Best German Movies on Netflix and Amazon Prime (2021)

1. Kidnapping Stella

This slick German thriller‘s become a global Netflix hit.

Snatched off the street and held for ransom, a bound and gagged woman tries to derail her two masked abductors’ plans.

Remake of the British movie The Disappearance of Alice Creed.

2. 3 Türken & ein Baby

For something a bit lighter, try this cute comedy set in Frankfurt.

The lives of three dissatisfied Turkish-German brothers running a family bridal shop are turned upside down when one of them suddenly has to take care of his ex-girlfriend’s baby.

3. Dein Herz tanzt (Into the Beat)

This feel-good dance movie set in Hamburg breathes new life into a familiar plot with a charismatic cast and great choreography.

A teen ballerina discovers hip-hop by chance and faces an impossible choice: Does she follow her family’s legacy or her newfound passion?

4. Was wir wollten (What We Wanted)

This thoughtful relationship drama was Austria’s 2020 Oscar entry.

Alice and Niklas’s biggest wish is to have a child of their own. After several failed in vitro attempts, they go on vacation to Sardinia to clear their minds. There, they meet an Austrian family that seems to have everything they ever wished for. But appearances can be deceiving.

Based on the short story Der Lauf der Dinge by Swiss author Peter Stamm.

5. Systemsprenger (System Crasher)

Engrossing, tragic drama about 9-year-old Benni, who is falling through the cracks of Germany’s child protective services.

Traumatized, violent, and yearning for love,  she bonds with a gruff mentor as child-services workers struggle to find her a home.

Filmed in Hamburg, Lüneburger Heide, and Berlin.

6. Berlin Calling

Legendary electronic music DJ Ickarus returns to Berlin after an exhausting world tour. On the eve of his largest album release, the techno star overdoses at a gig and is admitted to a psychiatric clinic.

With the longest run of any German film, this authentic drama propelled star and real-life DJ Paul Kalkbrenner to instant fame.

7. Das Attentat: Sarajevo 1914 (Sarajevo)

This well-acted German-Austrian TV biopic depicts the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo in 1914. The murder outraged Austria-Hungary and ignited World War I, one of the deadliest conflicts in human history.

Leo Pfeffer, a young magistrate, investigates the assassination. Trying to do his job in a time of lawlessness, intrigues and betrayal, Leo struggles to maintain his integrity and save his love, Marija, and her father, a prominent Serbian merchant.

8. Alles ist gut (All is well)

^{No English subtitles available for YouTube trailer. Watch English-subtitled trailer on Netflix.}

East Berlin-born director Eva Trobisch’s debut film is a painful but compassionate portrait of female trauma.

A woman sexually assaulted by a family member of her new boss tries to move on with her life, but it continues to weigh on her body and mind.

1. Lore

Historical drama based on Rachel Seiffert’s novel The Dark Room.

In southwest Germany after World War II, five destitute siblings must walk 900 km to their grandmother’s home by the Bay of Husum near Hamburg after their high-level Nazi parents disappear in danger of arrest.

Along the way, they encounter a young Jewish concentration camp survivor who becomes their unofficial guardian.

2. Die Unsichtbaren (The Invisibles)

Moving German docudrama that traces the stories of four Jewish teenagers who survived the Holocaust by going into hiding in Berlin during World War II.

It interweaves personal interviews, dramatic reenactment, archival footage, and narration.

3. Der Untergang (Downfall)

German-language historical war drama. In 1942, young Traudl Junge lands her dream job: secretary to Adolf Hitler at the peak of his power. Three years later, Hitler’s empire is now his underground bunker.

The real-life Traudl narrates Hitler’s final days as he rages against imagined betrayers and barks orders to phantom armies, while his mistress Eva Braun complains about his emotional distance and other infamous Nazis prepare for the end.

4. Bornholmer Straße (Open the Wall)

A comic look at the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989, based on the true stories of the German border guards at the checkpoint.

5. Kleine große Stimme (Little Big Voice)

Touching German-Austrian TV drama that follows ten-year-old Benedikt, the mixed-race son of a US soldier during the Allied occupation.

Benedikt lives as an unloved orphan with his grandparents in the Austrian countryside. He dreams of joining the Vienna Boys Choir because they are planning an American tour. Benedikt hopes to find his long-lost father in the US. On his courageous journey, he faces rejection and racism.

6. Willkommen bei den Hartmanns (Welcome to Germany)

Feel-good German comedy set in Munich. When a wealthy, self-absorbed family takes in a refugee from Nigeria, their insular world is turned upside down.

7. Schweigeminute (A Minute’s Silence)

^{No English subtitles available for YouTube trailer}

This poignant love story takes place in a Baltic fishing village, where the local high school holds a memorial in honour of Stella Petersen, the school’s young English teacher. For one of her students Stella was, however, more than just a teacher; she was his first love.

From 18-year-old Christian’s point of view we relive a magical summer affair between two young people that ends abruptly and tragically.

An adaptation of the bestselling novel by Siegfried Lenz.

German-Language Movies for Rental on Amazon Prime

These films in German are no longer available to stream free, but are well worth a rental.

1. In den Gängen (In The Aisles)

Affecting and bittersweet glimpse into the shared connections of a motley group of workers at a big box store.

When the reclusive Christian starts working the night shift at a warehouse supermarket, he becomes enamored by his charming but mysterious coworker Marion. But she has secrets of her own, and when Marion suddenly takes sick leave Christian is tempted to fall into habits from his dark past.

2. Datsche

Charming feel-good story about Valentine, an out-of-work New York actor who moves into a datsche, or summer cottage, inherited from his German grandfather.

His neighbors in the East German garden allotment colony welcome him with open arms, curiosity, and more rules than he could ever remember.

However, not everyone is foreigner-friendly. Which is a problem, since Valentine not only has a refugee hiding in his attic, but also an international group of Couchsurfing guests in his garden.

3. Kästner und der kleine Dienstag (Kästner and Little Tuesday)

Germany, 1931. The children’s story “Emil and the Detectives” is being filmed, which will make its author Erich Kästner world famous. An unusual friendship begins between the childless author and fatherless Hans, the 9-year-old playing the character Little Tuesday.

Their friendship is put to the ultimate test in the Third Reich when Kästner’s books are banned and little Hans becomes a Hitler Youth. Based on a true story.