Watching Spanish-language movies on Netflix is a great way to practice vocabulary and listening skills. Spanish films also allow you to learn about other cultures and gain exposure to different accents and slang.
Here are some of the best Spanish movies on Netflix in the US as of January 2, 2023. If you’re not in the US, click the title to check if the film is available in your country. If it’s not available, it’ll display an error or redirect to Netflix’s homepage.
Netflix originals should stick around, but watch the rest while you can, because content disappears as licensing agreements expire.
If you are an intermediate or advanced learner, I recommend watching with Spanish subtitles as studies show it enhances language learning. I also jot down any interesting new vocabulary to add to my Anki flashcards later.
To amp up your Spanish learning, try Google Chrome browser’s free Language Reactor (LR) extension. It allows you to add subtitles in two languages, listen to dialogue one line at a time, and change playback speed. There’s also a pop-up dictionary, and LR suggests the most important words for you to learn.
There are so many great Mexican movies on Netflix that I created a separate list for them. Also, don’t miss my recommendations for Spanish TV shows on Netflix.
If you’re an Amazon Prime member, be sure to check out my lists of top Spanish movies and Spanish-language TV shows on Amazon Prime Video.
1. Todos lo saben (Everybody Knows)
Kidnapping thriller by Iranian filmmaker Asghar Farhadi starring Javier Bardem, Penélope Cruz, and Ricardo Darín.
Laura, a Spanish woman living in Buenos Aires, returns with her two children to her hometown outside Madrid for her sister’s wedding. However, the joyful reunion soon turns tragic when her daughter gets kidnapped, revealing a dark web of hidden secrets.
Accents: European Spanish, Argentinian
2. I’m No Longer Here (Ya no estoy aquí)
Gorgeous, touching tale of a teen immigrant from Monterrey, Mexico.
In 2011, 17-year-old Ulises leads a gang called Los Terkos dedicated to the Kolombia or Cholombiano subculture. This lifestyle consists of dancing and listening to cumbia rebajada, a slowed-down version of Colombian cumbia. Los Terkos dress in bright, baggy clothes and sport homemade, eccentric hairdos.
After a misunderstanding with a local cartel, Ulises flees to the immigrant community of Jackson Heights, Queens to save his life.
This absorbing story is told in flashbacks. The nonprofessional actors bring great authenticity to the dialogue as well as the dance scenes.
Stick around for the end of the credits for behind-the-scenes footage of the young actors.
Some slang you’ll hear:
- sobres – Northern Mexican slang for “OK” or “Right on!”
- al chile – Mexican slang for “for real” or “seriously”
- morro(a) – Northern Mexican slang for “kid” or “dude.” Está morro means someone is young.
Accent: Mexican
3. Plaza Catedral
Engrossing social drama set in Panama City.
Alicia (compellingly portrayed by Mexican actress Ilse Salas), who has withdrawn from society after the death of her young son, finds her isolated existence challenged by a teenage street thug in trouble.
Accents: Panamanian, Mexican
4. El suplente (The Substitute)
Lucio, a highbrow literature professor, returns to his old neighborhood in an underserved area of Buenos Aires to substitute teach high school. He struggles to connect with his students, who have far tougher things than homework to worry about.
When one of his students is seriously threatened by a local druglord, Lucio tries to save him and is drawn into a dangerous world.
Accent: Argentinian
5. Quien a hierro mata (Eye for an Eye)
No English subtitles available on YouTube. Watch subtitled trailer on Netflix.
In this tense Spanish thriller, a cartel boss is released from prison due to illness, not realizing that the nurse in charge of his care plans to take revenge.
The Spanish title comes from the saying Quien a hierro mata, a hierro muere (“Who lives by the sword, dies by the sword”).
Accent: European Spanish
6. El hoyo (The Platform)
Those will strong stomachs and a taste for satire will enjoy Netflix’s viral thriller. The claustrophobic premise is an apt metaphor in these days of shelter-in-place.
Inside a vertical prison, inmates are assigned to a level and forced to ration food from a platform that moves between the floors. This dystopian Spanish horror film is a twisted social allegory about mankind at its darkest and hungriest.
Accent: European Spanish
7. Vivir dos veces (Live Twice, Love Once)
Note: No English subtitles available for YouTube trailer. Click to watch subtitled trailer on Netflix.
Wistful, heartwarming Spanish comedy.
Emilio, a retired math professor in Valencia, is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. He and his daughter and granddaughter embark on a quixotic quest to reunite him with his childhood crush before his memory loss is complete.
Accent: European Spanish. Some dialogue in Catalan.
8. Roma
This Oscar-winning Netflix epic directed by Alfonso Cuarón delivers a vivid, emotional portrait of domestic life and social hierarchy set against Mexico’s political turmoil of the 1970s.
Accent: Mexican. Some dialogue in Mixtec, an indigenous language from Oaxaca.
9. Durante la tormenta (Mirage)
Note: No English subtitles available for YouTube trailer. Click to watch subtitled trailer on Netflix.
