Top 15 Portuguese Shows on Netflix [September 2024]

São Paulo, the Azores, Rio de Janeiro and even the Amazon rainforest—these are just some of the places you’ll get to see on screen with Portuguese-language shows on Netflix.

Netflix has been beefing up its library of Portuguese series over the past few years, with exciting new additions from both Brazil and Portugal. From intense crime series to light-hearted coming-of-age shows, here are 15 Netflix series that you can’t miss out on.

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1. Glória (2021)

Country: Portugal
Main Actors: Miguel Nunes, Matt Rippy, Stephanie Vogt

This historical spy thriller is the first Portuguese original made by Netflix.

Set in the 1960s during the Cold War, it revolves around João, who works as an engineer at a broadcasting station that spreads Western propaganda. But what people don’t know is that he’s also a secret agent for the KGB, the Soviet intelligence agency.

He leads an increasingly dangerous double life, taking on operations where the single wrong move is fatal.

It really shows how working as a spy is all about stealth and subtlety. I was kept on my toes the whole time because I couldn’t guess which side João supported!

2. Invisible City (2021)

Country: Brazil
Original Title: Cidade Invisível
Main Actors: Marco Pigossi, Áurea Maranhão, Julia Konrad

Creatures from Brazilian legends sometimes pop up in children’s shows, but “Invisible City” is the first adult series I’ve seen where they’re such a huge part of the plot.

Eric, an environmental police officer, heads to the Amazon rainforest to investigate his wife’s death from a forest fire. He then stumbles on a hidden world of mythical beings. These include the Cuca, a witch-like figure that kidnaps misbehaving children, and the Curupira, a forest guardian with feet facing backward.  

It turns out that they’re living among humans—and someone wants to attack them. Eric then gets drawn into the battle to protect the forest.  

3. Girls from Ipanema (2019)

Country: Brazil
Original Title: Coisa Mais Linda
Main Actors: Maria Casadevall, Pathy Dejesus, Mel Lisboa 

I love how this series is all about female empowerment in the 1950’s! Also known as “Most Beautiful Thing,” it tells the story of Maria Luiza, a former housewife who moves from São Paulo to Rio de Janeiro after her husband disappears with all their money. In Rio, she decides to transform her husband’s abandoned property into a bossa nova club.

However, this is far from easy in a male-dominated society. Back then, it was rare for women to start clubs on their own. Still, Maria Luiza finds close friends and allies in other women, including Adelia, an Afro-Brazilian woman from a more working-class background.

4. 3% (2016)

Country: Brazil
Original Title: Três Por Cento
Main Actors: João Miguel, Bianca Comparato, Rodolfo Valente, Michel Gomes

This sci-fi series reminded me of “Hunger Games” and “Squid Games”—and it’s also the first Brazilian Netflix original.

In a dystopian future, society is divided into two starkly different worlds: the impoverished “Inland” and the affluent “Offshore.” Everyone in the Inland gets a chance to go to the Offshore when they turn 20 years old. But only 3% of the candidates succeed in this rigorous and often brutal selection process.

I found the games intriguing, with plenty of twists. For example, one game involves having to cross through a path of glass panels, and there are intense psychological interviews too.

5. Good Morning, Veronica (2020)

Country: Brazil
Original Title: Bom Dia, Verônica
Main Actors: Tainá Müller, Eduardo Muscovis, Antônio Grassi

“Good Morning, Veronica” should come with a disclaimer because it can get very violent. Still, I was engrossed with the story because it focuses on a very relevant topic that deserves more attention: the abuse of women.

Veronica is an underappreciated clerk at a police station. But then she witnesses a young woman committing suicide and eventually finds out the young woman was a victim of severe domestic abuse. Even worse, she reached out to the police, but nobody helped her.

Determined to seek justice, Veronica embarks on a relentless pursuit of the truth, uncovering a series of crimes linked to a dangerous, manipulative predator.

