13 Best Brazilian TV Shows on Netflix (2019)
Watching Brazilian series on Netflix is a great way to practice vocabulary and listening skills and gain cultural insights. Fortunately, Netflix is rapidly adding new binge-worthy original Brazilian shows.
If you’re an intermediate or advanced learner, I recommend watching with Portuguese subtitles as studies show it enhances language learning. I also jot down any interesting new vocabulary and add it to my Anki flashcards later.
Here are some of the best Brazilian TV shows on Netflix streaming in the US as of October 30, 2019. If you’re not in the US, just click the title to check if the show is available in your country (if it’s not available, it’ll display an error or redirect to Netflix’s home page).
Also, don’t miss my recommended Brazilian movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime, YouTube channels for learning Brazilian Portuguese, and Portuguese podcasts for language learners.
1. 3%
This addictive dystopian thriller was Netflix’s first Portuguese-language original series. In a future where the elite inhabit an island paradise far from the crowded slums, you get only one chance to join the 3% saved from squalor.
2. O Mecanismo
A massive scandal erupts in Brazil during an investigation of alleged government corruption via oil and construction companies. This Netflix Original directed by Narcos‘ José Padilha is loosely based on the real-life “Lava Jato” bribery scandal involving former presidents Lula da Silva and Dilma Rousseff.
3. Killer Ratings
Chilling true crime docuseries about Brazilian TV presenter and politician Wallace Souza, who hosted a top-rated crime reality show in the gang-plagued Amazonian city of Manaus. In a surreal twist, Souza was accused of masterminding the brutal crimes he reported on to boost his show’s ratings.
The real-life events behind the dramatized series Pacto de Sangue (below).
4. Coisa Mais Linda (Most Beautiful Thing)
Brazilian period drama set in 1950s Rio to the seductive strains of bossa nova. As soon as Malu arrives in the city, she discovers she’s been deserted and robbed by her husband.
Everything seems lost, but Malu eventually finds new friends, a second chance at love, and the courage to fulfill her dream of opening a music club.
5. Sintonia
Fans of Brazilian pop culture should check out this addictive YA crime drama with a catchy funk soundtrack. Three teenage friends from the same quebrada (shantytown) of São Paulo choose very different paths defined by music, drug trafficking, and religion.
Stunning aerial shots of São Paulo and lots of paulista slang. If you’re curious about the gíria on the show, try this fun dictionary, keeping in mind that these expressions are very regional and wouldn’t be used or even understood by most Brazilians.
Created and directed by music video producer KondZilla, who took funk out of the favela and made it mainstream with the biggest YouTube channel in Brazil and Latin America.
6. Irmandade (Brotherhood)
Note: No English subtitles available for trailer – tap to watch subtitled trailer on Netflix
Intense crime drama set in ’90s São Paulo starring musician and actor Seu Jorge.
This Netflix Original follows Cristina, an honest and hard-working lawyer, who discovers her imprisoned brother leads a criminal faction known as Irmandade (Brotherhood).
Forced by the police to infiltrate the Brotherhood and inform on her brother, Cristina comes into contact with her darkest side and begins to question her own ideas of justice.
7. Vai Anitta
This engaging Netflix original docuseries goes behind the scenes with Brazilian superstar Anitta as the singer reveals how she’s building her international career. Lots of colloquial Portuguese.
8. Samantha!
Fun Brazilian comedy that follows Samantha, a child star in the ’80s, who clings to the fringes of celebrity with harebrained schemes to launch herself back into the limelight. This clever satire is a good opportunity to pick up Brazilian slang.
9. O Escolhido (The Chosen One)
Binge-worthy creepy thriller based on the Mexican series Niño Santo.
This Netflix Original follows three young doctors determined to bring a Zika vaccine to the remote Pantanal. They find themselves trapped in an isolated community whose leader has supernatural healing powers.
10. Pacto de Sangue (Blood Pact)
Note: No English subtitles available for trailer – tap to watch subtitled trailer on Netflix
An ambitious TV reporter uses risky and ethically questionable methods to report on gang wars and police corruption in the Amazon port of Belém.
Loosely based on the real-life story of Wallace Souza, a Brazilian journalist from Amazonas accused of ordering executions to boost the ratings of his crime show.
While this cop drama suffers from a run-of-the-mill plot, the aerial shots of Belém and Amazonas are stunning, and it’s a good opportunity to hear the Amazonian dialect with its use of tu instead of você.
11. Borges
Parece que esse negócio de vídeo pra internet dá resultado…Borges, produção do Porta dos Fundos, está disponível!
Posted by Netflix on Friday, June 15, 2018
Note: No English subtitles available for trailer
Left deeply in debt after their boss flees the country, four import company employees start producing online video content to keep themselves afloat.
Created by Porta dos Fundos (“Back Door” in English), a wildly popular Brazilian YouTube channel famed for its controversial comedy sketches.
For more of Porta dos Fundos, watch their Netflix Christmas special Se Beber Não Ceie (The Last Hangover) (trailer).
12. Super Drags
Note: No English subtitles available for trailer – tap to watch subtitled trailer on Netflix
In this campy adult cartoon, three gay co-workers lead double lives as drag queen superheroes, saving the LGBTQ community from evil nemeses. Brazilian singer, drag queen, and LGBTQ icon Pabllo Vittar wrote the opening song and voices the character of Goldiva. Lots of raunchy humor.
Be sure to switch the audio to Portuguese.
13. Comedians of the World
Netflix’s ambitious new global stand-up comedy series features 47 comedians from 13 regions, including three from Brazil.
All three of these half-hour Brazilian stand-up shows provide opportunities for listening practice and learning slang, but to me the funniest were Mhel Marrer followed by Afonso Padilha.
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Ingrid took early retirement from software engineering at 43 to pursue her passions for language learning and travel. Her goal is to learn a new language to fluency every two years. Currently, she speaks English, German, and Spanish, and is learning Portuguese.
Can you do a series on French shows as well?
So far I’ve watched dix pur cent, marseille, and the hookup plan.
Also, what are the best methods to learn while watching a show? (besides writing down diffcult words to look them up later?)
Unfortunately my French is really rusty, but if I ever take it up again I’ll definitely create a list of French shows.
I tend to just watch TV shows and movies in my target language for enjoyment as a reward after doing grammar studies, podcasts with transcripts, and classes with online tutors. I’ve found it a valuable way to build up audio comprehension in an fun, relaxing way. But if you want to dig into it more, here are some great tips:
http://joyoflanguages.com/learn-a-language-by-watching-tv/