More than anything else, these are about the nature of loyalty and love.
Umbre (Shadows) – (Romanian with subtitles; HBO Max)
The platinum to The Sopranos’ gold-plated gimmickry. I was shocked it made me feel that way. A story that resists the cheap easy choices and characters with much more than faux complexity.
Orphan Black – (originally broadcast on BBC America) Amazon Prime
One actress plays nine characters and makes you believe in all of them. But that’s the least of it. A brilliant show.
Real Humans (Swedish original with subtitles – Hulu)
Humans (British remake originally on BBC America – Amazon Prime)
Better Than Us (Russian remake with subtitles – Netflix)
They were all truly great and each with a distinctive cultural interpretation of the premise.
A Korean Odyssey (Korean with subtitles – Netflix)
Should be shown in film schools everywhere as an exemplar of perfect casting. Contemporary update of classic Chinese tale. Inventive, hilarious and heartbreaking.
Juda (Hebrew/Romanian/English with subtitles – Hulu)
Israeli small-time hustler tries to pull off a scam in Romania and gets turned by the undead prostitute he invites to his hotel room. I resisted trying this but it hooked me fast. Synopses can’t do it justice. Indescribable genre mash-up with a powerful truth at its core.
Prisoners of War (Hebrew with subtitles – Hulu)
From the same team that produced Homeland and filmed simultaneously, they gave us the Cheez Whiz while Israelis dined on something much better. It so angered me, the infantilization of American audiences and our presumed inability to examine controversial geopolitical issues with any level of intelligence. The Israeli version treats every side of this cousins’ war with a brutal honesty and an anguished compassion.
Thanks for this list.
I recently finished The Looming Tower on Hulu, which is about the miscommunications and power struggles that lead up to 9/11. It's only one season, but it's powerful and there are some really good, adult conversations that are important.