Using the new FluentU Chrome extension you can practice your Portuguese with “Good Morning, Veronica” and any other Netflix video that has subtitles. Just click on words to look them up or add them to your vocab lists. Then, review the new words and phrases on the go with your phone.

6. The Mechanism (2018)

Country: Brazil
Original Title: O Mecanismo
Main Actors: Selton Mello, Carolina Abras, Enrique Diaz

“The Mechanism” is a political drama that’s based on true events—specifically, Operation Car Wash (Operação Lava Jato), a large-scale investigation that uncovered one of the worst corruption scandals ever in Brazil.

It’s made by José Padilha, who also created “Narcos” and “Elite Squad,” so expect a gritty, intricate plot and lots of moral ambiguity.

In the series, Ruffo is a federal police delegate who stumbles upon a massive corruption scheme involving money laundering and bribery. Alongside his protégée, Verena, he becomes obsessed with the case, and he soon uncovers how widespread it is, with politicians and business leaders taking part too. 

7. Omniscient (2020)

Country: Brazil
Original Title: Onisciente
Main Actors: Carla Salle, Sandra Corveloni, Jonathan Haagensen

The setup of “Omniscient” might seem eerily familiar: in a not-too-distant future, there’s virtually no privacy. Every citizen is constantly monitored by small drones that hover around, recording their every move. This is called “the System,” and it supposedly makes crime impossible.

Nina works as a software engineer for the company that controls the System. However, her father gets murdered, yet the System has no record of the crime. This gets Nina to start questioning things, until she finds disturbing exceptions in the System and realizes that the technology she helped develop might be prone to abuse.

8. Nobody’s Looking (2019)

Country: Brazil
Original Title: Ninguém Tá Olhando
Main Actors: Victor Lamoglia, Júlia Rabello, Kéfera Buchmann

I adored “Nobody’s Looking” right from the first episode because it’s trippy and amusing, with a unique twist on guardian angels.

In this show, the angelus are bureaucratic entities who follow strict rules set by a mysterious higher power known as the System. All of them have bright red hair!

Uli, the newest member of the angelus squad, becomes disillusioned with how rigid the system seems. He begins to question the purpose of angelus in humans’ lives. This leads him to break the rules by interacting directly with humans, and other angels even get inspired to follow his cause.

9. Mystery Lab (2020)

Country: Brazil
Original Title: Mundo Mistério
Main Actors: Felipe Castanhari, Wender Bezerra, Bruno Miranda

I watched a lot of science reality shows as a kid, and “Mystery Lab” made me nostalgic, all while keeping me entertained even as an adult.

It looks into fascinating science topics like time travel, the Bermuda Triangle and AI superintelligence—with tons of humor from the charming host, Felipe Castanhari. Aside from being a science and history enthusiast, he’s a popular Brazilian YouTuber too.

Each episode lasts for around 30 minutes, and you’ll either see Felipe in his lab or exploring out in the open. He’s accompanied by lab assistants and a supercomputer named Betina too.

10. Sintonia (2019)

Country: Brazil
Main Actors: Christian Malheiros, MC Jottapê, Bruna Mascarenhas

“Sintonia” is an eye-opening series because it depicts what life is like in Brazil’s favelas or slums. I was surprised to find out that most of the actors and even the producer grew up in favelas.

It follows the lives of three friends—Doni, Nando and Rita—in the favelas of São Paulo. Doni wants to become a successful funk artist, but his dream seems almost impossible to fulfill. Nando gets involved in drug trafficking and finds himself constantly fighting for survival and power. Rita turns to religion for solace, but her faith often gets tested by her harsh experiences in the favela.

11. Back to 15 (2022)

Country: Brazil
Original Title: De Volta Aos 15
Main Actors: Maisa Silva, Camila Queiroz, Caio Cabral, Breno Ferreira

“Back to 15” is a fun, lighthearted show with a classic plot: what if you could go back to your 15-year-old self?

