Looking for some Brazilian shows on Netflix? You’re in luck! I have a complete list here for you.
I recently wrote an article about the best Brazilian movies on Netflix. Still, since I like series so much, I thought I could also make a list of all Brazilian TV shows on this streaming platform.
That’s also a good idea because 1) many people outside of Brazil don’t know any national series, and 2) watching series from another country is a great way to learn their language.
For that reason, I made this list of the best Brazilian series on Netflix that you can watch right now!
This list is made of Brazilian Netflix Originals, meaning the company invested in other markets to bring more stories from outside Hollywood to the international community.
Anyway, at the moment of writing, this article is entirely up-to-date. But I can see Netflix has more series in the oven, so I promise to keep it as up-to-date as I can.
Looking for some Brazilian TV shows on Netflix? Read on!
Brazilian shows on Netflix
Invisible City (Portuguese: Cidade Invisível)
Category: Drama, crime, fantasy (2021-)
This Brazilian show is about an underground world that is inhabited by mythical creatures evolved from a deep lineage of Brazilian folklore.
A detective from Rio de Janeiro finds himself caught in an investigation that puts him in the middle of a battle between these two worlds.
It’s a nice blend of fantasy and Brazilian culture set in the beautiful city of Rio de Janeiro in a well-written storyline.
If you want to learn a bit more about our country, but are tired of the usual “police and gangs” style produced in Brazil, you’ll want to give Invisible City a try.
Girls from Ipanema (Portuguese: Coisa Mais Linda)
Previously called “Most Beautiful Thing“
Category: Romance (2019-)
Girls from Ipanema is a lovely Brazilian show!
This Netflix Original series plays in São Paulo in the late 1950s. Maria Luiza, the main character, is a conservative girl and utterly dependent on two men: her father, Ademar, and her husband, Pedro.
However, her life takes an entirely different turn when Pedro abandons her after traveling to Rio de Janeiro to open up a restaurant.
Maria Luiza, of course, follows her husband’s tracks but ends up turning the sophisticated restaurant into a nightclub.
In Rio de Janeiro, this young woman discovers a new world in the company of feminist and liberal women to the sound of Bossa Nova, a typical Brazilian genre.
It’s a great series that shows the national society in the late 1950s through Maria’s perspective. Do watch it in Portuguese with subtitles in your language so that you can capture the true essence of this Brazilian hit series.
Reality Z
Category: Horror, zombie (2020-)
Based on the British series Dead Set, Reality Z plays an apocalypse in Rio de Janeiro.
Like with The Walking Dead, the characters have to learn how to fight the dead, but also the living.
Some reviews say this series is too on the nose, but I think it is a nice change from most Brazilian shows that cover only the criminality and political corruption.
However, I haven’t watched it myself yet, so I can’t say whether it is good or not. If you watch it, I would appreciate it if you would come back to this post and let your review in the comments.
Dating Around: Brazil
Category: Reality show, romance (2020-)
Dating Around Brazil is the Brazilian version of Netflix’s dating show and it’s played in São Paulo.
The series shows in a few episodes the first dates of five couples of different genders, ages, and orientation.
One downside, which I personally did not expect from Netflix, is that in a country where the population is majority of color, none of the main daters are dark-skinned.
Still, if you’re curious about our dating traditions in Brazil, you might want to give it a try. Subtitles available.
Brotherhood (Portuguese: Irmandade)
Category: Crime, drama, thriller (2019-)
Brotherhood is an excellent Brazilian series that shows the failed, corrupt police and prison systems.
The story plays around Cristina, an honest and dedicated lawyer who finds out her brother, who disappeared years ago, is, in fact, imprisoned for being the leader of a criminal gang.
She is then forced by the police to work as an informant. But, as she infiltrates the gang, Cristina begins to question her values about law and justice.
Kissing Game (Portuguese: Boca a Boca)
Category: Drama, mystery, thriller (2020-)
With current and daring themes, this Brazilian series on Netflix is a nice surprise.
The plot is about a disease spread through teenagers from a small town in the state of Goiás.
They also managed to wrap up all the storylines at the end in a very clever way, which I liked. When you watch the trailer, it seems like a trashy series, but I would give it a try!
The Circle Brazil
Category: Reality show (2020-)
In this fun reality competition, online players try their best to flirt, bond, and catfish their way to a R$300,000 price.
The Circle is the Brazilian version of the American and UK shows with the same name.
Although this Brazilian series is shot in the same apartment building in England as the other editions, there are 9 initial contestants here, unlike the 8 from the US version.
If you don’t know this series, it has been compared to Big Brother and Catfish in its format.
But it also reminds me a little of the Black Mirror episode “Nosedive,” which has the concept of ratings. (Nosedive is one of my favorite episodes, by the way!)
Anyway, The Circle Brazil gives The Circle a South American glow up, and that makes the show even more interesting to watch. Give it a shot!
Sintonia (English: Tune)
Category: Crime, drama, teen (2019-)
Sintonia brings the stories of Doni, Nando, and Rita. Young residents of the same favela in São Paulo, who are chasing their dreams while trying to maintain their loyal friendship.
Growing up together through the streets of the community, they gradually discover the world of trafficking, religion, and music.
Sintonia does a pretty fair job of depicting how life in a Brazilian favela is. It’s interesting to see the cultural, religious, and underworld all connected.
