diedand that he has been living with another woman. The film follows the mother and her adult daughters as they navigate grief, resentment, and the messy business of forgiving someone who’s not around to defend themselves.
Critics have praised Little Big Women for its nuanced performances and for sidestepping melodrama in favor of quiet, lived-in moments. It’s a great pick if you like character-driven stories, and it pairs perfectly with a late-night Netflix session when you want to feel a lot of feelings without leaving the sofa.
How to Pick Your Perfect Foreign Film Tonight
If you’re overwhelmed by choices (and who isn’t on Netflix?), use a simple mood-based filter:
- Craving a gut punch, but in a good way? Go for Society of the Snow, All Quiet on the Western Front, or How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies.
- Want big-screen spectacle at home? Choose RRR or Train to Busan.
- In the mood for elegance and artistry? Try Roma, Happy as Lazzaro, or Little Big Women.
- Need kinetic action? Hit play on Ip Man or RRR.
- Ready for social commentary with a genre twist? The Platform is your best bet.
And remember: subtitles are your friend. Most of these films are best experienced in their original language with subs, but if you’re multitasking, the dub options can help you follow along.
What It’s Like to Fall in Love with Foreign Films on Netflix
Part of the joy of foreign films on Netflix is how they quietly reshape your movie habits. At first, turning on subtitles feels like “homework.” Then one night you press play on Train to Busan at 11:30 p.m., promising yourself you’ll just “watch the first 20 minutes.” Cut to you at 1:30 a.m., glued to the screen, whisper-shouting at the dad to move faster, genuinely worried about people whose names you couldn’t pronounce two hours earlier.
Maybe your gateway drug is a big, flashy title like RRR. You hit play because TikTok wouldn’t shut up about “Naatu Naatu,” and suddenly you’re watching a three-hour Telugu-language epic where two men jump off a bridge with a horse, a motorcycle, and a burning train in the backgroundand somehow, the most gripping part is them becoming friends. The next day you realize something strange has happened: you’re now the person recommending a non-English movie to your friends, complete with “No seriously, trust me” energy.
Then there are films like How To Make Millions Before Grandma Dies that sneak up on you emotionally. You might put it on thinking it’s a quirky dark comedy about inheritance, and halfway through you’re ugly-crying into your couch pillows, texting family members “love you” for no reason. Streaming makes these emotional hits almost too accessibleyou can go from “just browsing” to “rethinking my relationship with my grandparents” in under two hours.
Watching foreign films at home also changes how you think about storytelling. After a few nights with movies like Roma or Little Big Women, Hollywood’s neat resolutions start to feel a little… tidy. You get used to endings that are bittersweet, characters who never fully “learn their lesson,” and plots that are more about mood than big twists. You notice how a quiet kitchen scene in a Taiwanese drama can feel as intense as a Marvel third-act battlejust with more dumplings and fewer CGI explosions.
There’s a social side too. Foreign films on Netflix are great group-watch material precisely because they’re not the same things everyone’s already seen. Hosting a movie night with Society of the Snow or All Quiet on the Western Front will absolutely dominate the post-movie conversation (and possibly spark a spirited debate about who you’d want in your survival group). Showing friends Ip Man or RRR practically guarantees repeated “Wait, rewind that!” moments when the action gets absurdly cool.
Over time, these viewing experiences add up. You start recognizing actors from completely different countries, noticing directors’ names, and catching cultural references you would’ve missed before. Netflix becomes less of a background noise machine and more of a window into how other people live, love, fight, grieve, and occasionally outrun zombies on commuter trains. The movies are entertaining, surebut the side effect is that your world quietly gets bigger, one subtitle at a time.
So the next time you’re scrolling endlessly through Netflix, wondering why nothing looks appealing, try jumping into the international section. Pick one film from this list, hit play, and let your movie night leave the country. You might discover your new all-time favorite film… and it just happens to be in Spanish, Korean, Thai, or Telugu.