Spanish thriller from the director of Contratiempo starring the talented Adriana Ugarte. A space-time continuum glitch allows Vera to save a boy’s life 25 years earlier, but results in the loss of her daughter, whom she fights to get back.
Accent: European Spanish
10. Soltera Codiciada (How to Get Over a Breakup)
A heartbroken ad copywriter living in Lima, Peru, is inspired to write a blog about life as a single woman and is surprised by her website’s success.
Light comedy based on the real-life blog Soltera Codiciada by Peruvian writer María José Osorio.
Accent: Peruvian
11. El Hijo (The Son)
Note: No English subtitles available for YouTube trailer. Click to watch subtitled trailer on Netflix.
In this creepy psychological thriller set in Buenos Aires, painter Lorenzo’s life spirals out of control as he fears his wife is trying to isolate him from their infant son.
Based on a novel by Argentinian writer Guillermo Martínez.
Accent: Argentinian. Some limited dialogue in Norwegian.
12. Carteristas (Pickpockets)
No English subtitles available for YouTube trailer – click to watch trailer on Netflix
Predictable but entertaining Netflix original film that follows three teen thieves learning what it takes to be successful pickpockets on the streets of Bogotá from a master in the art of deception.
Stunning location shots of Colombia’s capital, especially its amazing street art.
Accents: Colombian, European Spanish
13. Nuestros Amantes (Our Lovers)
Charming, creative rom-com with clever dialogue.
A love-challenged man and a woman he meets at a coffee shop begin dating, but only at the shop — and without knowing anything about each other.
Accent: European Spanish
14. 100 Metros
Moving film based on the incredible true story of a Spanish man in his 30s diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and told that within a year he would not be able to walk 100 meters.
To prove his naysayers wrong, he decides to train for the world’s most challenging endurance event, an Ironman Triathlon, assisted by his delightfully cantankerous father-in-law.
Accent: European Spanish
This Spanish film stars Mexican actor Gael García Bernal as a director who travels to Bolivia to shoot a film depicting Christopher Columbus’s conquest.
The crew find themselves facing a moral crisis as the Bolivian film extras violently protest the privatization of their water supply, paralleling the Spanish exploitation of the New World.
Accents: European Spanish, Bolivian, Mexican
16. Verónica
Horror fans should check out this much-hyped film by Spanish director Paco Plaza, director of the terrifying [REC] series.
Verónica is a Ouija-based horror movie loosely based on true events. It follows Verónica, a teenage girl who holds a séance with her classmates, unwittingly unleashing an evil force that terrorizes her and her family.
Accent: European Spanish
17. Adú
No English subtitles available for YouTube trailer – click to watch trailer on Netflix
Three interlocking tales set in North Africa starring veteran Spanish actor Luis Tosar.
In a desperate attempt to reach Europe, six-year-old Adú and his older sister in Cameroon try to sneak into an aircraft hold. Not far away, an environmental activist witnesses the terrible scene of an elephant killed by poachers.
Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers to the north in Spanish Melilla, a group of civil guards faces a furious mob of African immigrants trying to cross the border fence.
Accent: European Spanish
18. 7 Años
This cerebral drama is Netflix’s first original film in Spanish.
Four friends make the gut-wrenching decision of who will go to prison for the crime they committed. A character play set in a single room, with terrific dialogue and performances.
Accent: European Spanish
19. Fe De Etarras (Bomb Scared)
Netflix’s second Spanish-language movie is a controversial dark comedy about a dysfunctional group of wannabe Basque terrorists awaiting word about a new mission while Spain makes a run at the World Cup title.
Most of the cast are big names in Spain but relatively unknown in the US. Best for those an interest in recent Spanish history and the Basque conflict.
Accent: European Spanish
20. La Llamada (Holy Camp)
Popular Spanish film adaptation of a cult musical comedy.
Two rebellious teen girls who love reggaeton music have a life-changing brush with the divine at a camp run by nuns. Very funny and relatable despite the unlikely plot.
Accent: European Spanish
21. El Faro de las Orcas (The Lighthouse of the Orcas)
Moving film shot in a remote area of Argentine Patagonia.
A Spanish mother travels to the ends of the earth with her autistic son in the hope that a ranger and a pod of wild orcas can help him find an emotional connection.
Accents: Argentinian, European Spanish
In this heartwarming comic drama, a determined mother travels to Vietnam along with her two friends to bring home the baby her recently deceased daughter had planned to adopt.
Accent: European Spanish
23. Toc Toc
In the mood for a silly comedy? This zany film based on a hit play follows a group of patients with OCD who wait for their flight-delayed doctor to arrive for their appointments, forcing them to endure each other’s oddball quirks
Accent: European Spanish
24. La Hora Final (The Last Hour)
In this compelling true story set in 1992, two Peruvian detectives go undercover to locate and capture the elusive leader of the Shining Path.
Accent: Peruvian
25. La noche de 12 años (A Twelve-Year Night)
Harrowing survival drama based on the real-life story of future Uruguayan president José Mujica and his fellow Tupamaro political prisoners, who fight to survive 12 years of solitary confinement and torture.