At 30 years old, Anita feels unhappy with her life. In a twist of fate,  she’s mysteriously transported back to her 15-year-old self in the early 2000s, and all her memories are intact.

Of course, she seizes this chance to rewrite her past. However, she has to go through being a teenager again, which means dealing with bullies, the pressure of fitting in and crushes. Changing history isn’t as straightforward as she thinks, though—and her actions lead to unexpected consequences.

12. Turn of the Tide (2023)

Country: Portugal
Original Title: Rabo de Peixe
Main Actors: José Condessa, Helena Caldeira, André Leitão

“Turn of the Tide” is a fast-paced watch that made me want to visit the Azores in Portugal because of all the breathtaking shots!

Eduardo is a young man who tries to secure eye surgery for his ailing father and even move to the U.S. for a better life, but both of these attempts fail.

He gets an unexpected opportunity, though: cocaine washes up on his island after a storm. The cocaine is easily worth thousands of euros, so he and his friends start selling it.

Of course, it’s not for free. The cocaine is owned by the Italian Mafia, and they’re determined to get it back.

13. Until Life Do Us Part (2020)

Country: Portugal
Original Title: Ate Que A Vida Nos Separe
Main Actors: Rita Loureiro, Dinarte Branco, Madalena Almeida, Diogo Martins

Put together three generations of a family in a posh villa in Portugal, throw in some drama and dark humor and you get “Until Life Do Us Part.”

The Paixao family has a wedding planning business, but it’s not doing well. On top of this, the parents—Vanessa and Daniel—are already separated but still living together. The other family members have their own quirks, from the grandparents to their two kids, who are a PhD student and a photographer helping out with the business.  

Their family dynamics can get twisty, and there are plenty of funny lines (especially because of the generation gaps)!

14. The Endless Night (2023)

Country: Brazil
Original Title: Todo Dia a Mesma Noite
Main Actors: Thelmo Fernandes, Paulo Gorgulho, Bianca Byington, Leonardo Medeiros

This mini-series explores one of the largest tragedies in Brazil: the Kiss Nightclub fire in 2013. It killed more than 200 people, mostly university students, and hundreds more were injured.

“The Endless Night” shows the perspectives of the victims’ families and the survivors as they grieve, try to recover and seek out justice. After the fire, there was widespread public outrage and calls for better safety regulations. But until now, nobody who contributed to the accident has been put into prison yet.

Even though it’s a dramatization, it doesn’t sensationalize at all. In fact, it’s very empathetic and moving, with excellent performances from the actors.

15. Criminal Code (2023)

Country: Brazil
Original Title: DNA do Crime
Main Actors: Maeve Jinkings, Rômulo Braga, Thomás Aquino, Pedro Caetano

“Criminal Code” is a landmark series because it’s the first Brazilian police show on Netflix. It’s gripping, intense and tackles cross-border crime, with much of the show set in Foz do Iguaçu, a city at the border of Paraguay and Brazil.

A robbery happens in a private security firm in Paraguay. Two police officers team up to solve the case, and when they do an investigation using DNA samples, they figure out that the perpetrators are a criminal organization from Brazil. It’s far from an isolated crime too—this organization has an extensive chain of robberies and other operations and even uses high-caliber weapons.

This list brings together the best Portuguese-language shows on Netflix currently. So head over to Netflix and start checking them out!

For Portuguese learners, TV shows and movies are also a great way to immerse in the language. For instance, you can pick up new Portuguese vocabulary with the TV show clips on FluentU.

FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized Portuguese lessons.

Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Portuguese language and culture over time. You’ll learn Portuguese as it’s actually spoken by real people.

FluentU has a wide variety of videos, as you can see here:

FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don’t know, you can add it to a vocab list.

Review a complete interactive transcript under the Dialogue tab, and find words and phrases listed under Vocab.

Learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU’s robust learning engine. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you’re on.

The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you’re learning, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It'll even remind you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they’re learning with the same video.

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