The Mechanism (Portuguese: O Mecanismo)
Category: Crime, drama, political (2018-)
The Mechanism is a dramatic fiction series loosely inspired by an investigation of corruption in Brazil’s private and state oil and construction companies.
The investigation is a political scandal called Car Wash. It happened in 2014 and led to Dilma Rousseff’s impeachment.
Obviously, you should take the statements made in this Brazilian series with a grain of salt as they don’t depict the real events.
Nevertheless, it is an excellent way to understand one of the biggest political scandals in Brazil.
The Chosen One (Portuguese: O Escolhido)
Category: Mystery, thriller (2019-)
The Chosen One is a fiction where three young doctors are sent to an isolated village in the Pantanal. Their task is to vaccinate residents against a new mutation of the Zika virus.
However, the population refuses treatment, and the trio finds themselves trapped in a community guided by an enigmatic leader. This leader says he has the power to cure diseases without using any medicines.
This series has an excellent mix of science and faith in a unique premise. It has humor, thriller, and some interesting and well-crafted photography as well.
Samantha!
Category: Comedy (2018-)
Samantha! is a series about a former child star, who has lived her peak as an actress. Now, Samantha is a 40-year-old woman who tries desperately to come back to the spotlights with hilarious harebrained schemes.
She is married to a former football player, who has just left jail after 10 years behind bars, but her husband’s freedom is far from the solution to her problems.
This Netflix series is a colorful, sarcastic, and delicious journey to our affective memories as it draws a curious parallel of what it feels like to be famous in this decade.
Nobody’s Looking (Portuguese: Ninguém Tá Olhando)
Category: Comedy (2019-)
Uli is a guardian angel full of personality who, dissatisfied with how arbitrary the orders he receives daily are, decides to rebel against the system.
The series uses acid humor to subvert pre-conceived ideas and to question complex concepts like the relativity of good and evil.
This Brazilian show is somewhat quirky but witty and engaging with a brilliant concept.
Spectros
Category: Fantasy, thriller, supernatural (2020-)
A group of five teenagers is accidentally drawn to a supernatural reality that cannot be understood, but which connects to the same place in the city in 1908.
As events get stranger and stranger, the group finds out they are in the middle of a conflict between Japanese Shinto ghosts and Brazilian witchcraft, and that someone is bringing the dead back. At the same time, the spirits want revenge for that.
This Brazilian series is played in Liberdade, a neighborhood in São Paulo, which is said to have the world’s largest Japanese population outside of Japan, making up for an intriguing mix of cultures.
Lugar de Mulher (English: The Place of a Woman)
Category: Comedy (2019-)
Lugar de Mulher is a stand-up comedy show where four Brazilian comedians riff on lust, politics, religion, and motherhood.
The name of the show makes reference to a rather frustrating stereotype very popular in some cultures, including Brazil; “the place of a woman (lugar de mulher) is in the kitchen.”
Still, these four women set out to prove a woman’s place is anywhere she wants to be.
Super Drags
Category: Animation, comedy, fantasy (2018-)
Three gay co-workers lead double lives as superhero drag queens, fighting crime and other forces like an evil queen and a conservative politician.
This adult animation might seem silly at first. Still, in fact, it points out several social issues using a lot of humor, easter eggs, and puns.
Little by little, it brings up some very nice criticisms about homophobia, mainstream media, and the aesthetic standards of society. Because it has only five episodes, the series doesn’t go much deeper into these issues, but it already gets its message across.
Super Drags is quite funny and very tongue in cheek. It’s light-hearted and nothing too serious.
This Brazilian show on Netflix also creates several links with other animations, such as The Powerpuff Girls, Power Ranges, and Sailor Moon, but in a cartoon for adults.
3%
Category: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi (2016-)
In a not-too-distant post-apocalyptic future, the Earth is a devastated place.
In Brazil, the Continent is a miserable, decadent region with scarce resources.
There, every citizen is given a chance to go through the Process at the age of 20.
The Process is a rigorous selection of physical, moral, and psychological tests that offers the chance to ascend to the High Seas. In this region, everything is abundant, food, opportunities, and comfort.
However, only 3% of those registered will get to the other side.
This series explores what people are willing to do and leave behind for their dreams.
I particularly like this Brazilian TV show a lot!
Omniscient (Portuguese: Onisciente)
Category: Drama, Sci-Fi (2020-)
The story plays around a controlled social system that delegates law and order inside the city to a central computer, where citizens are monitored 24/7.
Each citizen is followed and monitored by a small drone, and crime rates are minimal. The Omniscient System seems to work correctly until a young woman called Nina finds out about an incident that was never reported.
Nina then begins a journey in search of the truth behind this alleged negligence.
If you like Black Mirror, you will also like Omniscient as this series is essentially a Brazilian Black Mirror. Still, it has its own character, and Nina is rather compelling in the central role.
Learn Portuguese with Brazilian TV shows
While most people search for TV shows because they want to watch something new, I know language students use them to practice a language they are learning, in this case, Portuguese.
If that’s your case, be sure to start slowly, and don’t be too hard on yourself. For instance, some of these series use plenty of slangs that might be hard to follow.
Either way, you will also want to listen to the national radio as well as to some Brazilian songs on Youtube to practice it.
I promise to publish some articles soon about resources to learn Brazilian Portuguese. Still, if you’re interested in the culture of Brazil, you might want to read some of these books about Brazil.
Anyway, I hope you can find at least one Netflix Brazil TV show to binge-watch!
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