I imagine we all have been spending a great deal of time at home recently! What have you been doing in your free time? Have you already worked through your entire Netflix queue? Craving some recommendations for hidden, stream-able gems? Or are you just eager to experience a new culture from the comfort of your own home? I can honestly say I’m experiencing a little bit of all the above right now! So I reached out to my fellow Study Abroad & Global Engagement peers and asked them to recommend their favorite internationally focused media and they did not disappoint! Check out our compiled list of recommended TV shows & Dramas with an international focus below. Hopefully, you’ll find your next new favorite Netflix series to consume among our selections.
Ainori Love Wagon: African Journey
Have you binge watched Love is Blind and are already looking for a new quirky reality TV Show to consume? Let me introduce you to Ainori! In Ainori Love Wagon: African Journey, four Japanese men and three Japanese women are brought together for a low-budget journey across the African continent in a pink van. The purpose of the journey? To find love, of course!
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Terrace House
Looking for something a little more relaxing but still internationally focused? I can’t recommend Terrace House enough. In Terrace House, three men and three women are living together in a beautiful shared house. There is no script, but there is plenty of drama, romance, and sometimes just really wholesome friendship as the six strangers interact and support each other in pursuit of their individual goals in this hit Japanese reality TV series.
House of Flowers
The drama series House of Flowers is narrated by the mistress of a wealthy matriarch. The family business, a flower shop which has brought them both fame and fortune, suddenly goes under when secrets are revealed.
Money Heist
Casa de Papel (Money Heist) is a Netflix series about an extremely-intricate bank heist of the national mint of Spain. The heist group travels to Florence, Panama, and Thailand during their adventures and planning in this eye-opening series.
Itaewon Class
An ex-con and his friends fight to make their ambitious dreams for opening street bar a reality in this dynamic and engaging Korean drama series titled Itaewon Class.
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Crash Landing on You
Love a good Korean drama? In Crash Landing on You, a paragliding mishap drops a South Korean heiress in North Korea and into the life of an army officer, who decides he will help her hide.
Memories of Alhambra
In Memories of Alhambra, an investment firm executive meets a woman who runs a hostel in Spain while searching for the elusively anonymous creator of an innovative augmented reality game.
Love Island (UK)
Are you a Bachelor in Paradise fan? If so, then I have a show for you! Follow the story of young British singles in their journey to find romance. Love Island has everything that makes reality TV our guilty pleasure: love, laughter, and of course drama. Airing everyday (yes, EVERYDAY), Islander’s must win over viewers in their attempt to win the final prize of £50,000, determined by the public in a live finale.
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The 3%
The 3% takes place in a distant future where most of the population lives in poverty in an area known as the Inland. However, there are the lucky few that are instead chosen to live in a virtual paradise, the Offshore. Every year, each 20-year-old gets a chance to make it to the island paradise by taking a series of tests. Only three percent of the candidates succeed and qualify to leave the impoverished Inland area. One of the newest residents of the Offshore is Michele, a naive young woman with no family who has a strong sense of justice.
Vis a Vis
Set up by her lover to take the blame for corporate fraud, Macarena Ferreiro, a naive young woman, finds herself locked up in a high-security women’s prison surrounded by tough, ruthless criminals in the drama titled Vis a Vis.
Élite
When three working-class teens enroll in an exclusive private school in Spain, a clash with wealthy students leads to murder in Élite.
Marianne (France)
Horror buff looking for a truly scary show? In Marianne, an accomplished writer with a troubled past returns to her childhood home when tragedy strikes her small town. What she finds defies reality as the plot of her horror novel comes to life. The stories she believed were only fiction have a chilling origin.
Derry Girls
If you are in need of a good laugh and a change of scenery, look no further than Derry Girls! This show takes place in northern Ireland during the 90s and follows a group of teenagers navigating some truly absurd situations.
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And that’s all of our recommendations for now!
I’m personally looking forward to checking out Crash Landing on You. Eager for more internationally focused content? Stay tuned for next time, where we will be featuring our favorite internationally focused books, movies & you-tubers.