Netflix is huge, we know that. But the platform has been trying to build even more on their international audience by making many foreign-language productions, such as Money Heist (Spain) and Dark (Germany). Netflix Brazil has also been making a lot of good content, some that get popular in other countries and some that don’t. Here, I will tell you about some Brazilian Netflix Original productions that are worth checking out:
- Girls from Ipanema
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Girls from Ipanema, or Coisa Mais Linda (Most Beautiful Thing) is a show set in Rio de Janeiro in the 1950s. It follows a group of women dealing with what it means to be a woman, and a woman of color in Adélia’s case, in that period of time. In the first season, we meet Maria Luiza as she moves from São Paulo to the beautiful Rio de Janeiro to live with her husband. In Rio, she faces some challenges and makes some new friends, Adélia and Thereza. The show does a great job at creating the environment of Rio in the ’50s; it’s gorgeous and it makes it feel like you’re really there! Music is also a very important element of Girls from Ipanema, since it was during that time in Rio that Bossa Nova, a style of Brazilian samba, was starting to emerge.
- The Mechanism
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The Mechanism is a political and investigative drama from the creators of Narcos. It tells the story of the operation that investigated Brazil’s biggest corruption scandal, the Car Wash Operation (Operação Lava-Jato). This operation is an ongoing police taskforce that started as a money laundering investigation, and now also works on investigating corruption allegations. While the show claims to be loosely based on its story, many characters and events can be easily connected to real people and things that happened.
- The Edge of Democracy
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The Edge of Democracy or Democracia em Vertigem is an Academy-Award nominated documentary made by Brazilian director Petra Costa. While following Petra’s own relationship with Brazilian politics, we see the story of some of its presidents. Petra Costa talks about the rise and fall of both President Lula, who was arrested in 2018 and President Dilma, impeached in 2016. We also see the beginning of current president, Jair Bolsonaro as he embarks on his presidential journey. Political opinions aside, this documentary is a very good analysis of the turbulent times Brazil has been going through.
- 3%
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3% is a science-fiction show, set in a dystopian future where people live in a very impoverished place called the “Inland”. When they reach twenty years-old, they have the chance to go through “The Process” and maybe go live in a way better place, on the “Offshore”. This process is made up of tests, challenges and interviews and not many people make it through. Only, as the title says, 3% of the contestants are successful in getting to the “Offshore”. The show came out in December 2016 and it was the first Brazilian show made by Netflix. Its fourth and final season was released this year.
- Sintonia
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Sintonia is another show very focused on music, this time the Brazilian Funk. It is a teen drama set in a São Paulo favela (slum or shantytown) and it follows three different teenagers from this same community in their day-to-day life, which involves music, drug trafficking and religion. While it showcases the hard reality of some people in Brazil, we also see the vibrant culture there is in the favelas and how they are organized. Brazil’s not only made of favelas, but if you want to know more about them, this show could be a good start. Plus, you’ll also listen to some great Brazilian Funk.
- The Circle: Brazil
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Netflix’s first Brazilian reality TV show is a social media popularity contest. The best part of this show is definitely the contestants’ personalities and the fact that they’re all isolated in their own apartment only being able to communicate through social media – like we are! The Circle first started as a British reality show and then Netflix released American and French versions, as well as the Brazilian one.
These are some of the few Netflix Original productions we have from Brazil, which are available everywhere and I guarantee you’re going to enjoy at least one of those. I also encourage you to watch them in the original language so you can get a sense of the different Brazilian accents and try to learn a new language. It’s fun, I promise!