Accent: Uruguayan
26. Toro
An ex-con who has left his life of crime behind is dragged into conflict with the local mafia when his family is threatened.
Entertainingly frenetic thriller atmospherically set on Spain’s southern coast.
Accent: European Spanish
27. El silencio de otros (The Silence of Others)
This powerful documentary captures the struggle of victims of Spain’s 40-year dictatorship under the fascist general Francisco Franco, many of whom continue to seek justice.
Filmed over six years, it follows survivors — a man who passes his former torturer’s home every day, children of disappeared parents later found in mass graves, parents still searching for children seized at birth and handed to Franco’s allies — as they organize the groundbreaking Argentine Lawsuit to fight a state-imposed amnesia of crimes against humanity.
Accents: European Spanish, Argentinian
More Netflix Spanish Movies
- Errementari: The Blacksmith and the Devil – A brutal blacksmith tortures a demon he blames for his misery, unaware a trespassing orphan is about to change everything. It’s in Basque, not Spanish, but this creepy fairy tale based on Basque folklore is worth a watch. Watch the trailer on Netflix.
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Have feedback on these films or more Spanish movie Netflix recommendations? Some of my best Spanish-language film suggestions come from readers! Please share your thoughts in the comments.
Banner image from Perdiendo el Norte © Atresmedia Cine
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Suggested reconsideration of your terms:
Peninsular Spanish
Continental Spanish (Latin America)
HOWEVER, there is not one form of Castilian spoken in Spain but multiple, with a diversity of slang terms, accents, cadences, deliveries, etc. ….now multiply that by 100++ across the many regions of the Spanish speaking Americas (including migrant to 3rd generation mixed speakers in “anglo” America).
Just thinking of the country with the largest amount of Spanish speakers in the world, Mexico and its diaspora, one would have many differences across regions, education levels, vocational jargons, ancestries and socio-economic strata. Just like English.
Saludos, ThePostNational
Thanks for your comment. I know the term peninsular Spanish is often used in Spain; I’ve been using European Spanish instead, as I thought it would be less confusing for my mostly North American audience.
And agree with you on the mind-boggling diversity of dialects… I’ve mainly focused on Mexican and European Spanish and keeping the vocabulary and grammar differences straight is a real challenge at times!
Thanks for being so open, while I am replying months later. Hey there is so much programming available in both Peninsular, Continental and combined Spanish across streamers, i.e. HBO Max, Netflix, Hulu, Pantaya, A3Media, etc.
Thanks for these lists!
I appreciate Netflix’s variety of audio and caption languages and wish Amazon offered as many choices. I get a lot out of watching shows in another language dubbed AND captioned in Spanish, such as “Tabula Rasa” and “42.” They must use different translators for audio and captions so I get to see synonyms: sometimes I know one and then can learn the other on the fly. It’s also interesting to see one translator use the second person form when the other chooses the more formal third person in dialog. I don’t feel so bad being confused about when to use which when separate professional translators make different choices
Thanks, Dave, that’s a good tip for learners to watch their favorite shows dubbed into Spanish. And interesting idea to compare and contrast the audio and caption translations!
I always look forward to the updates on your blog as I’m trying to learn Spanish using the Netflix method (plus traveling, community college course, and online Fluencia). One new Netflix show that I really am enjoying is Hache. It uses European Spanish and is a really well done production… very suspenseful.
Thanks so much for the recommendation! Looks like a great show. I’ve added it to my TV list: https://www.secondhalftravels.com/spanish-language-tv-shows-netflix/.
Bravo Ingrid, formidable esfuerzo!
I applaud your pastimes and thank you for these excellent recommendations.
I’ve seen some and know those are real gems.
I would like to offer another one: “El Ministerio del Tiempo”. This is a recent TV series that shows realistically what would happen if time travel were possible.
I will sign up to receive your updates and look forward to that.
Thanks so much! Agree that El Ministerio del Tiempo is a great series. If you haven’t yet, be sure to check out my list of Spanish TV on Netflix, where I include it and others: https://www.secondhalftravels.com/spanish-language-tv-shows-netflix.
Thanks for some great film recommendations. Mike
Glad you’ve found it helpful, Mike!
#25 is a great choice! Fun fact, I was an extra in that movie! 🙂
How fun is that?! Was it in Vietnam?
It was a lot of fun. I was in Pamplona, Spain filming the airport scene at the end of the movie. 😁
That’s awesome!! I’ll have to look for you. 🙂
Just the trailer for, “The Platform,” has scarred me!!! : 0
Hi Mary Ann, I agree, don’t think I could handle that movie. But it’s very popular in these difficult times and critically acclaimed, so I included it for my readers with stronger stomachs. 🙂
Have you seen “El tiempo entre costuras?” I would highly recommend it.
That’s a great series. Sadly, I had to remove it from my list as it’s no longer available on Netflix in the US.
Hi, trying to find a Spanish language movie I saw a number of years ago. Opening scene is a bomb blast in the street where a women is injured and assisted by a man who takes her into a cafe, then his place to look after her. Then becomes her lover.
Sorry, not sure I’ve seen that one!