There are soooo many Spanish movies on Netflix these days it’s amazing! The selection has got far better over the years though at times, some of the best movies also disappear from Netflix as rules or regulations (or rights) change. But.. c’est la vie! Let’s stick to some of the good Spanish movies we can find on Netflix currently.
I’m going to share five of my favorite Spanish movies on Netflix currently. The type of Spanish spoken in these movies varies depending on which country the movie comes from as well as the region the movie is set-in or attempting to represent.
I hope you enjoy these movies while practicing your Spanish listening (and reading if you are adventurous enough to set Spanish subtitles too!) skills. I know that it really helps me to listen to Spanish on a regular basis. I feel that I retain my Spanish comprehension better when I mix in a lot of different listening and speaking activities (Spanish movies, Spanish TV Series and language exchange meetup groups are my favorite ways to do this currently).
Stream these Spanish movies on Netflix or Amazon.
1. Spanish Movies on Netflix and Amazon: Everybody Knows
Starring Javier Bardem (one of my all-time favorite Spanish actors) and Penelope Cruz, Everybody Knows is a Spanish drama directed by Asghar Farhadi. The film focuses on a couple that used to date, who meet at a wedding in Spain, and then turns darker when Penelope Cruz’s character’s daughter is kidnapped, spearheading a spiral of events that includes drama, intrigue, emotion, and the uncovering of secrets long buried.
2. Spanish Movies on Netflix and Amazon: I’m No Longer Here
Ulyses, a young Mexican teen who is the leader of a street gang participates in the Colombian music and dance culture scene in Monterrey, Mexico. A situation with a dangerous gang leads to his having to be deported to the United States, where, alienated from his country and culture he finds comfort in the music that is so familiar to him. This movie isn’t one-dimensional but it does keep things simple without the kind of high drama that’s so often incorporated into films about gang life. It treats Ulyses and his life as important enough and his issues as grave enough, that no embellishments are needed. In a way, the starkness of the film amplifies the emotion and empathy you are allowed to feel, as a viewer, by not making it feel like an action film or a Hollywood shoot ’em-up movie. It feels almost like a documentary.
I’m No Longer Here shines a light on issues like poverty, culture, immigration, gangs and violence, and family. It isn’t an uplifting, light-hearted movie but it’s beautifully filmed and leaves you wondering what happened next…
Currently available on Netflix.
3. Spanish Movies on Netflix and Amazon: Language Lessons
This adorable movie starring Natalie Morales and Mark Duplass relays the story of an American man (Adam) living in the U.S. and a Cuban woman, Cariño, living in Costa Rica that meet over Zoom/a video call as Spanish teacher and student.
Adam is a gay man with a partner that dies soon after the lessons start so the video lessons become a type of therapy as the two build a friendship via audio messages and video calls where they mostly just speak in Spanish with occasional doses of English mixed in.
The movie is one of the cutest recent Spanish movies on Netflix. It highlights the differences between the two–their lives, economic situations, cultural backgrounds, etc. while at the same time showing how much they have in common as human beings with their own personal tragedies, insecurities, etc.
4. Spanish Movies on Netflix and Amazon: Mirage
This dramatic Spanish movie on Netflix is thrilling, and suspenseful, and makes time travel seem believable. It involves a kid in the attic of an old house, a television set that takes people (only certain people) back in time to help prevent a crime and the rekindling of a lost love. The main female protagonist is played by Adriana Ugarte, one of my all-time favorite Spanish actresses.
Without giving away the entire story, this movie focuses on the story of a crime that happened in the past (murder) and the people who were touched by the crime or could have made a difference if they had made different decisions. Throughout the movie, the main characters have to make difficult, bordering on impossible decisions and sacrifices in order to set things right and save a life. They also get a second chance at love with someone from their past–which will inevitably change their future if they aren’t careful.
5. Spanish Movies on Netflix and Amazon: Off Course or Perdiendo el Norte
More comedy than romance, but with a little romance mixed in, this Spanish movie is hilariously and madly entertaining. It follows the story of two underemployed Spanish guys (Hugo and Braulio) who immigrate to Berlin after a TV advert convinces them that Germany is an employment haven.
They arrive there only to end up having to find work at a cafe due to language barriers, despite their science and finance qualifications. The plot follows different relationships and their hardships when one of the guys falls for a Spanish girl in the city.
They navigate the hardships of being foreigners without an advanced grasp of the local language, trying to make a living, etc. while keeping up the mirage that they are living great and successful lives to their families back home.
Stream it on Netflix or purchase from Amazon
6. Spanish Movies on Netflix and Amazon: The Lighthouse of the Orcas or El Faro de Las Orcas
One of the best Spanish movies on Netflix for you, if you like touching, emotional films!
It is a beautiful story, though the movie starts out somewhat slowly. A mother with an autistic child travels from Spain to Patagonia (Argentina) in the hopes of finding a sort of therapy for her son through an emotional connection with the Orcas (she has heard and read about this phenomenon). The gruff ranger who works with the Orcas and lives in isolation isn’t receptive to their presence at first, but the story evolves…
A desperate mother yearning for a connection with (or spark of life from..) her son. A lonely man scarred by tragedy and a peek inside the wild and desolate yet beautiful way of life at a Ranger’s station in a place that feels like the end of the world…
7. Spanish Movies on Netflix and Amazon: Toc Toc
A funny and heartwarming film centered on a group of patients who are in therapy for various forms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. What happens when you get a bunch of people with disorders in one room together? Chaos, but incredibly entertaining and hilarious chaos. From the woman who can’t stop washing her hands to the guy who is unable to stop lying.
It all starts when the group shows up at what they believe to be their individual therapy appointment, but instead, find themselves in a room with other patients (one of whom is the doctor). What ensues is hilarity.
While it might seem at first that the movie is poking fun at people with OCD, it does not frame people with disorders as crazy. Instead, the movie treats each character sympathetically, highlighting the difficulties that each patient faces in their lives due to their condition while also allowing us (the ones watching) to enjoy the humor in the situation, which even the patients in the movie appreciate.
Will they all be cured? Which one is the doctor? Is he/she someone faking a disorder or does he/she actually have a disorder of their own and that’s how they ended up treating others with OCD?
You’ll have to watch to find out.
Other Spanish language or Spanish language learning-related posts:
10+ Spanish Shows on Hulu, HBO, and Apple TV
7 Online Language Learning Programs that offer free trials
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