Discover the best of Hungarian cinema, film, and television
Discover the definitive list of popular and critically-acclaimed movies and TV shows from Hungary. Find your next binge-watch, streaming on Netflix, HBO, Hulu, Prime Video, and other top services!
The cinema of Hungary
Hungarian cinema is one of world film’s best-kept secrets, a creative wellspring that quietly helped build Hollywood itself. It’s a surprising but true fact: some of the godfathers of the American studio system, including Paramount Pictures founder Adolph Zukor and 20th Century Fox’s William Fox, were Hungarian emigrants. This incredible legacy of talent laid the foundations for popular entertainment as we know it. Back in Europe, a fiercely artistic national cinema flourished. In the 20th century, masters like István Szabó gained global renown, winning an Oscar for the masterful Mephisto, while Miklós Jancsó mesmerised audiences with his signature, incredibly long, hypnotic tracking shots. This tradition of excellence has roared into the 21st century. The world was stunned by László Nemes’s Son of Saul, a devastating and immersive Holocaust drama that won an Academy Award. This was followed by more international prizes for directors like Ildikó Enyedi, whose beautiful film On Body and Soul won Berlin's Golden Bear. This creative energy now fuels a new age of high-quality television, with slick dramas like Aranyélet (Golden Life) earning international attention. What makes Hungarian cinema so powerful is this blend of intellectual rigour and stunning visual artistry. It is a cinema that grapples with history in a bold, formal, and unforgettable way.
Best Hungarian series
Golden Life 2015
Shamed by his father's dying words, con man Attila Miklosi tries to go straight but eventually succumbs to pressure from his demanding wife Janka and his boss, Endre Hollos, and returns to his life of crime. When his son tries to follow him into the criminal underworld, Attila questions if he will be able to shield the boy.
85The Informant 2022
Behind the Iron Curtain, Geri leaves for college, looks forward to meeting girls and partying and joins a group of radicals led by the charismatic Száva. But Geri has a secret. He’s an informant of the totalitarian state and to save his brother, he’s been forced to spy on his new friends for State Security.
73In Treatment (HU) 2012
A successful psychologist battles with problems in his personal life.
87Rise of the Raven 2025
The story of János Hunyadi is the epic tale of a hero born into modest circumstances, who, in 1456, with relentless determination and against all odds, vanquished the much larger Ottoman army, halting its drive to conquer the Vatican and overrun Western Europe. In so doing, Hunyadi not only shaped the history of Hungary, but that of all Europe.
80Our Little Village 2017
The amusing everyday life of a small, stereotypical Hungarian village focusing on a corrupt mayor, a bodybuilder priest, a hot bartender girl, a dumb police officer, and a womanizing football coach.
75Válótársak 2015
Bálint Sáfár, the charming businessman has several affairs, and when his wife Zsófi - with whom he has two children - finds out about his infidelity, she breaks up with him. Bálint decides to move to one of his houses on sale. On the same day Bálint's subcontractor Joci, who renovates his houses, breaks up with his girlfriend Szonja and decides to stay at this same house. Joci has some serious issues in his private life. His girlfriend Szonja couldn't get pregnant for years, and after her hormone therapy, he just can't live with her anymore. Dávid Jakab, successful businessman realises that his wife, Tamara hates him and wants to get a divorce on their 16th anniversary. Dávid asks Bálint if he could stay at his house while he tries to save his marriage. The series follows these freshly-divorced guys' lives as they try to solve their relationship problems.
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Best Hungarian movies
The Debt 2010
Rachel Singer is a former Mossad agent who tried to capture a notorious Nazi war criminal – the Surgeon of Birkenau – in a secret Israeli mission that ended with his death on the streets of East Berlin. Now, 30 years later, a man claiming to be the doctor has surfaced, and Rachel must return to Eastern Europe to uncover the truth. Overwhelmed by haunting memories of her younger self and her two fellow agents, the still-celebrated heroine must relive the trauma of those events and confront the debt she has incurred.
68Son of Saul 2015
In the horror of 1944 Auschwitz, a prisoner forced to burn the corpses of his own people finds moral survival trying to save from the flames the body of a boy he takes for his son, seeking to give him a proper jewish burial.
72Severance 2006
Members of the Palisades Defense Corp. sales group arrive in Europe for a team-building exercise. A fallen tree blocks the route, and they must hike to their destination. However, a psychotic killer lurks in the woods, and he has a horrible fate in mind for each of the co-workers.
65On Body and Soul 2017
Two introverted people find out by pure chance that they share the same dream every night. They are puzzled, incredulous, a bit frightened. As they hesitantly accept this strange coincidence, they try to recreate in broad daylight what happens in their dream.
72White God 2014
13 year old Lili fights to protect her dog Hagen, and is devastated when her father sets Hagen free on the streets. Still innocently believing love can conquer any difficulty, Lili sets out to save her dog. Failing in his desperate efforts to find his beloved owner, Hagen joins a canine revolt leading a revolution against their human abusers.
65Kontroll 2003
A tale about a strange young man, Bulcsú, and the fellow ticket inspectors on his team who work aboard the subterranean Budapest Metro. A tale about racing along the tracks, and about a mysterious serial killer. And a tale about love.
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