Discover the best of European cinema, film, and television

Discover the definitive list of popular and critically-acclaimed movies and TV shows from Europe. Find your next binge-watch, streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!

The cinema of Europe

European cinema is not one single entity but a dazzling mosaic of national film cultures, each with its own unique flavour and history. In many ways, its story is the story of cinema itself. The moving image was born here, with France’s Lumière brothers holding the first public film screening in 1895. In the decades that followed, the continent became a crucible of innovation, from the shadowy, psychological worlds of German Expressionism to the revolutionary editing techniques of Soviet Montage. After the Second World War, legendary directors and movements redefined what film could be. Italy’s Neorealism captured raw, everyday humanity, while the French New Wave, led by figures like Jean-Luc Godard and François Truffaut, tore up the filmmaking rulebook with youthful energy. Across the continent, auteurs like Sweden’s Ingmar Bergman used cinema to explore life's deepest philosophical questions. Today, that spirit of artistry and authorship continues. The modern landscape thrives on international co-productions, bringing talent together to create everything from the stylish thrillers of Spain and the gritty social realism of the UK to the global phenomenon of Scandi-noir television. What unites this incredible diversity is often a focus on character over spectacle and a willingness to reflect the continent's complex, rich, and ever-changing culture.

Best European series

  • Poster for Sherlock

    Sherlock 2010

    A modern update finds the famous sleuth and his doctor partner solving crime in 21st century London.

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  • Poster for Black Mirror

    Black Mirror 2011

    Twisted tales run wild in this mind-bending anthology series that reveals humanity's worst traits, greatest innovations and more.

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  • Poster for Dark

    Dark 2017

    A missing child causes four families to help each other for answers. What they could not imagine is that this mystery would be connected to innumerable other secrets of the small town.

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  • Poster for Peaky Blinders

    Peaky Blinders 2013

    A gangster family epic set in 1919 Birmingham, England and centered on a gang who sew razor blades in the peaks of their caps, and their fierce boss Tommy Shelby, who means to move up in the world.

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  • Poster for Money Heist

    Money Heist 2017

    To carry out the biggest heist in history, a mysterious man called The Professor recruits a band of eight robbers who have a single characteristic: none of them has anything to lose. Five months of seclusion - memorizing every step, every detail, every probability - culminate in eleven days locked up in the National Coinage and Stamp Factory of Spain, surrounded by police forces and with dozens of hostages in their power, to find out whether their suicide wager will lead to everything or nothing.

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  • Poster for Doctor Who

    Doctor Who 2005

    The Doctor is a Time Lord: a 900 year old alien with 2 hearts, part of a gifted civilization who mastered time travel. The Doctor saves planets for a living—more of a hobby actually, and the Doctor's very, very good at it.

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Best European movies

  • Poster for Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

    Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone 2001

    Harry Potter has lived under the stairs at his aunt and uncle's house his whole life. But on his 11th birthday, he learns he's a powerful wizard—with a place waiting for him at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. As he learns to harness his newfound powers with the help of the school's kindly headmaster, Harry uncovers the truth about his parents' deaths—and about the villain who's to blame.

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  • Poster for The Dark Knight Rises

    The Dark Knight Rises 2012

    Following the death of District Attorney Harvey Dent, Batman assumes responsibility for Dent's crimes to protect the late attorney's reputation and is subsequently hunted by the Gotham City Police Department. Eight years later, Batman encounters the mysterious Selina Kyle and the villainous Bane, a new terrorist leader who overwhelms Gotham's finest. The Dark Knight resurfaces to protect a city that has branded him an enemy.

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  • Poster for Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

    Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 2016

    In 1926, Newt Scamander arrives at the Magical Congress of the United States of America with a magically expanded briefcase, which houses a number of dangerous creatures and their habitats. When the creatures escape from the briefcase, it sends the American wizarding authorities after Newt, and threatens to strain even further the state of magical and non-magical relations.

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  • Poster for Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

    Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 2002

    Cars fly, trees fight back, and a mysterious house-elf comes to warn Harry Potter at the start of his second year at Hogwarts. Adventure and danger await when bloody writing on a wall announces: The Chamber Of Secrets Has Been Opened. To save Hogwarts will require all of Harry, Ron and Hermione’s magical abilities and courage.

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  • Poster for Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

    Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 2004

    Year three at Hogwarts means new fun and challenges as Harry learns the delicate art of approaching a Hippogriff, transforming shape-shifting Boggarts into hilarity and even turning back time. But the term also brings danger: soul-sucking Dementors hover over the school, an ally of the accursed He-Who-Cannot-Be-Named lurks within the castle walls, and fearsome wizard Sirius Black escapes Azkaban. And Harry will confront them all.

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  • Poster for Kingsman: The Secret Service

    Kingsman: The Secret Service 2015

    The story of a super-secret spy organization that recruits an unrefined but promising street kid into the agency's ultra-competitive training program just as a global threat emerges from a twisted tech genius.

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